1/500 scale DD-158 USS Leary waterline model

[lastvautour]

I completed my Wickes Class Destroyer 18 Feb 09 and neglected to post a link in this thread. http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/SMF/index.php?topic=286.0
As I mentioned earlier, it is a lot of fun to do group modeling projects.

Lou

[Oceaneer99]

Lou,

Thank you!  I looked at your photos for construction details and inspiration.  Plus, I'd forgotten we had a cook-up going on.  I think the total launched is two, right (yours and yours/Ray's)?

Garet

[Oceaneer99]

I've been working on the superstructure of the USS Leary:


http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3733


http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3734

After these were taken, I puttied the joint between the superstructure and the hull (they should be even with each other).  The Popular Science plans for the Leary show the superstructure to be inset, which doesn't match historical photos.  I widened the plan for the cardstock superstructure so that it would match the hull better.

I did figure out after I photographed the model that I need to extend the bridge deck (where the house goes from wide to narrow) aft to an aft rail.  I have a plastic model kit of the USS Ward, and while the superstructure is different that the Leary, the basic bridge deck looks like it should be the same.  I took a piece of Bristol board, held a metal rule against it, and bent it 90 degrees on the workbench. After trimming, I glued this extension piece in place.  I need to do a little bit of putty work, but it looks like the extension will work okay.

Garet

[lastvautour]

You are doing great. Even at 1/500 you managed to get the windows cut out.
Lou

[Oceaneer99]

Thank you, Lou.  I definitely needed some X-Acto practice for that one.  The deck extension is now painted.  I test painted the hull and found that I didn't use enough sanding sealer, so it now has a coat of thinned putty; I'll sand it down and put a layer of lacquer sealer over that.

Garet

[Oceaneer99]

I put in a burst of work on the USS Leary, ending up with many of the detail parts painted and glued on.


http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3813

I carved the three ship's boats and then made a plaster mold of each one.  I'm not sure that the molds will work, as the plaster texture is more than I had expected. 

After this photo was taken, I painted most of the parts I added and also found the stick on rhinestones that I was going to use for the searchlights (it took me two days of searching the workbench before I found them in a stack of plans).  I glued the rhinestone to a dowel and then turned the searchlight to shape using sandpaper while the dowel was spun in an electric drill.  I ended up shaping the rhinestones and used several grits of moist wet-or-dry sandpaper. The end result is a slightly frosted dome that has an odd glow to it, since light bounces off the reflective back like a cat's eye.  It is a cool effect.

The screw guards are made from bent pins inserted into holes on the hull.  Then I ran a piece of copper magnet wire through a hole drilled completely through the hull, and wrapped and glued these to the pins.  The key with the copper wire was to stretch it (making it straight and a bit work-hardened) before running it through the hole.

The searchlights are per plan, but obviously too large for scale.  I also figured out that my bridge house is far too tall (the lower section near the deck).  The plans had one size, the patterns another.  By the time I noticed, it was a bit late.  I could probably fudge things a bit by moving the breakwater down a bit, but it is in the correct position relative to the upper decks.  Oh, well.  By the time I'm done, I'll have a nice set of corrected plans.

Left to do: 

Lifeboat davits
Anchor windlass
Mast details and Rigging
Final painting
Paint details, numbers, etc.

I'm learning that my average ship takes longer than my average airplane.

Garet

[Oceaneer99]

My USS Leary model is complete, my first model for 2011.


http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pid=5452

Total building time was 23 hours over a period of 2 years.  Some of the time was spent making five sets of gun, torpedo tubes, and rough hulls.  I'd planned to make kits for family members, but the construction was more difficult than I'd anticipated.  Paint was Dolphin Gray craft paint by Delta Ceramcoat, thinned with Paint Easy, a product used for paint sprayers.  It worked really well, and I didn't have trouble with brush strokes.

Garet

[lastvautour]

Garet, she is a great ship. Working at 1/500 scale is quite tedious with so many tiny pieces. Congratulations on a very fine build.

Lou