Model Monkey Sneak Peeks

[Devin]

Excellent. Glad to see the Yorktown island for the Tamiya kit. I've almost built it a few times. I can live with the underscale size, and the kit design makes it easy to just leave off the incorrect gun galleries to do her pre-war, but the super-skinny island has always been the deal-breaker. Looking forward to your offering.

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks so much!

Here are the Yorktown and Enterprise designs at 40% complete.

- Portholes properly sized (16-inch diameter and 12-inch diameter) and accurately located including the two slightly different levels of portholes on the Communication Platform (a feature many kits miss - look under the Flag Bridge walkway and you'll see them), porthole positions confirmed by period photos and photos of the Yorktown wreck.
- Rigols in place although in photos of the actual ships they aren't visible. I'm considering removing them. Thoughts?
- Pilot House windows properly sized and located and opened.
- Funnel Cap in place with circumferential pipe detail as seen in photos and on the 1/48 scale builder's model.
- Funnel Compass Platform height corrected (raised).
- Smoke pipes properly sized and positioned, with the forward smoke pipe accurately sloped.
- Crane cutout present on aft, starboard end.
- Yorktown's pilot house roof splinter shield extents adjusted to match photos of the wreck. Some tweaking yet to do.
- Yorktown's Flag Bridge starboard side walkway corrected (extended forward).

Much more to do.

[MartinJQuinn]

Very nice. But don't forget the funnels for Lex and Sara.

[TOMLABEL]

Here are the Yorktown and Enterprise designs at 40% complete.

WOW!!! These are looking awesome, Steve!!!
I am going to have to dig out my 3 Revell Yorktown class kits and start prepping them!!! I am going to love being able to build all three of these finally!!!! I might as well dig out the Tamiya kits as well!!!

Nice work on the crane cut-out as well as the offset lookout stations!! All the updates look awesome!!!

You got 2 inbound.

Kelley

[medicmike]

Wow those look amazing. Can't wait to see the finished versions. Going to have to snag a Yorktown now to try these out!

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks! Lexington and Saratoga funnels coming! [edit: done!
1/700: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Mo ... ctures&s=0
1/350: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Mo ... ctures&s=0]

Here are the Yorktown and Enterprise designs at 50% complete. The Fighting Tops have been roughed out. They will be further detailed.

[TOMLABEL]

Wow!!! The fighting tops look awesome!! I can't wait to see more if this is the 'rough' version!!

On your earlier question: I would leave the Rigols in place. If not wanted by the modeler, they could be easily sanded off.

Excellent work, Steve!!!

Kelley

[ArizonaBB39]

I'll definitely be buying one of those islands as long as there's one that'll work for the 1941 time frame

[scratchshipbuilder]

So ModelMonkey, go ahead and pop the island off my built Enterprise and pitch it?

Are they ready yet? Are they ready yet? Are they ready yet? Are they ready yet?

[Admiral John Byng]

That Steve Larsen hates me having money in my wallet! Can someone make a 3D Bugs Bunny to go and annoy him please!

[ModelMonkey]

....Can someone make a 3D Bugs Bunny to go and annoy him please!

"I'm weady for any wascawy wabbits...."

[ModelMonkey]

The doors should be done later today. For Yorktown, there will be a weather shelter added.

Then, I'll design the exterior piping.

It's getting very close to being printable. If the 50% design for Yorktown were to be made available today, it would print like this:

[ModelMonkey]

Here's the design at 70% complete.

By request of the initiating client, the doors are all open, ready for your favorite PE doors. I left the fighting top hatches open, too, ready for PE ladders and the fighting top skylight is open, ready for MicroCrystal Clear or some clear plastic sheet.

The area behind the pilot house outboard of the circular conning tower requires some redesigning as its shape is incorrect as yet. The bulkheads do not angle towards the house as you see here, but rather meet the circular conning tower at right angles leaving a large open space aft of the pilot house doors. Just the deck above should be angled.

The docking bridge platforms have been properly raised but not yet shielded with yet-to-be-designed venturis. There is also additional splinter shielding to be designed and the supports for the platforms.

PriFly is coming, too.

There are some additional differences between Enterprise and Yorktown yet to be designed, mostly minor features such as the port and starboard shielded director positions on top the aft end of the pilot house roof, and weather shelter for Yorktown.

Once Yorktown and Enterprise are done, I'll design Hornet. There are some significant differences between Hornet and these two (not the least of which is a completely different pilot house and relocated aft-wards fighting top tripod) which is a big research and design effort and why I left it for a little later. It'll be offered in two ways, a complete island, and another design with just major different features (pilot house, etc.). Once Hornet is done, 1/350 scale fans will be able to convert your Merit Enterprise or Yorktown to Hornet more easily or improve your Trumpeter kit.

These designs are definitely starting to look like the Getty Images photo at bottom.

[ArizonaBB39]

[TOMLABEL]

Oh WOW!!! I'm practically speechless!!!
It's amazing what is possible these days with 3D printing!!! I would have never thought I'd see these in my lifetime without scratch building them.

Great work, Steve!!! I am looking forward to having all 3 sisters now in 1/487(?) and 1/350 and 1/700!!!!!

Kelley

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks, Abram and Kelley!

Here are the designs at 75%. The cylindrical conning tower has been detailed with viewports. Some adjustments to the area behind the pilot house and the addition of mast supports to the fighting top have been made. A cutout on the starboard side of the conning tower for an inclined ladder down to the flag level has been added.

More adjustments to the pilot house area will be made upon further study of the available wreck photos.

[ArizonaBB39]

They look excellent Steve. What program are you using again? I'm going to need to upgrade if I want to get close to your level of detail (Sketchup won't let me do portholes in 1/700, it can't make circles that small!)

[TOMLABEL]

Steve,
The mast supports look great and the modifications to the conning tower and the deck hatch for the flag level access addition is fantastic!!!!!

Awesome work, Steve!!!!

Kelley

[ModelMonkey]

Here's a really good photo of the Yorktown wreck from Ballard's book that shows a shack in front of the funnel, similar, if not identical to, the one on Enterprise. You can clearly see the bases of the aft tripod legs and how the tripod separated from the island, as well as two water-cooled .50 cals still in place on their platforms.

The shack is included as part of the 3D design.

[ModelMonkey]

80% complete.

PriFly has been designed and installed. Some splinter shielding to the aft end has been designed and installed, too.

The port-side docking bridge deck will adjusted outward a bit to better match photos of the Yorktown wreck and there is more detailing to come. They'll both get more splinter shielding and exterior piping. Enterprise will get another PriFly and a shack forward of the funnel.

The structural supports under the fighting tops were "hidden" for better clarity but it wasn't necessary after all.

They are almost ready for battle.