USS Newark (CL-108) off Greenland 1946-47

[Cliffy B]

Alright gents, this will be my main entry as it will involve quite a bit of construction.  I have some aircraft builds in the works but more about those later.  All of them will tie into my Greenland scenario that I've posted parts of in my profile thread.  

Backstory Part I:

England falls in late 1945, Iceland falls 6-months later.  The Allies have been fortifying Greenland as their last stand before North America and the Germans want it no matter the cost.  Fast Forward to the winter of 1946-47, The USS Newark (CL-108) is conducting post repair/overhaul trials off New York along with a pair of DDs.  Newly commissioned in June of 1946 she was immediately pressed into service as a convoy escort for the Greenland convoys and made one of the last Iceland convoys before it fell.  She fought her way back to base and licked her wounds.  Newly repaired and ready to fight once again she's conducting a final round of tests before returning to active service.  Newark picks up an SOS from some nearby merchies to the North; German commerce raiders!  Tests are forgotten about as she and her consorts pour on steam and head to the aid of their fellow mariners.  An ASW hunter killer group also responds but is further out.  Her aircraft are first to arrive on the scene sighting one Light Cruiser and at least one Destroyer.  The appearance of the aircraft  cause the Germans to break contact and steam off at high speed to the northeast.  The TBM is greeted with a hail of anti-aircraft fire and immediately heads for the clouds frantically transmitting its report.  The pilot is more than alarmed at the accuracy of the German fire.  Something wasn't right...  Still transmitting the TBM attempts one more pass to verify the ship types and is cut off mid transmission.  

Upon arriving on scene, the US ships discover a very large field of wreckage and a lone survivor, a smoldering Butler-Class DE with a pronounced list.  The convoy had encountered a strong storm system and had broken up on its way back to the States.  The DE had been shepherding lost merchies all night and had amassed two cargo ships and a PF.  She was the only survivor after encountering the Germans.  Newark's group were the first ships on scene and dispatched one of her DDs for rescue operations while she continued on in pursuit of the Germans.  Working with the ASW group (who had dispatched a pair of DEs for rescue ops as well) Newark and the rest of the small armada methodically scoured the seas on the German's last known bearing.  It was Newark's own SC-2 floatplane that found them this time, sailing in column; 2 CLs and 2 DDs.  Heavy clouds worked in favor of the floatplane as she headed for home.  With the Seahawk's report in hand Newark poured on the steam as FM-2s and TBMs roared into the air.  The Germans had scored big and now the USN was out for blood but, that nasty storm system has other plans.

OK, I'll be using Niko's 1/700 USS Huntington kit for this build in addition to a DD and an icebreaker.  If all goes according to plan (when does that ever happen?  )  I'll completely scratch build the Icebreaker.  Time will tell, I'm finalizing plans for her tonight.  Should prove interesting when construction starts.

And I'm off!  

[Taiidantomcat]

scratchbuilt sounds very intriguing

[Cliffy B]

Oh it will be an interesting experience to say the lest.  Only have about 5 wartime photos and one side view drawing.  Spent last night drawing a top down view using my one overhead shot as a reference.  This ship won't be 100% accurate but it should look pretty darn close.  I'm fortunate to have some good 3/4 view photos so I can see how the decks looked.  Oh yeah, the icebreaker will be an Owasco-Class Icebreaker Gunboat.  USCG built 13 of them at the tail end of the war and used them into the 1970's.  I'll be painting it up in USN Ms. 16 the "Thayer Blue" scheme used by ships operating in the far northern regions of both oceans.

I decided on the DD that will be accompanying Newark; it will be an RN "O-Class".  I chose an "O" after rooting through the stash looking for tin cans.  All of my USN DD kits would of required too much work to bring them up to snuff.  The "O" will work just fine, especially after I give her a 1946 refit complete with radar and some USN weapons and camo   

I have everything I need to get going on this project.  Just need 2 things of paint and two cheap PE sheets and I'll be set.  I'll post more of the backstory as I finish writing it and start building.

As always, any and all comments, thoughts, ideas, etc... are appreciated.

-Mike

[sandiego89]

Nice.  I have been looking hard at my 1/300 Burton Island Icebreaker in the run up to this bulid. Like to see some other Greenland and ship ideas for this GB.  I may jump in. 

