andrew.deboer Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I haven't taken a single in-progress picture of this model. The Trumpeter Essex-class kits are great, and they are greatly improved by addition of the Gold Medal Models' Essex Detail and Fine Detail sets. I'm really enjoying working with the etch sets and hope to have the carrier done by Christmas. The airwing is another story... Paints are from White Ensign, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed that they are not more blue. I'm having such a good time doing this model that I ordered up a CV-19 Hancock kit to go with it. THAT one won't be in dazzle camouflage! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel_B Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Great job on the camo, and the weathering on the flight deck looks fantastic! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Great job on the camo, and the weathering on the flight deck looks fantastic! I concur.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrew.deboer Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 OK, things have moved along pretty well. Most of the major portions of the etch are on. The flight deck markings are painted, and the base is done. I got a set of Master Details brass barrels for the 5" guns and they were worth every penny: correct thickness, round, straight, perfectly bored ends... The base is plywood with a coat of blue acrylic paint and a thickish coat of Liquitex Acrylic Gel Medium stippled with a paintbrush to put some wave texture in. Some of the gel is still drying. The white parts of the wake are Titanium White acrylic. Lots of work left to do! Remaining are: Floater net baskets 20mm guns on the island Ship's boats Catwalks between the starboard 40mm positions Railing ends on most catwalks The airwing. One wingless Hellcat has been assembled and placed on the deck just for kicks. Etc, etc. It never ends. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tracy White Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 If you're going to pick up one to do Hancock, check out my review of the Tico kit. Some of the details of the two ships were different, but the note about the port-side deck cutouts is still relevant for Hancock unless you're doing a straight OOB build. Nice work on Yorktown for sure though! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
luke Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 great paint work, and really like the base - can you explain a little on the model sea surface? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrew.deboer Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Tracy, thanks for the pointer. I've been lurking around modelwarships soaking up knowledge posted by you and others. I'm not going to go overboard making my model 100% accurate, but a macro detail like the deck length and cutouts will definitely get attention. I don't know which boat I want to do. Did any long-hull Essex participate in combat with Corsairs as part of the air group? That's what I'm after. Preferably in non-dazzle paint... Heh, "overboard". See what I did there? Luke, thanks for the compliment. The base was way easier than I thought it would be. I gave the plywood base two coats of polyurethane, front and back, to try and keep it from warping. (This was not successful.) Next, I painted the blue color with Phthalocyanine Blue acrylic craft paint. I did an even coat, but next time I will stipple on another shade of blue-green to give the water more variety. Next, I positioned the model on the base to decide where I wanted it. I traced the shape of the hull onto the base and took the model off. Next, I spread on an even 1/8" coat of Liquitex Heavy Acrylic Gel Medium over the entire base, applying less where the hull was going to be. After the entire base was coated, I pushed the gel into thicker sections to simulate long ocean swells and make the surface less uniformly flat. I also formed some wake shapes using photos as a guide. I let the gel sit for about 15 minutes, then came back with a wet 1/2" paintbrush and stippled the entire surface of the gel by stabbing straight down. There really is no magic to this; just make sure you touch every part of the water with the tip of the bristles. It does not matter if the bristles get caked up with the gel. when the brush gets pulled up out of the gel, it leaves peaks and valleys like real waves. I think next time I'll try the acrylic gel that's a little less viscous; I had to drag a wet brush over the crests of the waves because some of them were so sharp and tall. Once the ocean surface was done, I set the model in the gel, and sculpted the gel along the waterline into a sort of wake. I could use some practice with bow waves and such. The gel starts white and dries clear, and when it was dry I stippled the water next to and behind the ship with Titanium White, and drybrushed some of the wavetops. It's important to wait until the gel is fully cured to do the white, because you can't tell how the stippled and drybrushed paint will look when the gel is still cloudy and whitish. As mentioned, the plywood went ahead and warped anyway despite my efforts. Next time I will bolt the wood to a jig to keep it true while the paint and gel cure. The warpage has decreased, but it's still there. I filled in the gaps under the bow and stern with a little extra gel. great paint work, and really like the base - can you explain a little on the model sea surface? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tracy White Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Your best bet is Hancock; she had a squadron of Corsairs after a June 1945 overhaul at Pearl Harbor. Air Group 6 had VF-6 outfitted with 32 hellcat variants (four F6F-5E night fighters) and VBF-6 with 36 F4U-4s (four bladed props), so she had one of the most diverse/complete air groups of the late war. Combat after that consisted of: * warm-up raid on Wake Island June 20 en-route to the forward area * Attacks on Japan homeland starting on July 10 and continuing through the surrender. I'll try and confirm the camouflage later; she was slated for the 1945 version of Measure 12. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Lovely build and base work Andrew! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Hegedus Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Did any long-hull Essex participate in combat with Corsairs as part of the air group? That's what I'm after. Preferably in non-dazzle paint... Antietam, Lake Champlain, and Shangri-La all had Corsairs aboard and served before the end of WWII; I think all 3 were long-hull boats. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tracy White Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 The first two did not see combat during the war and Shangri La (two battle stars) is different enough from the kit that it would be more work; the flight deck would need to be lengthened, for one. That's why I suggested Hancock over Shangri-La. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrew.deboer Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Guys, Thanks for the encouragement and the research! My only reason for wanting Corsairs is variety, so when a viewer looks at CV-10 and the other model, there are noticeable differences. I have psyched out how to lengthen the flight deck, so if I decide to do Shangri-La, I think I can make it work. As you know, there are hundreds of details that make each ship in the class unique. The secret to my sanity will be not knowing what most of those details are. And maybe I'll take a break and do a lighter project, like the Tamiya CVN-65 I've had for nearly 20 years... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Hegedus Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Guys, Thanks for the encouragement and the research! My only reason for wanting Corsairs is variety, so when a viewer looks at CV-10 and the other model, there are noticeable differences. I have psyched out how to lengthen the flight deck, so if I decide to do Shangri-La, I think I can make it work. As you know, there are hundreds of details that make each ship in the class unique. The secret to my sanity will be not knowing what most of those details are. And maybe I'll take a break and do a lighter project, like the Tamiya CVN-65 I've had for nearly 20 years... I don't recall seeing what timeframe you were depicting Yorktown as, but you do realize that CV-10 had Corsairs as part of her airwing in 1945, right? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrew.deboer Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Joe, I did not know that CV-10 took on Corsairs during the war. Thanks for that information; it gives me a lot more flexibility in planning my long-hull project for maximum variety between the two ships. One of them will have U-birds, and the other won't. I was basing my Yorktown on how the ship looked in early October 1944; I have found a good number of photos of the ship in Puget Sound just after refit. Don't know if the radar fit changed dramatically between then and the end of the war, but I know she finished the war with Measure 33 still on. My biggest issue at the moment is finishing off the catwalks. I got the GMM catwalks attached, but they are mighty bare right now. I need to find out where the ladders to the flight deck go, hoses, lockers, life rings, etc. Lots of clutter to add. I'm working my way through the floater net baskets; I made a jig for bending them to the right shape and it's working very well, but attaching them to the railings is laborious. They have to be done one at a time so the basket can be aligned properly and the super glue can be allowed to set. I don't recall seeing what timeframe you were depicting Yorktown as, but you do realize that CV-10 had Corsairs as part of her airwing in 1945, right? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tracy White Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Actually, Yorktown painted out of dazzle in March of 1945. The September/October 1944 overhaul was her last yard visit during the war, so the configuration from then on is unchanged; just the camouflage and air groups, mainly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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