Jump to content

BB-3 USS Oregon


Recommended Posts

I'm hooked on ships. Since I finished Saratoga, I wanted to do another. I've always liked the Great White Fleet era, so I started looking around to see what was available. A friend of mine had this YS Masterpieces kit available, so we agreed on a price and I brought it home. I let it set for a couple months before I got to it, as I wanted to finish up Sara first. After that was finished and I got well along on the Devastator, I got this down and began work on it. It's a beauty of a kit, considering it's resin. I've done my share of resin kits - all airplanes - so I knew what I was in for, but I did a little research and on Shipbuilders.com there was a kit review of this very model. I printed out all the pictures to use as reference, and began work. I've gotten as far as you see here, all in the course of about 3 weeks. I had an initial problem with the paint, as I didn't leave it in the Westley's long enough, because when I shot my first coat of primer, it looked like I had 500 fish staring back at me. Fisheyes everywhere. Crap. Out came the EZ-Off oven cleaner, and a couple of hours later I was back to bare resin. This time I left it in the BleachWhite to "cook" a little longer, rinsed it and tried again, and this time it took. I painted the white first, then after tedious masking, painted the red undersurface, tan decks and picked out all the details. I found a nifty little pen at my local Hannett's Artist Supply. It's called a Jelly Roll, and it's basically a ballpoint pen that has an acrylic paint ink inside. I picked up a Yellow and White pen, and I used it all around the deck houses, turrets, and picked out all the deck details. It's very opaque, having covered the dark tan of the deck without so much as a fuss. They come in a multitude of colors. I think I paid $2.39 or some silly amount for it. It was so much easier drawing the demarcation lines than trying to paint them with a brush.The base is a castoff drawer front from when I redid my wife's kitchen, and I'll have a glass dust cover made for it when it's done. It's been a real joy to build this one. Not much repetition of parts, and it all fits beautifully. I'm doing her as she appeared before the Spanish American War, before the Buff was applied to all her uppermost deck houses and hiding all the glorious white.

oregon001a.jpg

Here's an overall shot of the boat. In the background you can see one of the two PE frets. Some of the best PE I've ever seen or worked with. The upper Flydeck is in the background. I scrapped the resin funnels and made my own out pf brass tube and plastic.

oregon002a.jpg

Here you can see some of the railings, helm station and additional gratings along the sides. These were all PE. I've got 2 inch screws going through the turret bases into the base, with brass trim rings between the boat and the base. The sharp demarcation lines between the deck and the deck houses was all done with the Jell Pen. All I did was draw around them and let the pen do the work.

This should be a really pretty boat when she's done, resplendent in her Great White Fleet colors. I'll post some pictures upon completion.

Cheers

Mike

Edited by Skyking
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you everyone, I appreciate the comments. Jim don't worry, I picked the base for that exact reason. I thought the red tinted cherry gave a nice contrast with the red hull bottom and white super structure. I'll just clean it up a bit, shoot a couple of more coats of clear gloss lacquer on it and it'll be done.

What can I say? YS Masterpieces makes some kick-butt kits. These are simply, the BEST resin ship kits out there. This is not to diminish some of the others that are out there, but these are the best in my opinion. Everything fits. The PE fits, the resin fits, there's no fitting, trimming, sanding, other than normal parts cleanup. The instruction booklet is the best, puts many injection kits to shame. My only nit is that a lot of the deck fittings could be separate from the main casting to make painting easier, but that's about it. No pinholes to fill, no flash... well you get the idea. I can't say enough about them, they are simply the best. They are expensive, but they are a great value. This one set me back $195.00 used, but there's nothing else to buy, period. I have almost twice that much wrapped up in my Saratoga, between decals, the kit, PE sets, it all added up to far more money, plus I had to fiddle with it to build it. This simply falls together. If not for my problem with the primer, this would be the easiest model I've ever built, and I can see more YS kits in my future. I just wish my shipbuilding skills were on par with the kit, so I could really do it justice.

