Calling all USS Hornet CV-8 fans

[rtwpsom2]

I'm going to have to stop interpreting things like this, I have a pretty poor track record lately for accuracy.

[John W.]

Just out of the spray booth, so I shot some quick pictures. Still plenty left to do even with what is seen here. The camo is the result of staring at many photos, and using (to a degree) the Floating DD camo sheet. In the latter case I found it to be generally accurate overall, but some of the features did not agree in location with the photos. The culprit appears to be the line drawing over which the camo is printed. It is not a great rendering of the various components such as the 5" gun sponsons' positions or size. Take the time and it will turn out fine - just take the time.
I also noticed that the paint scuffing (where the underlying color shows through) differs over a several month period. Since I am modeling HORNET at the time of the Raid, the photos I used and which were dated mid-April show only a small amount of scuffing. One can even see it increasing in size a week or two later. The bow-on picture of HORNET with lots of scuffing showing is not correct (my opinion based on some digging) for the time of the Raid. Some of the pictures below may show the latex masking I put on the hull before painting. I have not pulled it up as yet, so it shows as shiny areas on both sides. I hope by the end of this project both my modeling and photographic skill will have improved greatly compared the where I started each.

Everything you see in the photos is scratchbuilt. I removed the only kit parts - the props - when I shot the paint.
I have to say that there were many (many.) times I wondered if I would see this through even this far.

[Hippy Ed]

Looks good John Thanks fer reminding me... I needta git back to fixin' my a/b so I can shoot my Hornet

[John W.]

Thanks, Ed. I know what you're sayin'. There's been many times I wanted tp shoot my HORNET too! Press on, man.

[Hippy Ed]

Thanks, Ed. I know what you're sayin'. There's been many times I wanted tp shoot my HORNET too! Press on, man.

I am close to painting but, my a/b is down. Can't afford to send it to Badger right now

Here's where I'm at with my 1/700 Trumpeter

[John W.]

Ed -
Lookin' good. The 'fun' part awaits you with the camo! It is hard enough in 1/350, my hat's off to you in 1/700.
It must be something major with your airbrush if Badger has to repair it. Couldn't you use a Dremel to grind out the problem and then super glue a new piece in? Naw. I guess not. Hopefully you can get back at it fairly soon. Good Luck, brother.

[Hippy Ed]

Ed -
Lookin' good. The 'fun' part awaits you with the camo! It is hard enough in 1/350, my hat's off to you in 1/700.
It must be something major with your airbrush if Badger has to repair it. Couldn't you use a Dremel to grind out the problem and then super glue a new piece in? Naw. I guess not. Hopefully you can get back at it fairly soon. Good Luck, brother.

Thanks John, I'm gonna cheat on the camo I have the Gator masks for it The a/b wont pick up the paint or, anything from the cup. I've soaked it in thinner, stripped it & cleaned it real good. Badger 175 & now, my 200H is down Can't afford to replace them, let alone send them out.

[John W.]

Ed -
If I was to guess, I'd say the problem with your airbrush is an air leak. It's like having a pinhole in a soda straw (because the waitress bent it in her pocket) so that no matter how hard you suck (not metaphysically speaking, of course), you don't get the Coke up the straw (Coca Cola, man, Coca Cola. Or Sprite, or Grape, or . .). The air could be leaking around the threads holding the tip in place - some manufacturers suggest putting a small amount of beeswax on the threads as a sealer so all the air goes through the nozzle and past the needle. Others here may have ideas you can try while waiting to send it off. Another suggestion to try to find the leak - put some thinner in the cup, then use a rag to cover the nozzle so that air cannot come out the tip (being careful not to damage the tip of the needle). You should get air bubbles in the thinner in the cup. If not, you may be able to hear where the air is leaking.
HTH

[Hippy Ed]

