Tamiya 1/700 USS Enterprise CV6

Those ones in the front are SBD's and do not have folding wings. That said it is not uncommon to see this type of arrangement while launching aircraft. The wings are unfolded only just before launch.
 
Thanks for that ShutterAce. I never realised some of them didn't have folding wings.

I've still much research to do. I also noticed that some phtos have the flight deck wood, and some painted grey/blue.

Looks almost like it started the war with a natural wooden flight deck and then they painted it toward the end of the war.

I think I'll attempt the natural wooden deck.

I love learning about this stuff. I'm usually more into ancient history than modern. This is great, but I need to make sure I don't spend all my time reading and not building anything! ;D
 
Hi, Igard, I can save you a little time on the deck color.

US carriers before our entry into the war had their decks stained with a mahogany stain, and they had a reddish brown color. They also carried colorful ID and guide markings--ID markings, because sister ships looked so alike that pilots landed on the wrong carriers ;)

In 1940, I believe it was, or earlier '41, as it became clearer that we were going to get involved in the war in the Pacific eventually, the Navy discarded the prewar color schemes (the "yellow wings" markings many of us are fans of), for more effective camo schemes. The carriers' flight decks were painted with a blue stain. It wore, of course, under the usual stress of carrier operations, and under the harsh weathering of the sea environment, but you wouldn't see much wood grain, except where the deck was repaired, say, from battle damage, and that only until the crew had a chance to apply the deck stain.

The deck stain was darker than the blue that made up the early cam scheme that was applied in '41. It was intended to hide the ship from high-altitude observers, in the Pacific. The Navy called the paint schemes "Measures" and there was a series of them.

A good online source is www.navsource.org. You'll find good photos and articles, and it's laid out very nicely, too.

In my case, my Essex is as she appeared on her first deployment in mid-1943, so she have Measure 21, I think it is, but it's blue-gray on all vertical surfaces, darker blue for the deck, and dark gray, I think it is, on the horizontal surfaces, ie, decks and catwalks/walkways. The aircraft will be blue gray over light gray.
 
Thanks again Baron, it's much appreciated. That's a very helpful website.

It seems I have a decision to make. Wood deck stain in peacetime, or blue deck stain in war-time.

I'm still leaning toward the former. However, maybe I should build it during the war? Hmm I'm undecided.
 
You're very welcome! I hope anything I know can help.

I know what you mean about the choice of finish, it's always tough. I'm mixing it up with my carriers. I have the Trumpeter Saratoga, which I'll finish in her mid-'30s colors, but I'll build her sister, the Lexington, (Hasegawa kit) as she appeared at Coral Sea. And for the Yorktowns, it'll be one in pre-war colors and the other circa 1942.
 
Got the trumpeter planes today. Definately a big improvement over the kit supplied planes.

Now I can also fill those hangar bays.

Click for full size:

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Detail is nice. Here's one of the smaller planes in the kit. An F6F I believe.

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Yeah, really small. I have been working with 1/350 scale and I thought that was small. 1/700 is half the size...
 
Cheers ER! No, I think lighting it would be a bit too much work for me. It's my first navy build, my first diorama (albeit just water), my first time using photo etch aftermarket parts (especially with them being so small) I don't want to trip myself up. :)
 
Update time, I'm definately gonna have to keep this build simple. I really want to enter another model after this and the Stormbird. Don't know if there'll be time.

Discovered a broken piece on one of the sprues. It looks like some kind of mould error has removed this section of the door frame. Maybe some of you guys have seen this happen before, but it's new to me. I didn't notice it before because I thought these were supposed to be 2 parts.

Click for full view -

2012-04-21_07-15-31_427.jpg



Drilled the portholes. Some need a bit more clean up.

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Cut some of the roller shutters. Left one partially down.

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I added the fore hangar bay. And this is how she currently sits.

2012-04-21_10-34-05_432.jpg


Next up is... I don't even know! Figure it out when I get to it! Thanks for reading.
 
Nice progress, Igard! That short-shot on the hangar deck wall piece isn't too bad, you should be able to cut a patch from styrene sheet stock to fill it. I've never seen that on my Hasegawa ships, but it happens.

We're at about the same place on our respective carriers; I have one more piece of hangar deck to install. Did you add transverse braces underneath, to support your piece of styrene card and help true it up?
 
Thanks Baron. I was just going to use apoxie putty on the small gaps, they don't look too serious.

As for supporting the bay floor, I've just used a little bit of apoxie putty. My answer to many problems. ;D
 
Looking great Igard!! Managed a USS Randolph a while back...this reminds me of the fun!!! Keep it going!!!!!!! ;)
 
Thanks very much all for the encouragement and thanks to Grendels for moving this to the Shelf Queen forum. :)

Anyway, sorry it took so long to get back to this. I had some half hearted attempts at working on her these last couple of months, but in all honesty, she's proving to a be a bit of a challenge.

I've done about half the aircraft now. 1 is going to be airborne, another prepared for flight, and the rest have their wings folded up.

The wings aren't folded in exactly the correct position, most of them should be closer into the fuselage.

2012-07-05_19-32-42_571.jpg


Got some PE on the bridge. I know it's gash, but I'm getting better and I kind of enjoyed doing it.

Just look at all the 'spare' bits lying around!

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That's all for now. I'm going to try and get this done by the end of August, but it's really tricky. Still need to decide how to do the base. I've got some Woodland Scenics water and water effects, but I've no idea how I'm going to put it together, perhaps if I find a tray of the right dimensions.
 

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