Scratchbuilding the USS Santee (CVE-29) in 1/96

[Bill Waldorf]

Well, as far as the figures go, I used HO model RR figures as I said. Go to Walther's .com and look under HO scale figures. But your in 1/144 right? That will be tough. Perhaps N-scale will work. (1/160) May be close enough. You'll have to see how they look scalewise as compared to your replica of the ship. I used railroad workers, policemen, etc. Anything that may be modified to suit. Good luck. By the way, your radars are superb as usual. Takes a keen eye and a steady hand. Mine are wearing out slowly!

[ajos28]

Good.
Excellent model, congratulations, to seem real.
There is possibility to get the plans for this model?
There are some books which can get ideas to build this model?
Thank you for your attention.
Continuation of a good job.
Regards,
Artur Silva

[Bill Waldorf]

Good.
Excellent model, congratulations, to seem real.
There is possibility to get the plans for this model?
There are some books which can get ideas to build this model?
Thank you for your attention.
Continuation of a good job.
Regards,
Artur Silva

Hello Artur, Thanks for the comments. Plans are available for a couple of different Escort Carriers from Floating Drydock.com. There are also a few books on the subject, not many. Best source is navsource.com. Look under escort carriers, many good photos. HTH

[Bill Waldorf]

Thought you may like to see where the USS Santee is bound for next week. Here it is. The Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, VA. Note the USS Wisconson in the backround. Should be fun. Santee goes on the second floor. Hope they got an elevator!

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Bill My friend Bill Clarke and co author of Warships and Warship Modelling lives not far from the Museum and I'm sure he would like to see your model being handed over if it's OK .
Dave Wooley

[Cliffy B]

When will the Santee be on display? Been wanting to go back to Nauticus again soon (I live 15 min away) and I would love to see this model up close.

[Bill Waldorf]

When will the Santee be on display? Been wanting to go back to Nauticus again soon (I live 15 min away) and I would love to see this model up close.

August 6th, from there on permamant display. The museum is going to do an exibit called"The Battleof the Atlantic". I'm not sure where the model will be dispayed when I get there. The placement of the model will be temporary initially, then moved to it's permanant location. Hope you can see the model. Please introduce yourself if we meet. I'll be there Aug. 5 - August 7. Thanks for the post..................Bill W.

[Cliffy B]

Awesome Bill! Is the Battle of The Atlantic exhibit going to be permanent or temporary? I'll see what I'm doing next week and try and swing by, can't wait!

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again I have now added all the figures and completed all the aircraft. A bit more touch-up and final look over before the glass case goes on. I am going to move the ship to a better location here in my home to try and get some overall views without all the "backround noise" going on. Till then, here's some more views from the flightdeck and other areas of the ship. Take a look.........

Aft 40mm mounts manned and ready.....

Port side aft 40mm mount....

Port side forward 40mm mount.....

Stb. side midships 20mm mount.....

Checking bombs before loading on the SBD's. The bomb trolly is a model RR modified farm wagon. Bombs are from the parts stash box.

Torpedo being readied for loading into a TBF. Note the deck tractor.

Officers on the bridge....

Another view of the bridge.

Pilots final brief before flight ops begin....

View from portside.....

Another look. Note the aircraft wheel chocks.

F4F Wildcat taking off.....

Ready for take-off....

Hot pappa's..... (firefighters)

Well, there it is.....I'll post some overall views of the ship as soon as I move it yet again! Stay tuned.....A little more to come!

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Bill As I said in an earlier post your use of "active deck crew" brings the model to life. I like how you have captured, almost like a "snap shot in time" the frenetic activity , on and around the island ,or moving the torpedo but by contrast a group of pilots perhaps making last minute deliberations . This is better than just a superbly executed model, this is a story in its own right .
Dave Wooley

[Bill Waldorf]

Hi Bill As I said in an earlier post your use of "active deck crew" brings the model to life. I like how you have captured, almost like a "snap shot in time" the frenetic activity , on and around the island ,or moving the torpedo but by contrast a group of pilots perhaps making last minute deliberations . This is better than just a superbly exacuted model, this is a story in its own right .
Dave Wooley

Thanks Dave.......A "snapshot in time" is the effect I was after. You having mentioned this, I must assume I have captured it. Historically speaking, the actions on the flightdeck may be a bit off. However, Mr. Man on the street with two kids and a wife, probably would'nt know the difference between a dive bomber and a fighter plane. I tried to portray how things might have been in those early days of aircraft carriers. Things back then were still being figured out and alot of mistakes were made. In viewing the model on display, as you walk around it you'll see something different all the time. The purpose of an exibit is to capture peoples attention, and to give them a sense of how things were done back then. So, even if not totally correct, I felt the overall effect does capture ones imagination. You can "feel" the action, if you will. So if I have accomplished this, then I am happy. Telling a story is what it's really all about, after all.......

[ARH]

A lovely job Bill, dont forget to take the photo,s when it goes in place, I still have the last carrier pictures you took at the museum.

[les]

Congratualions Bill. Another great build.

[Cadman]

I love the action of the crew. I'll bet visitors to the museum will be thrilled.

[Dino Carancini]

Wonderful!

I don't think that the fake glass of the canopy will be a problem if compared with the amount of work you did here!

Dino

[J. Soca]

Superbly done Bill that is one busy flattop and great idea in finishing it like that, it really brings it to life. drive careful to Virginia and if you can, well i know will take plenty of snapshots from the Wisconsin.


Jose

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again all I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been watching and all of you who have been kind enough to post your comments. I realize that an Escort Carrier is probably not the most interesting subject on this site. I am also aware the the scratchbuilding section is not the driving force here. How some of you can model in 1/700 in such great detail is beyond me. I can't even see it. 1/96 is small enough for me, thank-you! I have posted many builds here, all in larger scales and most scratchbuilt. If I have inspired anyone to tackle scratchbuilding or if anyone has used any of my techniques, then that is a good thing. I am somewhat dissapointed that more aftermarket mfgrs. don't do much in 1/96. There are literally hundreds of items in 1/700. What is it with that?? More bang for the bucks, I guess. Most of my projects, if not all, go to museums. There are two reasons for that. #1, I have nowhere to put all those big ships that I build and #2, whose gonna see them here? Better in a place where all can enjoy and I get to "show off" a little, if you will. Having alot of folks looking at ones work is very satisfying. My wife, who passed away almost three years ago, was my driving force. She was always behind me 100%, in spite of all the time and money these projects take to produce. She looked forward to the delivery trips as she loved to travel. So the arrangement worked out well. After she passed away, it really screwed me up. I could'nt do much of anything, much less build these monsters.But because of this one little website, in an ocean of websites,and because of all of your support and kind words, I have recovered. So I am back on track as you can see. So once again, Thank-You to all. I'll post some final shots of the ship soon, and then an epilog from the museum. So as I always say........Stay Tuned!......I continue on....................Best to all, Bill Waldorf.

[ARH]

Hi Bill, Good to hear you are feeling better in yourself, I know you have had a rough nearly 4 years, we have all watched and prayed that some day you would recover and get back to normality.
We in scratchbuild are in the minority on this site, but as you and I know when we started 9 years ago there was you and I, now there,s alot more, even the small scale guys are attempting alterations to there models.
Anyway have a good trip when you deliver the model, and take lots of photo,s, best regards. ARH

[johnny canuck]

That carrier is fantastic.

The senior builders on this site always have something to teach us junior guys and I enjoy learning every thing I can about this hobby.

You gentlemen keep up the great work as I know I still have a long way to go before I can approach what you all can do.

I am in the final phases on my army training course so I hope I can get back to posting my build in late Aug when I am back.

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again Well, tommorrow morning I leave for Norfolk, Virginia. The ship is loaded and I'm ready to go. I have some parting shots of the model I thought you would like to see. Wish me luck...........

I'll have a report on the trip when I return......Stay tuned...............