USS Northampton, 1/1200, SSModel, in progress

[Themistokles]

Dear community,

 

May I present my latest project: the heavy cruiser USS Northampton (CA 26), depicted on 26 October 1942, trying to rescue the by a Japanese attack heavily damaged carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) - watch the original footage of the action on that video link:

 

To be honest, I didn't know anything about the USS Northampton before I run into the "SSModel" 1/1200 series. I couldn't find out much about the company as they do not have their own homepage, only a ebay- and alibaba-seller plattform. These Chinese 3D prints are as detailed as it gets on that scale. The challange is not to break the parts while detaching them from the frame. Sadly, beside the USS Arizona they do not have really famous WWII warships in their assortment. That's why I ended up with that USS Northampton. Not a beautiful ship in particular, however an intersting story for sure. And for those who wonder: unfortunately the rescue action failed an the USS Hornet got sink by a final attack...

 

And here a picture of the Hornet (leaning towards starboard due to two torpedo hits) and the Northampton:

 

Edited February 11 by Themistokles

[Themistokles]

...here the workpiece with the main superstructure already assembled:

https://flic.kr/p/2pxyZmg

 

Edited February 11 by Themistokles

[Themistokles]

Damn, it - at the moment struggling with inserting pictures from my flickr-account...

[Themistokles]

 

Here we go! 😅

[Andy H]

Oooh, nice! I've just ordered an SSModels ship, my first resin kit; so will be following this with more than a little interest. 😎👍

[Themistokles]

2 minutes ago, Andy H said:

Oooh, nice! I've just ordered an SSModels ship, my first resin kit; so will be following this with more than a little interest. 😎👍

Great choice, but there are some warnings: some of the parts where broken when the parcel arrived, another package never made it to Switzerland (and the seller didn't take responsibility for taht) and the material is hard like a diamond - not much flexing possible. However, possibly necessary so fine details. A few things are just awesome, for example anchor chains with single links - in 1/1200! What model in what size did you order?

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday @Themistokles, when I saw that detail I found it hard to believe that it's a 1/1200 scale model. Regards, Jeff.

[Andy H]

5 hours ago, Themistokles said:

Great choice, but there are some warnings: some of the parts where broken when the parcel arrived, another package never made it to Switzerland (and the seller didn't take responsibility for taht) and the material is hard like a diamond - not much flexing possible. However, possibly necessary so fine details. A few things are just awesome, for example anchor chains with single links - in 1/1200! What model in what size did you order?

HMS Weymouth in 1/700 - I reckoned that by the time it arrives, I'll be a lot better at shipbuilding. 😆

 

 

 

I would have gone larger, but she'll match the rest of my collection at that scale.

 

 

[Themistokles]

6 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday @Themistokles, when I saw that detail I found it hard to believe that it's a 1/1200 scale model. Regards, Jeff.

I mean it's still a heavy cruiser with a length over all of 15 cm - for some that's a lot, for others not. 🤣

[Themistokles]

1 hour ago, Andy H said:

HMS Weymouth in 1/700 - I reckoned that by the time it arrives, I'll be a lot better at shipbuilding. 😆

 

 

 

I would have gone larger, but she'll match the rest of my collection at that scale.

 

 

The HMS Weymouth - a beautifully simpel ship!

[ArnoldAmbrose]

4 hours ago, Themistokles said:

I mean it's still a heavy cruiser with a length over all of 15 cm - for some that's a lot, for others not.

Gidday, I guess it's all relative. I like the 1/600 scale, so your model is about half the length of my current model, HMS Sheffield, and is about the length of my small H class destroyers. The detail on your model is much better however. But I'll stay with what I know, injection molding kits or scratchbuilding in polystyrene, and admire your build here.

Regards, Jeff.

[Themistokles]

As seen on this picture, the build-up is almost finished. Some parts (radar antennas, range finders, railing) are enhanced by PE elements from Toms Modelworks - and yes, the glueing together on a flyspeck scale was quite nerve-racking. 😅 The carley floats (from shapeways) on the ship's side are added from my side to the SSModel as well. The modelled water surface is covered by tape - so, everything is ready for the priming in a dark 1942 navy blue-gray by airbrush:

 

[Vlad]

Looks great, honestly could mistake it for 1/700.

 

How was your experience ordering this by the way? Did you get it from the SSModel eBay storefront? How long did shipping take?

[Faraway]

Hey chaps. Help an old b##### out.

Just how big is this model ?

It does look really nice, however big (or small) it is.

Jon

[Vlad]

4 minutes ago, Faraway said:

Hey chaps. Help is old b##### out.

Just how big is this model ?

It does look really nice, however big (or small) it is.

Jon

 

A Northampton class cruiser in 1/1200 should be about 6 inches long (15cm).

[bissyboat]

Heaven´s to Betsy! 1/1200 scale looking like that. How´s that possible? I´m gobsmacked. ⚓😱

[Themistokles]

7 hours ago, Vlad said:

Looks great, honestly could mistake it for 1/700.

 

How was your experience ordering this by the way? Did you get it from the SSModel eBay storefront? How long did shipping take?

