1990 - USS John Paul Jones DDG-53

[USS_ESSESS]

Hello Everyone,

I decided to join this GB with this 1/350 kit from Trumpeter. With all those aviation topics I thought the maritime section needs some representation 😉

Born in 1990 I had some problems finding a suitable kit in my stash but settled on a Burke Class. As shown in the pictures, the kit does not come with other options then building DDG-51 wich started construction in 88, launched in 89 and started service in 91 so I asked Wikipedia and found that USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) started construction in 1990! Now I only need to find some suitable decals... my plan is to use the spare numbers from my DDG-92 Mommsen kit but if anyone knows some decent AM decals for modern USN Destroyers I would be grateful.

I also have the WEM PE set for flight 1 Burke class but as it turns out the set was designed for the Panda kit not the Trumpeter kit. I still think I can use at least some of the additional PE.

last photo shows all parts laid out.

 

 

I don’t think I’ll be able to start on Saturday but Monday should be fine. I am currently blessed with a lot of free time until I have to embark my vessel in early September so this should be a rather quick build, well it has to be😬

cheers Konrad

 

Edited August 3, 2019 by USS_ESSESS

[Rabbit Leader]

Great selection Konrad and a very warm welcome from all of us taking part in this GB. As a dour aviation modeller I marvel at you ship builders, all those parts and PE is just something I cannot comprehend. Good to hear you've got the time to settle back and get stuck into this thing... it promises to be a fantastic addition to this group build. You are also the youngest member taking part - by a heck of a long way as well! 

 

Cheers and all the best.. Dave 

[Colin W]

I'm not sure how this will be a 'quick build ' with aĺl that PE. 

Great to see you doing a ship in the GB. We do seem to be aviation focused in these.

 

Colin 

[stevej60]

Great to see a ship docking in this GB Konrad,great choice too,I visited the cottage and museum where John Paul Jones was born,very interesting.

 

[USS_ESSESS]

The early bird catches the worm!

Well I don't like worms but I do like modelling and especially starting a new project.

So I started with the basic assembly

The fit of this trumpeter kits is really great but around the fwd funnel I ran into an issue... the angle of the wall was slightly off and did not align with the funnel...

so I hacked some chunks out and made it fit 💣

I'm still undecided wether or not to use the full hull so I started it anyway

I filled the minimal seams on all parts and will let it dry and harden untill I can sand it flush on monday

I also prepared the deck for the WEM changes... The locating holes for the UNREP structure had to be filled and the supports for the Rhibs have been removed

The bridge Parts are molded in clear plastic so all windows had to be masked. I tried using masking tape but I couldn't get the cuts as acurately as I wished so I settled on masking fluid

after the bridge assembly came the mast. I modified the round radar piece with the supplied PE and had to replace the mast top completely with styrene rod as the bipol antenna had so much flesh and had to be replaced with pe anyway...

Here is where I am at the moment

Some months ago the destroyer Gravely (DDG-107) visited my home port together with a Polish Oliver Hazard Perry Frigate and I had the possibility to take some close pictures which will help me with details

I know this is a flight IIA and not a flight I but it's still better than no pictures...

 

Thanks for watching/reading, all commentary welcome

BTW I am still looking for the right decals and found that the panda kit of Arleigh Burke has them... Does anyone know where I can get those decals without the need to buy the whole kit???

 

Cheers Konrad

[Rabbit Leader]

Wow.. what an update, I haven’t quite counted all the photos however that’s a huge amount. Great progress and some very neat work going on there.

 

 Cheers.. Dave 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

7 hours ago, USS_ESSESS said:

BTW I am still looking for the right decals and found that the panda kit of Arleigh Burke has them... Does anyone know where I can get those decals without the need to buy the whole kit???

 

Did you try placing an add in the wanted or trade section's ? Maybe someone will trade for yours or will sell you the correct parts from there sheet. 

[USS_ESSESS]

25 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Did you try placing an add in the wanted or trade section's ? Maybe someone will trade for yours or will sell you the correct parts from there sheet. 

Will do so, thanks for the tip!

[Bugle07]

On 8/1/2019 at 9:50 AM, USS_ESSESS said:

but if anyone knows some decent AM decals for modern USN Destroyers I would be grateful.

Not sure if these would be any good for you? Full set of decals for the Charles F Adams class available from L'Arsenal.

 

http://www.larsenal.com/Mobile/1-350-charles-f-adams-class-decals-c2x22065156

 

Good to see a floating thing in amongst all the hairoplanes!

 

Great start on her, will be watching how she comes along.

 

Geoff 

[USS_ESSESS]

Hallo fellow modelers!

Today I managed to make some progress.

I glued the deck into the hull and gave the whole ship a black undercoats, mostly to check for spots where sanding and/or filling might be needed.

while sanding and filling I also attached the fittings that don't interfere with masking and scribed off all vertical ladders that were molded onto the surfaces.

