5" 38 Mark 28 Twin Gun Secondary Battery from Iowa Class Battleships

I second that.

"We're not worthy. We're not worthy".

Great work so far!

Hello gang!

I needed one more day to finish the model, but didn't do it. I ran into a challenge getting those bits of hoist trunks into the 2nd deck cabin spaces. I was making a mess and had to stop. BUT… we did get that tour and it did not disappoint. My wife, who is anti-military model building and was very luke warm about going on the tour, was blown away. She was quoting Ryan's comments to others during our Philly visit with friends and family.

The refurbishment project was estimated to cost $10m USD. They were granted $5m from the state of New Jersey, and raised an addtional $4m through donations. While a million short, they started the project. They had a brainstorm to charge for bottom tours. Prices were $1,000//person for Ryan, $500/person for his communications manager and $225 for other docents. It was so successful that to-date they raised another $1.5m and were able to extend the project until mid-June to do some other items that they thought would have to be left undone. Ryan was surprised that they have to beg people to take the $35 in-ship tours, but were booked solid for the $1,000 bottom tours. People are coming from all over the world to see it. Ryan has become somewhat of a celebrity both through the now-100s of videos he produced and getting publicized on CBS World News and the New York Times.

The ship is in the graving dock where it was originally outfitted in 1943. The Big J and Wisconsin were built there. The dry dock is 100 years old and when the Jersey leaves after this project, it's going to be decommissioned and filled up. It is a casson dock. The wall that keeps out the Delaware River is hollow. It floats. The ship is pushed into position by the tugs, the casson is floated into position and then filled with water. The casson sinks and aligns with the tapered slots on the dock's sides. When it reaches the bottom, it plugs off the river. The water is pumped out and the ship is sitting on 292, 4' square concrete blocks with steel shims. At 47,000 tons, each block supports 322,000 pounds.

To accurately position the ship, there are blocks marking the extremes of the ship. They hang a plumb bob from the forepeak and when it's centered over the block, the ship's positioned correctly.

To refloat the ship, the water is let into the dock, the casson is pumped out and floated. It's towed away and the ship is then free to leave.

In order to move the ship under the Walt Whitman Bridge they had to add 500,000 gallons of water (4,000 tons) to lower it deeper in the river to clear the masts. Water was also moved around in the various tanks in the ship to lower it equally on all those 292 blocks. If it contacted one end or the other first, the massive weight would crush that part. It wa a correographed ballet to get it to settle evenly.

Ryan Syzmanski is not only the curator, but also the project lead on the refurbishment.

This is the first time in 34 years that the ship was out of water. The bottom was in remarkedly good shape.

To access the bottom you must negotiate 75 concrete steps from ground level to the bottom. This was daunting to think about, but both my wife and I did it okay. When you descend the steps this is the view. There are stairs at the four corners of the dry dock. You come down at the starboard stern and go back up at the end at the starboard bow.



The inboard 5-bladed propellers are 17' in diameter. The outboard are 4-bladed 18' in diameter. The two skegs channel water to the inboard props and the rudders to increase their efficiency.



The channel between the skegs is known as "The Holland Tunnel" due to it's size. Two cars can pass side-by-side. The outer bearing is held in a massive casting that's welded to the skegs.



The two massive rudders are single piece, hollow castings. They had to do internal inspections of them to determine if any corrosion was taking place. The are of semi-balanced design to reduce the turning force required for their operation. The hull is repainted with 18,000 pounds of special Sherman Williams anti-fouling red.

The ship is so huge that it's impossible to ascertain just how big it is standing below it. I was able to visualize how the hull was constructed. The hull plates are lapped over each going up. The upper and lower edges were rivited with semi-flush rivets and fore and aft joints are welded. Modelers who like to acccentuate the plating on 1:350 scale ship models are overdoing it. The ship's side are quite smooth.



At sea, the ship had 1,600 Zinc galvanic corrosion blocks bolted to the hull to prevent erosion of the properller bronze. The ship's hull is the negative/ground plane for the vast amount of electrical energy generated within. With the action of saltwater as an electrolyte, the less nobel properllers would give up metal ions to the steel hull. With the zinc, being a less nobel metal than the props, they would be sacrificed saving the properllers.

At least that's the way it's supposed to work. Whe the ship's bottom was exposed, there was no errosion on the zinc blocks. That's because the ship was not in salt water. It was in brackish water of the lower Delaware River. After analysis, they found that aluminum was the correct metal to use and all 1,600 blocks were replaced. In pure fresh water the metal would be magnesium.



Clearance under the ship is tight and somewhat claustrophobic at four feet. This height was chosen supposedly so the painter's can sit on a paint bucket while painting the vast bottom. Here was Ryan regaling us on that thought.



We were given hard harts which came in very, very handy when stooping under the vessel.



The ship has 160 sea chests, openings to pass water into and out of the ship for all the various things needing it, e.g., boiler feed, condenser cooling water, drinking water feed to the evaporators, etc. All of these are plugged with welded covers and all had to be inspected for leakage. At sea they would all be open. They penetrate the hull at various angles depending on if the ship's forward velocity is used to give a ram effect. The Delaware River's visiblility is about 15" so nothing could be learned while it was in the water. The assessment had to wait until the ship was exposed.



The bilge keel was damaged during some move or another and was fixed by adding welded sheet steel. The welding popped the rivet next to the damage requiring it to be welded, which popped the next rivet and so it went for hundreds of them.

Another thing found when the ship was dry were these welded circles that were close to the bilge turn. They didn't know what they were for. After investigating, it was determined that during the 1980s refit, the ship was converted from Bunker C oil to distillate (heating oil). Before refilling the tanks, they had to be completely cleaned of all the tarry residue from the heavy oil. The fuel tanks form are the entire bottom of the first layer of the triple-bottomed hull. They cut man-sized holes in the tanks and men with steam lances had to enter to melt and then remove the tar. It was an awful task! They then welded the circles back on. Having fuel at the bottom provided buoyancy control and torpedo defense.



Most of the hull skin is very streamlined with minimum ripples. There is some erosion that's visible under the fresh coat of paint, but all in all the ship looks fabulous for being 81 years old.



There's a minimum amount of 'oil-canning' around the areas with the lightest plating, namely the bow and stern. It's most pronounced on the black boot topping. The sun's heat expands the steel, but it's constrained by the framing. The only place the thin steel can go is to buckle slightly. Modelers who want to add this detail need to consider it's only at certain areas of the hull, not the whole ship.

Where the ship is sitting on the blocks it can't be painted. To accomodate this when on active duty, the ship is drydocked every two years for a bottom paint. It's positioned in three ways. The 2nd and 3rd positions are two and four feet off the original position, so they can paint the area that was blocked initially. However, from WW2 to the last deploy, the ship was only activated for a year at a time, and each time they painted it, they used position 1, meaning there were 292, 4ft square areas on the bottom that hadn't been painted in 75 years. To fix this problem, the ship will be re-floated and moved 4ft forward and set back on the blocks in the new position exposing the unpainted areas. This little move will cost over $100,000.00.

There is one detail that is never included on models of the Iowas. Between the skegs is the tail of the actual keel of the ship. It's rather pronounced and ends in a very sharp knife edge, mirroring that of the bow. It's buried in the Holland Tunnel and when you see side elevations, they don't show it. Even mid-line section drawings don't show it and NO MODELs have it, but there it is.



It is not shown on this section drawing.



When we got up those steps we walked out on the catwalk atop the casson and I took this shot straight onto the bow. From this view the ship is all about speed.

From the stern the ship is all power; 212,000 hp to move 57,000 tons at 35 knots in sea trials.

Looking up at the bow you realize how tall the hull is. Due to it's massive displacement and fine lines, the ship draws 36 feet of water.



The bow's profile is gorgeous!



The first two Iowas (Iowa and NJ) didn't sit with the main deck parallel to the ocean surface. The bow was 8 feet higher than the stern and the water line refected this. The last two; Missouri and Wisconsin, had 5,000 tons of armor added to turret #1's barbette and these two ships sit level. If you're modeling the NJ you should consider this difference.

Here's a look down the length from the casson.



Without 10,000 tons of ammo, fuel and stores, the ship's waterline is 8 feet lower than it would be in active duty.

I also took some detail shots of the secondary battery I'm modeling to capture any other external details that I want to add.

The Big J was the most decorated warship in the US Navy due to its many deployments. It has battle stripes just like an individual sailor would have.



We had a private tour with Ryan that lasted 1.5 hours. It was remarkable and I'm so very glad to have been able to do it.

Back in the shop. Finally got those trunks installed. I'm not happy with the little chunk on the right. I had to do major surgery on that one to get it to fit. Reason… the trunks are too far forward and the curve would take it out of the structure. In retrospect, I should have installed the trunks before the main deck was screwed down. It was very difficult to position and glue them through those cutaways. Water over the dam!



I cleaned up the mess I made of the decking and paint within those openings, and then re-glued the assembly together. With the adjusted lower trunk parts, the deck nestled down much tighter. Tomorrow I will install the gun house and UHR and run the wiring to the underneath. Last thing before putting on the case will be to install the delicate railing.



I still have to finish the case with flame polishing the edges and mounting the plaque and graphics. I need to build the case lock. That doesn't take too long. Ideally, the model will be done by the end of the week. Then I have to plan another trip Back East to deliver it. The ship will be back at the Camden Waterfront in mid-June.

That picture tour and explanation was just magic Myles, thank you so much for sharing.

Looks great so far!

Thank you! When I look at my Missouri model now I have a completely different feeling having been able to literally reach out and touch it. Even when you visit a museum ship, you're not able to actually touch the hull and see/feel how it's put together. The smoothness of the ship even after 81 years attests to the level of expertise in its creation. Modelers who try and add oil-canning to the surface and exaggerated panel connections are doing the ship a disservice. At 1:350 those feature would be too fine to model.

I woke up thinking about other ways I could have set up the model including printing 1/2 of the gun house shield as a single part eliminating all the alignment and fit problems. Instead of a cutaway resembling Swiss cheese, it would be 1/2 housing and 1/2 wide open. That's if I ever have to make another one of these.

I'm a bit over one more day until completion. Did a bunch of punch list items including actually punching something. To make the glazing for the portholes, I sharpened the tail end of an F drill which perfectly matched the i.d. of the porthole opening. I punched out 0.010" clear styrene. The first grind was a V-shaped which distorted the plastic discs too much. I re-ground it to a simple flat, slanted end and punched out acceptable discs. After inserting them, I used Pledge floor wax with Future (clear acrylic) which served to clear up the pieces and glue them into the opening.



After taking the pic I painted the inside frames brass.

My design, not having the Splinter Deck covering the entire surface of the 3rd Deck, was chosen to simply reduce the amount of printing of unseen parts. However, it created a rather flimsy cantilevered structure. To inprove structural integrity I cut and epoxied supports across the under-supported back. This stiffened the whole structure nicely. It won't be noticeable. The model will be backed against a wall so to see the rear will take some doing.



I first used plastic cement to hold the supports to the styrene parts, but they were failing and redid them with J-B Epoxy blened for plastics.

Here's how it looks with the gravity clamps.



I glued the superstructure wall in place in readiness to add the gun house/UHR tomorrow.



I flame polished the exposed edges of the case and installed the name plaque and the graphic. The plaque already had adhesive strips. For the graphic I used 3M Transfer Tape.



I was unhappy with the misaligned front hoist trunk. I added a thin styrene apliqué to clean up the contours. It's just a thin piece of styrene sheet, but you can't see around it.



I chemically darkened the conduit tube that serves double duty: providing a path for the GH light circuits, and added support for the overhanging area. I added CA to the top and bottom to make sure it stays put.

What's left is making the case locks, gluing the GH/UHR to the deck, adding the stair, building and painting the railing and tieing in all the wiring to the circuit board…. and it will be DONE! Could be tomorrow. The glue I'm using (J-B Structural Adhesive) takes a few hours to set up so maybe it will be Monday.

Amazing!

Thanks… It sure amazes me. Started out 10 months ago studying some diagrams and now it's this...

On Monday the model will be done! Today was a mishmash of tasks to finalize the build. And there was the usual passal of complications that seem to crop up at the last minute. Alls well that ends well" sums up the day.

