USS Kirk DE/FF 1087,1/700 AFV.
One of 46 Knox class destroyer escort/ fast frigate. The Kirk was commissioned in the early seventies and later transferred to Taiwan in the mid nineties. It took part in the evacuation of South Vietnamese refugees in 1975.
I picked this up because I remember seeing these ships sailing with the carrier that I was on. I found out later its history , If you can check out this video, it is an interesting story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RidWEJpyZd0
4 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Andrew H said on December 3, 2020
Fascinating history and an excellently produced account of it (both the video.. watched it when you posted it last night.. and your model). Thank you for sharing! Later-century/ Cold War ships are so-often neglected in the model circles, but I'm glad you've built this up. I'm assuming kit is resin, and waterline only?
Robert Royes said on December 3, 2020
Thanks, it's actually injection mold.
John Healy said on December 3, 2020
Nice work, Robert. It’s good to see 1/700 ships built.
Paul Wilsford said on December 4, 2020
My first ship was the Capodanno DE/FF 1093. I still remember most of the crew that I served with.
Dirk Derks said on December 4, 2020
Hello Robert,
Job well done on this extremely small scale.
Regards, Dirk
Spiros Pendedekas said on December 4, 2020
Well done, Robert!
Mark Lull said on April 11, 2022
Nice job Robert!
I just found and joined iModeler and immediately searched for information on Knox class frigates.
USS Miller (FF-1091) was my home for four and a half years in the late 70s. I have a 1:700 kit as well as a 1:350 kit that I intend to build as the Miller from that time period. (I also have model kits of other ships from that time period in 1:700 and 1:350 scale that I will be working on in the future. Andrew H is correct in that these ships are mostly ignored. Paul Wilsford: I remember Capodanno. Capodanno and Miller were both transferred to Turkey. Ainsworth was as well and is now a museum ship there.) These kits and your model are have the later modifications to the class as well as at least one inconsistency.
The most noticeable difference is the addition of "hurricane bows". ("The modification heightened the bow section, adding bulwarks and spray strakes to prevent burrowing into on-coming seas and to better protect the forecastle armament." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox-class_frigate) I will need to remove these on my models.
Also added was the CIWS (Close In Weapons System) on the fantail (in your model) or the BPDMS (Basic Point Defense Missile System). Neither of these were installed on Miller until later so I will need to remove the mounting for them.
My biggest problem is that the AN-ULQ-6 Deception Repeater with its associated AN-SLA-12 Antenna System (along with the AN-WLR-1 ESM domes on the mast) were replaced with the AN-SLQ-32 Countermeasures system. This presents the inconsistency in the models. (There should not be three ESM domes on the mast once the AN-SLQ-32 system was installed. Also, the forward ESM dome should have a smaller, protruding dome on top that I will need to add to my models.) More importantly to me is that the AN-SLA-12 antenna system is entirely different from that of the AN-SLQ-32 antenna system so it looks like I will have to create those parts myself. So far, I haven't been able to find any great pictures of the AN-SLA-12 antenna system (but I am still looking). If anyone can provide any assistance with this area of the ship, it would be greatly appreciated.
Robert Royes said on April 11, 2022
Thanks, I witnessed many a FF acting like submarines while refueling from a carrier in rough seas. There's a site called Modelwarships that might be helpful.