Sadly, my experience with ordering the SSModels from China by ebay so far is not too good: one parcel never arrived and the seller and delivery service did never answer to my request. The three hulls of another seller were all warped. At least that seller responded immediately and replaced them for free - only that the new hulls came without the super detailed anchor chains...

Another questionable detail: the WW1 battleship SMS König comes with enlarged funnel, a radar systems from 1941 and SK C/33 heavy AA-guns from 1933 (as seen on ships of the Kriegsmarine in WW2):

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/166140642009?hash=item26aec102d9:g:nAsAAOSwSNRk-r-o

...what really makes no sense as the ship was scuttled in 1919 at Scapa Flow. And there is no remark on the product which says that it is a "what if"-model. I can imagine that the SSModel-designers even are not aware of their mistake. Honestly, it looks like they simply fed their computers with date from a "world of warships"-model:

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/konig-d38da12b95324fc5bfbc931a47c80741

However, as they produce the most detailed ships (some parts are really insane) in that scale, there is not much of an alternative...

[Themistokles]

Here comes the ship out of the airbrush-box:

The crane and the tenders are yet missing, some weathering, final water effects and the rigging - and we are almost done... Well, maybe some crew members too would be nice. And the laundry...

[Themistokles]

Why the laundry? That's why:

[Themistokles]

7 hours ago, Faraway said:

Hey chaps. Help an old b##### out.

Just how big is this model ?

It does look really nice, however big (or small) it is.

Jon

...it would probably fit into your hand.

[Vlad]

23 hours ago, Themistokles said:

Sadly, my experience with ordering the SSModels from China by ebay so far is not too good: one parcel never arrived and the seller and delivery service did never answer to my request. The three hulls of another seller were all warped. At least that seller responded immediately and replaced them for free - only that the new hulls came without the super detailed anchor chains...

Another questionable detail: the WW1 battleship SMS König comes with enlarged funnel, a radar systems from 1941 and SK C/33 heavy AA-guns from 1933 (as seen on ships of the Kriegsmarine in WW2):

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/166140642009?hash=item26aec102d9:g:nAsAAOSwSNRk-r-o

...what really makes no sense as the ship was scuttled in 1919 at Scapa Flow. And there is no remark on the product which says that it is a "what if"-model. I can imagine that the SSModel-designers even are not aware of their mistake. Honestly, it looks like they simply fed their computers with date from a "world of warships"-model:

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/konig-d38da12b95324fc5bfbc931a47c80741

However, as they produce the most detailed ships (some parts are really insane) in that scale, there is not much of an alternative...

 

That's frustrating to hear, I was considering getting the 1/700 version of this ship but less sure now.

 

The Konig is absolutely just made from the World of Warships game model, which is quite a nonsense "what-if" to start with.

 

But... your Northampton is also made from a game model, the one from War Thunder:

https://wiki.warthunder.com/USS_Northampton

 

Pretty sure most if not all of SSModel 3D printed ships are made by importing game models.

Edited February 21 by Vlad

[Themistokles]

38 minutes ago, Vlad said:

 

That's frustrating to hear, I was considering getting the 1/700 version of this ship but less sure now.

 

The Konig is absolutely just made from the World of Warships game model, which is quite a nonsense "what-if" to start with.

 

But... your Northampton is also made from a game model, the one from War Thunder:

https://wiki.warthunder.com/USS_Northampton

 

Pretty sure most if not all of SSModel 3D printed ships are made by importing game models.

...I think in 1/700 you don't need 3D-models from SSModel anyway - isn't Flyhawk producing enough kits in superb quality?

Regarding the USS Northampton: it is possible that it is a copy from a game's design too - however, it is depicting the ship quite accurate how it did look like in 1941. Only the funnels do not represent excactly the shorter versions of 1942 I'm trying to replicate. I guess there are some compromises you always have to make, isnt it?

[Vlad]

Just now, Themistokles said:

...I think in 1/700 you don't need 3D-models from SSModel anyway - isn't Flyhawk producing enough kits in superb quality?

Regarding the USS Northampton: it is possible that it is a copy from a game's design too - however, it is depicting the ship quite accurate how it did look like in 1941. Only the funnels do not represent excactly the shorter versions of 1942 I'm trying to replicate. I guess there are some compromises you always have to make, isnt it?

 

Well, the Northampton class has been generally neglected by kit manufacturers, so yes for this ship specifically, SSModel 3D print looks like the best or even only option. Some resin kits are available but they are not ideal and often hard to find.

 

The War Thunder model is very accurate for the ship in 1941. My suspicion comes partly because of how much SSModel range overlaps with which ships represented in the games (I play both games so I am familiar with their content).

[Themistokles]

18 hours ago, Vlad said:

 

Well, the Northampton class has been generally neglected by kit manufacturers, so yes for this ship specifically, SSModel 3D print looks like the best or even only option. Some resin kits are available but they are not ideal and often hard to find.

 

The War Thunder model is very accurate for the ship in 1941. My suspicion comes partly because of how much SSModel range overlaps with which ships represented in the games (I play both games so I am familiar with their content).

To be fair towards SSModels: i checked the details on main turrets of the War Thunder designs and I think that the SSModels-version is too detailed for being a copy:

[Themistokles]

Now the boats crane, the side boats, and some further details are added and a first layer of weathering applied: