The Ship Model Forum

Scan like the wind!

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Is this a photo of RANGER CV-4 in Measure 4? This photo appeared in Life Magazine on Sept 1, 1941. It's at the Norfolk Navy Yard, VA and shows RANGER, TEXAS and POTOMAC and two destroyers. Although there seems to be a different color below the main deck, this might not be the case due to the angle of the hull giving a different shade. The island is very dark compared with the TEXAS which would have been Measure 12 (?) or Standard Navy Grey. Also on the bow of RANGER, there is no separation of color between the Forecastle and Main Decks (at the bow). Finally, the mast appears to be painted light grey.

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USS WASP CV-7 VIDEO SERIES

Episode 05: Builder's Trials
Guided Tour1: Hangar Deck

ESSEX CLASS TIMELINE
USS Ticonderoga CV-14 Operational History
USS Shangri La, 1945 in Color

Gang,

Any reports of aftermarket Ranger photo etch for the Trumpeter model being in the works?

curious,
Doug Aigner
Fair Haven, Vermont

According to Wikipedia, "Admiral Ernest King had planned to overhaul the carrier [in 1944] by lengthening the hull and installing new engines. Ranger had been designed in the late 1920s, and consequently was smaller, slower and less armored, and carried fewer aircraft and ammunition supplies than the rest of the U.S. carrier fleet. Admiral King favored having the conversions done, but his staff officers pointed out that allocating the resources required to accomplish this would delay the construction and repair of newer, larger, and more capable aircraft carriers. Based on this information, the full project was canceled."

Are there any design drawings of what the finished project was supposed to look like?

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http://www.lewiscrowauthor.com

Would new engines result in changes to the six-funnel arrangement?

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http://www.lewiscrowauthor.com

For the Ranger that is true. Designed as a true flat top carrier without an Island the boilers were placed aft of the two sets of turbines and each boiler had it's own uptake (funnel).

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Our CO prior to flying to the boomer: “Our goals on this patrol is to shoot missiles and torpedoes.”
Junior Nuke Officer (me) : “Captain, don’t we really want to be like Monty Python and ‘Not be seen’?”
CO “You seem to be missing the big picture”
“Oh”

I've started working on backdating (aiming for '36-'37) my Trumpeter 1/350 Ranger - filling in that odd, quarter-round opening in the island, opening up the doors into the 'arches' that are supposed to be there, and adding the platform off the rear of the island - but the thing that so far seems the most daunting to me is the secondary conn
that's under the forward flight deck. I have pics that show the face of it, and the angled sides. What I don't
have and can't seem to find (I do have Cressman) is pics or a diagram that clearly shows what happens
behind the secondary conn, where it appears to recess again before it hits the actual bulkhead there. Anyone
ever researched this, or come across anything that might be helpful?

curious,
Aggie

Thanks, but, unfortunately, that diagram only shows as-built in a few places, like the port side of
the island, for instance. The area under the forward flight deck was completely changed
at some point ('42? '43?) and the drawing now only reflects post-modification.

There's a set of the Booklet of General Plans here on Maritime.org that show what appear to be three cable reels aft of the control station. They're not labled and I don't have any good shots of this area that clarify what they are. They could also be winches for pulling lines, but as there isn't a good "line" to a chock to pass lines through without rubbing against a bulkhead, I don't think this is likely.

This set of plans is for 1944, but I don't think this area would have changed much.

*Edit* I looked at the deck below on the plans and there's no motors or anything to support a winch, so I'm going to say these are not winches for sure.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Yeah, I started my post before you completed yours but was going through all of my photos and it took a while to finish.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

The secondary conn went from being a large-ish trapezoid, with windows on three sides, to being a fairly small, almost square structure with portholes. From this:



... to this:



The Booklet of General Plans does help, in a way, because the changes show up as darker/heavier lines...

That little 'step' in the starboard side is where the as-built bulkhead was, I think. It looks like they built
the superstructure forward from there, and changed the secondary conn to a bulletproof little box.

I found another pic, on the Naval History & Heritage Command's website, that shows the as-built secondary conn from the port side, and you can see a bit of what's behind it:


What still missing is a clear shot of what's behind the conn... in some pics it looks like there's a passage back to the bulkhead behind it, and in some pics it looks like you can see daylight above it, like the passageway was not the full height of the bulkhead or conn.

An additional benefit of tracking down additional pics is that you see other things in the pics that could be modeled; an example would be that girder structure under the forward flight deck... very different from how it's portrayed in the kit. Also, that fact that the area behind the catwalk (looking under the deck) is open in most places, not solid, as kit manufacturers portray it.

Working on backdating the Trumpy 1/350 Ranger island, starting with opening up the bridge windows:
Working slowly with a very sharp Olfa knife, X-Acto razor saw, and a small square file... it's doable, but, boy, it's a lot of work...


Gun tub on the rear of the island cut out, and location filled in with Evergreen; new walk made from same.

Moderator Edit: For More on this build, see the WIP thread here: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=173976

I found a very helpful photo for checking flightdeck details on Ranger in the mid/late 30s:

You can clearly see where the barrier supports were, originally. The plans are somewhat helpful in this regard, as you can see where a barrier was erased, and you can sort of see where some heavier lines look like later additions. I'm guessing that, for both stern and bow recovery, the barriers were moved back because of bigger/heavier/more powerful aircraft?

Working on the island on my '36 backdate of Trumpeter's Ranger, and have a couple of questions for the brain trust: what are
the objects that one can see on the open deck that is just behind the pilot house, and what are those objects on the protruding
deck platform that comes off the rear of the island? Lastly, the Yorktown kit comes with Bogen speakers, but the Ranger kit
seems to come with none... anyone make them in 1/350? (Model Monkey, looking at you...)

L'Arsenal makes 1/350 speakers, in resin. Review here.

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Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

Thanks! Ordered those, and their 1/350 bags, as those can go behind the .50 cal MGs on the catwalks...

I'm not 100% sure sure you mean by "behind the bridge, but I think the 1944 Booklet of General Plans could be helpful as it doesn't look like a lot changed.



Working our way aft on the Navigation bridge, we have a Target Transmitting Designator (Maybe not the same mark number, link just included for those that didn't know there was such a thing), Pelorus, and then a telescope. Around the director base there is an inclined ladder port and aft and I'm not sure of the pyrotechnics locker in 1944 is there as launched. It does look like the Radio Direction Finder loop is there above the very edge of the structure below. There is a sailor standing in front of a box and I'm wondering if that's the pyrotechnics locker and it was just moved forward or if it's the narrow rectangle shown in the plans. Aft of that in your photo is something that I'm guessing is a compass even though it's not labelled - note the circle in the plans around it. The Navy liked to have non-magnetic structures around the compass (The structure around Battleship Nevada's was brass, leading to noticeable melting during the Pearl Harbor attack, as mentioned in her damage report). and I'm wondering if the circles around that point designate something of note such as that.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Thanks, Tracy. I corrected my question to say 'pilot house' rather than 'bridge'. I also found this handy 3D sprue that has some of those items:



https://www.shapeways.com/product/VZ8AB ... d=77040972

I'm trying to replace Trumpeter's doors on Ranger, which are all just sort of formless raised areas in the plastic. Is there any way to know what doors would have been used where, i.e. by USN specifications? It's very difficult to tell from photos what types of doors to use where... the superstructure is least problematic in this regard. I could fudge it, I suppose, but thought I'd ask the brain trust for guidance first