1/72 USS Manila Bay (CVE) - 28OCT08

Edward Pinniger · Post by **Edward Pinniger** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:02 am

Not sure why I'd missed this scratchbuild until now - it's looking great so far.
I'm very impressed by your radar and superstructure parts, I wish I could do work as precise and neat as that in styrene!

Jose Chaica · Post by **Jose Chaica** » Wed May 23, 2007 6:40 am

EPinniger wrote:Not sure why I'd missed this scratchbuild until now - it's looking great so far.
I'm very impressed by your radar and superstructure parts, I wish I could do work as precise and neat as that in styrene!

Thanks for your comments...They are much appreciated...

I�ve not done much work in the last month, but I�ve just resumed...

More pictures soon...

.

Jose Chaica · Post by **Jose Chaica** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:44 am

Another update....enjoy !!!

Building the access to the hangar

...and placing/securing them on the right place...

A small comparison with a 1/72 pilot on deck...

Also, started work on those 37

P47 required to populate the deck...

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:57 am

Reid · Post by **Reid** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:43 pm

Oh my GOD that is alot of P-47's that would drive me nuts doing all the decals for the P-47's

Neptune · Post by **Neptune** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:25 pm

Hello Jose,

Any updates on this highly interesting build???

ModelWarships Gallery Page · Post by **ArizonaBB39** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:26 pm

I might have missed it, but why are you using P-47s?

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 4:13 pm

CVEs often carried US Army aircraft in connection with invasions in the Pacific. In the case of the Saipan invasion, P-47s were catapulted from escort carriers on ground support missions. The P-47s then landed on the newly captured airfields and operated from these airfields in support of the troops.

I think there are some good photos on Navsource or NHC of this.

Mac

ModelWarships Gallery Page · Post by **ArizonaBB39** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:29 pm

Ah, thanks for clarifying that for me

nick · Post by **nick** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 11:07 pm

That looks amazing!

Hope to see more soon!

Nick

Post by **JIM BAUMANN** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 12:11 pm

what a lot of aircraft.....! arghhh!

What a big model that will be! impressive!

JIM B

Edward Pinniger · Post by **Edward Pinniger** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 2:21 pm

What's the reason for the P-47s instead of the usual carrier aircraft? (Apologies if this is mentioned earlier in the thread)
The second to last photo certainly gives an idea of how big even a small aircraft carrier is in 1/72 scale

- certainly looking good.

Being also an aircraft modeller (I built planes for years before I discovered ships), I've often thought a 1/72 carrier model would be an interesting way to display a collection of WW2 carrier aircraft (the large size wouldn't matter so much as it can double as a display shelf). However, since I mostly build aircraft in 1/48 and 1/32 now, this isn't really a practical idea (I don't like to think how big a 1/32 CVE would be - you could probably use it as a landing ground for R/C aircraft)

Jose Chaica · Post by **Jose Chaica** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:51 am

EPinniger wrote:What's the reason for the P-47s instead of the usual carrier aircraft?...

I have an answer for you, but I think that I would take too much time to do it...that is, if I didn�t run out of vocabulary first.

The reason for carrying P47 and not other Naval aircraft is related with the kind of mission these carriers had. These "little fellows" had all the type of missions a carrier could be assigned for, but one - front-line combat !!!!
They had anti-sub (hunter-killer) missions, transport missions, ground-support missions (Army and Marines) and at Saipan, this particular ship had, what I like to call, an "Assault mission", where they served as a mean to transport AND launch attack aircraft (37 P47) which were NOT intended to return to the carrier. After that accomplished, they would return to their "normal" complement of 16 FM-2 and 9 TBF.
Hope this clears any doubt...

.

Jose Chaica · Post by **Jose Chaica** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:59 am

Neptune wrote:Hello Jose,

Any updates on this highly interesting build???

Well..not much. Summer doesn�t let me !!!

I have the hull finished, and I�m about to start covering it with resin. Also, started work on all 8x 40mm Bofors. The island (and related superstructures) is almost complete, too. I�m also starting the construction of all those tie-down channels, using Tom MW sets + Evergreen "U" channels to that effect. As soon as possible, I�ll put some photos here.

Thanks.

.

Jose Chaica · Post by **Jose Chaica** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 7:21 am

I decided to use a different approach to the hull, rather than those which are usually presented here. Instead of covering the hull with fiber glass and/or resin, I decided to cover the whole hull in plastic ONLY, for at least two reasons...

A) This model is intended for static display only
and
B) I can work with plastic, and get great results, better than with fiber/glass-resin

Better than trying to explain my method photo by photo, I�ll just leave the pictures here, which are self-explanatory. If anybody wants to comment, or ask anything, then please, do it....

Using an "hot-air" gun will help the plastic to conform to the hull shape more easily

.

Jose Chaica · Post by **Jose Chaica** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:01 pm

Nobody comments ??? OK..I know I�m a sloooowwww builder, so I suppose you might all have lost interest in this thread....

.

ARH · Post by **ARH** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:25 pm

Jose Chaica wrote:Nobody comments ??? OK..I know I�m a sloooowwww builder, so I suppose you might all have lost interest in this thread....

.

Its par for the corse these days.

But its looking good, and always interested in a build.

cwm · Post by **cwm** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:40 pm

ARH wrote:
Jose Chaica wrote:Nobody comments ??? OK..I know I�m a sloooowwww builder, so I suppose you might all have lost interest in this thread....

.

Its par for the corse these days.

But its looking good, and always interested in a build.

I'm the strong silent type

but believe me I read this thread whenever I see something new and of course the admirals thread I read daily it's almost like a religious thing

ARH · Post by **ARH** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:52 pm

cwm wrote:
ARH wrote:
Its par for the corse these days.

But its looking good, and always interested in a build.
I'm the strong silent type but believe me I read this thread whenever I see something new and of course the admirals thread I read daily it's almost like a religious thing

you never fail, CWM,

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:07 pm

Hi Jose My oppologies for not catching up on your build but now that I've caught up, I'm intrigued that you have chosen styrene rather than fillers to achive the best results. As a modellers that uses a great deal of styrene I can see the benefits , particularly on a static model. A very interesting subject and method. Thanks for posting.
Dave Wooley