I thought this would make a nice change to building ships bristling with guns. And it's not something I know much about, so the research has been interesting.
Built in just 56 days and launched on the 19th June 1943, she was supposed to cross the Atlantic just once, but actually cross the Atlantic four times. She then crossed the English Channel eleven times, in support of the D-Day landings. She then sailed as far as Calcutta, the Philippines and Australia before returning to San Francisco in 1946. She was mothballed until 1966 when restoration started to bring her back to her original war time condition. She opened to the public in 1980 and still makes day trips around San Francisco Bay.
In 1994, the O'Brien was the only ship that had taken part in D-Day that made the trip to Normandy for the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
I've ordered a PE set to enhance the detail and some 3D printed guns to replace the kit offering, which aren't very detailed.
I won't be doing much for a bit, as finally I'm going on holiday to sunny Cornwall, first holiday for 18 months, since the madness started.
So, here I start my project to try to show her as she would have looked on 6th June 1944.
Wish me luck.
Jon
This is my first problem, as you can see the hull is very smooth so I will have to find a way of showing the plates.
Another problem is it doesn’t come with a stand, so I’ll have to make something.