Calling all Essex-class (WWII configuration) fans

[gtbred]

79 Hellcats! whoa! just planing 50 aircraft on Hancock.

[Mark McKinnis]

79 Hellcats! whoa! just planing 50 aircraft on Hancock.

50 is still a bunch! I just completed my first Hellcat with a tri-color scheme for Essex. I brushed the fusalage. I think that I am going to have to try again with an airbrush. 34 more to go. This will take a bit!

[Mark McKinnis]

So I am looking to do a Bunker Hill CV-17 after her re-fit in Jan of 1945. Does the 1/350 Trumpeter Yorktown or Franklin kits have the second (Port) Catapult and the correct island configuration for a late war short hull Essex Class?

[Tracy White]

So I am looking to do a Bunker Hill CV-17 after her re-fit in Jan of 1945. Does the 1/350 Trumpeter Yorktown or Franklin kits have the second (Port) Catapult and the correct island configuration for a late war short hull Essex Class?

Yes to the catapult, "mostly" to the island.... they're the closest starting points for CV-17 anyway.

Essex MS-21 1943
CVG-9
VF-9 (36) F6F Tri-Color
VB-9 (36) SBD Tri-Color
VT-9 (18) TBF Tri-Color

Mostly... a few variations here and there. I've posted the CV-9 air groups here; the only one for the class I've posted so far.

Ticonderoga MS-33/10a Fall/Winter1944
CVG-80
VF-80 (73) F6F Overall Blue
VFN-105 (6) F6F-5N Overall Blue
VB-80 (22) SB2C Tri-Color
VT-80 (16) TBM Tri-Color

I've only done the fall due to her Kamikaze hit in January. Air group evolved a bit, mainly the addition of four night fighters and expansion of the torpedo bombers. October before departing for Pearl Harbor she reports:

CVG-80
VB-80 SB2C-3 x 35
VF-80 F6F-5 x 35
VF-80 F6F-5P x 2
VT-80 TBM-1C x 10

In December:

CVG-80
CAG F6F-5 1
VB-80 SB2C-3 x 23
VF-80 F6F-5 x 47
VF-80 F6F-5N x 4
VF-80 F6F-5P x 2
VT-80 TBM-3 x 17
VT-80 TBM-3P x 1

Note that during this Cruise Tico had an "in between" deck, with the forward deck restored to the original length and details such as the Mk.51s re-arranged, but with the stern still short.

Bunker Hill MS-21 April 1945
CVG-84
VF-84 (27) F4U Overall Blue
VF-84 (4) F6F-5N Overall Blue
VF-84 (6) F6F-5P Overall Blue
VMF-221 (18) F4U Overall Blue
VMF-451 (18) F4U Overall Blue
VB-84 (15) SB2C Overall Blue
VT-84 (15) TBM Overall Blue

Matches my notes.

[Mark McKinnis]

Thanks Tracy!!!

[Erik W]

I have a question for Tracy . . . the man with the detailed lists of aircraft.

What was the aircraft makeup of the following airgroups on CV12 Hornet?

Air Group 11 in February 1945

and

Air Group 17 in March 1945

I'm trying to figure out what the blend of tri-color and GSB Hellcats was and if there were any GSB Avengers or Helldivers present.

Thanks in advance Tracy!!
Erik

[ratical9128]

ok, i've got it now.i'm doing the end of nov44.i've got 36 f6f's.3 will be f6fn's.15 tbf's,24 sb2c's.if anybody can breakdown the paint schemes,that would be awesome!is there any difference between the f6f and f6f-p besides some windows in the bellies?thanks everybody.oh ya,yorktown(sorry)

[Cajuntiger]

Hey guys. I've used these forums for my first two ship models USS New Orleans (CA32) and USS Fletcher (DD445). I've decided to tackle Trumpeter's 1/350 USS Essex. After getting the kit and doing some research I decided I wanted to do the latter 1944 configuration with the dazzle scheme. Can someone point me to where this conversion may be discussed in this 91 Page forum? I have Friedman's book on US carriers and the Shipcraft #12 but I feel I 'm missing some detail. Thanks

[Adaks]

After getting the kit and doing some research I decided I wanted to do the latter 1944 configuration with the dazzle scheme. Can someone point me to where this conversion may be discussed in this 91 Page forum?

This is not an easy question to answer But go to the page 22, it should be helpful.

[Cajuntiger]

Perfect. That�s exactly what I was looking for. Thanks� for the help.

[Cajuntiger]

Hey guys, I have been going through most of the great info here and collecting info from other sources but still have a a few gaps. I'm doing a late 1944 Essex and started moving the bridge and started the two tubs for the port 40mm's. I'm also starting to lay out how I want to paint the flight deck. My problem is I have not seen any pictures of the layout of the stripes on the flight deck. The kit decals have the single centerline only. I have seen other models and photos of other ships in the class and they sam to vary in location and color. Also, I noticed one post that showed two photos of the hanger deck as dark blue or grey and not white like early in the war. All of the beautiful models I've seen seam to have white wall in the hanger bay. So my second question is did the late 1944/45 essex have white or dark hanger deck walls?

thanks

[Adaks]

Flight deck of USS Essex. This photo was taken in November 1944.

