refrence photos and websites

Here's the first photo I saw of the J Franklin Bell.

Here's a good shot of the starboard quarter.

and here's her port quarter.

And finally here's a good shot of her stern.
What struck me first was the huge amount of detail that was going to be staring me down, also the amount of guesswork that I'd have to do. It's good to have these few pics available at all, but they are from a distant perspective so I will have to fudge a lot of stuff. There are plenty of more detailed pics of other Harris Class transports, but no two were alike.

Another place I began was with these sites below:
here's the Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_J._Franklin_Bell_%28APA-16%29
here's the official Navy page on her, with her ribbons and service in the Pacific:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/03016.htm

From there I got the scale for a 1/350 model. I have the USS Arizona from Mini Hobby Models in 1/350 (thanks Vince!)and I was surprised at how the J. Franklin Bell was only some 30 feet shorter!