This was my first
attempt at building a resin kit model and, all in all, I was very
pleased with the Classic Warships version of the "Lucky Lou", which
I purchased from the Floating Drydock.
The resin casting was of superior quality and required very
little filling. It did require a little sanding and dry fitting
before super gluing it together.
The white metal parts, 5" and 6" guns, 40 mm's, aircraft and
catapults, required some filing of mold marks. This really wasn't as
difficult as I thought it would be.
The masts were not supplied in the kit, nor were the 20 mm
mounts. The masts were fabricated according to specifications in the
kit, from brass rod which I purchased at a local hobby shop. The
20's were purchased in an etched brass plate from Floating Drydock.
They came in 2 parts which had to be glued together before the
assembly was mounted to the deck by drilling a hair sized hole and
gluing the mount down. This was a bit tedious.
I chose to paint the ship gray with a brown wood deck because the
camouflage measure was a bit too much for this amateur modeler.
I mounted the ship on a piece of black walnut. I routered the
edges and routered a groove for the glass cover to sit in then
finished the wood with high gloss polyurethane. I cut and glued
glass together to make the dust cover
The attachments to the base are of the "scorecard" indicating the
ship being credited with the sinking of 1 submarine, 2 cruisers and
5 destroyers and 14 aircraft. It was drawn on the computer, printed,
laminated and fastened to the base with brass nails, as was the
brass nameplate.
The ribbons represent the various campaigns and actions the St.
Louis was part of. They are the Navy Unit Commendation, China
Service Medal(Extended), American Defense Service Medal, American
Area Campaign Medal, Asiatic/Pacific Area Campaign Medal (11 Stars),
World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal w/Asia
Clasp, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Defense
Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal (1 Star), Philippine Independence
Medal.
The water the ship sails in is made from Artist's Acrylic Matte
Gel Medium. This stuff has the color and consistency of mayonnaise,
but dries clear. I applied it to the board with a putty knife,
pushed the hull into it and pulled it slightly forward to shape the
bow waves. I then shaped the waves and wake with a paint brush. When
it dried I was able to paint the water and white caps. When the
paint dried I coated the surface with several coats of Mop and Glo
floor wax to get the watery shine.
I was very pleased with the way the model turned out and would
highly recommend it to anyone. I look forward to the release of the
1/350 scale version by Classic Warships in the near future.
