Decided to do another ship model. I bought several vintage warship kit models from the 1940s recently and thought they'd be fun to update and modify to modern standards. These kits were designed primarily for kids and beginners, not that such renderings don't have their place, of course, but we like to push the envelope a bit more nowadays.  Then too, wartime materiel restrictions and security demands associated with  detail depictions also kept many such kits from displaying the accuracy we expect today. This Comet model is a good example: Its features and details, as displayed in the plans, can only be regarded basic, if not downright primitive. Still, it offers great possibilities...

To start with, I like to preserve all the original kit parts and plans, replacing them with photocopies and materials from my own supplies. Next is research to find better detailed images of the vessel's features. I found few photos and a couple mechanical drawing. including these...

As a basis for building, the three-view nwas a decent start. But it depicted the Gridley in her pre-Pearl Harbor form. Much more detail was needed to present the many changes and modifications made as the war progressed. Like all her sister ships of the Gridley, Benham, Mahan and Sims classes,  she underwent massive upgrades to her AA armament and supporting superstructure. I used the three-view to capture these elements, highlighting them with colored pencils so I could make templates to build from...

The resulting model is painted in typical mid-war Pacific Ocean Measure 21 camouflage: deck blue on all horizontal and navy blue on all vertical surfaces.

And for good measure...

Nice detailing!

This is great work, Jim. I just purchased Norman Friedman's book US Destroyers An Illustrated Design History to help building some of these. The book does not really have the drawings needed to make a model, unfortunately, so those will have to come from other sources.

Well done Jim. Do you know the scale?

Well done Jim. Do you know the scale? The 1/1 scale is 340' 10".

Quote from: Oceaneer99 on February 09, 2026, 01:27:32 AMThis is great work, Jim. I just purchased Norman Friedman's book US Destroyers An Illustrated Design History to help building some of these. The book does not really have the drawings needed to make a model, unfortunately, so those will have to come from other sources.

Thanks very much, Garet. And thank you, too, for fixing whatever it was that had my posting jammed up somewhere in the ozone!

Now, if you're looking for other US destroyer plans to build from, I might be able to help. Among the old solid model kits I recently acquired are the 1/350 scale Monogram kit of the Benson-Class destroyer USS Hobby, the Ideal 1/700 scale kit of the Fletcher Class destroyer USS O'Bannon, and the 1/360 scale Strombecker kit of the frigate USS Tacoma.

If you or Lou would like, I can make copies of the plans and printwood and mail to you for posting. Sound good?

The Gridley is 12 inches long, 1/350 scale. Which is fortunate because aftermarket plastic parts like Oerlikon guns, gun tubs, lifeboats, rafts, etc are readily available to dress her up with!

Thank you Jim

Louis