The Ship Model Forum

Three years ago my son joined the Navy. On that day I decided to model the ships he'd serve on. He spent a long time in A and C schools. I used this time to "Get back into modeling." I had no idea how advanced modeling had became over the past 35 years since I'd built my last kit. I discovered ModelWarships, and learned I have a lot to learn. He has since been stationed aboard the USS Bataan.

So far I've built eight major builds both ships and aircraft. My current build was to learn how to airbrush. I've discovered PE is a necessity as well as scratch building, and now I don't know how I got by without my airbrush.

When the Gallery USS Wasp came out I looked the review over, and decided I'd have a tough time converting it into the Bataan, but when I saw the outstanding review by Martin J Quinn on the Gallery's USS Iwo Jima, http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/misc/amphib/350-lhd7-gal/GalleryIwoJimaReview.htm I knew I'd have to start saving my milk money. The other day I came across the kit for $170.00 with free shipping and no tax so I jumped on it.

Now I'm going to go all out. LED lighting for the well deck and hanger bay, and I'd like to try lighting the ships number with fiber optics. all of which I've never used or worked with before. So if anyone has experience, tips, tricks, web pages, places to purchase or anything that will help I'd sure appreciate hearing from you.

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Looking forward to it. My wife is a Marine (notice I didn't say "Ex") and she wants me to build her a USS Bonhomme Richard for her office using the same kit.

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James

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/users/James-Guard/user-index.html

Have you picked up your kit yet?

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Great to see the enthus for this project .

Bataan reminds me of the epic struggle there and how it was a hard fight to recapture the Irland.

But a ship had to be named in its honour .

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Cornwall UK

Today I ordered the PE from KA Models today.
Tonight I talked to Darren from The Resin Shipyard and ordered the decal set.
I'm hoping to order the LEDs sometime this weekend from Superbright.

I'm still interested in any information regarding doing fiber optics. There is more than enough room, I'm just not sure how to begin.

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

I aslo decided to build the Bataan. I decided as this was the first LHD to opeerationaly deploy the Osprey.
I have WEM PE and Darrens decals. also bought some more M1a1 and AAV for teh well deck from JAG.

I'm converting teh WASP as when it was released i had to have one. (Unfortuneately they have now done teh Iwo as well which would have been easier)

Anyway I contacted teh Marine 22nd MEU last year to find out how many of each aircraft made up the airwing. They responded that as they were deployed they could provide this at teh time. I waited for the return and tried again - this time no response which was didapointing. (Being in Australia - hard to contact them directly)

I have started and up to teh main hanger. But have recently moved so all packed up carefully - hope to soon restart. I have photoed so aim to post the build

So looking forward to you updates as well

Dave

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1/350 Slipway:
USS John C Stennis

Stennis CBG 2002:

Operational:
CG73 USS Port Royal
DDG73 USS Decatur
CG57 USS Lake Champlain
FFG33 USS Jarrett

LHD5 USS Bataan

HMAS Vendetta II D08
IJN Yamato
HMAS Vendetta I I69

Planned
DD967 USS Elliott

I'm going to build mine to the last deployment, it's going to have the Osprey. The one problem with this is the best price I could find was about $9.00 each. I'm going to do more searching.

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Not yet.

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James

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/users/James-Guard/user-index.html

If you get a chance, check out the Bataan build page on my model ships page. I put a running price on everything I've picked up as of today. Not a nice figure, but so far everything I've received is good quality. Not sure if it's worth the cache, but the end result will be worth every penny.


Now I'm going to as everyone for some help. I'm going to be using Tamiya paints, because around here they are readily avalible. Another couple of reasons I've chose Tamiya paint is because I've been practicing with them, and the wife doesn't complain about the smell.

These are the colors I've planned on picking up. If anyone notices anything wrong please let me know before I mess anything up.
USS Bataan Tamiya Colors.

Ships Hull
Gray FS 36375 Tamiya XF19 Sky Grey or XF66 Light Grey
Water Line FS 17038 Tamiya X01 Black
Under the water line FS 30075 XF09 Hull Red

Hanger Bay
Deck is FS36076 Tamiya XF63 German Grey
Hanger Bay upper and overhead FS 27875 Tamiya Flat White XF02
Hanger Bay Stripe and hatches FS 26152 Tamiya Dark Grey XF24

Aircraft paint colors
Top is FS 36320 Tamiya XF22 RLM Gray
Sides is FS 36375 Tamiya XF19 Sky Grey or XF66 Light Grey

Vehicles
Tan FS 33531 Tamiya XF59 Desert Yellow
Green FS 34079 Tamiya XF13 Green (IJA)
Brown FS 30140 Tamiya XF52 Earth
Black FS 17038 Tamiya X01 Black

Thanks.

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Quite a list. I can't wait to dive into mine. I also have a 1/200 Bismarck coming upon release. My ship yard will be busy.

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James

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/users/James-Guard/user-index.html

This really mystifies me; the stripe looks to me to be the same color as the deck. Does anyone have proof otherwise?

I'm doing mine as Essex with an "all-out" philosophy and lighting... we should maybe compare notes.

Also, I have a lot of Bataan photos from the Navy photo galleries; let me know if you want them and I'll send them so that you don't need to filter through all the 42+ pages of search results yourself... just PM me your e-mail.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

For anyone turning the USS Iwo Jima kit into the USS Bataan.
Just a quick reminder. The AFT CWIS mount is a low mount.


NOT the high box mount like what comes with the Iwo Jima.

You won't be using the following parts: C40 C33 C35 C38 C34
The deck will need the guide lines removed so part C2 will lay flush to the deck.
The solid railing also needs removed back to the bulkhead leaving just a touch of the radius. sand off the edge on the bulkhead, and some PE railing, and a haws and your good to go. The CWIS also has the camera, something this picture doesn't show. Not a difficult repair, but my boy sure spotted it quick fast and in a hurry.
Something about, "It's my mount , I should know."

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Looking at my chart and thinking about what you said, I may use a mix of XF63 and XF22 You were absolutely right about XF24. It is not the right color at all. The reasoning behind my decision to use two different colors is I wanted to distinguish between nonskid and paint. When we walked through the hanger I noticed the colors were almost the same. I also noticed that all the hatches were painted all the way up with the gray, and the big doors (not the hanger bay doors, but the hazmat and the tractor shop doors) are just a bit lighter than the walls.
It's something I'm doing to add a little bit more depth and scale to the hanger bay.

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

I would say it has a more blueish color. Picture from USS Wasp.

Yes! Perfect picture! Now look at the hatches. I guess this answers both my questions.

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Here is another shot of that aft mount.

Hope this helps.

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Looks more to me like it's the difference between a severely matt surface that gets walked and driven on and a slightly glossy sheen. Granted, they are different materials, but I think a drop of white in the floor mix would be more appropriate. Not my model though....

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Since I'm so poor at mixing paint, I will need to find a color that is close enough to pass. As for the hanger deck, I'm still planning on using the German Gray XF63. I'm going to do a light sanding in areas to give it a worn look. I've been messing around with this after I didn't like the way my Independence deck looked. I'm also thinking of using white and black pastels to help.

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

I hate mixing paint, but something like this shouldn't be difficult. Presuming you have an airbrush, you could even mist some really thin white over the decks to lighten it a bit. Stand off 8-12" snd spray a wide pattern. Or, once you've nearly exhausted the german gray, drop in some white (no need for eye-dropper measuring... just pour in a touch, thin a bit more, slosh it around a bit until it looks mostly uniform, and do the same thing but a little closer. Quick & dirty.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

I like those ideas. Making things look old is harder than I thought.

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/