1:72 Complete Iowa Battleship 16"-50 cal Turret with interior down to the magazine

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Thanks guys, and thank you for hanging in there for almost a year that it took to create it.

This project couldn't have been accomplished without the help of others. It really does take a village. Special thanks go to Ryan Syzmanski, the Big J's curator, who not only got me some critical measurements that I needed just to get started, but also the special tour I took where I got access to the non-public areas and did those amazing 3D scans with my iPhone 12 Pro. The other person is Jim Slade. Jim is doing the near impossible. He's making 3D CAD drawings of every frame of the Iowa ships based on the actual engineering drawings that are on microfilm at the National Archives. He gave me those accurate drawings of the pan and electric decks and the outer bulkheads. Without them I was completely lost.

Here's the final, final images. I redid the graphics to my grandson's approval and produced them to look like the placards that adorn the guns and gun compartments. I did the faux frames in CorelDraw.

ITP-Done-1.jpg


ITP-Done-3.jpg


ITP-Done-4.jpg


ITP_Done_5.jpg


ITP_Fone_6.jpg


Now for the "After Action Report"

The Good!

  1. Getting it finished where it actually exceeds my expectations. That's really not that hard since I expected nothing in the beginning.
  2. Creating a very good rendition of the complicated and elusive Mark 7 16"-50 cal gun including the tiniest details of the massive yoke and breach.
  3. Designing and pre-installing all the surface mount LED lighting and the use of the circuit board to contain the nine CL2N3 LED drivers making hookup fast and error free.
  4. All the lights working after all the yanking and pulling I did to assemble the beast. The true Hanukkah Miracle of Lights!
  5. Machining the back ends of the after-market aluminum gun barrels to 7/16" so I could produce the resin gun slides with sufficient wall thickness with the mating part of the gun slides to support the guns
  6. Finally figuring a way to print the entire gun slide assembly in two parts (yoke and slide) fianlly resulting in a warp-free product.
  7. SketchUp's ability to produce an accurate flattened-out shape which enabled me to get the circular bulkheads made out of styrene with minimal guessing.
  8. My iPhone 12 Pro's LIDAR which enabled me to 3D scan the projectile hoists and lower powder hoist areas answering some major questions
  9. My special private tour of the ship where I finally could figure out the nooks and crannies in the gun compartments and surrounding area.
  10. Nailing the detail painting.
  11. The intricacy and beauty of the long-base range finder and how close it is to the prototype.
  12. Producing really small details in 1/72 like the powder scuttles, the inside periscopes, the auxiliary computer and all the pumps and machinery on the e-deck and elsewhere.
  13. How well the roller bearing/ring gear came out... finally.
  14. The stunning piece of furniture upon which the model sits crafted by one of my oldest friends and bass player from my college R&B band, Bryant Mitchell.
  15. Even though it was an awful experience, the way the open bulkheads worked out as a way to display the innards of this complex machine.
  16. Mastering the creation of a large Plexiglass enclosure with a minimum of screwups... which is a first for me. Had extra help with all the good advice.
  17. How the graphics finally turned out with my grandson's input. The kid's terrific!
  18. How the metal guns really highlight the turret.
  19. Getting the elevating screws reasonably right... still not perfect.
  20. And finally, having the tools, skills, know-how and physical faculties at 77 to pull this off.
The Bad!

  1. Having to produce the detail that would be on the back side of the officer's booth bulkhead on a separate piece that is the rear gun compartment. This was necessary as a function of the 3D printing process to avoid supports on details that would have been wrecked by them. It complicated the build.
  2. Not drawing the plastic parts in the SketchUp modeling. This came back to bite me right at the end with things like the decking no fitting on the model (among other things)
  3. Starting the drawing process with little or no dimensions only having to redraw-reprint more times than I'd like to mention.
  4. Attempting to 3D print the thin circular bulkheads on the lower decks. 3D printing doesn't like thin sections.
  5. The inaccuracy of tracing part foot prints on non-dimensioned illustrations. Some of my equipment is probably overscale due to how tightly things ended up fitting.
  6. Having to make the annular decks into 1/4" thick assesmblies to resist the constant stress of the styrene circular bulkheads trying to straighten themselves out. Besides stressing glue joints that kept popping, the thick decks created assembly challenges at the end.
  7. Specing the central column holes too close to the column's diameter. They didn't have to be press fits.
  8. Making the cradle assemblies too close to prototype proportions leading to constant breakage and three reprints.
  9. Not having a good idea of how some of the parts would assemble in the real world when drawing them, necessitating lots of custom fitting.
  10. The constant repainting caused by the late changes.
The Ugly!

  1. That collosal error of assembling the armor barbette at the wrong height and having to almost destroy it to fix it.
  2. The printing of the ring gear wrongly only to find this out when I was fixing #1.
  3. The final misalignment of the projectile flats with their respective annual decks. Maybe people won't mind, but I do. This is due in part to the thick annular rings problem.
  4. Getting the spacing wrong between the guns on the gun girder. This caused lots of problems. And that was the 3rd girder I printed.
  5. Not having a clue about how long the elevating screws really needed to be and still not happy with the installation.
  6. Having to redo the side sighting compartment designs and the telescopes due to not understanding the geometry.
  7. Painting the central column only to have it all scrape off as I manhandled it into position and then touch it up two times reaching into the model.
  8. Reprinting and breaking the back bulkhead three times.
  9. Getting the long-base rangefinder optical ends too short, again becasue I didn't draw the actual plastic parts when doing the design. I took my lengths from line drawings.
  10. Dropping important things on the floor and having to repair them too many times.
  11. Screw up the projectile hoist fits right to the end.
  12. Relying on CA to hold stuff when it's totally unreliable, especially gluing styrene to resin.
  13. Having the audacity to think I could create this thing and almost not making it.
 
