The Ship Model Forum

I for one am not gonna see this thread die. while I wait for the 1/350 J.F.K to come the 1947 Coral Sea has be come the Midway. Why because someone mention to me Midway was first then the F.D.R then Coral Sea. Hey I built all those 27c hulls and finally someone made one for everybody. Let's see what's down the road. Also doing a all gun 1/350 Forrestal class. Need frog eyes bought the last from wem. Anyway happy model everyone.

Red,
I agree, this thread WILL NOT DIE!!!!!! When I start working back on my carriers I'll be posting them here as well. Can't wait for the 1/350 JFK, I want that one!!!!!

Look, new blood for this thread

Hippy Ed wrote:lookin' for... USS LEYTE (CVS-32) as I just found out a cousin of mine was aboard her in 1958-59 and was the Air Officer!(CAG??) CDR Howard Burton SHIVELY.
From what I have found is the LEYTE remained a straight deck CV and never had the major overhaul/refit like her sisters did. So, what kit in 1/700 would best be suited to build her up from? I have a Hasegawa ESSEX, Tamiya Hornet & I believe the Hasegawa Hancock. THanks.

Well, I pulled out my Hasegawa 1/700 Essex and the Hancock to see what the difference between Short Hull & Long hull is... And wouldn't ya know it, Hasegawa used the same mould for both these ships!!!

Hello Fella's,

I am working on 1/350 Lexington CV-2 Coral Sea and a 1/350 Intrepid 1957 era. Keeping with my usual approach, I am working up the airwings first. I will see if I can get some shots of the aircraft as I go. I am about half way through both airwings.

My New Years Resolution is to finish something!

Mark looking forward to seeing these come to life, post pictures soon.

Okay, I will add my Saratoga build here to keep it alive. Here is what I have been working on and where I am: my first ship model in about 15 years. I had this kit before but never started it due to bad reviews and I just wasn't in the mood. Lately, after a bunch of Wingnut Wings and other WWI 1/32nd a/c, I thought I would give this another try. I am not into making the modifications to make it correct for the time period. I am pretty much an OOB builder, however I do like to add detail here and there if the kit is sparse in areas. You will notice I have taken modeling liberties. I want more a representation of what a 1930's era Saratoga looked like rather than model a specific period, although I know that flies in the face of many it is what I am doing with this kit. It is my first one in about 15 years, so I am not too concerned with certain details just getting into building and finishing a ship model in a reasonable amount of time. So here goes:

The kit proper:

I am using the Gold Medal Models PE for added detail and started on the grills for the stack:

I also wanted to get some of the airwing out of the way before I got into the ship, so I build the basic components of what came in the came using the Starfighter decals for the Saratoga:



And these:

I debated whether to do a waterline or full hull, I opted for full hull, knowing there would be problems with the fit of the lower hull. There were. I used a lot of automotive red putty to blend in the two hull halves where I thought it was okay. I then moved on to the superstructures.
I added some details to the stack based on my interpretation of what I saw in the Fry and Stern books, I know the rooster emblem wasn't on that long and the "E" would be a better representation, but I liked the rooster and it came with the Starfighter Decals so I put it on.




I experimented with the use of oils around the doors and other areas to pick them out.
And some of the rigging.

I used fine EZ line for the rigging and Bob's Buckles eyelets for the attachment points.
For the stack I used some bits of brass tube, left over PE to add some interest to the otherwise bare stack. The black line was a real challenge to paint. I put on the PE and painted everything Testers Ghost Grey and then using thin strips of tape, masked the black, but it was a bear to get it centered. After perseverance I did manage to get it centered. I made a SWAG as to the width. I think it looks fine the way it is.

I got the 8" Gun houses attached to the front superstructure and the aft end of the Stack. They are resting on the plastic deck for a sense of scale. The boat deck has also been attached. That was an exercise in frustration and patience as it didn't fit very well.

Here is the "completed" stack with the boats on the boat deck. I drilled out the port holes and cut out the cabin entrance doors. I painted one to represent the admirals barge. For the deck I used Tamiya Desert yellow and then went over it with Tamiya clear yellow to get a wood like appearance.

Okay, I next turned my attention to the hull and flight deck. I cut off the molded on netting and attached bits of plastic rod to attach the GMM PE Nets to. Again, there were fit problems, I started fixing the deck aft working my way forward. When I got to the bow, I noticed it was too short. So, I cut off the forward end of the flight, added two sections of planking using some scrap sheet plastic I had lying about and after some sanding and carving attached the flight deck. It isn't perfect, but the macro really picks it out. From viewing distance it isn't noticeable and I am happy with it.

After that, I painted the flight deck.
It ended up a mess.

I tried different techniques to capture the worn wooden flight deck, but in the end, after about 4 different paintings, this is what I ended up with and to me it looks pretty good. The "SARA" at aft end of the flight deck came from the Starfighter Decals.

Once I had the flight deck firmly attached and tidied up, I went about painting the hull using Testors Ghost grey, and a mixture I made up of Tamiya paints for the red below the waterline. It was a challenge lining up the masking tape to get a straight line, but through much perseverance and touching up, remasking etc., I got it to where I am happy with it. I then put the 8" guns together and detailed using the GMM PE. The fit was tight and the starboard side were a challenge to get in, but after some trimming got them all in.


I then started on the boat pockets and placing the boats in them which is where I am at now.


I would highly recommend not putting any PE on the gun gallerys until the guns in place as gun emplacement would ruin the PE.
On to the PE!
Until that time

Looking very good, Master Guns!

Thanks Sean:

Thanks for stopping by and checking it out.

Some mighty fine work going on up in here!! Love the Yeller wingys aboard Sara!!

Wow Mark, got it going on with Miss SARA, really looking good. Keep up the fine work.

Thanks Guys:

Appreciate the comments and checking in on the progress. I am enjoying this build as I am seeing the model start to look like the ship.
Stand by for more modeling excitement as it occurs.

Mgunns wrote:Thanks Guys:

Appreciate the comments and checking in on the progress. I am enjoying this build as I am seeing the model start to look like the ship.
Stand by for more modeling excitement as it occurs.

Standing by. Aye!

nice work!

not a real carrier. but close enough. I was on board this piece of crap. the models o.k. the real one garbage.

Thanks for checking out my build Red:

It isn't super detailed or based on any given time frame, just a model I have wanted in my collection for a long time.
Thanks again

Happy New Year to you All

More tomorrow

Happy Modeling

John