By Dave Becker
1/350 USS San Juan CLAA-54 ( Blue Water Navy).
USS San Juan CLAA-54 as she appeared in December/January 1944/45 during the Luzon Invasion. Ship is painted in Measure 33/22d camouflage pattern.
Model used to build the San Juan was the Blue Water Navy 1/350 scale USS Atlanta kit. First thing I want to say is, "Why is there a quarter inch of extra resin on both the upper and lower halfs of the hull. I have one of the best and fastest dremel tools around and it seemed to take forever go grind this over pour away!" This excess over pour seems to be on all of BWN's ship kits.
The construction: A beautiful model once all the excess resin is removed. First class quality on all surfaces. Since I was building a 1944 version of a Atlanta class cruiser some modifications had to be made. First, the 1.1" AA guns had to go, replace with 5 twin 40 mm guns and tubs which I had to make. The two extra twin mounts went midships to reflect the San Juans last upgrade and over haul at Mare Island. Had to make a larger tub aft because a Quad 40 mm AA gun replaced the smaller 1.1" quad mount there. Different 20 mm gun mounts also had to be made forward of the main bridge and midships to reflect the 1944 modifications. The ship model is painted in Measure 33/22d that she wore in December 1944 after her last refit.
