I was away from home for the first week of Spring Break to visit a friend in flight school at Naval Air Station Pensacola, so I was unable to work on the model until the second week. I had hoped that the station's air museum would have a Curtiss SOC Seagull similar to the ones on the San Francisco, but I was unable to find one. Nevertheless, I still found a way to bring the San Francisco with me. When I returned, I spent my non-sailing time finalizing the smaller details on the San Francisco's hull. My goal was to complete the build to the point that I could begin the painting process, which required that I finish assembling the smaller details around the ship's hull. I modified the San Francisco's smokestacks and spotlight tower to have greater detail than included in the kit, such as adding the smoke deflector to the forwards stack, life rafts around the spotlight tower, and ammunition containers for the smaller 5-inch antiaircraft cannon. The spotlights and cannon need to be painted light blue rather than deck blue, and thus will be painted and added separately. I added ammunition boxes and build two lifeboats to be placed above the San Francisco's hanger, as well as doors, crane holders, and added a smaller tender crane to the catapult mounts. The catapults, radar, and smaller .50 caliber guns need to be painted separately, and are left off until the deck is painted. Like in the bow, I added rangefinders and smaller lifeboats to the main turrets, as well as deck hatches. I measured out railings to glue on after the deck is painted. Overall, after finishing more of the San Francisco, the model is ready for its first coat of paint. More parts will be painted separately and added, but after finishing the bridge elements, deck parts, and turrets, the horizontal surfaces are ready to be painted sea blue. I look forward to putting the skills I learned over the summer to use airbrushing the San Francisco, and continuing to improve the build after the deck is painted.
1 Comment
Mary Ellen Carsley
4/13/2022 07:01:29 am
Excellent documentation, Alex! I am looking forward to seeing the final product. Let's chat soon if you still are hoping to create a model building event for the MS or US students. Keep up the strong effort!
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Alex BreniaMy name is Alex Brenia, and I am a senior at Severn School. I am passionate about military history and service to veterans, as I come from a military family. I see this project as a unique opportunity to combine both of these interests, within the scope of the Severn community as a whole. Archives
September 2021
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