USS Juneau CL-52

[rjccjr]

Hi All;
The prototype is going up a lot more carefully than the mock up. The drawings are mostly the right size, but still need some correcting as it goes along, some editing and some cleaning up. A few words about cutting, card is very hard on knife blades. You can make them last a little longer by stropping them on a piece of leather. Buying them in packs of 100, will save money and frustration in the long run. Trying to used a blade after it loses its edge, is not a good idea, because you require a good sharp edge. Pushing a dull blade will require more strokes and it produces a rough cut. When cutting slots for bulkheads, it helps to cut inside the drawing lines. It keeps the slot narrow and the bulkhead stays snugly in alignment. If the bulkhead wobbles, you are heading for fitting problems. Always dry fit before you glue. Do not rush. This stage of the build is the most important, if you are hasty, you are going to get into fit problems later on. The first photo shows the board sanded clean with center marked lightly in pencil. The second shows the new base plate in place, unglued. The third shows the base glued and the first two bulkheads dry fitted. The fourth shows 23 bulkheads dry fitted. Minor size problems can be seen. Last photo shows a different angle. The mock up is always handy to check progress. Three anchors and hawse holes are being drawn. This entry is using the picture reduction instructions offered by Michael Mash and it works just fine. Thanks again.
Regards, rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;
All of the bulkheads are now in place. Several did not line up properly along the center line, so the slot was widened until they did. An angle bracket was made from scrap card, for the bottom of each side, to keep them properly in position. Photo 22 2 r shows one of the tabs. The bulkheads were examined, from bow and stern, for outrageous anomalies. The sides are OK, but a couple seem off for height. They can be trimmed. The bulkheads were glued in place. 22 3 r shows the deck sections and some spare tabs. The three deck sections are now cut and dry fitted. Some edges need to be trimmed. Tabs will be attached to connect the sections and the trimmed deck parts will be glued one at a time, front to back. One hopes that everything will come into alignment, but that isn't always the case. Next stage will be the side plates. These will be detailed, with the armor belt and anchor fittings, which are being drawn now. The Atlanta class cruisers have design features uncommon to American cruiser design. They have a knuckle to the upper bow, common to British cruiser design, and a rounded deck edge similar to Benson class destroyers. These features make the side plates difficult to fit.
Regards rjccjr

[Michael Mash]

The frame in the first photo is nicely assembled. Good photo.

[rjccjr]

Hi All;
Oops! Latest update went to old stuff, when I hit the wrong button. It's one of those days.
Regards, rjccjr

[Don Boose]

My comment also went to Old Stuff:

Incredibly clean, percise, and beautiful work on Juneau!

I am Ocean Green (5-OG) with envy at your skill, Ray.

Don

[rjccjr]

Hi All,

Got locked out of the site for nearly two weeks and couldn't find a way to get back in until just a few minutes ago. Here is some progress on CL-52. The first shot shows the bow plates cut and shaped. The second shows it being dry fitted. The third shows it glued in place. Number four shows all sides and the bow cap attached. Five shows an angled view with the armored belt attached. Photo six shows the first try at the stern anchor. It was too large. The last shot shows a smaller anchor. It works much better. The bow anchors are now on, but there is no picture yet. Have a happy New Year everyone.

Regards, rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

This is the one step forward and six back stage of development. Started drawing in detail, which caused several problems. There are numerous small items which needed to be attached along the basic deck houses. Some, like cable runs, vertical ladders and rails needed to be drawn onto the walls. Others such as stowed fuel hoses and fire hoses needed to be separate assemblies. The first serious step back was the discovery that the port holes were too large, which threw everything out of proportion. That meant redrawing the sides of all large assemblies which had portholes. Any idea how many ports there are on an early war light cruiser? Answer; too many. Step back two steps. Start drawing small items, such as ships boats, davits reels, capstans, anchor handling equipment, bitts, chocks, inclined ladders, searchlights, depth charge racks and torpedo tubes. Back four steps.

In every model design there are several TIATW (Throw it against the wall) moments. Got through this one. On to the next. The situation is starting to even out now. Here are a couple of pictures taken when it was discovered that the forward deck house didn't fit properly. The shape has been corrected and the details added to the walls. The revision has been drawn and is waiting to be cut and folded. That will take a couple of weeks. The fourth photo shows the old deck house so you can see the difference in the lack of detail and over sized port holes. The last picture shows the forward misfit deck house dry fitted and the new drawing, along with the first small parts drawing.

Regards, rjccjr

[aansorge]

Never happens to me! (said no one, ever)

[rjccjr]

HI All;

The corrected forward deck house and the after section are now in place. The water tight doors and forward hoses are attached. The cable runs, hand rails and correct size portholes are now on the parts. The assemblies are dry fitted at the moment, but they clearly fit much better than those on the mock up. In the first picture you can see the framework inside of the deck house and the colored underside of the deck extensions. The second photo shows the fit. There is no unintentional glaring white showing at the base of the assemblies. In the third photo you can see daylight through the rope holed at the bow. The anchors and armored belt are now prominent. In the last shot of the starboard side there is some white showing, but once the sections are glued down, that will be gone. When all four of the major house assemblies are in place the detail parts of small deck fittings will go on. Right now I'm in mid procrastination of assembling the twin five inch guns and the torpedo tubes because the rotating assemblies are fussy and about as fascinating as drilling railing stanchion holes.

Regards rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

Just because this is a little slow in coming isn't because there wasn't any work going on. Far from it. In the first photo you can see that the center deck house roof is slightly higher than the forward one. That throws the first level off, which telescopes the deck height all the way back. The result? All three assemblies had to be redrawn. The second photo shows the corrected center deck house and it's extension in place. The extension is rather small, but critical. The rest of the extension is a single assembly all the way to the top. The pattern for that is probably the single most complex drawing of the entire model. Most ships can be drawn a deck level at a time going upward. If you look at photos of CL-52 in that area, you cannot see any seam for deck levels. The rear deck house was easier to redraw, so that was done first. The third photo shows the after assembly dry fit in place to for fit. The locations for the turret rotators were added to make life easier when it comes time for assembly. The last photo shows the drawing of the extension before cutting. None of the details are attached yet, because the probability of the unit fitting properly on the first try is highly unlikely. There were two saddle assemblies that attach to the sides of the deck house in the vicinity of the rear stack. They are of differing dimensions. The white rectangles are gauges to test for size and location. The saddle assemblies are at the top of the page. The circular gray spot is a locator for the after fire director. There are also rectangular gray patches to locate where the cut outs for the wing turrets will go. Once I'm sure of the fit, the locator for the after stack position and boat crane will also be drawn.

Regards, rjccjr