Good cammo idea here: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/g100000/g173269c.htm

[Cliffy B]

Hey, thanks man!  I was looking for those sheets but couldn't find the links.  Interesting that deck is 5-O and 5-L and not the normal 20-B/20-B and 5-O.  Neato!

I have some other ideas that will be built depending on time.  I have some captured ship dios on the drawing boards as well.  When I post the rest of Newark's story you'll see the ships I'm talking about.  Some old fashion armed boardings at sea are on their way  

I found a photo of one of the Owasco's off Vietnam and inspiration hit for a painting.  More on that later after I do some sketching.

PE and paint are inbound.  As soon as they get here I'll start cutting the plastic.

Man, sometimes the light bulbs take forever to turn on and other times I can't keep up with them they turn on so fast  

[Cliffy B]

Evening all!  I finally got started on the scratch built WPG hull.

First, some shots of the real ships circa 1945.




Family shot of the participants in the dio.  Top is the Niko 1/700 USS Huntington (CL-107) which will be turned into the USS Newark (CL-108).  The WPG hull is on the bottom.  In the middle is my AAW modified Butler-Class DE and a TBF Avenger for size comparison.


The hull.  Carved Basswood with 0.5mm styrene layered to give the deck its sheer.  There's also a piece of 0.3mm styrene on the tip of the bow.




I haven't carved the sides of the hull yet.  I'm letting the styrene finish drying overnight.  The CA glue set very fast and I was able to sand each piece after a minute or so after gluing.  Made short work of it all      I sanded the styrene to even out the curve and get rid of the stair step appearance.  I'll be adding a layer of Milliput over the deck and hull sides after I finish shaping the hull to unify the shape.

She'll be in her as built, 1945, fit but painted in MS. 16 the Thayer Blue Scheme.

Enjoy!

Any comments, thoughts, ideas, etc... are appreciated as always.

-Mike

[Thorvic]

Hi Mike

Have you considered using plastic card instead of the wood ?, you can get square lengths of Evergreen strip styrene upto 6.3mm square which should allow you to glue a couple of lengths together using liquid cement and then use thinner depthe of 6.3mm rectangular strip to get the correct width. Using the glue to bond the plastic together creates a solid lump of plastic that can be sawn, carved,  shaped and filled. A trick with doing the sloping bows and up turned stern is to use thinner plastic card strips to fill in the steps, making them easier to PSR to get a smooth finish, a skin with another thin layer of plastic card creates a nice  smooth clean deck onto which the super structure can be added.

Superstructure can use the same method as the hull using smaller thickness, thuse creating the basic blocks is pretty straight forward.

Its just another method of creating scratch built hulls in 1/700 waterline and has the advantage in that its all plastic so no issues with . 

Anyway the cutter is looking good so far and look forward to seeing it progress.

Geoff

[roughneck06]

Great story and i llok forward to more posts and seeing your progress on the ships.

One thought- In 1946 the F8F Bearcat is in service. If you have further CVE actions in your story- perhaps you could add them and delete the FMs-just a thought.

BTW- does anyone make 1?700 F8F Bearcats???

[Cliffy B]

Thorvic:

I did think about using plastic square stock but I didn't have any at the time over 2mm thick and I didn't feel like gluing together 60 or more small rectangles    I did have enough basswood though so I went with that.  I also wanted a solid core with which to carve and I felt that wood would give me a better medium than plastic.  It didn't turn out too bad I think, just a bunch a sawdust and a few chinks that putty took care of.

Roughneck06:

Nice call on the F8Fs.  Forgot about those    Think I'll edit story before the final post.  WEM used to make resin 1/700 F8Fs.  I grabbed a few packs before they ran out but I haven't seen any in at least 2 years.  I only have 10 aircraft total.  I could kick myself for not buying more when I had the chance  

Currently the hull is drying with a second coat of putty on it.  I sanded the first coat down nice and smooth but some more chinks showed through as well as some thin spots.  The Onslow is coming along nicely.  I cleared the after deck and fashioned a new deck house from some square stock.  Being a 1,500 ton DD I looked at the USN's own 1,500 ton DDs for inspiration and arrived at a plausible AAW upgrade with new guns all around.

I'll post photos later on after I finish polishing up the WPG's hull.  More later on!

Thanks for the interest and input gents, keep it coming.

-Mike

[Cliffy B]

Mods, could you please move this thread to the Ship GB?  I will not come close to finishing this for this GB but I've talked to Thorvic and he OK'd the move of the project to the other build.  Thanks guys!

-Mike