Calling all Essex-class (WWII configuration) fans

[Essex]

Thanks, Tracy! Are there practice shells on the rack in the background?

[AndrexP]

Are there practice shells on the rack in the background?

Close. Those look like cans for 5-inch propelling charges. Dummy projectiles (the �bullets� don�t some in cans) would probably be stowed vertically along the bulkhead nearby. Probably only a half-dozen or so is all they would need.

�also you guys have been talking about the prop shafts being a "v" shape instead of a single rod. here's a better angle to show the contact points on the hull

Here�s my solution to the one-legged vee struts. Note that the hull shape on the Trumpy kit is slightly shallower in profile than the prototype (less pronounced �vee�), so you won�t get the outermost strut of the inboard shafts vertical like they should be.

(click for more)

[ModelMonkey]

Both Trumpeter and Dragon show on their models two paravanes on the main deck's stern area. I think it is wrong, isn't it?

You are correct. The two paravanes go on the forecastle mounted on the bulkhead outboard of the light labyrinths. According to AOTS mount them nose up.

Andrew, yours is a beautiful build!

[Tracy White]

Does anyone have any other CV-36 photos post-55?

Everything I have for her I turned over to Navsource. She was an east coast carrier after the Korean War so none of the archives I hit are likely to have any records for you.

[raser13]

well i'm back and clueless as nomal. so hopefully you can clear this up for me. on the starboard side of the essexs' just under the island structure there are what apear, by the AOTS drawings, to be "vents". either intake or outlet. would i be right in assuming that the red circled areas on the photo below are actually "vents"? and would they be better represented on the model if i opened them up?



i'm not afraid to do small detail work on this 1/700 dragon model. i;ve already taken on opening up the holes on the cranes.





not the best photography in the world, sorry. so if they should be opened up let me know. and if so were they wide open or would they have had a screen over them?thanks again for your patients and iformation, your help has already assisded me in improving this model greatly past what i could have made it on my own.

[ModelMonkey]

would i be right in assuming that the red circled areas on the photo below are actually "vents"? and would they be better represented on the model if i opened them up?

You are correct, they are intake vents. AOTS drawings show the ductwork on the inside of the hull. You can see the openings a bit better on USS Boxer here. Check your sources as the intake openings appeared differently from ship to ship and from time to time (screened, not screened, etc.).

[Tracy White]

Some were covered with slats, others with mesh... the mesh is fairly translucent in bright sunlight but not in the shade.... it's just dark shadow at that point. You can fill the area with a wash and call it good. BUT, if you want to go full-goose bozo on the thing you can see what one of the vents looks like with the grate blown out here for some idea as to how to shape it.

[Essex]

From the page 43:

Tracy, I was looking at photos of the two aft, starboard hangar deck-level quad Bofors mount tubs and I am having trouble determining if the tubs' decks were really flush with the hangar deck or slightly raised above it as per the Trumpy 1/350 kit. Thoughts?

I have a hard time believing they were anything but flush... for the amount of work they did to attach them, I don't see why they would have left them a foot or two higher....

I agree, I think the elevated positions of the Trumpy kit aren't correct. The following two photos indicate that the tub decks might actually be slightly lower than the hangar deck. It's either that or the deck-edge waterway plate is making the hangar deck edge look taller than it really was.

I would like to ask the same about the stern quad Bofors mount. I think the deck of this mount is flush with the main deck as well, and the Trumpy kit isn't correct...

[Tracy White]

I'm 99% sure but have no plans or photographic proof.

[Mark McKinnis]

I am starting to do a USS Intrepid CV-11 in a 1944 time frame. I am wondering if anyone can enlighten me on the stern twin 40mm arrangement. I have not been able to get good photos of the stern in 1944 , but I have one from 1943 where there is only one quad 40 in the port stern gun tub. There appears to be no starboard gun tub. Did she ever get the other one and when?

Thanks,

Mark

[Tracy White]

There appears to be no starboard gun tub. Did she ever get the other one and when?

Intrepid changed from single to dual quad 40mms on the stern in her Jan-Feb 1945 overhaul.

[Mark McKinnis]

Thanks Tracy. I knew that you would know!

[Essex]

Help! Seg�ts�g! Hilfe!

Is there any drawing or info about the Yorktown's forward starboard sponson's shape and size or it can be guess only from photos? I marked the mentioned sponson on the photo of Steve Larsen's model.

[Tracy White]

I know that the Floating Drydock CV-13 1945 plans have it. I think this particular sponson was designed at Puget Sound Shipyard.... CVs 10, 13, and 17 went in sequentially and all three had it. CV-16 Lex did not, but tophead weight was more of a concern then.

[raser13]

o.k. i've got a couple questions that hopefully is quik and easy.on the intrepid (and other essexes) on the port side there was a large elevator right in the middle of the ship. where this elevator met the hanger deck i've seen it where there was bay doors and where it was just a gaping hole.





which is correct? are the doors removable? and if they are would they be roll up doors like all the others? the reason i ask is that i'm in the process of adding the roll door cover things at the top of the doors. and i noticed that these doors where quite a bit taller on my model than the rest of the doors. so off to reference land and suprise, nodoors/doors. so would they have had the roll door cover things?





also i don't know if you can make it out in the photos or not but on the hanger deck floor part of the model there are shapes that are "suposed" to represent the fuel fill stations(identified by writing on the hanger floor). i know that no one has pics of the fuel fill areas of the ship from conversations here previously. but in the AOTS the hanger level diagram A8/1 it shows what looks to be more like a two doored locker for them.



it's item #3. i would imagine it to look more like the lockers circled in red in the below pic.



what do you think, should i wipe out the things on the deck and fab up something closer to the lockers, or just leave it alone? keep in mind i'm doing the dragon 1/700. and i'm planning to use the optional clear deck so you will be able to see the hanger clearly.

[Tracy White]

where this elevator met the hanger deck i've seen it where there was bay doors and where it was just a gaping hole.

which is correct? are the doors removable? and if they are would they be roll up doors like all the others?

Both. They were roller doors whose posts were removable.... most likely by folding up against the overhead. See this photo of Franklin for an idea of how it looked with the doors (and elevator) down.

[ModelMonkey]

Hangar Bay on my Yorktown is largely complete. Thanks for all the help, gentlemen!

See: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=32648&p=225650#p225650

[raser13]

o.k. guys, thanks for the info on the doors. but what about the fuel fill centers? i know no one has pics but right now an educated gues would be good enough to get me started. i just dont think that the molded parts represent them at all, and intend to remove them. i just was hoping you guys could interpit the schematics a little better than i can. thanks for any info. BTW way to go steve i' been watching your build and using it as a guide line on what i need to do.yours is a great inspiration.

[ModelMonkey]

BTW way to go steve i' been watching your build and using it as a guide line on what i need to do.yours is a great inspiration.

Thanks, Rase!

o.k. guys, thanks for the info on the doors. but what about the fuel fill centers? i know no one has pics but right now an educated gues would be good enough to get me started.

Just speculating, the hangar deck fueling equipment were not kept inside lockers. Aviation fuel vapor is seriously explosive stuff and you don't want those fumes gathering in a locker. My guess is that the fueling equipment was actually a fueling station composed of piping, valves and a hose similar, if not identical, to the fueling stations found on the gallery deck catwalks. They may have been protected by bollards.

[Tracy White]

I don't think they would have been protected by bollards but otherwise I agree with Steve. I suspect that *originally* they were to be within lockers, but experiences such as CV-2 Lexington's at Coral Sea changed things. For what it's worth, I came across a textual document today that ordered the removal of such lockers from CVL hangar decks. Dated mid to late 1943, no reason given.