by Ron Smith
1/350 USS New Orleans CA-32 (Yankee Modelworks)
Spring 1942
Sometime in late 1941 CA-32 painted into a sea blue scheme, photos from the spring of 1942 show her in Ms11 as opposed to a modified Ms1 where 5-S replaced 5-D. She is visible in some photos during and immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack in what is probably Ms11 but the photos don't show enough of her to be sure. At the time I built the model I knew about the turret color coding but had not yet tracked down her assignement in her CruDiv so couldn't be sure of her aft marking. She should have a broad black stripe both forward and aft.
This is the Classic Warships kit, now manufactured and sold by Yankee Modelworks. This kit was cursed........first I forgot to wash everything with Blechewhite and Alclad primer didn't stick to anything which I only found out when I unmasked the deck (meaning I had just finished the major painting). Then I used Blechewhite, ruining the putty work and forcing me back to that step......then Mr. Resin Primer didn't stick to the styrene I had applied over the armor belt, luckily it was early on when I unmasked the bootstripe. So strip the paint, redo some putty and reprime again with Mr. surfacer which did not stick to the resin. I found out when I unmasked the decks AGAIN! 5 steps forward, 20 steps back it seems......restrip, reputty, reprime but I got smart and bought some DuPont Lucitie 131S primer, thinned it with Mr. Color thinner and it WORKED!
The masts are my usual scratchbuilt brass rod with tippett and stainless
steel music wire rigging. Paints are MM Acryl with Vallejo for details.
