Official Release!! Gallery 1/350 USS Intrepid CV-11!!

[Admiral John Byng]

Thanks Timmy, I stand corrected. I knew the Soviets fitted bow sonar to any ship they could but I didn't know that US carriers had them! Do the Nimitz have bow sonar?

[Tracy White]

No, we no longer have CVS carriers.

[jpeeler]

IIRC, CV-66 did have an SQS-23 bow sonar; CV-67 was constructed with the sonar dome but was never fitted with the equipment itself. This accounts for their unique anchor configurations among supercarriers.

Of the converted Essex-class carriers, while they were all odd ducks to one extent or another, Yorktown was the lone SCB-27A/125 CVS to retain her original anchor configuration, and while I don't think I've seen pictures of her bow late in her career and thus can't say it with absolute metaphysical certitude, this leads me to think she doesn't have a sonar dome. I think she was scheduled to receive the full SCB-144 FRAM conversion in 1966 but funding became an issue (as Vietnam was consuming resources); she also would have been the last of the -27A units modified, and their days were numbered anyway. Instead, from what I've been able to piece together, Yorktown received a partial SCB-144 refit during her mid-'60s overhaul...but just how many of the program's elements were incorporated, I haven't figured out.

Back to the Intrepid kit itself...the more I see, the more I like. Can't wait to get my hands on mine, even if I'll need to get resourceful for the air group I really want!

Jodie Peeler

[Mark McKinnis]

One upgrade to make the CVS-11 kit into a CVA-14 Ticonderoga is swapping the SPS-37 Radar to a SPS-43 Radar. The 1/350 Nimitz Photo Etch Detail Sets have a nice SPS-43 so that is available.

So my question is whether the mount for the SPS-37 and SPS-43 are the same? They look the same in photos but it is hard to compare if the ships are not side by side.

[EJM]

More photos I recieved from Mark:





Next two photos are size comparison of USS Intrepid next to modern USS Wasp LHD.

[EJM]

Last pics for tonight. More might be available later in the week.











For this next pic, I'll have to get Mark to explain a little more clearly on the arrowed areas. But until then, just enjoy the pic for what it is........a hangar deck.

[Mark McKinnis]

Upon further research......Oooof...Yet more differences. It appears that Intrepid is the only -27C one that did not get the SPS-43 upgrade. Figures.


So converting Intrepid requires...

Remove the Sonar Dome
Anchors on port and starboard only, remove bow anchor
Upgrade to SPS-43 including the mounting hardware


It appears that the other radars and mast details are pretty close. Anyone else have other mods needed. I am sure that I missed something.

[MAJOR-B]

Thanks Mark for the update.. and speaking of updates..
The other day I spoke with Brandon at "Freetime" he stated this beast just left the other day and should be stateside in about a month.
Hopefully someone will have worked fully out all the conversions needed for either the ticho or hancock..
Now if we get some additional Aircraft... Life will be good.
Thanks
Major-B

[Admiral John Byng]

No, we no longer have CVS carriers.

Thanks Tracy. For some reason I thought the S stood for "Strike" but I looked it up.

[Mk 1]

Been emailing back and forth today with Mark. He's sending me more pics. He asked that I remind everyone that a lot of what you see is prototype test shots. His words to me in an email were the following:

....just remember to note these are prototype test shots and have had some errors but I did get really good news today that the fixes are in and a pre-production shot is now enroute to me for final analysis pending release! I�ll be having a busy week ahead, proof-reading the instruction sheets final draft, decal sheets, PE and checking the �fixes� � exciting to be wrapping up this project but it has been most interesting.

I know a lot of modelers here are on pins and needles (or X-acto blades and razor blades) waiting to see more pics/progress. But if you can remain patient, I will post more pics before the end of this week. I'll try to get some tonight......if possible.

Sorry about the angle of these pics. That was Mark's doing, not mine.

















More pics coming soon!

[EJM]

Two more pics that I recieved from Mark.

Quote from Mark:

the Intrepid arrived and looks really fine � have included photos of the decal sheet and color plate.

The aircraft set look really fine, shot in the same gray as the rest of the kit and the brittle aspect of the clear styrene has been alleviated.

I did register for the forum and tried to respond about the life raft baskets � (appears those will have to be an aftermarket addition). I never did figure why the response never went thru, guess I�ll need a tutor to figure it out.

The post above by "Mk 1" must be Mark's. But he said he was having trouble logging in/posting.

Pics:

[davidwaples]

Does anyone have a good reference for the remaining wood decking? I'm planning on building Ticonderoga. The two vets I know from the ship don't know for sure.
Dave

[Tracy White]

First, since Mark's reading this thread it appears, thanks for the answer!

David - I scanned in some photos of Tico just after her SCB on my last NARA trip (the one that came up with so many PT shots) and gave them to Navsource a few weeks ago. The carrier editor's pretty busy with life and backed up, but they should be online at some point soon. The shots were aerial, but *just* after she came out of the yard and before they painted the decks (the deck edge raft basket snippet I posted is from that series) so there are different colors and tones to the deck that might aid you with this.

[wvtomcat65]

Cybermodeler posted their "First Look" of the Gallery 1/350 CV-11 kit. Link to the page is below... I have this kit on Pre-order, & have been told by the store that the Kit will be in my hands next month(July). Also Cybermodeler posted news about when the kit would arrive as well. Link below for that as well... Thanks to Cybermodeler all the info on this long awaited kit...

Thomas

Cybermodeler "First Look"
http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/ ... 4008.shtml

Cybermodeler 1/350 CV-11 kit update
http://www.cybermodeler.com/editorial/editorial.shtml

[simon b]

Grey plastic aircraft, praise the lord
Finally someone has some sense. Other kit producers take note !

Why mold in clear plastic just for the canopy (Which never looks right anyway)

I'm in for this one

[Tracy White]

Why mold in clear plastic just for the canopy (Which never looks right anyway)

Clear canopies look better than solid blue or black. Black is OK for aircraft with flight decks, like the Stoof, Hawkeye, or COD, and better than blue on modern flight decks, but for bubble canopies it just doesn't look right:
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=177785

Now, note that I am NOT saying that completely clear plastic is easy and fun to work with. Like many things, it's a compromise.

[simon b]

yeah, not into the blue canopy thing either, blacks too strong, I prefer a mid to dark gray. When looking at a lot of carriers from a reasonable range, the darkness of the cockpit interiors just colour the area up anyway.
For me that just makes the use of fully clear plastic aircraft not worth it.

I preferred the original trumpeter efforts the best, with separate canopies.

[Tracy White]

I preferred the original trumpeter efforts the best, with separate canopies.

My preference as well. I can see why some people wouldn't like having to attach them separately, but I find it easier than all-clear aircraft unless the fit is really, really bad.

[jpeeler]

Upstairs I have a 1:700 Dragon kit I've converted to late '50s Valley Forge. It's very close to being completed, but one of the two reasons my enthusiasm has fizzled has to do with the aircraft being molded in clear plastic. I'm a fairly patient modeler on most things, but 1:700 aircraft are difficult enough to deal with without molding them in brittle clear plastic. By far, they are among the most aggravating things I've dealt with in all my years of model construction. That's especially true with the delicate little gear legs on the HSS-1/H-34s, which snap if you look at 'em wrong.

Jodie Peeler

[Guest]

aren't the kits anchors WAY TOO SMALL and the foreword stem anchor lip wrong??