1/700 Lou Coatney designed Shiratsuyu destroyer

[Don Boose]

Lou - I have printed out the Coral Sea game and hope soon to try playing it with USAWC colleague and long-time friend Jim DI Crocco (finishing up dissertation on Philippine Army 1941-42 at Leeds University and well known to Doug). We may have some questions.

I also intend tonight to read the Battle of the Eastern Solomons section of John B. Lundstrom's Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2006, pp. 426-465), which has been on my shelf since it was published, but which I still have not read, although I have dipped into it from time to time when researching some aspect of the early Pacific War (so many books; so little time).

Incidentally, among the books I read while Lil was sick (in addition finally to finishing Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon and the Hone and Melhorn books), was Peter J. Dean, MacArthur's Coalition: US and Australian Military Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area, 1942-1945 (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2018), which touches on the operations of Crace's (later, Crutchley's) Task Force 44 at Coral Sea.

Doug - Apologies for the diversion from your Shiratsuyu thread, but I assumed you wouldn't object to this seminar discussion.

Don

[georgerutherford1861]

I do not mind the discussion at all, it's not diversion it's context!

Lou, the turrets turn on cut-off toothpicks. I use a pin to make the initial hole in the turret base, then up two sizes of mini-drills to make it not too traumatic on the paper and tear up the base, if that makes sense. The torpedo launchers were a little more challenging, I ended up just gluing them to my accordion torpedo tubes (drilling a hole through them would have created paper carnage). It also requires cutting part of the longitudinal (did I use the right term there?) skeleton to allow the tootpicks to go down into the body of the ship. These turned out better than the Hiei's turrets did.

Thank you for the reading suggestions Don, more books to add to the list. I did get Volume 5 of the Claringbould/Ingman South Pacific Air War series, excellent as always. I need to pick up a few more of Claringbould's aircraft-specific profile books, am wavering at the moment over Zero versus Corsair. Decisions, decisions.

Thanks as always for looking and commenting, and tell Jim hello.

Doug