The Ship Model Forum

Ranger, allegedly in April 1938. Photo from the Nation Archives, NARA II 80G74553
[attachment=0]Ranger_April1938.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-1035472973-circa-1943---us-navy-rangers-seen

[quote="Build Mon$ter"]I haven’t seen a detail kit yet, I just ordered my 1/350 Trumpeter USS Ranger kit, been doing some basic research on her, not quite sure if I want to back date her or do her as she is in 1942, I did notice that the air group is wrong, well one of them is wrong for that time, they have F6F Hellcats when she actually had F4F Wildcats, so still need to decide which way I’m going to go.[/quote]
Allegedly a 1942 version is in the works, so you may want to save yourself the trouble of backdating and wait for that version.

If you plan on doing a 1942 version, here is what her deck looked like.
[url=https://postimg.cc/RJmRhbdV][img]https://i.postimg.cc/d3kSWbTd/Screen-Shot-2020-01-29-at-8-09-07-PM.png[/img][/url]

[url=https://postimg.cc/LYLDHMzb][img]https://i.postimg.cc/hj351Dhc/Screen-Shot-2020-01-29-at-8-08-23-PM.png[/img][/url]

I haven’t seen a detail kit yet, I just ordered my 1/350 Trumpeter USS Ranger kit, been doing some basic research on her, not quite sure if I want to back date her or do her as she is in 1942, I did notice that the air group is wrong, well one of them is wrong for that time, they have F6F Hellcats when she actually had F4F Wildcats, so still need to decide which way I’m going to go.

Have any of the usual suspects released any detail sets for this kit yet?

Greetings fans USS Ranger. I have such a request for photo documentation.
I'm going to build a ship from the end of service in 1946.I found only three photos from this period, which is not much. Could someone find an interesting photo?

I stumbled across some plans for doors, consoles, light fixtures, etc. in some post-war records turned over by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, but I've never seen a "door plan" or guide before. I know that an awful lot of the plans generated for ships were never turned over to archives, so we just have to do the best with what we have.

Thanks, Tracy. I was hoping that there was some mid-30s USN spec that would tell me what all the doors should look like
given their application, but, in lieu of that, I'll just go with the appearance of the doors on the builder's model at the Navy Yard
Museum in D.C.... sort of horizontally faceted doors, with no portholes.

It depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it. You can work off her Booklet of General plans available [url=https://maritime.org/doc/plans/]here[/url] which will at least show you which are doors and which are open air arch ways. Otherwise, you're going to have to go to NARA and look through the microfilm plans to see if any show the type of door used.

I'm trying to replace Trumpeter's doors on Ranger, which are all just sort of formless raised areas in the plastic. Is there any way to know what doors would have been used where, i.e. by USN specifications? It's very difficult to tell from photos what types of doors to use where... the superstructure is least problematic in this regard. I could fudge it, I suppose, but thought I'd ask the brain trust for guidance first ;)

Thanks, Tracy. I corrected my question to say 'pilot house' rather than 'bridge'. I also found this handy 3D sprue that has some of those items:

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/BQzwWy6z/710x528-25703323-13490605-1543067453-jpg.png[/img]

https://www.shapeways.com/product/VZ8ABUQEE/us-wwii-searchlights-bridge-equipment-1-350?optionId=77040972

[quote="Aggie"]what are the objects that one can see on the open deck that is just behind the bridge, and what are those objects on the protruding
deck platform that comes off the rear of the island?[/quote]

I'm not 100% sure sure you mean by "behind the bridge, but I think the [url=https://maritime.org/doc/plans/]1944 Booklet of General Plans[/url] could be helpful as it doesn't look like a lot changed.

