Calling all USS Hornet CV-8 fans

[MartinJQuinn]

Silly question time; are there any drawings out there that clearly show where all the associated island rigging goes? I'm looking specifically for USS Hornet data, but any info from the class would also be good. Thanks a bunch,

I used the photo's in David's book to try and figure out the rigging on my own 1/350 Hornet.

[BB61]

I'll probably end up doing much the same, I think.

[BB61]

Does this gizmo rotate with the radar array? I assume it does, but can't confirm. Thanks.

[Timmy C]

Yes, that director rotates. It's more accurate to say the radar rotates with it, as the radar is mounted on top on a non-rotating frame.

[BB61]

Yes, that director rotates. It's more accurate to say the radar rotates with it, as the radar is mounted on top on a non-rotating frame.

Thanks a ton, Tim. I already glued one onto my 1:350 Hornet (not aligned with anything in particular), only to 'then' wonder if if it actually rotated or not. Talk about doing stuff backwards.

[Rick E Davis]

The antennas on Mk 37 directors (in this case the Mk 4 radar antenna), did go up and down in elevation and could tilt. But they didn't rotate independently.

[BB61]

The antennas on Mk 37 directors (in this case the Mk 4 radar antenna), did go up and down in elevation and could tilt. But they didn't rotate independently.

Excellent. Thanks very much, I appreciate it.

[BB61]

Another lame question; would the Hornet have had Dauntless dive bombers onboard between the battle of Midway and Santa Cruz campaigns? I'll be having scant few aircraft displayed on my ship, but would like to have a couple of SBDs, if she was so configured.

Also, would the hangar deck floors be painted, and if so, what color?

Thanks a bunch.

[MartinJQuinn]

Yes, she carried Dauntless dive bombers until her end.

Deck gray

[BB61]

Yes, she carried Dauntless dive bombers until her end.

Deck gray

Fantastic! Thanks very much, I really appreciate it.

[BB61]

I've been led to believe that the three main colors for the Hornet (vertical surfaces) are sea blue, ocean gray and haze grey. Is this correct?

Thanks a bunch.

[Dick J]

I've been led to believe that the three main colors for the Hornet (vertical surfaces) are sea blue, ocean gray and haze grey. Is this correct?

Yes and no. As commissioned, when she was in original MS-12, the answer is yes. Yorktown was the same. But by the time that she repainted into MS-12 (mod) (the "splotches" pattern), the answer is probably no. Both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets decided that sea blue was too light, and faded much too quickly, so navy blue was being substituted for it. Yorktown transferred to the Pacific before she could repaint, and so carried sea blue until her loss. But check the contrast between the darker and lighter hull colors on Yorktown and compare that to the contrast between the darker and lighter hull colors of Hornet's splotch pattern. It appears that navy blue was substituted for sea blue. The contrast difference is too consistent among the various photos, and over time, to be simply an artifact of the photo copying process. It also appears to have been navy blue as the lower color on Lexington's MS-12 paint job, because when they repainted her into MS-11 (which definitely had substituted navy blue for sea blue), the yard photos show the existing lower hull color simply being extended upward. And it is unlikely that they repainted the lower hull color in its entirety before doing any painting above the demarcation line.

[BB61]

Thanks very much for that answer, I appreciate the input.

[FRED BRANYAN]

In the site below, hopefully you will see an option for Doolittle's Raid on Tokyo near the top. If not, use the Advanced Search option in the top R corner

https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/sear ... suppress/0

At 6:21-29 you will see Doolittle and Mitscher walking past starboard side 20MM cannons numbered 12-15. Every time I have seen that footage before it ends as they pass 15. Not on this film. Their walk continues to go past the director for and then stop just short of 1.1 mount #1.

For those of us anal enough to consider such a detail, this poses the question why the 5 guns in that location---forward starboard side--were numbered 11-15 vs something like 1-5. Was the idea station 1 guns 1-5? Plus how were the other 15 or so numbered?

My guesses are for 1/700 this detail would be microscopic, for 1/350 barely visible but doable, for 1/200 which I have never done possibly worth doing. Probably doable only for someone capable of making their own decals.

Not planning to build a Hornet model anytime soon, nor making any trips to NARA, I will leave this issue to our resident wizards/experts if they care to address it for any of you who are building such a model. A related issue would be how did CV 5-6 handle this situation?

Meanwhile hats off to all of you who have the skill and time to build this ship in any scale.

[John W.]

How were the 5"/38 mounts numbered? 1 - 8? I don't recall, frankly. If so, that might explain the numbering. Or if the 1.1" quads were 1 - 4, that might also explain.

[FRED BRANYAN]

The starboard 5" guns were 1/3 forward and 5/7 aft. I would assume the port ones were 2/4 and 6/8, but I only had personal contact with starboard side crewmen.

