1/350 USS Bennington (CV-20)

[Russ2146]

Uh-oh, his engineer side is showing.

[Rdutnell]

Update 77
Yeah Russ, that tends to happen from time to time. It�s in my genes!

I was able to spend some time this evening working on (or playing with) the model and focused on the hangar accessories I am adding, so I can close her up. Back in Update 31, on 8/19/2012, I posted a picture of sailors watching a movie while others were working on bombs. I recreated the movie theater, so I thought I would recreate the bombs with people working on them. I knew roughly what a bomb looked like but wanted to simulate the 500 pounders, so I downloaded a good picture of one.

I just recently installed the aft elevator supports which I cut off to have the elevator lowered a bit. It occurred to me that they were the right size, and comparing them to the picture, showed this to be the case, or at least close enough. They may be a tad big, but not by much. The good thing is that the supports are unneeded duplicate items so I have enough material for 20+ bombs. I need 11 for the planes so I have 9 or more that I can scatter about as desired.

After shaping them I put them on their trolleys, which made them easier to handle for applying fins and painting. For fins I used the Bridge Wind Deflector Supports included in the GMM Essex Plus PE kit, since I decided not to try building the deflectors, but even if I change my mind later, I think that there are plenty of them. This was easier to do than I thought it would be, the tricky part of course being getting a grip on them with tweezers w/o sending them flying. I only launched one and it went down, staying on my work surface so it was easily found. Besides, as I said, if I lost one, I have plenty.

I painted them with Model Masters Light Gray Acrylic.

The first one I made (not shown)was lame because I didn�t have the rear taper right the next two (above and below) are better and look reasonably close to the real thing.

When they were finished I put them on the deck along with sailors working on them. I put them right in front of the port side hangar doors so they will be readily visible. I also attached the tractor/plane assemblies I made previously and populated them with men.

I only have a couple of more items to put in the hangar, a forklift or two, a few more men, and me riding my red bike past the doors adjacent to the aft elevator.
Manana!

[DanCinSD]

Why did you choose lt grey for the bombs?? They should be olive drab or maybe black for AP bombs.

[Russ2146]

These were taken on Benny

[Rdutnell]

Why did you choose lt grey for the bombs?? They should be olive drab or maybe black for AP bombs.

Frankly, I have no idea. I just painted them without any thought. Since I know very little about the Navy, from ships, to weapons, to uniforms, or anything else, it seems like I spend more time looking for, and at pictures than I do modeling.

I am really grateful that you pointed this out while I can still fix it.
It's the first thing I'm going to do when I get back at it. I've been posting my build on this site for several reasons and that kind of feedback is one of the main ones. Other reasons include; taking pictures points out flaws my eyes miss; it gives me something to do when I am waiting for things to dry; it slows me down so I don't make stupid mistakes like painting dark bown bombs light gray; and I enjoy it.

Thanks for your comments DanCinSD! Keep them coming. They will only make my model better in the end.

[Rdutnell]

These were taken on Benny

Thanks again Russ!

Sometimes I'm pretty dense. The bombs in the picture you show are considerably smaller than the ones shown in the movie theater picture and the ones shown here.

1-bombmsgs.jpg (17.75 KiB) Viewed 1241 times

These are what I was going for, thinking that they were 500 pound bombs. If I had been paying better attention I would have known that this wasn�t the case. I have a picture titled �500lbBombonF6F-Bennington-7-25-1945�, that you may have sent me, that clearly shows them to be smaller. In fact, I remember when looking at this picture that it would be a good scene to recreate. The name says it all, yet I missed it.

So, the bombs in the first photo, that I simulated, are what, 1,000 lb bombs?

What about the photo below? Can anyone tell me what is shown here?

3-bombstak.jpg (14.01 KiB) Viewed 1241 times

In any case, I think I will leave the ones I made as is (after painting them), but will have to come up with plan B for the others. Putting the fins on the ones I made was about the limit of what I can do. I could use smaller (1 mm) rods for the bombs, but I don�t see how I could put fins on them. Nansen on his exquisite 1/350 USS Wasp LHD-1 (viewtopic.php?f=59&t=103046 Mon Sep 03, 2012 4:03 pm) used the lid foil from the top of a wine bottle to make fins for 1mm bombs, but man, I don�t even see how you would cut out a fin that small, or grab it once you had it cut out. Forget about 250 lb bombs. Could you even see them?

A major question then becomes, is it even worth making bombs if they are just small pieces of 1mm rod?

Thanks again for the feedback!!!

[Russ2146]

Other than 1000 lb, they could be 750 lb.
Your last picture sorta looks like 5"/38 projectiles or maybe rockets since they look longer than the 5" projectile.. The white things on the noses are probably protective caps over the fuses.

[Rdutnell]

Update 78
I repainted the bombs using an odd mix of enamels; Testors Flat Green and Model Master Flat Black.

I tried to match the color on the photos Russ sent, but as you can see they are a little on the green side. A bit more black would have been better, but I�m not redoing it at this point. I think in the dark of the hangar, they will look fine.
Thanks again Russ and Dan!!!