I then attached all PE ladders and while I had the Pe fret out I also made some progress on the mast

as I was quite pleased with the deck fitting I started painting all walkable surfaces.

Fit another black undercoat and then a white marble coat.

This was followed by a light coat of tamiya xf24 with some drops of black and blue

sadly I will have to do it all again as my airbrush started spitting water... turned out my compressor became too hot and the water trap couldn't separate it anymore... I ordered an additional in line separator and will see if this will fix the problem... never had any issue with my compressor for the past 5 years...

So this is on hold until I can paint the decks again and then mask them off .

 

Until next time

 

cheers Konrad

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Looks like you will finished this build before I have a chance to start mine Konrad. you are flying along with it.

 

Nice to see a ship being built in this GB. 

[Rabbit Leader]

Shame you’ve had compressor issues as this is looking most interesting. The marble paint application is quite effective, I really should experiment more when applying paint. I’m enjoying this. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[USS_ESSESS]

After fixing the compressor issues I was able to continue.

I wasnt happy with the result of the deck painting and wouldn't have been able to mix the color again to finish the paint job so I just started all over again.

But this time I altered the method a little bit by starting with a medium gray basecoat.

then I used black for shadows and a light gray for the marbleling:

This way there is more control over the effect and the top coat doesn't have to be so thick

The color mix came out a little too blue but I like it.

I sealed the decks with 2 coats of aqua gloss and for the result I have a goodie for you! I built myself a light box for taking better pictures!

But it is just for smaller modells or subassemblies. anyway here are some nice pictures showing the finished decks:

Next job on the list:

Yeah not looking forward to it... but I just have to remind me how satisfying it is to peel it off later

 

That's it for now!

 

Konrad

[Rabbit Leader]

Nicely done Konrad and the light box photo booth certainly helps create crisp and clear photographs. Yes... Masking, the bane of every airbrush modeller and the joys of removing it is only matched if you do a good job in the first place! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[stevej60]

There's  some great work on show  here Konrad,looking forward to more.

[Cooper645]

Really excellent work at such a small scale.  Noticed your filling of holes and thought it looked like Vallejo Putty. 
 

if that is the case I saw an excellent video showing different techniques which look as though there would be a lot less clean up, may be of some use at this scale?

 

 

I do not envy your job of all that PE and tiny fiddly bits. Keep up the excellent work.

 

 

[USS_ESSESS]

9 hours ago, Cooper645 said:

Really excellent work at such a small scale.  Noticed your filling of holes and thought it looked like Vallejo Putty. 
 

if that is the case I saw an excellent video showing different techniques which look as though there would be a lot less clean up, may be of some use at this scale?

 

 

I do not envy your job of all that PE and tiny fiddly bits. Keep up the excellent work.

 

 

That’s exactly the one I use but to be honest, the sandability they show in this video does not compare to reality. If you are filling for example ejection pin marks, the putty does not bond well with the surface below and rubs off when being sanded...

but it is a hell of a lot better for filling fine gaps than tamiya putty or the Revell plasto stuff.

Cheers Konrad

[USS_ESSESS]

I made a start on masking the decks. To keep my sanity I only do a few hours a time

here's the result of yesterday's two sessions:

And what I did today:

I think I'll spare you the rest of the masking... next update when I start painting the hull colors...

that means I now have to make a decision I postponed until now... full hull or waterline?

 

Until next time

 

Konrad

[Rogue705]

2 hours ago, USS_ESSESS said:

I made a start on masking the decks. To keep my sanity I only do a few hours a time

here's the result of yesterday's two sessions:

And what I did today:

I think I'll spare you the rest of the masking... next update when I start painting the hull colors...

that means I now have to make a decision I postponed until now... full hull or waterline?

 

Until next time

 

Konrad

Konrad, I must buy shares in the masking producing Company you use 🙂 ... £'s 🙂

 

Seriously, great prep work!!

[USS_ESSESS]

54 minutes ago, Rogue705 said:

Konrad, I must buy shares in the masking producing Company you use 🙂 ... £'s 🙂

That’s why I use the ordinary masking tape from the hardware store for the bigger spaces and only use the tamiya tape for the delicate detail work.

but if you really buy shares, can you get me a discount?

57 minutes ago, Rogue705 said:

Seriously, great prep work!!

It‘s the most important step for a good finish. But also the most annoying one...😅

[Rabbit Leader]

On 8/18/2019 at 12:53 AM, USS_ESSESS said:

It‘s the most important step for a good finish. But also the most annoying one...😅

What's that famous saying 90% prep work, 10% application! I think we all share your pain when it comes to masking. Nice work Konrad. 

Cheers.. Dave 

[beefy66]

This is another one I have missed the start of but looking great so far Konrad  

 

beefy