Calling all Essex-class (WWII configuration) fans

[jgrease]

Thanks for the answer Tracy, but is there anything I don't have to pay for right now that has something to help me? My modeling budget is quite low after Nats All I need is one diagram with step locations or at least guidelines for placement. Everything else I'm doing is basically as per photos and diagrams from the Squadron book or online resources. Thanks again.

John

[MartinJQuinn]

Thanks for the answer Tracy, but is there anything I don't have to pay for right now that has something to help me? My modeling budget is quite low after Nats All I need is one diagram with step locations or at least guidelines for placement. Everything else I'm doing is basically as per photos and diagrams from the Squadron book or online resources. Thanks again.

John

John,

PM or e-mail me. I can hook you up with scans of what you need from Arnold's book.

[Capt652]

Hi All

Update to my Shangri-la WIP

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=36797&start=30#p238465

Capt652

[SeanF]

Regarding USS Bon Homme Richard, during her dazzle-scheme days in late '44-early '45: might anyone here have a good feel for the flight deck color? I'm finding it really hard to tell from the photos I've seen. According to the Floating Drydock carrier camoflage book, "BHR's flight deck appears to be the standard blue stain," by which it usually means flight deck stain 21; but the photos provided in the same book look much darker, but I'm not sure if it's dark enough to be 20-B stain. Of course, the lighting conditions and quality of the photos can be throwing things off. So... anyone with a better interpretation? Thanks.

- Sean F.

[Gilbert]

Well, difficult to say, according to Alan Raven, in his articles related to development of US Naval Camouflage in WW2,

"In February 1943 carrier aircraft began to change their colors from non-specular Blue Gray to semi-gloss Sea Blue. Along with this change there was the introduction of a new flight deck stain for carriers called #21 Flight Deck stain which began to be employed on the ESSEX class as they came into service in 1943. This color when newly applied exactly matched that of 5-0 Ocean Gray. This new stain was also used on the flight decks of INDEPENDENCE class CVLs and CVE classes in 1943 and into 1944. About mid 1944 there was the introduction of #21 Flight Deck stain (revised). This revised stain was (when newly applied) identical to 20B deck Blue (revised) and was a near match in service with the introduction in March 1944 of glossy Sea Blue, a new camouflage color for use on carrier aircraft."...

therefore, it is likely IMHO, USS Bonhomme Richard, by the end of 1944 had the darker color on her flightdeck.

cheers

Gilbert

[raser13]

have i found the motherload of aircraft carrier referance pics !!!!! 42pages of posted pics of problay every carrier known to man!!! check out the link below, and please share it on the other boards here:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sh ... ft+carrier

by the way they also have referance pics of pretty much any type of military equipment you could want. just back out to the main forum. cheers!!!

[Capt652]

Hi all!

Update to island on my Shangri-la build in WIP.

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=36797&start=45#p240768

Capt652

[jgrease]

Remarkable build! Keep up the great work!

[raser13]

hey guys, i was just poring over some of the pics i have of the different sections of the hanger bays, and i found this pic(croped and circled for clarity)



it is a pic that someone posted here a while ago of the hornet,after she went to mothballs. what i did notice was that behind the stairs there is a set of pipe and the hose reels. i looked up this section in the AOTS on pg.44-45 fig. A8/1 and found this area to be labled gasoline filling station.




would you guys think that it would have looked simular if not identical in WW-II? or would you assume that it would have changed? this looks alittle more credible to me than having ones like they have on the flight deck level. any input would be great.

[Tracy White]

Give ma a day or so to look... I have some photos of this *GENERAL* area from Intrepid but they're almost useless as they're taken when the hangar deck was full of sailors... most of the bulkhead detail is obscured by people.

But my guess is that this is nothing like what it looked like in WWII.

[raser13]

the only other shot i have is of the area after a kamakazi atack and fire. i believe it's one of your pics tracy. but the only thing i can make out in it is a structure that has what apears to be pipes going to it(circled in red) . it happens to be in the same floorspace as the hose reels in the proceeding pic. i thought that maybe the housing and cover might cover the hose reels that are visible in the last post. whach'ya think?

[Tracy White]

Hose reels look a lot bigger to me than that cabinet. It's your call though.

