Calling all Essex-class (WWII configuration) fans

[Elvis965]

I enjoyed driling hundreds of holes into "beams"

I sincerely hope you had a drill press and not a pin vise when you did that!

Nice work, especially in 1/700!

Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

I enjoyed driling hundreds of holes into "beams"

I sincerely hope you had a drill press and not a pin vise when you did that!

Nice work, especially in 1/700!

Bob

And especially on the Hasegawa kit!

[FlyingLow]

Thanks guys, I got a lot of inspiration on this site.

I am afraid it was a pin-wise. You know what they say "what doesn't break us, makes us stronger". I was always strugling with patience when modeling, that is cured now

Yes, Hasegawa is very rudimentary and has a lot of errors. I believe I can still make it look like Tico even though I gave up on several details. e.g. even the number and location of main doors is wrong. I am not fixing that but am adding a lot of "distinct" characteristics.

I am not painting camouflage yet but am confused with the pattern on dual 5inch gun turrets. because of the shades on BW photos it is not easy to determine exactly how were they painted and looking at finished models does not help either, because it seems everybody did it differently. Any reliable references out there?

I also hope Tracy will be able to help with lighting info.

[Tracy White]

I also hope Tracy will be able to help with lighting info.

Erm.. let me look. I don't know that any of the AOTS diagrams show lighting and my photos are somewhat a fragmented "picture" so to speak.

[simon b]

With regard to Starfighter decals new Hornet CV12 1944 airwing set. Which Trumpy kit is the best to use ?

Without too much knowledge i would suggest the Franklin as it's a later fit. But thats more a guess than anything.

[JimRussell]

Use the Essex kit.

Hornet in late 1944 was an "as built" short hull. The only modification necessary is the radar, on the tripod platform there was the small parabolic range finder followed by the large rectangular air search. Mount the hangar cats but do not mount the two 20mm sponsons hanging from the aft of the flight deck. Use 4 large radio towers. As I recall kit fixes were round the flight deck ends, add blind bits to hull and add a walkway to starboard side of island at flight deck level. Later kits fixed the last three items.

In late 1944 Hornet had approximately 1 year on her paint so significant weathering/grime was present.

Jim

[simon b]

Thanks Jim

I wasn't sure if i needed all that AA stuff from the later kits.

[FlyingLow]

There was a lot said about colors and painting but I have another question about Tico flight deck markings.

All manufacturers are including white markings and every model I saw is using them, however on every picture I found, it seems that stripes are significantly darker. Is it just that white got scratched off and paled because of sun and other weather effects or is it possible that it was painted yellow or even gray?
BTW. I decided to paint all markings and not use decals anyway and am doing it before all the detailing to make masking simpler.

[Tracy White]

There was a time when some other colors were used but it was earlier in the war.
Rubber tires and leaky radial engines will take a toll on white paint!

[raser13]

just another odd question. does any one here know of a message board for people that actually served on these ships in WW-II? i'd like to try to find folks that may have actually served and known my grandfather. maybe get to know him better through their stories. so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[ModelMonkey]

what is the copper or brass piping that you guys use on the out side of the hull?

Some of the piping is just that, "gutters" and some is piping to carry aviation fuel to the flight deck. The larger metal items you see on Capt652's model represents exterior vents.

As you know, fire is a major threat to ships in wartime. Aircraft carriers are particularly susceptible due to the presence of aviation fuel and the fuel pipes, hoses and nozzles which carry it.

By the time the Essex class was being built, ship designers began to realize that pipes carrying volatile aviation fuel should be mounted on the outside of the ship rather than the inside. It was found very early in the war that when a carrier was damaged, the fuel pipes carrying aviation fuel in the ship's interior could give off explosive gasoline vapors into the ship's interior. Inadequate venting of the ship's interior could prevent these vapors from escaping resulting in a condition where they could ignite, explode, and doom the ship. USS Lexington CV-2 was lost this way. Later ships of the Essex class, but not all, had some vents moved and others added to help with ventilation. Some of these exterior vents are very large and therefore conspicuous. Capt652 did a great job replicating them on his model.