Thanks all. It was also the most complicate model I've ever built on almost every level. The best thing about blogging all of these builds is so I don't forget just what was entailed in the creation. I often re-read my threads just for fun. It helps me appreciate the effort and refreshes my memory on techniques I applied that I can forgot. I don't like re-inventing my own wheels.

Glad you all could come along for the ride. Happy New Year.

We were planning on leaving for Philly today stopping overnight in Frostburg, MD, but there are snow showers on the entire route so we've postponed until tomorrow. The handover is on Thursday so we had some slack in the itinerary.
 
Builder 2010 said:
Thanks all. It was also the most complicate model I've ever built on almost every level. The best thing about blogging all of these builds is so I don't forget just what was entailed in the creation. I often re-read my threads just for fun. It helps me appreciate the effort and refreshes my memory on techniques I applied that I can forgot. I don't like re-inventing my own wheels.

Glad you all could come along for the ride. Happy New Year.

We were planning on leaving for Philly today stopping overnight in Frostburg, MD, but there are snow showers on the entire route so we've postponed until tomorrow. The handover is on Thursday so we had some slack in the itinerary.
Click to expand...
Take some pics at the handover.
 
Thanks All!

Re: Bacon. I'll double up on my Statins...

I will definitely document the handover. I'm also planning of getting some 1/72 figures and bringing them at our Spring trip.

We've stopped for the night at Frostburg, Maryland. The name says it all, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains in Western Maryland. The model's sitting on the folded down rear seat of our 2013 Buick LaCross. The car rides about as smooth as possible and the model has nothing falling off… so far. I'm leaving it where it is since there's much more chance of damage there than trundling it up to the room on a luggage cart. The less I have to pick it up the better off it is. It's going to be cold, but since it's 95% plastic, the coefficent of expansion, it shouldn't get too stressed.
 
Builder 2010 said:
Thanks All!

Re: Bacon. I'll double up on my Statins...

I will definitely document the handover. I'm also planning of getting some 1/72 figures and bringing them at our Spring trip.

We've stopped for the night at Frostburg, Maryland. The name says it all, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains in Western Maryland. The model's sitting on the folded down rear seat of our 2013 Buick LaCross. The car rides about as smooth as possible and the model has nothing falling off… so far. I'm leaving it where it is since there's much more chance of damage there than trundling it up to the room on a luggage cart. The less I have to pick it up the better off it is. It's going to be cold, but since it's 95% plastic, the coefficent of expansion, it shouldn't get too stressed.
Click to expand...
Please take care of this baby!
 
The model made it from Louisville, KY to the curator's cabin in PERFECT SHAPE! Nothing fell off! I brought a box of emergency tools and glue just in case, but didn't need them. What I did do is forget them when I left and Ryan's going to have to ship them to me.

Ryan was impressed and it exceeded his expectations.

ITP_Delivery_Ryan_and_Me_3.jpg


These pictures were taken by my younger and stronger nephew who did the honors of carrying the model to the ship and down the companion way ladder to Ryan's office. We discussed where it should be displayed and decided the ward room probably would work. It's the place where Anyone with a disabilities can go to the wardroom and get educated about the ship. I also asked if he communicates with curators in the other three Iowa museum ships? Yes! And they might be interested to have a model of their own. These would not be donated and shipping would become a challenge. I could drive a model to the Winsconsin in Norfolk, but Iowa in San Pedro and Missouri in Pearl is another story.

We spent about a half hour with me explaining the fun and challenges of building a one-off custom model. Ryan is a model maker himself so had no trouble empathizing with the challenges.

ITP_Delivery_2.jpg


And more news. Aaron Skinner responded and said FSM would like to publish an article about it. He gave me some requests which I will comply with. I've already started writing an article, but already have way too many words.

It was a very good day! The fact that the model made it to the ship in perfect condition was a real joy.

When the model is in it's final position I will post that also. Stay tuned.
 
Thanks all for all the kind words.

I will inform everyone when and where it will go on display. Later in the afternoon it was being photographed and catalogued. Donating to the Big J is a formal process since the ship is property of the State of New Jersey.

I'm going to order those 1/72 WW2 sailors and bring them to the ship during our Spring trip. The model needs some people to lend a sense of scale.
 
Drafting, been doing it since I worked for Kaiser Alum, paper and pencil since 1967 my last job at 70 I was using Inventor. Loved it all.
And what I have witnessed here makes me drool. But then at almost 80 it's a regular occurrence.
I admire your skills and tenacity, you have stuck with it thru thick and thin and inspired a whole form of skilled members.
It would be wonderful to have all the tools in your shop. Thank you for the ride.
 
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