I will, most likely, have to rename this Blog, at some point.
In the mean time...please do not expect much for a while as she is in her very early stages.
First a disclosure: This hull was built for me by another gentleman. It was delivered in a not quite completed state. Therefore I have spent the last two month working on it to get to it's present state.
So.. what is it? She is one of four ships in a class that was later enlarged to around eight maybe ten members of the class. Her main armament was eight 5"/38 caliber twin turrets. She and her class namesake sister were both lost during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. This ship is most noted due to the loss of an entire generation of one family, five brothers.
This should be enough for identification.
She is being built in my preferred scale, 1/48th or 1/4"=1'.
This ship was used for numerous camouflage scheme experiments and, sadly, there is little definitive documentation to pinpoint her second to last and last schemes carried. That said, my plan, subject to change without notice or reason, is to present her as she appeared following her New York Navy Yard overhaul, or perhaps as she may have appeared after repainting in Placentia Bay NewFoundland, 1942.
She measures out to 11' 3" and her power plant is to be two 24 volt Buehler motors.
Pictures of her and the build to follow.
Wish me luck please, she will not fit in my van....😭

LOL Doug,
Yes it was a no brainer, especially for you! Thank you for posting the pictures of Juneau.
My plan is to present her as shown in the upper center photo, which was an experimental pattern, which had quite a bit of RN influence. It may be hard to tell, but see wears four different colors on her hull, while her superstructure is the two color MS 12 Modified pattern. This may well have been changed shortly after that picture was taken. If I am able to document the change, my plan is to follow the change.
We received 14" of snow, finally, yesterday and the day before so after "cleaning up" I spent the day working on laying out and starting the installation of her shafts and struts. These were made for me by George Sitek who made a set of the same for my last build, a 1/48 Fletcher class destroyer. Needless to say the products are works of art. The props are 3 1/2" in diameter.
I need to manufacture my stuffing boxes and add the intermediate struts to complete the installation.
Pictures to follow later today.

Ok. Some pictures. Pictures 1,2,and 3 show the hull as I received her. For reference she is stting next to USS Fletcher, also 1/48 scale. She was designed in CAD and the stations and keel were laser cut. She was planked with Basswood strips and covered with polyester resin and glass. I encountered an issue with the resin next to the hull not kicking while the outer resin had kicked completely. This lead to the stripping of the F/G from the forward half of the hull. I replaced it with West System epoxy after kicking the remaining resin with PVA.
There are 37 stations and the keel is 1/4" wide. 4,5,6, and seven show her hull in almost final shape. She needs a clean up sanding forward. The shafts and main struts are located on the hull, but not secured. That will happen when I complete the stuffing boxes, install and align the boxes, struts and props. The shaft do not run parallel to the keel and as per US design, the engine rooms were spaced fore and aft of each other with a boiler room separating them. This explains why the shafts enter the hull in different positions.

Hi Chum444,
How are those southern breathes? Our H2O finally hardened up a bit, so there is no rush to float anything.
My guess on completion is 3 years, if all goes as planned. I see a trailer in my future. All the better to haul the fleet, I suppose. No I do not expect to post her build on RCG. I am happy here. Safe return to you. We'll expect you when the Daff's start poking up.

A bit of information about the Atlanta's, Juneau's sister and class namesake.
Displacement 6,000 Tons, Dimensions, 541' 0" (oa) x 53' 2" x 26' 6" (Max)
Armament 16 x 5"/38AA, 16 x 1.1", 8 x 21" tt.
Armor, 3 3/4" Belt, 1 1/4" Turrets, 1 1/4" Deck, 2 1/2" Conning Tower.
Machinery, 75,000 SHP; Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 32.5 Knots, Crew 650.
Both the Atlanta and the Juneau took part in some early battles of the Pacific and both were lost as a result of the Naval Battle of GuadalCanal. Atlanta was savaged and riddled by cruiser fire from, it is suspected, the USS San Francisco. A tragic case of friendly fire. Atlanta, powerless and drifting toward the Japanese occupied shore of GuadalCanal, was scuttled. During the battle, Juneau took a torpedo from a Japanese destroyer that caused severe damage, including breaking her keel. Retaining some power she was able to disengage and begin a slow retirement. While doing so, she took another torpedo, form a Japanese submarine, in almost the exact same location as the first hit, and massively exploded, disappearing in less than one minute. Ultimately, there were ten survivors.
Two classic examples of the horrors and tragedies of war.