*EDIT*
I looked through my pictures and sure enough, it's all covered by sailors. All I can make out is that there were some fire-fighting pipes hung from the side of the light labyrinth about the same height as the top of the opening... that's about as low down as I can see

*EDIT EDIT*

Found a picture of CV-18 in April 1945 with an uncovered fueling station like what you see on the catwalks. It is important to note that this was BEFORE she went to Puget Sound for late-war modification, so this is not an indication that all ships had uncovered fueling stations. But it does appear to confirm that there was a fueling station there. My guess is that early on these were uncovered, then enclosed with wartime experience. No hose reels i n sight, by the way.

[raser13]

thanks for the info tracy. i'll just figure on making up a set like on the flight deck then. once again thanks

[Capt652]

Hi all,

After all this time working on my Sh#@$y Sh@#!y Shang Shang I finally started painting!!! What a blast to have the air brush in hand. I'm using Polly Scale 5N acrylic paint, I thinned it about 20% with distilled water - sprayed really nice... I was worried I made a mistake having already placed the PE pieces all about the ship, but NO PROBLEM at all. Whew!!

I have a question about the boot stripe - where would it be located in relation to the hull and the bottom on the Trumpy 1:350 model? Would the bottom edge of the boot stripe be at the seam? Any help is most appreciated.

Capt652

[AndrexP]

...I have a question about the boot stripe - where would it be located in relation to the hull and the bottom on the Trumpy 1:350 model? Would the bottom edge of the boot stripe be at the seam? Any help is most appreciated.

Capt652

I too used the MM and PS acrylics, with great results.

About the boot topping stripe... in researching this very question, I looked through every photo I could find of Wartime CV-9 class hulls, trying to get the look right. This picture of Franklin's launch reveals a boot topping height of 3.5 ft (The picture is hosted on Navsource; zoom it in and you'll notice three white dots - a foot apart -- within the boot stripe at the cutwater):



It also sits fairly high on the armor belt. I can't find any pictures of that detail right now, but here are a few pictures of my resulting reproduction, which looks "right" to me:






I have a bunch of higher-resolution pictures online at the hosting album, if you want to browse: http://picasaweb.google.com/ARP1757/CV10Project#

Hope this helps!

[Capt652]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your response. Your research answers my question completely! I also enjoyed browsing your pictures of CV-10. Great job! Paint looks great too!!

Thanks again,

Capt652

[MM2CVS9]

Regarding those white "dots" -
Having been on "ESSEX" when it was in drydock, I remembered seeing numbers at the bow indicating the draught depth. There is a picture in Warship perspectives p 51 of SHANGRI-LA and Raven's Essex Class Carriers p 20 of ESSEX showing those numbers although I can't make them out clearly enough to identify the numbers themselves. I wish I could, or find a better photo to examine. I'm presently building Trumpeters ESSEX, and could use the info as well.

Gene

[Capt652]

Hi all!

Those interested in Essex-Class carriers would probably like this book...

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=37537#p242285

Capt652

[MM2CVS9]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your response. Your research answers my question completely! I also enjoyed browsing your pictures of CV-10. Great job! Paint looks great too!!

Thanks again,

Capt652

To ad to my previous post about the White Dots.
I just watched a DVD - USS Hornet by Taskforce films. There is a great film segment showing tha launch of the CV12 Hornet with a wonderful bow shot of it going off the slip. The white dots Actally numbers are very clear. The first number from the bottom is a 4 and appears in perspective to be four feet from the keel. The numbers go up to 9 then start over at one, every foot. It is clear that the bottom edge of the boot stipe is at the 26 foot mark. I agree that the stripe is approximatly 3 1/2 feet in width. I spoke to a friend of mine that worked in the Oil Shack same time I was aboard, and he said there were weld marks on the hull to locate the top and bottom edges of the boot stripe for the sideboys that renewed the paint but he didn't know for sure the exact width.

EJ

[AndrexP]

I agree that the stripe is approximatly 3 1/2 feet in width.
EJ

Makes sense. According to Navsource, Essex's full-load draft was 28.5 ft. This should correspond to the top of the boot stripe. It's apparent, then that the three numerals (draft marks) that fall within the boot stripe are 26', 27', and 28'.

I postulate that the bottom of the boot stripe is approx. 25.5' from the keel, and the top is 28.5'. It should be close enough, in any case.