The Ship Model Forum

Any more progress to show?! This is such a great build so far that I hope it hasn't died!

Amazing amount of detail work! Has me tweaking! :thumbs_up_1:

Great work Terry!!!

Looking forward to the next update!!!

Kelley

Thank you all for the kind words.

Back when I started, I filled a bunch of portholes to reflect the Midway timeline and drilled out the rest. I've needed to put PE portholes over the holes ever since but not had any idea how to do it.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/289B7N2][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1741/42760573661_28c565aeb5_c.jpg[/img][/url]

Yeah...these buggers are tiny!

I settled on just Futuring (AKA - Johnson Klear / Pledge Floor Gloss, whatever - it'll always be Future to me) them down and it worked great. The Future gave me time to place them and there was no glue build-up! I put a few more coats of Future over them to seal them down.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/289B7zB][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/887/42760572941_b8c302602c_c.jpg[/img][/url]

Without doing this, they easily flaked off. A couple more coats seems to have sealed them down pretty good and painting will really stick'm down.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/285eS4E][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1758/42711160772_69b398258d_c.jpg[/img][/url]

Love it!

Terry,

Your pursuit of perfection never ceases to astound me. Knowing first hand what you are working with and the level of detail that you are adding is truly awe inspiring.


Can't wait to see the latest updates in person.

Matt

That's excellent attention to detail, and very neatly executed also. :big_grin:

I don’t think I’m a rivet counter but if I see an opportunity to make something take longer than it should…I will. I think I have a fear of finishing things. At any rate, I spotted some other problems in the hanger that bothered me enough to fix them - a stair and landing that connects to an exterior stair amidships and a stair at the bow that leads up to the forecastle deck.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/26aeith][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/911/41454920074_43b0715231_c.jpg[/img][/url]

A photo of a burial at sea, not sure of the battle, shows the missing stair area which should connect to a stair on the outside.

I feel a little awkward using an image like this to illustrate a trivial build so I apologize if I offend anyone. It's a powerful photo.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/25TosnD][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/965/41275642095_91497a9ffa_c.jpg[/img][/url]

At any rate, just as I was making progress, I received this photo and I had to take a few steps back.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/K86Ks3][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/957/28303678218_f960380da2_c.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/K86KwS][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/830/28303678498_f78e803c98_c.jpg[/img][/url]

And...a few more.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/26yeBF1][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1747/41715260714_94f5735bb3_c.jpg[/img][/url]

But I’m making progress. This is port stern. The corrected stair area should have some mechanical ducts in front but I had to leave them out for painting. The stair extends a little too far out into the roller door opening...but it'll have to be good enough.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/K86KnU][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/906/28303677978_d9056294d3_c.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/KotwDJ][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1758/28477675068_b59a465228_c.jpg[/img][/url]

Here’s port amidships

[url=https://flic.kr/p/K86Knd][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/967/28303677938_061c573cf4_c.jpg[/img][/url]

And port bow.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/K86KoA][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/28303678018_600bdd9e46_c.jpg[/img][/url]

Overall

[url=https://flic.kr/p/24vfQfN][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/40368835130_80124eabf3_c.jpg[/img][/url]

Cheers

Thanks guys, I appreciate the compliments. It’s all in the shrink-ray. They’re tough to come by and cost a fortune but worth every penny :)

I agree with the general comments. I've nothing to add really, other than to say I am looking in on your build thread here and am very impressed with your work :thumbs_up_1:

Terry,

Really really wish you would bring in the shrink ray you have invented to one of the club meetings :heh:

Don’t know a word strong enough, but simply fantastic work my friend!

Matt

Thank you for the kind words Tom. I'm glad this thread is helpful to you. The hanger deck appears very glossy in all the pictures I've seen. I'll probably have to flat it to weather but will re-gloss it to finish.
Everything inside will eventually all be glossy for the simple reason that it reflects the most light. Anything will help in the dark interior. No special techniques to report although "gluing" PE with future works really well when you can float something onto a flat surface. you can work it around before it dries, it dries super thin and it's waterproof.

Speechless!!!!
Absolutely fantastic detail!!!
I plan on modeling the aft auxiliary elevator and AFT bulkhead hangar door on my build, but haven't figured out how I want to tackle the hanger catapult. You have captured it extremely well! The hangar deck gray color and sheen is very nice as well.


Um - 'how-too's' or 'dids' are welcome! :thumbs_up_1:
Kelley

I've glued down the starboard hanger sections. Added a few fun items along the way. It's not perfect and I'm missing some stuff but at least I can see the similarity in pictures.

Task Force 48 provided me with a picture that I was intrigued by and wanted to run with. The picture below shows a Sunday service being held at the center elevator area. [attachment=1]Service 01 69.jpg[/attachment]You'll notice that the bulkheads around the elevator are very dark. I don't know what year of the war this was taken but given the number of times the Enterprise was painted, it seems it was dark at one time or another. We thought there was a very good chance these were painted deck blue to prevent the elevator opening from being a giant white target square for dive bombers to aim for if it was down in an attack. Going with this assumption, I've decided to paint the bulkheads around the elevators deck blue. I can't prove this but it adds interest to the hanger area and I like the idea. Don't fret modelers, I also have pictures of this same area painted the same color as the rest of the hanger...so go with your creative spirit.

Here's a photo of the rear hanger section. [attachment=6]Aft Elevator 01 56.jpg[/attachment]I've created elevator wells because I've never seen this done before. [attachment=7]Aft Post 01 59.jpg[/attachment]Looks pretty cool...guess the elevators will be up now.

The bow elevator well is interesting in that it's stepped because the hull is too narrow at this point. I saw this in the general plans and verified it with a repair photo taken after the kamikaze blew the elevator out of the ship in May '45 off of Okinawa. [attachment=3]Bow Elevator 01 46.jpg[/attachment] See the lower right of the picture where you see the step begin.

I've also added the raised hanger catapult in the forward section. [attachment=5]Bow Post 01 68.jpg[/attachment]I can't imagine using this thing. The ship would have to be dead still unless you wanted to launch into a 90 degree crosswind and then you're what...30 feet above the water. Crazy! Attached is a picture of a Hellcat being launched off one of the Essex carriers.[attachment=4]Deck Launch Post 01 53.jpg[/attachment]

I've always been fascinated by a picture of the Enterprise hanger when it was being salvaged. It shows the battle record of the ship on a bulkhead but I've never been able to figure out where is was located. I think I found it when I put in the stair to the Gallery deck. It looks like it's on the bulkhead between the two starboard forward roller doors. The stair appears in the background.[attachment=2]Salvage Post 03 48.jpg[/attachment]

Then finally a picture of the mid-section of the hanger.[attachment=0]Mid Post 03 78.jpg[/attachment]

Terry,

Fantastic work so far!!! Can’t wait to see her in person, should bring to the auction Tuesday, I’d bid handsomely for it :big_grin:

Matt

Thanks guys. I'll try to be better about posting every couple of weeks.

Your attention to detail is outstanding.

Very impressive work! Looking forward to this one!

Fantastic work, Terence!!!

I have been, and am still following this build and your details with great interest!
Kelley

Okay…sorry to fall away for a while but I came down with a wicked case of AMS. The port hanger bulkhead section just killed me. This is an area that I’ve been fascinated with since a kid and was really looking forward to figuring out how the catwalks and platforms worked. I’ve never seen a kit or finished model that accurately depicted this area. In virtually all cases, the catwalks are molded (or attached) directly to (and just below) the flight deck and this just simply isn’t the case. [attachment=7]Kit Example 02_.jpg[/attachment]
Under the catwalks is often a funny molded offset that kicks back to the hull. Even as a kid I could tell something was “off” between the models I was building and pictures I was seeing. Here’s a view of the kit piece to illustrate what I’m talking about. [attachment=8]Kit Example 01_.jpg[/attachment]
I’m going to spend a little time exploring this area with you in the hopes we can all come to a better understanding for future builders. I don’t pretend to have this all figured out so please take this as a foundation to build from. Very few close-up photos of the port side exist – especially from below looking up. When the ship was in port, the portside was always outboard from the dock. Portside aerial fly-bys are too far away and from above giving very little detail. Refueling was done from the port side but shots are often in shadow. The best images I’ve been able to find are of the abandoning of the USS Hornet taken from the destroyer USS Russell or USS Mustin. [attachment=0]CV8 Hornet Port 01_.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=9]CV8 Hornet Port 02_.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=6]CV8 Hornet Port 03_.jpg[/attachment]
Between these, the plans and limited portside photos, I’ve pieced together this much.
First, most of the port side catwalk sits proud of the hull by about 4 feet and is supported on cantilevered gussets or beams about 4 feet below the flight deck. [attachment=5]Port 01_.JPG[/attachment]
Second, the flight deck also extends 4 feet beyond the hull and attaches to the catwalk in some places but not continuously. There are a few plates that run vertically between the two but they’re really there to close off the opening to the sea below. The whole assembly looks like it’s continuously joined – from a distance, but it’s not. [attachment=4]Port 01b_.JPG[/attachment]
Third, by looking at available pictures, you might assume the deck edge is flush with the hull, but this is an optical illusion. There’s really a 4-foot-wide void (covered by the flight deck) between the hull and catwalk. Why they did this, I have no idea. The only reason I can think of is that perhaps they needed to make the deck wider without also making the hull wider. At any rate, this gap is spanned by all sorts of storage areas and numerous gallery platforms that function as exterior landings from the gallery deck.[attachment=3]Port 01c_.JPG[/attachment]
Fourth, the gallery deck is another 4 feet below the catwalk (+/-8’ below the flight deck). From the gallery platforms (mentioned directly above) several stairs connect to the catwalks above or hanger deck below. It’s a complicated and fascinating area - and it’s all neatly covered by the flight-deck, so you never see it except from below.[attachment=2]Port 02_.JPG[/attachment]
Why do manufacturers mold all this solid? Well, I think there’re several reasons.
First is that it would be costly and difficult to mold for a simple mass-produced kit.
Second – It’s all pretty much hidden from view so there wouldn’t be much benefit in getting all super detailly here.
Third – Manufacturers aren’t rivet counters. They’re interested in mass producing a reasonable representation of an actual object for a profit. And given one and two, I don’t blame them for simplifying things to kick a good kit out - and I’m super thankful.[attachment=1]Port 02a_.JPG[/attachment]