[Iceman 29]

What type of 20mm Oerlikon gun was used on the Hornet, MK ?

[Iceman 29]

Thanks!

Digging around, I found this in my Hornet archives ( Translated in english ):

"The gun was approved as a naval armament in November 1940, and the first series appeared on US ships before 7 December 1941. From June 1942, Oerlikon 20mm guns were used as anti-aircraft weapons on the three Yorktown aircraft carriers.The Oerlikon L70 Mk 4 20mm guns had an overall length of 2210m and weighed about 20.87kg without the breech mechanism.

Their barrels were 1452 mm long (70 calibres) and had nine 1/36 thread grooves over a length of 1246 mm, allowing the projectile to rotate at 1154 revolutions per second as it exited the barrel. The volume of the barrel's cartridge chamber was 34.86 cm3 and, with the breech mechanism, they weighed 68 kg. The 20mm guns fired 182mm long combination cartridges weighing 0.241kg. The 0.09kg brass cartridge cases were filled with 0.028kg of nitrocellulose propellant, creating a pressure of 3090kg/cm2 in the cartridge chamber. Depending on the condition of the weapon, the projectiles could reach an exit velocity of 835 to 844 m/s. This gave a range of 4400 metres. This gave a range of 4,400 m at 45o elevation and a ceiling of 3,050 m for anti-aircraft fire. The theoretical rate of fire of the 20mm guns was 450 rounds per minute in cyclic fire, and the practical rate of fire was 250 to 320 rounds per minute. The guns had a service life of 9,000 rounds.

The 20mm L/70Mk 4 Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns were mounted on Yorktown aircraft carriers in Mk 4 and Mk 10 single gun emplacements and Mk 24 double gun emplacements. The single gun emplacement weighed 769 kg and the double gun weighed 635 kg. The elevation angle of the guns could be changed manually using a mechanical lift from -5o to +87o (Mk 4 mounts) or from -15o to +90o (Mk 10 and Mk 24 mounts). In the horizontal plane, the fields of fire could be rotated 360o, and the rotation and alignment of the fields of fire in the direction of the target on single- and double-turret positions was effected by the force of the sighting officer's arms."

I extracted this from here:

OW23 Lotniskowce typu Yorktown vol 1.

[npb748r]

Hi all, I don't normally build ships, I'm mainly a 1/32 aircraft modeller so massively out of my comfort zone and have next to no basic knowledge when it comes to building and painting ship kits. However I've had one of those years that modellers go through occasionally with zero builds in 2024. In need of getting some inspiration I wanted to do something different and had been looking at the 1/200 scale aircraft carriers for some years. A few glasses of red wine and a certain auction site later and the biggest model box arrived in the post. I was drawn to the Hornet due to the colour scheme but uncertain of what paints to get. Given the size I want to use rattle cans and plan on an OOB build, the kit as it comes is more than enough for my modelling skills and interest. I'm not overly fussed on accuracy as long as it looks near enough, can anyone please recommend any Tamiya rattle can colours that match or closely match those of this monster aircraft carrier ?? I was hoping to find some reference books for the Hornet but they seem few and far between with mostly b&w photos - I was hoping to find some plans but not had any luck, again any recommendations would be gratefully received. Have an enjoyable and safe Christmas.

thanks
neil

[Mgunns]

Hi all, I don't normally build ships, I'm mainly a 1/32 aircraft modeller so massively out of my comfort zone and have next to no basic knowledge when it comes to building and painting ship kits. However I've had one of those years that modellers go through occasionally with zero builds in 2024. In need of getting some inspiration I wanted to do something different and had been looking at the 1/200 scale aircraft carriers for some years. A few glasses of red wine and a certain auction site later and the biggest model box arrived in the post. I was drawn to the Hornet due to the colour scheme but uncertain of what paints to get. Given the size I want to use rattle cans and plan on an OOB build, the kit as it comes is more than enough for my modelling skills and interest. I'm not overly fussed on accuracy as long as it looks near enough, can anyone please recommend any Tamiya rattle can colours that match or closely match those of this monster aircraft carrier ?? I was hoping to find some reference books for the Hornet but they seem few and far between with mostly b&w photos - I was hoping to find some plans but not had any luck, again any recommendations would be gratefully received. Have an enjoyable and safe Christmas.

thanks
neil

Tamiya might have some rattle can paint that is pretty close to what you would need for the Hornet. Their Hull red for the .............hull, black for the boot top, Hornet had two shades of gray, there is a thread here that lists the color. Another source is Tru Color Paints out of Phoenix. I use their stuff and it is color matched and they do offer their colors in aerosols. Tru Color Paint: 623-551-2548 Their website has a color chart and what colors are available in spray cans. https://trucolorpaint.com/color-charts/ ... 7f886-4673 check it out and good luck. Jeff Herne, who is on this forum has Scale Color Paints. He may have what you need as well.