The Ship Model Forum

Hello guys, especially Tracy I think!

I have in my stash for a (distant) future project a 1/350 Trumpeter Yorktown. I intend to build the model using the superb Pontos full upgrade set. I understand the Pontos set can be used to build other late war versions of the ships of the class...

So what I would like to do is to build one of the Essex-carriers at the Battle for Leyte Gulf – Cape Engano. If I'm not mistaken and please correct me if I'm wrong this was the last carrier confrontation of the war and it ended Japanese carrier aviation capability sinking some carriers including the fleet carrier Zuikaku.

If I'm correct the Essex carriers involved were Essex, Intrepid, Franklin and Lexington. I know the latter three can be built from the Trumpeter Yorktown using the Pontos set but what about a 1944 Essex? Can the Essex also be built this way or should I get the Essex model with the Essex Pontos set for this? Or is it another combination required using the Trumpeter Essex, Yorktown or Franklin with the Pontos Essex or yorktown set?

I'm looking to do the Essex in the camo sheme as Chris Toops did it superbly a few years ago! Is this correct for October 1944?

Thank you very much!!!

Fir for most. Teak on the first plank after the tie-downs in the arrestor wire areas later in the war (hooks tended to gouge the fir in this area until they did this). All stained.

I can't remember. What type of wood was used on the flight deck of the Essex class carriers?

Thanks

I had posted this picture a while ago, but the page it was on got ate somehow early on. Given a recent question about elevators, I finally got off my rear and am re-posting it:

[attachment=0]CV16 Hanger 2.jpg[/attachment]

This is Lexington's aft elevator from the hangar deck in March of 1944. There are many things to note here:
1) First off, this is an early, temporary style of drop tank storage. It didn't last too long, but it does positively illustrate that there was a clearance between the elevator edge and the bulkhead they're mounted on. The Navy standardized on storing these on the overheads, even going so far as to move all of the sprinkler heads based on combat experience showing the original configuration was blocked by the tanks hanging below (this was highlighted in [url=http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/CV14/Kamikaze/PSNSWarReport.html#III]Ticonderoga's Jan 1945 damage report in Paragraph 7[/url]).
2) There are three structural supports underneath the elevator and a flexible hose connecting the sprinklers mounted to the elevator to a water main. The inner most supports are the hydraulic plungers that would raise the platform up. These are mounted on the elevator's center line. Immediately fore and aft of these are locks to hold the elevator in place if the hydraulics should fail or lose pressure. These are also mounted on the centerline. To starboard of these are the elevator tracks. Note that these are NOT on the center, which is one reason why the structure that holds them in place is beefier.
3) The "emergency elevator" is raised in this photo; this was a small "stub" elevator that only covered maybe the port 40% of the elevator pit. It was raised when the main elevator was so that aircraft could be more easily moved about in the hangar. It wasn't *always* raised, but is an option.
4) Note that the bulkhead around the elevator is painted a dark color, but the rest is white; this was most likely Navy Blue to blend in with the flight deck stain when the elevator was lowered.
5) Note the hose mounted against the bulkhead, and more beneath it. Some is rigid, some is flexible.
6) note the sailors holding up the lights in the elevator pit near the hydraulic pistons; that should give some idea of how shallow this pit was. Note that you can hardly see any detail in it, so it's not much of a super-detailing concern.

If, by identify you mean "show me a clear view," I can't. I'd also advocate a mod move this to the [url=http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=103218]Calling all Cold War Essex-class Fans![/url] thread.

Can any of you identify the emblem in these pictures? LPH 5 USS Princeton Vietnam era.

Ok thanks!

There isn't one source at this point. I'd recommend the [url=http://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-Carrier-Intrepid-Anatomy-Ship/dp/0870219014/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366678853&sr=1-1&keywords=anatomy+of+the+ship+intrepid]Intrepid AOTS[/url], if you can find an affordable copy; "[url=http://www.amazon.com/Essex-Class-Carriers-Warship-Design-Histories/dp/0870210211]Essex Class[/url]" by Alan Raven; and [url=http://www.shipcamouflage.com/wr_press.htm#WRPress]Essex Class Carriers in WWII[/url] by Glenn Arnold. That should give you good enough plans to figure out the access ways, refueling stations, outriggers, etc..

Could someone point me in the right direction for detailing the catwalk areas the run along the sides of the flight deck on the Essex class. Fire hoses, piping, doorways, ladders, stairs etc...

