Can anyone tell me what would (if anything) need to be changed on the Trumpeter Indy 1944 kit to make the USS Portland in her fit as per her battle at Guadalcanal?

I know a lot of the light AA will need to be removed and I imagine the radar fit would be different but any main structure differences or can you direct me to a book or website that can tell me.

Hello Luciano, great modeling subject. NavSource Online's Cruiser Photo Archive has quite a few dated photos of the Portland over the course of her service. Here's the url that will take you right to the Portland's data page:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/033/04033.htm

Good luck with your build!

Since the were built in different yards, (New York Ship Building for Indianapolis and Bethlehem Steel in Quincy Mass) there's bound to me some difference and the best way to identify them would Troy's suggestion of using Nav Source. I would suggest finding images of the Portland at the time you want to represent her for the build.

All this time I thought she was named for the city in Oregon, not the city of my birth state (Maine)!

Thanks Michael, I didn't know that either!

Luciano, here's another site you might want to brouse: http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ships/cruisers-us/ .

They have blueprints of the Portland as of 1941, 1944 and 1945. Comparing the 1941 blueprints to your model should be good enough to get you started. Once you figure out what the primary differences are, you'll know exactly what to look for on the pics you come across, so your research will become much more productive from this point on.

I've been lurking here for some time waiting for a good reason to post and I guess this is it. Besides what everybody else has said their is one major difference between "Sweetpea" Portand and the Indianapolis. Indy was fitted as a flagship. To accomidate extra staff she had additional accomidations. If you look at a good side view of both ships you'll see Portland has the break in the fore deck roughly even with the front of the forward stack. Indy had her break well aft of the forward stack. This would take quite a it of surgery, though few people would notice it. This btw was why F.D.R. went on so many cruises on Indy.

If my computer was working better I'd post some pics but I'm typing this on a tablet and it's driving me nuts.

Somebody must have been reading your mind, Luciano! On March 17, Aurora-7 posted a new content update on the forum called: "Profile Morskie: New Books/Plans of WWII Warships". I opened the link and the first thing I see is a book cover with the title: "American Heavy Cruiser Portland 1942". Sounds like it might be right up your alley....

Thank you guys

I have Navsource book marked as I do check it but for Portland there are only two photos for the time line I'm looking at however the blueprints may work. Yes that book will be very useful when it comes out, anyway still plenty of time yet.

Luciano

I just bought Profile Morskies plans for the 1942 USS Portland. You are more than welcome to it once I receive it

Dave