A couple of pictures of hardware. The A frames, prop shaft, and propeller are the work of George Sitek. The stuffing tube is homemade. I am not sure that it's profile is correct, doubtfully so in fact, as I have no images nor plans that provide a profile nor dimensions of the stuffing tube. I modeled it after the tubes on my Fletcher class destroyer, photos of which I do have, making it larger to accommodate a larger shaft. It is made with brass tubing, turned brass end fittings with bronze oilite bushings pressed into each end. I added grease tubes that are fitted with ferrules to accept silicon fuel tubing for remote greasing. I get to take the weekend off as I await the arrival of a reamer to enable me to fit the shafts to the bushed stuffing boxes. That's all for now.

These are laser cut deck beams to be added to the hull. They have a camber and IF I correctly install them, they will define the shear as well.
Responding to Chum444's request, I am planning all eight turrets to train, as well as linked to the MK 37 directors, the torpedo tubes will train as well. I have an anchor and winch system with 130 fathoms(scale) of stud link chain going in as well. Working radars, smoke and hopefully sound systems. Lighting, of course.

Don't just hate having to put a build aside while awaiting parts or tools to continue the project with? Well, while I wait,shipment should arrive tomorrow( I never said that I was patient, ask my wife) I have been working on fitting my anchor winch assembly to the bow and laying out the rudder to shape out of Renshape.
The anchor winch is a self contained unit. It is designed to be easily removable and insertable, blindly, without any need for fasteners. I use a cam and cleat method,which I have used before with success. The winch platform slides forward on the bulkheads which I cut out to "millimeter accuracy" with my Dremel tool with a router bitt. As the platform slide forward, it is guided into the fore most bulkhead and under a beam made of expanded PVC.(Happened to have in my scrap pile) When the platform butts against the bulkhead, the aft end of it is able to drop down onto a crossbeam with side guides. At this point the winch platform can not move forward, backwards and the forward end can not lift. All I need top add are two cams that will swing across the aft end of the platform and, it too, can not lift. The winch assembly is locked in place. It can be installed and removed by feel alone. I hope the picture help explain this.
I also started laying out the rudder an skeg. US ships, I think RN as well, used double hung rudders. The Kriegsmarine could have learned a thing or two here.
I am using Renshape. An expanded PVC material that is available in different densities. I learned to use thios from David Merriman, and ex USN diver/torpedoman, who also happens to be a premier model maker. Thanks David!
Renshape has many of the properties of Balsa, but can be scribed, machined, and sanded with unique properties. It also has a love affair with CA. Hence, it is the mould maker's dream master material. Once I have made my rudder master I will cast the rudder, after making silicon moulds, from polyester resin. I'll post some pictures as I go along.
Meanwhile... here are pictures of the wich assembly, in and out of the hull.

Well, I did it again. At least I am consistent. My wife has given up pointing out when I am wrong, now she points out when I get it right. It saves her effort, she says. This time around, I managed a really good good mistake. NO egg on MY face, rather, I found the chicken doing squat thrusts on my face!
I had "roughed" in my prop shafts and struts and oh were they rough. I messed up the angles terribly, as well as the hull penetration locations. While the angles of the shafts, relative to the keel are different side to side, they still penetrate the hull at the same position on the hull. What varies is the angle that they penetrate the hull. DUH! Good thing I don't build 1:1 boats.
Anyhow, I found and fixed the mistake using West System and Colloidal adhesive filler. The struts and tubes need some clean up and fairing, the shafts run true and are effortless to spin.
Moving on, I have started "roughing" out the rudder out of a block of RenShape. A little machining and lot's of sanding. When it is done, my plan is to make a mold of the rudder and strut and cast them both in polyester casting resin. Given the size I might try adding some carbon fiber strands to the rudder.
That
s all for now. Someone please come and take this chicken.....😀

I need an opinion or two. I have no plans for Juneau's rudder other than a profile drawing. What puzzles me is how thick the rudder would be where it meets the hull. The keel is, in scale, two feet wide. The only reference I have is for an Iowa class battleship rudder. It is between 4 1/2 to 5 feet wide when it meets the hull. At present my rudder is running about 3 1/2 feet wide at the hull. It looks a tad on the beefy side. See the pictures. I am thinking of trimming it down a bit, but on the other hand, given the size and mass of this model, plus the fact that the rudder extends below the keel, I am inclined to leave well enough alone.
Thoughts anyone?
Thanks