I've been working on the aft deck of the cruiser this week. I'm still confining myself to those items that are relatively low lying. So no gun turrets yet.
There is a fair amount of photo etch for the aft deck, including some pretty cool depth charge racks. I recall ready that the the crew of the USS San Francisco was given a lot of ribbing about these since they did not carry sonar. People were saying something like an "oversize destroyer". But they do look cool sitting there on the aft deck.
There are also a couple of cable reels forward of the gun tubs which were made from PE. I added a bit of extra detail to these by adding a center reel tube and then wrapping some thin solder around it to simulate cable (or rope?).
There are two gun tubs with PE splinter shields which I did in a similar manner to the earlier ones on the smoke stack deck. And a few small plastic parts which had no PE equivalents including two parts between the depth charge racks which I believe may be smoke generators.
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![](https://imodeler.com/uploads/2024/07/c/clipper_240725_66a2e168e5679-1024x658.jpg?v=1721950568)
1. Depth charge racks
2. Smoke generators , I believe
3. Ammo boxes ?
4. Gun Directors ?
5. PE Cable Reels dressed up with a center shaft and some solder wire to simulate cable.
I did not do the edge railing , cleats, or bollards yet for this area because I will be masking it off when I paint the hangar building that is not completed yet. Those parts are pretty fragile and I will add them later.
I believe I am going to move to the front deck next, but I want to look over everything first and see if that is the best next move.