by Peter Van Buren
1/700 USS Turner Joy DD-951 (JAG)
As a participant in the "Tonkin Gulf Incident" (see http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd951txt.htm) which escalated America's involvement in the Vietnam War (an old school "WMD in Iraq" story for you young folks out there), the Turner Joy is a significant ship. With JAG's recent release of a beautiful 1/700 scale version of the basic vessel in the guise of the Forrest Sherman, I wanted to try my hand at building another of the Cold War era ships.
Kit Quality and Completeness
JAG has clearly broken through the time-space continuum and has obviously created a reverse Philadelphia Experiment device capable of shrinking full-size ships to 1/700 scale. The level of detail and quality of casting here are scary-it is that good. There are no air bubbles to fill, no warps to mess with in the microwave oven and essentially little to no preparation work to be done. One of the things that puts people off working with resin is the prep work, and the fear that an expensive kit will be ruined in the process of dipping the darn hull into boiling water to correct a nasty warp. These are not issues with this kit.
The casting quality is such that most of the bulkhead detail typically added or enhanced with photoetch parts is already molded on in this kit. With their use of a spin metal caster and white metal parts, JAG has taken another large step away from the more typical resin maker's reuse of old Skywave parts. How many times in my life have I sanded the mold lines off the Skywave small open boat? JAG in this kit has cast many of its own, more detailed accessory parts, and has improved on the few remaining Skywave artifacts.
The photoetch also seems to be finer and thinner than in previous JAG releases. It is stainless steel, not brass, and so requires the use of clippers and/or a lot of new, strong Xacto blades. Folding is easy, as "fold lines" are cut into the pieces. I used two razor blades for all the folding and had no troubles with the cut-in lines to guide me. That said, this is not PE for beginners, and the finer parts, such as the side gunwales that include bracing for the platforms near the forward stack, require a very delicate hand. These same parts have very small gluing surfaces and need special care to get stuck firmly in place without leaving 1:1 scale fingerprints on your 1:700 scale hull.
See also the Modelwarships' Review of the kit at http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/dd/dd-931/700-jag/jag-review.html
Parts and Versions
Because this class of ships was constantly modified over the many years of service, JAG includes a lot of substitute parts. You get three bridges, a bridge awning to install or discard, two versions of hedgehogs, two choices of main radar and two types of anchors. You do the math on how many possible combinations that adds up to, but it is a lot. Careful use of references is needed to make the most of all this, though you can also follow the well-drawn instructions and build the first-of-her-class version. I probably screwed up something trying to deviate from this and model the Turner Joy, so forgive any mistakes please.
Building the Ship
While this kit is not be beginners, it does provide a satisfyingly challenging build for those with some resin and PE experience.
One area that requires special attention is the construction of the two masts. For those of you who have in the past decried the over-scale sizing of parts, this is for you. The ship's delicate lattice work is accurately reproduced in photoetched stainless steel. Your contribution is a two part bend to form a three-sided mast, with a very thin gluing surface needed to attached the sides. To this you need to add a vertical plastic rod (supplied) and then start building the stack of components that make up the upper reaches of the structure. Some tips: --tackle each mast one at a time, treating it as a mini-project. --fold the mast, slightly overbending the sides so that when they spring back the edge is close to touching. --tape the edge together in the middle and then use super glue with an accelerator to instantly bond the ends. Remove the tape and glue the middle. Lightly sand the excess glue away. --using double-sided tape, mount the mast on a handy-sized square of cardboard. Look at it from all sides to make sure it sits square. --for the vertical support rod, some may wish to use a piece of brass rod instead of the supplied plastic piece for added strength. For true psychotics, you can also use a much thinner brass rod for even more scale madness, as the material is stronger. Be careful at the bottom of the mast; if the rod sticks out a bit, the mast won't mount flat on the ship later on. --cut or sand free all the various resin and PE parts needed and keep them together in a small box or an overturned plastic lid. I ended up replacing some of the mast platforms with scratchbuilt pieces of Evergreen styrene for strength and ease of assembly. --using gel type super glue, which allows you some "set" time to wiggle things into place, add a layer of component parts. Check alignment from all sides and when perfect, touch it with super glue accelerator to set the part. Alignment, step by step, layer by layer, is critical, because if you misalign one piece, everything else on top will be out of whack. --leave the completed mast taped on the piece of cardboard until painted and glue it to the ship as the last thing you do. The darn things are fragile and you wan them out of the way until the very end.
Install the side PE pieces, with the gunwales, late in your build. They are also fragile and easily bent, and the gluing surface is small. I put them on early and ended up re-gluing them twice.
The detail on the bulkheads is very delicate, and very scale. It will disappear under a thick coat of paint. Use an airbrush if you can. If you use a spray can, use very light coats, being careful to avoid paint buildup. Brush painters, you have been warned!
A light wash is useful for getting the most out of all this molded on detail. I use Tamiya acrylic, flat black, tinned to water-like consistency though you may have your own preference. I use the smallest brush I own, and just barely touch the tip to the edge of a detail and let the wash flow around it. I prefer to use Tamiya thinner for this, as I have been told it contains a flow agent that makes the paint spread easier. This may not be true, but I feel better thinking it is.
Links Helpful in Building a JAG Forrest Sherman
Out-of_Tube Review
http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/dd/dd-931/700-jag/jag-review.html
JAG's Own Page for the Sherman
http://www.jagcollective.com/FORREST.htm
To Order a Sherman of Your Own direct from JAG
http://www.jagcollective.com/Ships_Ordering.htm
Images of the Turner Joy
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/951.htm
Images of the Barry
http://www.hazegray.org/features/barry/
History of the Turner Joy (no photos)
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd951txt.htm
