USS San Francisco Project

Started by Carl Smoot · 218 · 1 month ago
  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 5 months ago:

    For some time now, I have had a hankering to build a ship model. My last ship model was built when I was a pre-teen and fell victim to glue on the deck, lit on fire, placed in a small creek and sunk by BB Gun fire! Half a century ago. 🙂

    I have a grand total of two ship kits in my stash. A Tamiya Fletcher class destroyer in 1/350 scale and this kit, the Trumpeter 1/350 scale USS San Francisco 1942 version.

    I'll be the first to admit that other than general knowledge and historical references, I know very little technical information about ships, so this project will be a bit of a challenge for me. I have a few goals with this build.

    First, to extend my collection of models built to other subject matter.

    Secondly, to learn some of the history behind this particular ship.

    Thirdly, to stretch my skills.

    I'll be working on this off and on while I continue with my other aircraft builds as I know this is going to take a long time to complete.

  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 5 months ago:

    @clipper oh WOW! You're going full tilt on this one! Looking forward to the build!

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 5 months ago:

    Congratulations on creating this GB, my friend @clipper! Your entry is awesome, full of goodies already! Looking forward to it!

  • Profile Photo
    Andrew H said 5 months ago:

    Awesome! Too few ship builds on this wonderful site!

    Quite a host of upgrades you have prepared, which should go a long way to dress up this kit.

    In regard to the ship's history, I could recommend starting here:
    https://usssanfrancisco.org/the-foundation-2/

    The 'SanFran took part in a brutal engagement off the coast of Guadalcanal in '42, and the bridge wings that are on display (as seen in the link above) are a lasting testament of the brutal beating that that cruiser survived through. Fortunately, no severe hits below waterline, and good damage control measures allowed her to make it back to port. If it's of interest to you, here is the damage report:
    https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/w/war-damage-reports/uss-sanfrancisco-ca38-war-damage-report-no26.html

    If you want to hear a storied account of the prolonged engagement (of which CA-38 was just a part), I'd recommend reading or listening to "Neptune's Inferno" by Hornfischer. In fact, I'd recommend all his books, may he RIP.

    https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/w/war-damage-reports/uss-sanfrancisco-ca38-war-damage-report-no26.html

  • Profile Photo
    Tom Cleaver said 5 months ago:

    You may get some help from my building review at Modeling Madness:
    https://modelingmadness.com/review/misc/ships/tmcsf.htm

    The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal is extensively covered in my books: Under the Southern Cross, The Cactus Air Force

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 5 months ago:

    This is for sure going to be a wonderful build, Carl @clipper
    It is always a challenge to step out of your comfort zone but will bring the best out of you .

  • Profile Photo
    Alfred van Paaschen said 5 months ago:

    What an entry you've made here with this project, Carl!
    How big are those guys in 1/350 scale, 5 mm? You definitely need a good pair of eyes ...
    Anyway, I think I'm going for smaller boat/ship in a bigger scale though.

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 5 months ago:

    Thanks for joining me Cricket (@bikequeen), Spiros (@fiveten), Andrew (@pb_legend), Tom (@tcinla), John (@johnb), and Alfred (@alfred).

    Let me respond to some of this.

    Andrew, thanks for posting the links. I had started looking at some of these already. I found some good reference sites which should help a lot with detailing (or at least understand what some of the small bits in the kit are supposed to represent). And I have read Neptune's Inferno some years ago (as well as all of Hornfischer's other books). I did pull out Neptune's Inferno again to re-read.

    Tom, your review was one of the first things I found when I first started looking into this build. I will re-visit this review, now that I have the kit and more knowledge about where I want to go. I recently finished read the "The Cactus Air Force" earlier this year. Great write up. Guadalcanal is one of those classic battles with lots of rich history. Far more interesting to me personally than some of the European battles, probably because I like the underdog nature of the scrappy Marines defending Henderson Field.

    Alfred, I think the figures are probably 4mm in height. I found a YouTube video which I saved which covers a relatively easy way to deal with these small guys with an acceptable level of realism. Of course, that will be quite a ways off. As for eyesight, well that is a challenge for me as I am sure it is for many modelers.

    On a general note. I am watching a series of build videos on YouTube to get a better understanding of the process I will need to go through as I start this project.I got to one video where the builder was discussing cable drums and how tedious it was to have to make multiples of these. I had a bit of a crisis of confidence when I first saw that, but I have since resolved that I am going to handle this build in a Zen fashion where each step is going to be relished, and the end result is not going to be worried about as I know it will eventually happen.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 5 months ago:

    Indeed, my friend @clipper, approaching your build in a Zen fashion sounds great. Go the distance and have fun withbit!

  • Profile Photo
    Alfred van Paaschen said 5 months ago:

    As I stated earlier in this thread my plan was to go for a small boat in a big scale.
    My search on the internet yesterday resulted in a nice boat in 1/35 scale which was delivered today.
    I will soon start a separate thread on the build of the PBR.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 5 months ago:

    Looks like a great entry, my friend @alfred!

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 5 months ago:

    I have a special place in my heart for PT boat styled boats such as the PBR. My real life cabin cruiser looks sort of like these. This should be a great subject Alfred (@alfred).

    And BTW, lest anyone think by cabin cruiser, I mean some giant luxury yacht, let me say that it is actually fairly small at 21 feet in length and rather cramped. More like a small camper. I had to build something that would fit in my garage and she just barely did that, with literally inches to spare.

  • Profile Photo
    Alfred van Paaschen said 5 months ago:

    Thanks, Carl!
    The crew of the PBR will pose an extra challenge though as I am not used to painting human figures. Anyway, we’ll see how it turns out.

  • Profile Photo
    George R Blair Jr said 5 months ago:

    Looking forward to your build, Carl (@clipper). It looks like you already have all the goodies needed to really dress it up. I am also a big fan of Hornfischer and I have all of his books. I have always been interested in the Navy and it was only due to a weird quirk of fate that I ended up in the Air Force instead of the Navy. I have a bunch of unbuilt model ships in the stash, so I may end up joining you at some point. Where did you find the 3D printed crew?

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 5 months ago:

    George (@gblair), the 3D crew is ION brand. ionmodel.com. I think that Squadron may have access to these now, but , it you go to the Ion website, they have a list of stores. I cannot recall where I got mine, but I think it was House Of Hobbies.