by Martin J. Quinn
1/350 USS Fletcher DD-445 (Tamiya)
I started out wanting to paint this model Ms12 modified (splotches), but hated the way the camo came out on the hull, which I then over-sprayed with Navy Blue. Since the superstructure was already painted haze gray, I shelved the model for awhile, not wanting to repaint everything. Then I found that the Fletcher MAY have been painted into Ms. 18 (5N hull, 5H superstructure) in late 1942. Since I didn't want to repaint, "may have" was good enough for me, and I finished the model in this scheme, which I like better than Ms22.
The turrets, the twin 40mms and the Mk 37 director are all from L'Arsenal. Mast is brass rod, flag bags and signal lamps are extra YMW white metal pieces. The pelorus on each of the bridge wings are scratch built. I also added some plastic rod braces for the bridge wings. Photo-etch is a mix of the Eduard set for the Fletcher, the Tamiya specific parts from the Gold Medal Models Fletcher set and a few odds and ends from a Tom's Modelworks and a Yankee Modelworks set. Everything else is pretty much "out of the box", including the teardrop shaped 40mm tub on the stern.
Rigging is .004 nylon quilting thread, while the decals - which gave me fits - are from a Yankee Modelworks DD kit. All in all, a very nice kit to build. Pity Mr. Tamiya didn't decide to follow this up with a square bridge kit.