Ed -
If I was to guess, I'd say the problem with your airbrush is an air leak. It's like having a pinhole in a soda straw (because the waitress bent it in her pocket) so that no matter how hard you suck (not metaphysically speaking, of course), you don't get the Coke up the straw (Coca Cola, man, Coca Cola. Or Sprite, or Grape, or . .). The air could be leaking around the threads holding the tip in place - some manufacturers suggest putting a small amount of beeswax on the threads as a sealer so all the air goes through the nozzle and past the needle. Others here may have ideas you can try while waiting to send it off. Another suggestion to try to find the leak - put some thinner in the cup, then use a rag to cover the nozzle so that air cannot come out the tip (being careful not to damage the tip of the needle). You should get air bubbles in the thinner in the cup. If not, you may be able to hear where the air is leaking.
HTH

I'll try that John I know the 200H has a bent needle & just can't afford a new one at this time

[iangazeley]

I've just read through this thread, and haven't come across a discussion of the Merit International 1/350 USS Hornet (a pre-built model), though apologies if I've missed it.

Is the Merit kit accurate? Can the hull be used in conjunction with the Trumpeter kit and aftermarket p/e?

TIA

[Elvis965]

Can't say I've ever even heard of one, but it appears to be a prebuilt die cast model and also OOP:

http://www.merit-intl.com/month/mil-89001.htm

Bob

[Timmy C]

Looks like it's an OOB build of the Trumpeter kit, actually - same tanker hull and 20mm guns, amongst other things.

[MartinJQuinn]

Everything you see in the photos is scratchbuilt. I removed the only kit parts - the props - when I shot the paint.
I have to say that there were many (many.) times I wondered if I would see this through even this far.

How the hell did I miss this? Fantastic work John. Simply fantastic.

[DennisJP]

http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/020831e.jpg


Here is a good picture of Hornet as she looked before and during the Doolittle Raid as well as Midway battle. At Pearl Harbor after the Midway Battle they repainted the ship and the Ocean Gray paint above the Navy Blue wave camo was lightened up quite a bit in the June 42 paint revision.

[DennisJP]

http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/020855.jpg

Now here is Hornet after the Midway Battle at Pearl Harbor during her two months of training before Santa Cruz Battle. I hope this helps you.

[Michael Vorrasi]

http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/020831e.jpg


Here is a good picture of Hornet as she looked before and during the Doolittle Raid as well as Midway battle. At Pearl Harbor after the Midway Battle they repainted the ship and the Ocean Gray paint above the Navy Blue wave camo was lightened up quite a bit in the June 42 paint revision.

Dennis, nothing was changed on the colors after Midway. What you are seeing is lighting variations. Grays and blue grays tend to be very changeable in different lighting situations as a rule. Sunlight and shade do weird things to it. You also must account for variations in color photography, which was very much in its infancy in this time frame.

[John W.]

Since I am about to commit to my interpretation of the underlying color for the scuffed paint on CV8 in the spring of 1942, I thought I'd generate some discussion before generating the paint brush.
So here's what I think: the underlying color is both white and zinc chromate yellow (or something very close to that).
Here's the B&W shot, one of many:

Now here's a couple of shots of USS BUCHANAN DD-484 from the NH series of official USN photos. Check the Navsource site to see them, and also see them in Steve Wiper's WP#31 on BUCHANAN. The cover photo of that book is what triggered this theory, though the cover picture does not seem to be in the Navsource BUCHANAN photos.
In this photo of BUCHANAN in Mod 12 notice the scuffing on the transom and note that it is clearly much lighter that the 5-O above it. One might argue it is slightly more grey than the white hull numbers.

This photo is another of the sequence of photos as DD-484 refuels from WASP. Note again the scuffed areas that appear here to be lighter that the lightest grey (5-L?) on the hull where the focs'l deck rounds down onto the hull.

Zooming in on the scuffed area yields an even more interesting sight - several patches of color that look to my eyes to be zinc chromate yellow.

