Ship in a layout itch...

I'm thinking of making a paper Fletcher class destroyer model in my HO layout. Perhaps there is one I can find in the internet that can be scaled to HO well? Btw, I'm modelling in the 1950's, so I think it might be interesting since it was still in commission then (though I think it would have stayed in a naval base like Pearl Harbor most of the time). My setting may be New England, and a Fletcher might be out of place, but what the heck... I want a ship on my layout. :mrgreen:
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
I was too young, in the fifties, to be aware of what ships were where. It's not beyond the realm of believability to consider a decommissioned Fletcher, being part of a museum display, or possibly, one making a port call for a recruiting promotion.
 
Oppsss, I'm sorry about my bad English. What I meant was that the era of my HO model railroad is the 1950's. It's a fictional sub-urban layout that features New England like structures. I know it's not believable, but I'd like some deep coastal water with a Fletcher class destroyer (one that served in WW2 and the Korean War) docked in my layout. It's the same era, and my layout is fictional anyway. :) Some of the Fletchers were decommissioned in the early 1960's. And I can get away with the USS Kidd, which is currently a museum ship restored in its WW2 configuration. :)
 

Ronson2k3

Member
Digital Navy is 'about' to release a paper model of the Fletcher class destroyer. On the plastic side there is a 1/144scale Fletcher that Revel has made but not workable in your circumstance. To get an HO model you would most likely need to get the DN model and up size it so that it would be the correct scale. I don't know the scale of the Digital Navy version but it would be easier to up scale then a plastic version without scratch building one.

http://www.digitalnavy.com/Fletcher/index.html

A quick check of the specs reveals that an HO scale Fletcher would be about 4'-4" long. That would be an impressive model on its own. You could probably model the superstructure out of paper. I'm planning on making a HO scale towboat for my layout. Then add the detail parts from say Detail Associates or something like that. Not to say you couldn't do the entire model from paper but it could be quicker to buy the ladders and other details and add them on.

Good drawing of the Fletcher Class on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_class_destroyer

I found a really good site for Fletcher Info. The USS Abbot. This site also lists the surviving Fletchers. Most importantly though there is really cool Blueprint page. Scaleable drawings of the Fletcher

http://abbot.us/DD629/fletcher/fletch.shtml

I wish you luck on your model. Be sure to post some pics here. Should be quite impressive I'm sure.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Newport Road Island had a Navy base until the late 1960's or early 1970's. Since the Subs were all based out of New London or Groton, Connecticut, I would expect that the surface warfare ships were probably stationed out of Newport.
 
Thanks, everyone. :)

Ronson2k3:
Thank you for the suggestion. Yes, the Digital Navy Fletcher appears to be my best choice. I think it will be released smaller than HO, but since it is in a high resolution, I might get away with blowing it up. ;) DN also has a lovely ferry boat for free that's scaled to 1:100, and I could try blowing it up to 1:87 so that I could start trying to make a paper water craft.

Mountain Man:

Yep, it will be pretty big. As Ronson2k3 said, it will be about 4' long. It sometimes worry me since, when its done, it might steal the attention of my visitors from my trains and structures. ;)
 

nkp174

Active Member
awesome. Mike, I really enjoy visiting warships (fletchers, subs, the Little Rock, North Carolina, Missouri, Constitution)...but have never modeled a region which would allow me to have one on my layout. I've begun dabbling in Nn3, and while I won't be purchasing a locomotive anytime soon, perhaps some day I'll built a module of the Pearl Harbor Docks on the Oahu Railway...complete with a Fletcher!

I tend to think that a Fletcher is quite believable. I toured the Cassin Young in Boston, and can easily believe that Fletchers could have visited (or been repaired in) New England ports in the 1950s. The US Atlantic fleet, IIRC, has normally been the prefered fleet in America. At the time of Pearl, half the fleet was stationed in the Atlantic (including the fast battleships). I suspect that there were as many or more Fletchers on the East Coast as the West Coast in the 1950s. Many were sold in the 1950s during the great contraction of the USN.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
awesome. Mike, I really enjoy visiting warships (fletchers, subs, the Little Rock, North Carolina, Missouri, Constitution)...but have never modeled a region which would allow me to have one on my layout. I've begun dabbling in Nn3, and while I won't be purchasing a locomotive anytime soon, perhaps some day I'll built a module of the Pearl Harbor Docks on the Oahu Railway...complete with a Fletcher!

I tend to think that a Fletcher is quite believable. I toured the Cassin Young in Boston, and can easily believe that Fletchers could have visited (or been repaired in) New England ports in the 1950s. The US Atlantic fleet, IIRC, has normally been the prefered fleet in America. At the time of Pearl, half the fleet was stationed in the Atlantic (including the fast battleships). I suspect that there were as many or more Fletchers on the East Coast as the West Coast in the 1950s. Many were sold in the 1950s during the great contraction of the USN.

I suspect that the American fleet has been split roughly in half between the East and West coasts since shortly after WW1 if not before. The Panama Canal is a "bottle neck" for transferring vessels from East to West or vice versa, and the large carriers won't fit the canal. It is much easier to cover the Pacific and Indian oceans from the West Coast and the Atlantic and Mediterranean from the East Coast.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
On a related note, anybody know where I might find an old-fashioned fishing boat?

How "old fashioned" are you talking about and what area of the world? Boats of all types are very regional in design with sea conditions, weather conditions, and how sheltered the waterways are all contributing to the design process. Additionally, in many parts of the world, once a boat was designed that served the purpose, nobody tried to improve it. For instance, the Arab Dow that is used in the Red Sea and off the East Coast of Africa is a design that goes back 100s of years, and is essentially the same today as it was when first used.
 

spinwing

New Member
There were certainly Fletcher class (DESRON 25) based in Pearl Harbor in the mid-60's; so your time frame is correct. Most were FRAM I and II converions (upgrades)
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
Again, it can exist in any time modern time frame you wish to model. There are museum warships on display throughout parts of America, including battleships and aircraft carriers.

You could, in fact, start with a rough looking model and put it through "restoration" right on your layout.
 
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