1/350 LPH-5 USS Princeton

[Devin]

Nice looking work!

[grayson72]

A few tweaks and the mast is ready for paint.

[grayson72]

Side elevator PE glued together with Future.

[Rdutnell]

Side elevator PE glued together with Future.

Future?
I don't think I've heard of that before, how does that work, or rather, how did you do it?

[Timmy C]

Be careful when snipping the elevator off the sprue - the process may involve a brief warping of the elevator that might pop off the PE work.

Unless, of course, the PE has not been glued to the plastic yet.

[grayson72]

Future Floor Wax, high gloss acrylic coating. I just get the parts where I want them and then brush on a generous amount of future, it has the consistency of water, dries really fast and is fairly strong. Once it dries the excess is almost completely gone so you don't get globs of glue anywhere.

[grayson72]

Be careful when snipping the elevator off the sprue - the process may involve a brief warping of the elevator that might pop off the PE work.

Unless, of course, the PE has not been glued to the plastic yet.

Thanks for the warning Timmy, the PE was glued to the plastic with tacky glue.

[Rdutnell]

Future Floor Wax, high gloss acrylic coating. I just get the parts where I want them and then brush on a generous amount of future, it has the consistency of water, dries really fast and is fairly strong. Once it dries the excess is almost completely gone so you don't get globs of glue anywhere.

I knew what future was, I just hadn't heard, and didn't think of, using it to put on PE. Interesting. I'll have to give it a try. Anybody else out there ever tried it?

[grayson72]

Future Floor Wax, high gloss acrylic coating. I just get the parts where I want them and then brush on a generous amount of future, it has the consistency of water, dries really fast and is fairly strong. Once it dries the excess is almost completely gone so you don't get globs of glue anywhere.

I knew what future was, I just hadn't heard, and didn't think of, using it to put on PE. Interesting. I'll have to give it a try. Anybody else out there ever tried it?

I actually got the idea from reading here on this site where several people used matt varnish to apply PE, I figured if that worked why not Future.

[grayson72]

Here's the SPS-30 Radar supplied by IronShipwrights with a few enhancements by me.

[grayson72]

Here's the elevator well for the forward elevator

[grayson72]

Antennae anyone?

[Cliffy B]

Needs a few more I think, never have enough Seriously man, awesome work!!!! I'm taking notes for a future CV-9 build I have planned. Keep it up

[Guest]

grayson72....

I'm intrigued so wanted to say good luck with your project.

I was a Marine on the Princeton LPH-5 with BLT 1/5 when it left Long Beach for Vietnam on 2/14/66.
Our first mission was Op Jackstay 3/26/66 in case any here were there also.
Would love to see a complete model of it.
Can't find any molded plastic models on the web to ponder.

Carry on....

[grayson72]

grayson72....

I'm intrigued so wanted to say good luck with your project.

I was a Marine on the Princeton LPH-5 with BLT 1/5 when it left Long Beach for Vietnam on 2/14/66.
Our first mission was Op Jackstay 3/26/66 in case any here were there also.
Would love to see a complete model of it.
Can't find any molded plastic models on the web to ponder.

Carry on....

Hi, thanks for posting, you should create an account, it will allow you to interact with the good folks here.

[grayson72]

I forgot to post these pics of how I extended a portion of the island so it would flush with the edge of the tub above it.

I put layer after layer of strip styrene over the end of that portion of the island, then sanded down the ends of the strips flush with the sides.

[grayson72]

So I completely missed the deadline to give this ship to my father for Christmas, then I missed the deadline for his birthday in January. All the while I was working on the model like a madman to try and get it finished. Working on it to the point where I kinda put the rest of my life on hold and was spending 40 - 50 hours a week on it.

Well all that fortunately resulted in some major progress.

[grayson72]

Here's the results of the stencils, I bought some low tack adhesive spray and stuck it down to the flight deck that I'd already glued and painted. I made some "splints" and taped them to the back to keep the glued seems from flexing and cracking.

I also cut a stencil for the ships number on the bow and stern of the flight deck. I masked the yellow paint edges around the centerline elevators in the 2nd photo.

[grayson72]

I wanted the detail from the deck to carryover to the forward centerline elevator even if it was in the lowered position. Rather than cutting up the hanger deck I just used the part from the kit and painted it. It was very thick though so I used my belt sander and thinned it down a bit.

[grayson72]

Here's the hull being taped up for painting. The black band that runs along the armor belt seemed especially wide in the photos I saw so I painted the hull accordingly. An interesting note about the armor band, my father said it was so thick you could stand on it.