[attachment=0]CV-4 Navigation Bridge 1944.jpg[/attachment]

Working our way aft on the Navigation bridge, we have a [url=https://www.shapeways.com/product/RZRA3GQNG/1-48-usn-target-transmitter-designator]Target Transmitting Designator[/url] (Maybe not the same mark number, link just included for those that didn't know there was such a thing), Pelorus, and then a telescope. Around the director base there is an inclined ladder port and aft and I'm not sure of the pyrotechnics locker in 1944 is there as launched. It does look like the Radio Direction Finder loop is there above the very edge of the structure below. There is a sailor standing in front of a box and I'm wondering if that's the pyrotechnics locker and it was just moved forward or if it's the narrow rectangle shown in the plans. Aft of that in your photo is something that I'm guessing is a compass even though it's not labelled - note the circle in the plans around it. The Navy liked to have non-magnetic structures around the compass (The structure around Battleship Nevada's was brass, leading to noticeable melting during the Pearl Harbor attack, as mentioned in her [url=http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/BB36/PearlHarborDamageReport/#Para50]damage report[/url]). and I'm wondering if the circles around that point designate something of note such as that.

Thanks! Ordered those, and their 1/350 bags, as those can go behind the .50 cal MGs on the catwalks...

[quote]L'Arsenal makes 1/350 speakers, in resin. Review [url=http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/misc/l-arsenal/ac350216-Haut-parleurs_Speakers/LArsenal_Haut-parleurs_Review.htm][b][u]here[/u][/b][/url].[/quote]

[quote="Aggie"]Lastly, the Yorktown kit comes with Bogen speakers, but the Ranger kit
seems to come with none... anyone make them in 1/350? (Model Monkey, looking at you...)[/quote]
L'Arsenal makes 1/350 speakers, in resin. Review [url=http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/misc/l-arsenal/ac350216-Haut-parleurs_Speakers/LArsenal_Haut-parleurs_Review.htm][b][u]here[/u][/b][/url].

Working on the island on my '36 backdate of Trumpeter's Ranger, and have a couple of questions for the brain trust: what are
the objects that one can see on the open deck that is just behind the pilot house, and what are those objects on the protruding
deck platform that comes off the rear of the island? Lastly, the Yorktown kit comes with Bogen speakers, but the Ranger kit
seems to come with none... anyone make them in 1/350? (Model Monkey, looking at you...)
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/BvRYNg4K/SCN-0001.jpg[/img]

I found a very helpful photo for checking flightdeck details on Ranger in the mid/late 30s:
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/44tGDNwd/25957935753-91530b0013-o.jpg[/img]
You can clearly see where the barrier supports were, originally. The plans are somewhat helpful in this regard, as you can see where a barrier was erased, and you can sort of see where some heavier lines look like later additions. I'm guessing that, for both stern and bow recovery, the barriers were moved back because of bigger/heavier/more powerful aircraft?

Working on backdating the Trumpy 1/350 Ranger island, starting with opening up the bridge windows:[attachment=1]IMG_2045 2.jpeg[/attachment]
Working slowly with a very sharp Olfa knife, X-Acto razor saw, and a small square file... it's doable, but, boy, it's a lot of work...

[attachment=0]IMG_2047 2.jpeg[/attachment]
Gun tub on the rear of the island cut out, and location filled in with Evergreen; new walk made from same.

[b]Moderator Edit: For More on this build, see the WIP thread here:[/b] http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=173976

I found another pic, on the Naval History & Heritage Command's website, that shows the as-built secondary conn from the port side, and you can see a bit of what's behind it:

[img]https://www.history.navy.mil/bin/imageDownload?image=/content/dam/nhhc/our-collections/photography/images/NH%2051000/NH%2051826&rendition=cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg[/img]
What still missing is a clear shot of what's behind the conn... in some pics it looks like there's a passage back to the bulkhead behind it, and in some pics it looks like you can see daylight above it, like the passageway was not the full height of the bulkhead or conn.

An additional benefit of tracking down additional pics is that you see other things in the pics that could be modeled; an example would be that girder structure under the forward flight deck... very different from how it's portrayed in the kit. Also, that fact that the area behind the catwalk (looking under the deck) is open in most places, not solid, as kit manufacturers portray it.

The secondary conn went from being a large-ish trapezoid, with windows on three sides, to being a fairly small, almost square structure with portholes. From this:

[img]http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/download/file.php?id=30505&mode=view[/img]

... to this:

[img]http://ironshipwrights.com/pages/djudy_rngr10.jpg[/img]

The Booklet of General Plans does help, in a way, because the changes show up as darker/heavier lines...

That little 'step' in the starboard side is where the as-built bulkhead was, I think. It looks like they built
the superstructure forward from there, and changed the secondary conn to a bulletproof little box.