On to my progress. What you see here is about half way through the instruction booklet. Since the last post I've added the boat racks, funnels, searchlights and platforms, flying deck and railings, stairs, doors and a bunch of other details. Most of this is Photo Etch, and there was no fiddling to get it to fit, other than a little work with the railings, but that's normal for railings.

oregon007a.jpg

Here's a side view taken from Starboard. As busy as the flying deck is, there's a lot more to come yet. I have to add the boats, davits and cranes, and some more railings. The mast and crows nest is a small model in itself with about 30 pieces making up the assembly. I haven't even began that yet.

oregon008a.jpg

Close up of the Fly Bridge. Here you see the RF platform, Searchlights and bases, some of the railings the awnings. There will be small 6 pounders along the top of the railings under the awnings. I also have to make the 6" guns in the 4 smaller turrets.

oregon005a.jpg

Shot looking aft shows all the vents and pilot house. I hogged out the bells on the vents so they appear to be open tubes. I debated opening up the pilot house windows, but then I would have had to make a new mast, as it would have been visible inside the pilot house. I'm having too much fun building this out of the box to risk screwing it up so I left it be.

oregon004a.jpg

Here's a shot looking from the other side. I love the look of these old Great White Fleet ships. The next one I get from YS will be the USS Brooklyn, a heavy cruiser from the same era.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Mike

Edited by Skyking
Link to post
Share on other sites

Mike,

Another "floating " project and such historical atatchments to this one too..

I am gonna enkoy this as much as all the other projects that you have doen/completed...

The Oregon is looking STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL already even though yu have only just

gotten into it...The Saratoga was AWESOME adn this ONE will be too....

The detailing as shown on the Starboard is AMAZING....

I will be coming back to have a look-see.. :whistle:

HOLMES... :worship::salute:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Mike,

That's a great shot. What I like about this era is it was during the cross over from sail to steam, and the old and new were mixed together. Your picture illustrates it perfectly with the modern look of the hull and propulsion, yet there are two masts with crows nests, yards and rigging. It looks almost as the designer wasn't sure if he was building a steamer or a sailing ship. Tradition gives way slowly in any Navy. Thanks for posting and following along.

Hello Holmes, Thank you also for following along. This has been a very enjoyable build so far.

oregon009a.jpg

I've gotten quite a bit done on her over the past few days. The mast is in place, both boat cranes, and I've begun the railings. For the mast I substituted the resin kit parts for brass wire. I could see them bending every which way when I do the rigging, so the brass will lend a little more stiffness. The crows nests are each made up of two parts, a round base and a strip of brass that had to be bent around a dowel. It took a little fiddling until I got a nice round shape that fit the base, but the lengths of the strips was perfect. I didn't have to trim them at all, they fit so well. This really is a super engineered kit. The only thing I wish I could improve on would be to get the railings to fit as good as they deserve, but for this nautical rookie they will pass. Neither this or Sara will ever see a contest table, so I'm not after perfection, just the experience so I can improve to the point where I might be brave enough to build one to contest quality someday. In the meantime though I'm having lot of fun and that's what this is supposed to be all about.

oregon011a.jpg

Here's a closeup of the boat cranes. I had a minor set occur with these. When I was setting them in place, my tweezers did that merry little "TINK" sound, and launched the starboard crane across the room, whereupon all the installed little PE fiddly bits took off in every direction. I was able to locate all but the hook and tackle, and the two hand wheels at the top. I've got an email out to YS for replacement parts, so it'll be a little while before I can get them installed. In the mean time there's lots of other "stuff" that needs to be added.

oregon010a.jpg

I think this is my favorite view of looking at her. The guns come into play, along with the anachronistic mast and crows nest. The lines of the hull and superstructure all are in view, just a nice view of a very good looking Battleship from a colorful era. I wish other manufacturers would do more ships of this era.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Mike

Link to post
Share on other sites

I was in to ships when I was a kid. I got caught up in the planes and jets stuff and neglected my ship stuff. You have inspired me to get another on the shelf. Beautiful job!!

Of course, that desk is waaaay to clean. Maybe that is another reason to get into ship building....

nah, my desk is a dump ven if I didn't build nothin!!

Great Job!

