Frank Fowler wrote:
Hi Steve, Any chance you have plans to rescale the Saratoga bays to 1/700 for the Tamiya kit. Don't know if it would even be possible. Thanks
Hi Frank, great question. I hope to be able to offer the set in 1/700 scale, too. That will take some doing but if successful, I'll announce it here and on Facebook.
Initial 1/700 scale test prints have not been successful; the flight deck supporting girders become too fragile in 1/700 scale to print properly, so much work needs to be done to try to make the models printable in 1/700.
Assuming that redesign work will be successful, please help with a measurement to make sure the new bays will fit a 1/700 scale Tamiya kit as intended. I have a 1/700 scale Fujimi Saratoga model in hand but not the Tamiya kit. If you have a Tamiya kit and access to a digital caliper, please measure the distance from the bottom of the kit's bay parts to the top of the hull part where the flight deck parts rest, as shown in the photo below.
Unlike the Trumpeter Lexington-class kits' boat pockets, the 3D-printed bays do not have an overhead because on the real ship the bottom of the flight deck is the bays' overhead. That's why you see exposed transverse girders that jut out into space on the 3D-printed models. Those girders are intended to support the flight deck. Not having an overhead also helps make the bay parts much easier to paint.
Cheers!