I started by fabricating the brass clips that would secure the case. I was halfway through when I realized that I should glue the GH/UHR assembly since it would need a good hour of setup time before I could handle the model. To do the wiring it had to be in place and be able to let me lay the case on its side to access the bottom.

I marked its location on the deck and applied the J-B Structural Cement so it did not ooze out of the edges.



The assembly sits just a bit proud of the superstructure bulkhead due to the screw heads protruding. Believe it or not, this little bit almost caused a problem.

While drying I got back to making the locks.

Before drilling I did a bit more flame polishing. In the lighting where I was doing this showed that it wasn't done enough. I also overdid it in one spot. Yes… you can overdo flame polishing.



Drilling acrylic can be tricky due to fracturing upon exit at the hole's bottom. To counteract I used masking tape on both sides. It also provided a place to mark the locations.



The bracket is screwed in from the back side and passes under the end acrylic sheet. The 1/16" gap came in handy for this and I used it.





I fit the case over the base with the model in it and found that I only had a fraction of an inch clearance between the open access GH hatches and the plexiglass. Luckily, I built in some play and was able to scooch the case forward a bit to gain just a bit more room. I was very, very lucky. I was concerned about the protrusions on the gun house as I drew it and the base, those open doors were not in the drawing. If it didn't fit, frankly, I have no idea what I would do.



With the case positioned properly, I drilled the pilot holes for the flat-head brass screws with dress washers. Came out nice and neat.



And with the case on.



With the case fastened, I was able to tip the model backwards and terminate the light leads. I had passed the GH/UHR leads done the conduit tube before gluing in place.

I bought some very small gauge ferrules from Ferrules Direct for the 32 gauge wire I use with LEDs. These protect the delicate conductors and make connections into Euro-style terminal strips must more secure.



Making the connections only took a few minutes. Then I tried the lights and they ALL WORKED! Excapt for one thing… the lights in the magazine were very yellow, like high pressure sodium lights. Oh darn! I never took off the tiny pieces of Tamiya masking tape I applied to protect the LEDs from painting. The magazine is very difficut to reach now, being set way back.



Using this long machinist's scribe, I was able to reach them even in the powder room and remove the tape from the lights.



That was today's first panic moment. With the tape off, the lighting was excellent.



Looking from the side you can see the front faces of the those complicated hoists which I spent so much time designing, printing and painting.



I took some more pictures with the room lights dimmed and bright to see how it looks. I'm not all that happy with the light leakage at the UHR's roof joint. With the bright lights inside I can see that it's caused by the vertical beam still being a little too long and keeping the roof from nestling down. Nothing I can do about this now. I kept shortening them, but apparently not enough.





The second panic moment was… you guessed it… breaking another foot rung. I'm getting very good at this and can add a new one rather quickly, even when the model is already built.


All that was left was the railings. I didn't have much time before my 5:00 quitting time, but I got them strung. I only have to trim the excess E-Z Line and paint. The stanchion holes are sized perfectly and I didn't have use any cement. They were all a nice push fit. I broke one turnbuckle, but I had already strung the first line and it was all CA'd so removal could be a problem. I am going to live with it. Actually, you probably would only need turnbuckles on one end of the run.



I took this image looking through the cutaway at the GH front and took a picture of the telephone dial. I sent the image to Ryan and he wondered why I didn't paint in the numbers. He's a kidder…



On Monday, I finish the railing and go around one more time doing a any cleanup/touchup and the model will be finished!

The AV program is done too. I have to purchase the digital picture frame to run it. Since I now have some time, I can order it, install the program and debug it before delivering it to Ryan.

I will take some beauty shots next week that will resprent the As-Built Builder's Photos.

I will do a final wrap up and "Lessons Learned" discussion when it's finished.

I can see you holystoning the deck.

You have put in a lot of hours on this Myles and it looks just great. Very well done.

Great work so far!

Thanks for all you have posted. Today I can say I learned something new!

What did you learn?

Thanks, and here are the Really Done Pictures!

Thanks Guys! Today's a big day. I'm declaring it DONE! While I'm saying that, I'm printing out one last part. There are curved transition pieces from the ship's bulkheads to the UHR corners. I may not use them because putting them in risks making mistakes and mess when the model is really done and clean. I'll how well they fit and then decide.

Having spare printed railing parts, I removed all the initial E-Z Line rails, and replaced that broken right end stanchion. I also reinforced the very delicate joint between the turnbuckle and the stanchion with Bondic on both ends giving some more heft to the part. Doing it the second time went much faster than the first. I harden the tip of the E-Z Line with thin CA and then slice the end to a sharp angle to facilitate getting it through the stanchion eyes. I painted the stanchions and the outer waterway trim Life Color Haze Gray and then went over the E-Z Line with a fat headed Molotow Chrome Pen. I'm now at ease about that rail. I didn't like having it screwed up especially since I now had the time to fix it.

![


And now with the case on…




I have to set a date with Ryan for delivery after the ship is back at its home berth.

So… left me do an after-action report. Let's say, a Plus, Minus, Interesting review.

Plus:
1. 5"38 was a very complex structure which I really didn't know if I could pull it off. The fact that I did AND that it follows so closely to my original drawings was a definite Plus.
2. The challenge to display the layers in roughly the correct geometric relationship to the real ship came out well. The magaizine's offset from the gun is very close to prototype distance.
3. Creating the AV program to show details of the model that aren't readily seen was a good solution to the problem. Thanks to Bryant for the idea, and the acceptance of it by Ryan.
4. When the Takom kit was out of stock, I really didn't know if I could proceed. The gun house's geometry, the shape and delicacy of the guns themselves had to be solved for the model to work. My skills had progressed to the point where I thought I could scratch-build all of it. Clearly, that was true.
5. I am not patient, but I am very persistent. Making five versions of the complex front mechanism proved that point.
6. My acrylic case-building skills continue to evolve. I'm not perfect yet, but I've come a long way.
7. Managing LED light installations are getting easier and more predictable.
8. Screwing the decks in place was a good idea and more positive than gluing them all.
9. The wood deck came out terrific. I'm glad I chose to do it.
10. Having two models now being displayed in the real ship is a life goal achieved. When I was offered a place in the captain's cabin of my Missouri model, but couldn't get it there on my own, I thought that was the first and last chance to have something displyed where it would exist after I'm gone. Through the effort I make to communicate all this stuff to folks all over the world is the reason that I was able to contact Ryan Syzmanski. The rest is history.

Minus:
1. Unhappy with alignment of upper hoists. When I reglued the units after they had broken loose, I didn't pay enough attention to this. Most (or all) of the viewers probably won't notice, but I know
2. I chose to not create the Splinter Deck Lattice so it stretched all the way across the Splinter Deck. This created a very squishy cantilever that I need to reinforce with plastic posts that ARE NOT on the ship.
3. If I did it again, I would split the gun house down the middle and leave half off fully exposing the insides. It would have shown more to the viewers, although may have been less interesting where viewers have to pay close attention to see what's going on inside.
4. Still haven't figured out the best way to make those snaky hoist trunks. Messing with them at the very end could have crashed the project.
5. Some parts, like those tiny turnbuckles, were just too frail and I should have done something different.
6. Even with my foresight of installing guns last and how to handle the sight telescopes, the telescopes did not work out well. If I did it again, havind half open would make that problem go away.
7. More light is needed at the very front of the Magazine to show off the hoist side facing the viewers. I could have installed an LED aimed at the cutaway to do this.

Interesting:
1. I know know enough about the main and secondary armament systems of the Iowas to be a docent. If we still lived in the Philly area, I would volunteer there.
2. Watching my relationship with Ryan change from casual, arm's length to full colleague was fun and rewarding.
3. Because of my contribution to the Big J and being able to have that amazing private tour of the bottom was worth all the effort.
4. It is franky, fun, building models that no one else, anywhere, has ever constructed. The icing on the cake is doing them well enough to be displayed to the public.
5. Having been a model builder for 70 years, it is wonderful to be well-enough, have enough cognitive strength, and the creativity to do the best work I've ever done.
6. It has been a great pleasure sharing all of this with you.