Thanks

This is from Osprey Publishing 'US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942-45', by Mark Stille, pg 45:

"Randolph(CV-15): Commissioned in Ms 32/17a. This complex design required six colors: Pale Gray, Light Gray, Haze Gray, Ocean Gray, Navy Blue, and Dull Black. Her deck numbers were painted in white, making her the first wartime carrier with white deck numbers. In 1945, she was painted in Ms 21."

Well, let me caveat my last statement. They're certainly not black. They could be white or yellow.
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/5_4.htm

[quote="Tracy White"][quote="Erik W"]You can see the stern flight deck number to the upper left of the hole in the deck. I can't tell if it's white or black.[/quote]

White.[/quote]
Hmm. I wonder if the white flight deck numbers then were painted during the refit and repaint in January 1945. Interesting to have white flight deck numbers at that time of increased air threat.

Erik

[quote="Erik W"]You can see the stern flight deck number to the upper left of the hole in the deck. I can't tell if it's white or black.[/quote]

White.

Does anyone have any idea when the white numbers were first painted on the flight deck of CV-15 Randolph? My thought was perhaps the numbers were repainted white after the March 11th Kamikaze damage was fixed. But that's just a guess.

They are present here on 11 May 1945 (the Bunker Hill is on fire in the background):
[img]http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/o679/Mark_Allen_M3/F6F-5HellcataircraftofVF-12VBF-12watchtheUSSBunkerHillCV-17burningfromthedeckofUSSRandolphCV-15_zps76b8b877.jpg[/img]

This is the Randolph on 11 March 1945. You can see the stern flight deck number to the upper left of the hole in the deck. I can't tell if it's white or black.
[img]http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/o679/Mark_Allen_M3/USSRandolphCV-15alongsiderepairshipUSSJasonARH-1atUlithiAtollCarolineIslands13March1945afterbeinghitbyakamikazeonheraftflightdeck11March_zps67bddd4b.jpg[/img]

Thanks,
Erik

If any of you folks planning on building a 1/350 scale short hull Essex class with late war AA fit and are considering the Pontos detail set, I stumbled on this $199.99 set for $139.99. http://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/ponf35004.htm

Erik

Try Glenn Arnold's "Essex Class Carriers in WWII"
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/wr_press.htm
There will be some overlap, but it's a good source as well.

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to get some reference recommendations for when I start my 1/350 Trumpeter USS Essex(CV-9) build. Im hoping to start by mid-summer this year if I am able to gather the necessary materials. I will be using the Essex 1943 Pontos upgrade set and other various aftermarket items after my wishlist is complete. Further, I have been doing internet searches for pics of USS Essex and saving the ones that I find. As of right now I have a copy of Ship Craft "Essex Class Aircraft Carriers of the Second World War" by Steve Backer and have three books on order; Osprey "US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942-45" by Mark Stille, AOTS "The Aircraft Carrier Intrepid" by John Roberts, and Warship Design Histories "Essex Class Carriers" by Alan Raven. Are there any other books that I will benefit from that the above books might not cover?

Stefan, Tracy,
Thank you both so very much for your input. I've printed out the photo of your notch above and will use it w/ one of my Hornet drawings and see if I can get it right this time.
Like I said I had originally wanted to do a later 1945 Hancock, but decided to do a 1944 "Philippines Liberator" instead (which will move all of my Corsairs to my future Bunker Hill 1945 build :thumbs_up_1: ); so we'll also have to see how that "dazzle" paint job goes :thinking: .
Thanks again, keep the thread going!!!

The notches do correlate with the decks below; the large one was for a third Mk 37 director mount that was planned for, but then decided against as the ships were building. The long-hull deck modifications were all about improving AA defense, and this one would have given the Mk37 a decent overhead "firing" arc.

[quote="Rob Jansen"]After Stefan pointed out the notch, I started doing my own measurement and came up w/ the same positioning as his outline. I never considered that the notch was not just an extension of the flight deck angle but rather approx 22’ aft. [/quote]

Im sorry to read that, because I know how frustrating it can sometimes. However I gave up to try to correct every shorts of the kits (im my case Dragon). WHen doing an overlay of the Intrepid plans with a scan of my Dragon Flight deck I saw that all Elevators are a bit off their positions, definitely something I cant fix. As far as for the notch, I think that the notches outlines correlate with the Sub deck structure and so I came up with the following proposal (imho the most probable):