For a little change I'm doing something different.



It will be done OoB without any extras like PE railings. I'd forgotten how nicely Tamiya kits go together. Here she is after just two evenings at the bench



Bits are just dry fitted there. Will do its if the painting before assembling any further

Looking good Sean.

I found a build of this kit from a couple of years back HERE which might give you some ideas as well.

Following with much interest, best of luck.

Cheers, D

Thanks Damien, that will help.

This build is already becoming more complex: I've ordered a railings set from Atlantic and am researching the extra AAA added at later stages. I like it bristling with 20 & 40mm guns 😀 Some nice resin and PE sets out there....

I got the following reply from another expert over on Britmodeller. Given mine is the "round" bridge version I can add the rear twin 40mm, which is in the kit, on the fantail. For any of the others I'll have to get another kit.....

If you use the Tamiya kit, you are restricted to the ships that had the early "round bridge" (semicircular front) whereas most ships had a "square bridge". I would use the Tamiya to make an early Pacific war Fletcher, and maybe pick up the Trumpeter "The Sullivans" kit to do the later massively more AA-armed versions.

A broad guide to some of the armament changes can be found HERE, but with 175 different ships to choose from, the variations are many!


Key:

Early war (Solomons Campaign up to mid/late 1943)

1x twin 40mm mount, 6x single 20mm Oerlikon mounts. (Some had an additional twin 40mm mount on the fantail (red square, aft) in front of the depth charge racks in place of the 20mm. If this was the case, the extra 20mm guns were mounted at each side.)

This is the fit represented by the Tamiya 1/350 kit.


You can build both the following from the Trumpeter 1/350 kit.

Mid-Late Pacific (Late 1943-45)
5x twin 40mm Bofors, 7-10 single 20mm Oerlikon
Standard Fletcher fit for most of the Pacific War after Solomons campaign


Late (1945)
3x twin 40mm Bofors, 2x quad 40mm Bofors, 6 twin 20mm Oerlikon
This fit was developed as an anti-kamikaze measure.


So I'll carry on with the first one and follow up at a later date with later versions.

Nice start, Sean!

I can't be of much help to you, but I'll surely be following your build!

Cheers,
Jan

Danke Jan, hope you enjoy the build. I'm no expert on floaty things....in fact this is way outside my preferred genre

Finally started painting, but with a hairy stick rather than my new airbrush Decks first with Vallejo dark blue grey. Vertical surfaces will be light blue grey.


And putting together the little bits


Just look at how tiny those Oerlikons in the crocodile clips at the top are!

Still plugging away. Superstructure is just dry fitted in place and lots of cleaning up to be done on the paintwork but I'm getting there.

Made good progress last night. Cleaned up a lot of the painting and also got the hull red and boot like done.


But the masking wasn't perfect so more cleanup needed


More work in the fittings today. But lost one of the small searchlights to the carpet monster. Took the room apart but no sign of it 😟 so if anyone has a spare that we could trade for? 😀 It's the one on the left

Following along Sean, I will add that if you do follow up with the Trumpeter kit, if you want to be accurate you will need to replace the gun houses and director as the shapes are wrong.

Your best bet is to find the ship you wish to model and work from there as camo and refits changed a ships appearance through out the war. Unlike armour, ships of the same class don't look alike for very long once they start going through refits.

Check this site out for the camo schemes
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/fletcher_class.htm

Thanks Luciano, that's a very useful link. The more I read about these vessels the more facing ting they become.

So far still all dry fitted but nearly ready to start final assembly on the main structures


Quite pleased with the Oerlikons and Bofors at that scale




Lots of dry brushing and a wash drying in the vents

Nice work and nice progress here as well!!

Cheers,
Jan

Vielen Danke Jan.

More little bits done. Lifeboats & rafts attached.


Even painted the torpedoes in their tubes


And got the chains painted


Next all the depth charges tonight

Nearly there. Props & searchlights to be fitted then some cleanup and weathering. Railings will have to wait till my replacement airbrush arrives



And behind it the next project: an Arleigh Burke modern destroyer to be done as the fictional USS Nathan James