On a side note about the fear of fire aboard a carrier, in the book The Ship that Held the Line: The USS Hornet and the First Year of the Pacific War (an excellent book), author Lisle Abbott Rose describes CV-8 Hornet's crew spending weeks stripping paint from the interior of the ship after the Lexington was destroyed by aviation fuel vapor explosions. Reports of Lexington's damage control efforts indicated that the paint applied to the interior burned fiercely so Hornet's captain ordered the paint removed.

does any one here know of a message board for people that actually served on these ships in WW-II? i'd like to try to find folks that may have actually served and known my grandfather. maybe get to know him better through their stories. so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

Many ships have associations and organizations for former crewmembers, their families and friends. For example, here's Yorktown's:
http://www.ussyorktown.net/main/index.php

[Tracy White]

A little bit of a correction. The small tubes on the outside were for gasoline as Steve said. The larger vent trunks on Capt's Shang were ventilation trunks that had nothing to do with gasoline, but everything to do with fire. The class as-built had a corridor that ran the length of the ship that was used for ventilation, and it was found in service that if smoke entered this corridor, ir essentially entered the majority of the ship within minutes. Efforts were made to segregate this ventilation trunk and the intakes you see on Capt's Shang build are the visible sign of this work. SOme earlier ships were retrofitted with this before the war ended, others were not.

[Jeffcsr]

Hi, I'm working on the Trumpeter 1/700 Yorktown and want to know if she had the hanger deck catapult removed during refit when the extra quad 40s were added too the hull? The only pics I have are of the Lexington and it looks like Lexington once had but lost her Hanger Deck Catapult when she had the late war (1945) re-fit with the additional hull mounted quad 40s.

[Tracy White]

CV-10's hangar cat was moved to the flight deck in her late 1944 refit. There should be no evidence of it after that point.

[Jeffcsr]

Thank you Tracy! BTW, after the refit is there any time Yorktown didn't wear the Dazzle camoflauge?

ETA: Ah found it! She wore MS-21 in 1945. Still, Thanks!

[raser13]

even though i do apreciate the info guys,it did answer some of my wonderings. i did not ask my question right. i was wondering what he was using for the gutters? i.e. what the, i guese brass rod, is and where he got it from. sorry for the confusions but the info supplied will be written on my pictures as a great note so that i can better understand this great class of ships. does any one know of a message board for past Intrepid crews in perticular, namely WW-II crews? thanks again for any info on this matter . you guys are really a welth of knowledge. hay tracy how goes the book you were working on with all of the pics? i can't wait to get a copy.

[Tracy White]

does any one know of a message board for past Intrepid crews in perticular, namely WW-II crews? thanks again for any info on this matter . you guys are really a welth of knowledge. hay tracy how goes the book you were working on with all of the pics? i can't wait to get a copy.

The best you may be able to do is contact the ship's association and see what they can do; some crew have e-mail but my experience with WWII vets is that not many of them are interested in hanging out on message boards. http://www.wa3key.com/intrepid.html seems to be the main page for the ship's association.

Regarding the book, it's been largely on hold simply because I had finished what research I could do in Seattle and lacked the money for a trip to the San Bruno archives or another NARA II trip... but that problem has been largely solved thanks to someone who wishes to remain nameless. I hope to be down in San Bruno in late May for a week's research.

[Navy Chief]

Hi All,
New to the forum and need some help.
I�m building a 1/96 scale model of the Shang, and want to add the but straps to the shell plating as I saw in Steve Larsen�s model.
I need to know where the straps start and end on the hull.
I have figured out the height, width and spacing, but I don�t have any photos of where they begin and end.
Thanks,
Mike
Have a fine Navy day

[Tracy White]

The AOTS Intrpeid book has a little bit of shell plating information, but not the information you're looking for. If looking at pictures doesn't provide you enough information you might try Ron Smith at AA Military Research and see about having some of the plans copied from NARA. Won't be necessarily cheap, but it's probably your most accurate source.

[Jonason]

Hi,everyone
Who can give me some files about the under structure of the fore fly deck? I didn't find any clearn photo of this sight.
And the under structure of collapsible masts is also needed.

Thank you very much.
Jonason