[Rdutnell]

Update 79
One thing you probably don�t know about me is that I like to ride my bikes, as in the human powered kind, which of course, is why I ordered bicycles to put on (and in) my model. I don�t know if they Bennington had bikes on board, but from a practical standpoint it seems like they would. If anyone knows, I would love to hear about it. Another thing you don�t know is that I also like to draw and paint from time to time. Whenever I do a piece I use my initials and a bicycle as my signature. After I received the bikes, I thought it would be fitting to put me in the model riding my red road bike. I�m going to see my dad who is in Puff (or will be when the new one arrives and I install it).

So, the first bike I made, and I think the only one I am going to put in the hangar, was me and my red bike. It was tiny, but went together with relative ease. Even the handle bar and seat, which were super tiny went on well. I just licked the tip of my Exacto (Ewww! Gross!) and the surface tension adhered the piece to the knife good enough for me to transfer it to the bike frame, which I had pre-applied a small drop of gel CA to. As soon as the part touched the glue it was on. Tada! I was able to fold the man in the correct position the first time, which also surprised me, so he went on easily too.

Here is a couple of pictures of it as built�

And 3 more installed�

Now for the forklifts, the last items, other than the AC-47 on order, to go in the hangar.

[Rdutnell]

Update 80
The forklifts, like everything in the WEM PE set went together well and were enjoyable to work with. The kit comes with 6 forklifts, each one consisting of 5 parts; the body, the lifting frame, the forks, a steering wheel and a driver.

Two pieces had to be scratch built; a steering column, for which I used a piece of 28 AWG wire, and the body which consisted of a small piece of 0.040� styrene sheet, cut to the shape of the body, as shown below.

I folded the frame around the core I made, attached the lifting arm and forks as directed in the instructions, and touched up the paint job. I then installed the steering column, followed by the driver, and lastly the steering wheel. This seemed easier than trying to fit the driver around the wheel.

I made two, and on one of them I put a load of �stuff.� Having no clue of what the stuff they would really be carrying would look like, I just made some �crates� out of the same 0.040� styrene sheet and painted them brown, which was made by mixing Testors Light Tan with Model Masters Black enamels, because that�s the nearest thing I have to brown.

I then put them in the hangar, in different locations.

That does it for items in the hangar, except for the AC-47. Installing the lights for the hangar is next.

[Rdutnell]

Update 81a
Now that (almost) everything is in the hangar, the next step is to put the lights in. Unfortunately, the design I went with is not the design I would do now that I have learned about the chip LEDs, which I learned about only after I had ordered the 1.8 mm�s and started installing the conduit. But it is what it is and I still think I will get the effect I�m after. In the mean time, since I�m locked in to the design as it is, I thought that I should document the scene before the unsightly conduit goes in.
Items in the hangar include:
� 63 men (40 sitting movie goers, 15 standing movie goers, 8 working on bombs, 7 transporting planes, 5 working on planes, 2 forklift drivers, and me on my bike.)
� 6 F6F Hellcats
� 3 SBC2 Helldivers
� 3 aircraft tow tractors
� 3 jeeps
� 2 forklifts
� 1 bicycle

Due to the fact that 10 pictures aren�t enough to adequately show everything, this update will be broken into two posts.

Enjoy the photos!

More to follow shortly�

[Rdutnell]

Update 81b
And some more pix�

Some comments:

First, the AC-47 is not in, the pic is of the one that got transferred.

Second, the deck looks horrible. I would have done something about it if it wasn�t going to be hidden,

Third, I�ve read about the fact that carriers were cramped, but seeing my layout and knowing there would be 10 times the number of men and nearly that in airplanes, not to mention spare parts and everything else that must go with supporting such an operation, really drives the point home. So, I know that my hangar doesn�t have anywhere near the equipment or activity that the real ship had (and a big plane she wouldn�t have had), but it�s way more than I thought I was going to do in the hangar when I first bought the model back in March and there is something to look at in every opening.

It�s been fun so far and detailing the hangar gave me the chance to practice some things that I will be doing on the flight deck where if it wasn�t perfect it didn�t really matter.

�Til next time, CHEERS!!!

[Rdutnell]

Update 82
Today�s modeling time was spent installing the hangar lights. I�m sure that there are numerous ways to accomplish this, and as described, and shown in Update 43, on 8/25/2012, I�m using 1.8mm lights. (Once again, if I had known then what I know now, I would have bought the chip LEDs, like the ones I used in the projector and for the running lights.) I didn�t want wires hanging everywhere and so wanted to use �conduit.� The size of the connection at the light required the use of 3/16� tubing. Conduit runs up along, and to the top of the Port side bulkhead then across to the starboard side. The lights are in the middle. You can see in the pictures below why I wanted to take pictures before doing the lights. The conduit blocks the view and is rather unsightly.

The next step was to run the wiring and solder the connections. As it stands right now, I am running 3 separate lines, one for the 6 lights in the hangar and 1 forward, a second one for the theater and island lights (super structure too), and a third one for the navigation lights. I connected all of the 7 lights for the first line and it is complete. I also connected the theater lights, consisting of the screen (1.8mm) and projector (chip), and the 2 super structure lights . I�m not going to complete it however until the flight deck goes on. The navigation lights must wait until the island goes on.

Pictures of the initial test are shown below. In the first picture, note that the hangar lights are on, but the theater lights are not. There is an issue here. The theater lights work solo, but not when combined with the hangar lights. I�m not sure what the issue is, perhaps the battery just doesn�t have enough juice so the power takes the path of least resistance. Perhaps you can�t mix and match chips and 1.8mm�s. Whatever it is I�m sure I�ll figure it out eventually.
In the mean time, enjoy the pix.

I really like the effect and think it looks pretty cool, although it�s a little darker than I was thinking it would be. I�m happy with it, but am considering possibly adding some white lights on a separate strand. Perhaps have the white lights spaced between the red ones. I don�t know. I might just leave it alone.

CHEERS!!!

[Rdutnell]

Update 83
This post follows the last one so closely because I tried posting the last one a couple of times earlier in the day with no luck, so the work was done even before the last post was submitted. All I had to do was take the pix and write it up.

Anyway, I did get the lighting problem figured out. The little coin battery is only good for 10 lights. Fortunately, I have an extra power jack for the adapter I have that will run up to 50 lights, so I hooked it up. But before I did that, in looking for the source of the problem, I discovered that I had hooked one light to the wrong strand, so I had to cut the connections and re-solder them in the correct locations. The adapter not only did the trick, the lights are considerably brighter, which I am very happy about. And I took more pictures, which we are all happy about.

Enjoy!!!

The theater and projector really light it up, from both sides.

The bomb workers show up well!

As do the various planes and equipment�

The port holes and doors stand out (So does my friggin� piss poor attempt at filling the horizontal gap)...

�Including the doors and openings in the Gallery Deck bulkheads.

The tribute to dad is clearly visible, though the AC-47 will obstruct it some.

And of course, there�s me on my bike.

The best news is that I am now totally satisfied with the lights and will not install any more than those already planned.

Next are the guns and MK-51 Directors on the bow and stern, as well as a staircase and some unknown objects (bombs of some sort?) at the stern.

Ciao!

[Rdutnell]

Update 84A
After completing installation of the hangar lights last night, I painted and installed the upper level stairs on the aft end and then decided to build the MK-51 Directors. These guys have resin bodies and PE side attachments and are tiny!

The PE parts have a super tiny hole that�s supposed to fit over an even tinier stub. I was only somewhat successful at this (3 or 4 out of 6). Perhaps the trick is to get it on the stub first, and then glue it, but then how do you keep it on the stub long enough to glue it? If you have done this before, how did you do it? I then painted them light gray as directed in the instructions. Perhaps they should be the color of the zone that they are in, but if that is the case, I will have to repaint them in place, which may be easier anyway.

Before putting them on, I gave some more consideration to something that has been in the back of my mind for some time now, the wake light. But that will be covered in Part B of this Update. Anyway, after I completed installation of the wake light, I attached the MK-51s and the Quad 40s, which were already built, but painted the wrong color, so I painted them Haze Gray, and when they dried, I installed them.

I think the guns and directors look good. My painting and crack filling are pretty lame. And I need to get some sailors on board to clean the deck. It�s filthy! What should they do to clean it? Will swabbing with a wet brush or Q-Tips work? How about key board air spray? Any suggestions? Besides the obvious; I should keep it covered when I�m not working on it.

Part B will follow shortly.

[Rdutnell]

Update 84B
When I installed the red port side and green starboard side navigation lights, I thought that I probably needed to install a white wake light, but have been hesitant to do so. The reason for the hesitancy is because of where the plans show it to be located.

At the very aft end (of course), but without a profile (or elevation) view I don�t know where it goes. I assume that it wouldn�t be on the Director tub, and would be at near deck level, but even if I�m wrong, I couldn�t put a light on the tub, so it would have to go below the platform, so that I could drill into the putty sponson I made. Having never drilled into putty before, I wasn�t sure how it would go, but it went smith as silk using a 61 Gauge drill bit that was perfect for the thin wire of the chip LED. I glued it in place and painted it with 2 coats of white enamel (to dampen the light), then filled the hole with white glue and painted it.

After attaching the Quad 40s and MK-51 Directors, I took pictures of them. Then I turned on the lights and took more pictures. I should perhaps point out that the flight deck is once again only dry fit for the pix. Enjoy!

Until next time, CHEERS!!!

[Dan K]

I've been (silently) following your build. Really exceptional work, and great progress reports. Most enjoyable.

[Rdutnell]

Thanks Dan!
I appreciate the comment and am happy you are enjoying it. I certainly am.

[LE BOSCO]

Hello Rdutnell
a work always as meticulous is funny! This morning I also assembles the MK-51 Directors (8 parts)for my Richelieu !!
cheers
Nicolas

[Rdutnell]

Thanks Nicolas!
What was your success rate at getting the post on the resin part in the hole on the PE?

Were you better than 0.500?