I don't know how well they will show up here, but looking at the originals on Navsource or in WP#31 - especially on the cover - leads me to conclude that is what is there. My zoom photo might not be 'zoomable' enough here, but look at the original and zoom it in a photo handling program and the color is very clearly yellow in the areas outlined. Why is some of the scuffed area white and some yellow? I think the zinc chromate has been bleached by exposure to the sea water (the chlorine in it, to be exact) and that those areas which show yellow are recently peeled. I note as well that on the ship's bow in the vicinity of the anchor there are many spots where it appears red lead primer has been daubed on, suggesting to me that the zinc chromate was not applied by ship's company. I think I remember reading that the specification for paint on the hull did call out a layer of a hot coat of primer that might have been zinc chromate. I cannot find where I read that, and it might have been some hallucination . . .
Open the discussion!

[KevinH]

Interesting, I was reading the ship log for Midway and saw this;

"1429 Plane 5-F-24 crashed on landing, and fired its machine guns accidently. The following casualties resulted: Lieutenant Royall R. INGER�SOLL, U.S. Navy., Dead; CUMMINGS, F.W. Jr. 311871, pvt, USMC, Dead; HUMFLEET, L.E. 316213, pvt, USMC, Dead; IGNATIUS, W.B. 222784, Sgt., USMC, Dead; and MEYER, E.A, 283-40-50, Sea.2c, USN., Dead; Lieutenant G. W. ELLENBERG, USN, small i multiple wounds on back and scalp; Lieutenant (jg) W. B. ROBB, USN, wound right shoulder; Ensign K. L. JOHNSON, USNR., small multiple wounds on back; Ensign R.L. KARZMAR, USNH., wound right cheek and left shoulder; PARKEB, E.D. QMlc, USN wound buttock and testicle, BATTS, C.B. Yeo,3c, USN., wound neck and back; JONES, C.G. Sea.lc, USN., wound left knee; PLUMLEY, W.F. Sea.lc, USN., wound right thigh; SERFIN, J.F. Pfc, USMC., wound right shoulder; BILLINGSLEY, V.L. Pfc, USMC., wound left shoulder and left knee. All these officers and men were at their battle stations. The Pilot, Ensign SHEALEY, had been wounded in the right ankle and lower leg while fighting over the YORTOWN."
Most of the time you don't realize what happened to the dead or injured.

[Angeliccypher]

On the trumpeter kit, there are what appear to be fire control directors for the 1.1" mounts. Tow on the catwalks fore and aft. Am I right that those are the directors? If so are there any decent replacements fort them? I found Paper Lab makes Target Bearing Directors that look to be similar in shape. Thanks in advance.

[Michael Vorrasi]

On the trumpeter kit, there are what appear to be fire control directors for the 1.1" mounts. Tow on the catwalks fore and aft. Am I right that those are the directors? If so are there any decent replacements fort them? I found Paper Lab makes Target Bearing Directors that look to be similar in shape. Thanks in advance.

Hornet had four 1.1 directors. The first was in the forward catwalk, just aft of the five 20MM's. It is slightly raised higher, but looks like another 20MM tub. The next one resides in the cylindrical tower just in front of the bridge, on top of the fwd. 1.1 clipping room. The next one resides high in the aft part of the island in a cylindrical tub mounted just above the stairway on the aft of the island, and just in front of the railed platform on top of the big crane. The fourth sits in a tub in the starboard aft catwalk just forward of the #4 1.1 tub.

In these photos, you can see the all of the directors. I believe these were Mk 44's, but I have had a hard time finding any good detail or info on them. All of Hornet's original four 1.1" mounts were powered and director controlled. Her fifth quad, added on the forecastle after Midway, was manually operated and aimed.

Number 2 director is in the cylindrical tower, covered in canvas:


Number 1 director is just to the right of the sailor lugging all the rope. Note the tub is slightly higher than the five 20mm's forward of it. It is not covered here:


Number 3 director is between the big loudspeaker (the drum with all the dark spots) and the crane's railed top position. It is canvas covered here:


Number 4 director is just ahead of the number four 1.1 tub, in the catwalk at far left of the photo. You can also see the #1 director tub, the first slightly raised catwalk tub in front of the forward 1.1 battery and aft of the 20mm tubs: