Calling all USS Enterprise CV-6 fans

[Jon C Ryckert]

Why is Enterrprise missing the starboard anchor in the pic above?

[Ed R]

Probably to reduce topside weight due to increase in AA armament, ammo lockers, ammunition, etc..

[MartinJQuinn]

Anyone building the Merit Enterprise? When you get to step 8, the call out in the instructions for part PE-C21 is wrong. That inclined ladder is too short. I substituted part PE-C24 instead, which I couldn't find mention of elsewhere in the instructions.

Also - anyone having - or had - trouble getting the flight deck to fit flush with the hull? I know I'm kind of a hack, but jinkies, the fit is awful. I'm just not sure if it's me, or the model.

[taskforce48]

Martin,

I had the same issues when I built the Big E a few years back. Definitely not you, the kit runs from beautiful engineering in one component to maddening crap in the next. I�ll see if I can restore the images, but you can see some of the frustration I had with my build here
Merit Enterprise Build

She is definitely a kit that you need to mentally build before physically, can�t remember which step but there was something I vaguely remember that if you followed instructions, the next assembly wouldn�t fit.

Look forward to seeing what you do with the kit!

Matt

[MartinJQuinn]

Martin,

I had the same issues when I built the Big E a few years back. Definitely not you, the kit runs from beautiful engineering in one component to maddening crap in the next. I�ll see if I can restore the images, but you can see some of the frustration I had with my build here
Merit Enterprise Build

She is definitely a kit that you need to mentally build before physically, can�t remember which step but there was something I vaguely remember that if you followed instructions, the next assembly wouldn�t fit.

Look forward to seeing what you do with the kit!

Matt

I should have meditated with the hull in hand before building....why didn't I think of that!

Thanks Matt - I appreciate knowing it's not all me. IF I ever build their Yorktown, I'm definitely going to approach the build much differently.

[Angeliccypher]

What section are you having issues with? It is very similar to theHornet Kit in construction so I may be able to offer insight.

[MartinJQuinn]

What section are you having issues with? It is very similar to theHornet Kit in construction so I may be able to offer insight.

I'm building the 1/350 kit - are you talking about the 1/200 Hornet?

I wrestled the flight deck into place, but it was a chore, especially by the forward and aft elevators.

Here's a photo just before I wet sanded the puttied areas over the kitchen sink. Which I can do, without fear of repercussion, as a bachelor.

[Angeliccypher]

The deck was a chore on the 1/350 CV-8 as well. It was not unlike a bad game of wack a mole. The construction is similar between the two kits. If it is not perfectly lined up with all the different bulkheads you will spend a lot of time swearing. I did a lot of dry fitting as I glued each piece in.

[John W.]

Martin -
Not sure if this will be helpful, or too late to help.
I am using parts of the Merit YORKTOWN kit to flesh out my scratchbuilt HORNET effort. Am also using Infini Detail UP set and wooden deck. I was having trouble getting the flight deck to mate with the hangar bulkheads. Some of this I put down to the slight scale differences between a scratchbuilt model made from scaled down plans. However, when I started comparing actual plans to the Merit pieces, there were areas where the plastic did not reflect the plans. In particular, the Merit flight deck is flush with the port side hangar bulkhead along the middle half of the bulkhead. Actually, looking at the plans, the bulkhead is inset toward ship centerline a significant amount. I accounted for this offset by modifying the step on the underside of the flight deck to allow the bulkhead to move toward the centerline. Since my hull was scratchbuilt to those same plans, everything fits fine: flush to the hangar deck edge and I get the proper inset for the bulkhead structure relative to the flight deck edge. This also implies that the port catwalks in those areas are not flush with the hangar bulkhead but are flush with the flight deck edge. (This effect is seen clearly in the Santa Cruz HORNET pictures, and is also seen in photos of CV-5 and CV-6). I did not use the Merit hangar deck, but I suspect I would have ended up with an outward canted hangar bulkhead at the top down much of the port side to meet the various molded guides on the hangar and underside of the flight deck.
BTW, the Infini wood deck has the correct size palisades and also the torpedo elevator adjacent to the #2 elevator and the bomb elevators near the forward end of the island. Merit deck does not - at least for YORKTOWN donor kit I am using. Deck comes with P/E for those elevators , palisades, and aircraft elevators. It hides multiple sins from the original plastic deck. 'Jes sayin" . . .
John

[MartinJQuinn]

Thanks John. The problem on the Merit kit seems to be the "inner" bulkheads, which look to be the same height as the outside bulkheads. With a notch in the side of the flight deck edge, that fits into the inner edge of the outer bulkhead, and an inner bulkhead the same height, something isn't going to fit.