-Jim

Link to post
Share on other sites

Mike I humbly disagree with you. I think this should see the contest tables. This is one hell of a great build. Keep going don't you dare give up now. I like your idea on what to with the base. Like I said it matches perfectly. Great work man thanks for sharing.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Mike, she looks great, I used to live in Northeast Pa and we would take trips to Penns landing in Philly and on display is the USS Olympia from the Spanish American war. she went under a full restoration from last I heard, you can board her and walk around it's really cool. I have walked her decks 4 times over the years. She is A Beautiful looking ship. Rob

Edited by 71roadrunner426
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. Jim it's 350th scale, YS Masterpieces kit. And I will probably enter it. I don't get many finished in a year so I am almost forced to, or else I won't have anything to put on the table...lol. 71RR thanks for the info on that. Philly isn't that far from me. I think I see a road trip in my future.

Well she's definitely on the downhill side. From the last picture it really doesn't look like much was added, but there was a ton of stuff. All the lifeboats and launches, some .40 cals on the fly bridge, more railings and all of the gun turrets are now in place. I've also added the windlass's and Admiralty style anchors. I have some chain coming for the anchor chains, I'll run those through the fare leads and into holes drilled into the windlass. It'll look better than the PE chain provided with the kit. I keep saying what a well engineered kit this is, and the bow rails around the anchor pockets illustrate it perfectly. The lengths of the railings were already preplanned, so that there is a railing post at each corner, rather than having the railing bent in the middle. Just a very well engineered, simple to build kit. If you've never done a resin ship before, I strongly recommend a YS kit, they are that good.

oregon013a.jpg

She's really got some nice lines. Again my favorite view angle of her.

oregon014a.jpg

Here's a look at the boats, one of the .40 calibers, and the fly deck railings. Each boat was comprised of about six to eight separate parts.

oregon015a.jpg

Here's a look at the other side. Rather than using the resin canopy top to form a foil canvas, I wrapped a fine wire frame around the outside of the provided PE frames, then used Micro Scale Krystal Clear to fill in and form the awnings. Once dried I painted it white. I think it came out pretty good. I have replacement parts coming for the crane on this side.

oregon016a.jpg

Quick shot of the bow. You can see here how well the railings fit around the anchors. There was no measuring, just careful bending to form the railings to the openings. The anchor cranes are in place, I'll have some rigging material going down to them for tie downs.

oregon017a.jpg

When I first saw this picture my heart sank for a minute. I thought my mast was horribly out of alignment, but it's because the ship itself is not sitting on the base straight. I'll have to loosen the screws and straighten it up. Whew.

oregon019a.jpg

View looking from aft forward. Two more 40's are visible, as well as more boats - a couple of launches and whale boats.

Last look at the side of her. There's a ton of "stuff" included in the kit that really gives it that "busy" look. All of it fits really well too. It's been one of the most pleasurable kits I've ever built. Next time you see her she'll be finished and rigged out, ready to join TR's Great White Fleet on shakedown exercises.

Cheers

Mike

Edited by Skyking
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the comments guys. I appreciate it. This has been a very enjoyable build, and your feedback and comments have been most welcome.

Have you looked at Zvezda's Russian pre-dreadnought range? I am almost tempted

No not really Mike. I'll admit I am somewhat picky in my subjects, perhaps to a fault. My main interests have always been Early US Navy or World War One aviation or ships, so I really don't pay much attention to anything outside that arena. My suggestion to you though is if you are tempted, yield to it. When you build a model of a subject you are really into, the odds of it looking great go up exponentially. Your Roto-Dynes are an example.

Here's the finished subject. The only thing lacking are the pulleys and hand wheels for the starboard boat crane, and those are on their way from YS. I'm really pleased with this one. If you ever had a hankering to do a resin ship, you really can't go wrong with YS Masterpieces line. My next build of theirs is going to be the USS Brooklyn Cruiser, also in 350th, but that will be a project for next fall. My to-do list now comprises of finishing up the Devastator, then tearing down my modeling area and redoing the basement into my Mancave where my bench will be rebuilt and the room finished off. Being the only male in the house, (even the dog and cat are female) I need a place to escape the estrogen fog that permeates the house.

I'm going to let the pictures do all the talking.

oregon023A.jpg

oregon022A.jpg

oregon025a.jpg

oregon024a.jpg

oregon029a.jpg

oregon028a.jpg

Thanks for following along for the ride.

Cheers

Mike

Edited by Skyking
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...