So my second question is did the late 1944/45 essex have white or dark hanger deck walls?

According to my sources:

- Hangar deck: #20 Standard Deck Gray
- Bulkheads and overheads: 5-U White

Hope it helps.

[Cajuntiger]

Thanks for for great picture. Wow, that looks different than any other flight deck markings I've seen in my research. It looks like the line is thinner than I've seen on other models and it looks like it is at an angle relative to the centerline. I'm still several weeks away putting detail on the flight deck so hopefully I can get an idea of what the forward deck looks like. The white looks better also so your post makes me comfortable doing it that way.

Thanks again

Scot

[Timmy C]

Regarding hangar deck colour, Tracy's research on the CVLs indicate that the area around the elevators had their bulkheads painted a dark colour to match the flight deck, so as not to have bright spots of white against the otherwise dark deck - see his post a little ways down on this thread: viewtopic.php?f=46&t=6011&start=180
He may or may not have posted about its applicability to the Essex class - hopefully he'll chime in.

[Adaks]

This photo was taken in November 1944.

A small correction. It is October 1944.

One more photo (November):



Unfortunately I don�t have any photos of forward deck from this period.

Beautiful work Mardis

Yes, great work

[Cajuntiger]

Thanks for the continued search for Essex deck photos. I found one of the forward deck on the Mighty90 site but it also lacks any sign of deck stripes. http://www.mighty90.com/Operation_JAMBOREE.html
Scot

[sgtryan13]

Nice pics, and thanks for the info, I gotta figure out what I am gonna do with this thing sooner or later!

[Cajuntiger]

Search is over.

[reldnips1]

Hey guys, i'm new to the forum, with the brief exception of a comment in the "USS Miami fire" post.

I guess I,ve been interested ships and planes as long as I can remember, reason being that my father
was one of the crew that commissioned the "Fighting Hannah", good ole CV-19. He was a plank owner and I now
have the privilege of owning that treasure. My quest toward building a model of the Hancock started years ago
when Dad was still alive. I'd built many cars, planes, and ships as a boy and into my teens but I always wanted
to try a ship from scratch. Marriage an kids kind of pushed that to the side but eventually I got super inspired by
a 1/72 scale nuclear aircraft carrier I saw in a now defunct scale model magazine.
This thing was huge, 15 feet plus and detailed to the hilt. In the water it was even more impressive from
the realistic wake to working elevators and lights. His hull was a three piece fiberglass that he purchased but
everything else was pretty much hand made.
I decided that was my scale and I started to collect information. I had the ship's book for a start but I needed
plans. I sent for the plans of a long hull from the floating dry dock. I got the plans of the USS Philippine sea
which was the last long hull built. These where from late 45 so the details weren't quite right for CV-19 in 44 which
is what I wanted but it was good enough to start the hull, all 12 feet 4 inches based on 888 feet for the the real one.
I also purchased "Essex Class carriers" by Alan Raven which had plenty of good references for modeling.

I don't want to bore people but i've got some interesting information if I may digress a little...
Before my dad passed, he and my mother and two brothers and I all took a trip to Patriots Point to be with them at a Hancock
reunion where they were going to dedicate part of the Yorktown to the Hancock (as well a other essex class carriers).
My father had gotten to know the fellows in charge of this well before hand and asked them if they would be interested
in some sound recordings he had made while on board the ship during the war. They of course said yes but ask how they were
made since there was no such thing as wire or tape recorders? He was very into the electronics of the day and was a Ham radio operator.
He had found or learned of (I was never really clear) a device that worked opposite of a record played and had obtained one.
You would set a needle on this soft floppy record about the size of an old 45 and with a microphone attached and it would cut
the record with whatever played through the mic. He would set this up to record when he wasn't there and got really got some
interesting recordings. Some included pilots talking back and forth with the ship during combat and others (supposedly) you
could hear the Iowa shelling before one of the landings. He agreed to sent the recordings to them to listen to and after they heard
them they had them professionally copied in a studio and added to the Hancock dedicated area of the ship (the radio room)
along with a plaque explaining who made them and what they were. I assume this is still in operation today.
I;m not sure how much I can write so I'll continue about the model that turned into models in another post.

[Tracy White]

Welcome to the Essex section! Any Hancock questions you have feel free to ask here, but for "Work-in-Progress" photos we ask you hit the Picture Post � Works in Progress section so that this thread doesn't become more scary than it already is!

Neat on the recordings... sound is one thing really lacking from the historical record.