For anyone building this kit, I'd suggest leaving the catwalks off until AFTER the flight deck is on.

I'm building this model for a display at the Rivervale NJ Library, which houses some Enterprise artifacts, foremost among them a piece of Enterprise's stern, where her name was welded on. So, while I'm trying to make a good looking model for the display, I'm willing to accept some warts, as no IPMS judge will ever lay eyes upon her. Well, except through the glass display case.

I have the Infini set made for Yorktown. After the drama I've encountered with Enterprise, I'm not sure that kit will ever get built.

[John W.]

Martin -
Roger, copy all. I did not use the inner bulkheads from the Merit kit because I had my own inner structure already. So I see what the issue is - didn't have THAT problem.
The Infini detail set is like a dream and a nightmare come true at the same time. Since I started HORNET scratchbuilding because of the lousy Trump 1/350 kit, I got to the point where I realized I would have to scratch everything since the Trump kit had almost no true scale pieces to contribute. Then came the Merit kit for CV-5 which was obviously a cut above. Then came Infini and I am over the top. Then I start to try to integrate the three components into one. And then I learned the true pain of getting my wish. It has been work. So I know what you are saying, brother.
As we know, HORNET is not YORKTOWN or ENTERPRISE, so there is still some scratching even with the 7,382 parts in the Infini set (an exaggeration, perhaps, it may only be 7,289.).
Good luck with the completion - it will look fine from what I can see. The scale Red Lead sections are a nice weathering touch!
John

[FRAMSailor]

Ages ago Tracy posted an extensive list of Air Group and associated aircraft for CV-3 on the Saratoga thread. I was wondering if there is a place where I can find a similar breakdown for the pre-war Enterprise Air Group? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[chuck]

what time frame does Merit International Enterprise depict?

[MartinJQuinn]

what time frame does Merit International Enterprise depict?

Santa Cruz, October 1942

[Tracy White]

Ages ago Tracy posted an extensive list of Air Group and associated aircraft for CV-3 on the Saratoga thread. I was wondering if there is a place where I can find a similar breakdown for the pre-war Enterprise Air Group? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

For what it's worth, most of the Saratoga information was collected from John Fry's Saratoga book. I haven't found a similar piece for CV-6, although the history is shorter and there was less change for her so it should be "fairly" simple to flesh out if I can get some time.

[Swede]

Hi all,

(not looking to build a super,super accurate award winning Big E, just a nice BIG display model for myself)

Thinking about a Midway Enterprise -
What exactly would I need to work on/scratch build/change if I went with a Trumpeter 1/200 Yorktown?
(I know the Island is slightly different - what else?).

My modeling skills are very good, I can scratch build simple structures with good blueprints/photos (if in correct scale - I goof up when trying to rescale..)

Availability of aftermarket PE or extra planes at 1/200?

On the ebay a 1/350 Merit Big E is around $200 +/-
a 1/200 Trumpeter Yorktown is a little over $300
Both doable, just don't tell the wife..........

Anyone build/convert the 1/200? (I did a search of the forum, nothing popped)

Thanks!!!

[MartinJQuinn]

Continuing work on the Merit 1/350 Enterprise. Working on the island. Anyone know what the object on the forward top of the funnel is?

Crop of photo 80G-641191 Enterprise Nov 1942, US National Archives

Here is where I'm at with the island

[Dick J]

Martin, contact me off line.

dick_jensen_44@msn.com

[taskforce48]

Martin,

It�s a Radar. I missed it in my build but the Infini set included it.

Matt

[Rick E Davis]

I'm not certain because USS ENTERPRISE had mods done post the Battle of Santa Cruz, but the three YORKTOWN class carriers had an early IFF system installed post Pearl Harbor Attack in early 1942. There were several different systems in use that tried to perfect the application (there were at least seventeen different systems built in 1941-42; BA, BE, BE-1, BF, etc). I don't know which one(s) were actually installed on these carriers. It appears that the antenna looked similar to the SC radar. These "standalone" IFF antenna systems weren't satisfactory and were replaced with IFF antennas attached to the search radar and fire control radars. Eventually, ENTERPRISE and the ESSEX class carriers had a secondary SC-2 radar installed.

Here are photos of a US Army IFF antenna (and system) that is on display at the Military and Space Electronics Museum near Baltimore. The Naval version may have been different, but had to be have been similar because the IFF frequencies were the same. You can see that the antenna seen in the WWII period photo is structurally slightly different than the actual antenna on display. But, it shows that the dipole and mattress reflector antenna design was used.