wood deck for 1/350 Essex

I used a Nautilus Models deck in 1/700 scale.  They look great except one word of caution:  they warp easy.  I would put a light coat of sanding sealer over before painting it.  I didn't and it warped like a banana.  

That's kind of a "big" little problem...

I don't use them often, mostly because they usually just dont look right to me.

Since you can't back-paint the sticky side, I think you'll have to do the blue via stain. Several or more thin coats. Interested to see what others think. I painted my Hornet over the plastic.

Thank you. I appreciate the advice. My son and I volunteered on the Hornet when I lived in the S.F. Bay Area. Sadly, Mikey was killed in Iraq. Go to Google and punch in SP/4 Michael C. Balsley. So as you can imagine, I'd like to do a rightous job on the kit.

Thank you as well for taking the time to answer my question. I reallt appreciate you guys for the advise

Jim- I am so so very sorry for your loss. I've got a twenty two year old now. Please accept my sympathy and prayers for Mikey. Sounds/ looks like a heck of a kid.

Different Hornet- mine got sunk in 1942 but what a project yours is. There's a doctor in our Parish that served on her in Vietnam and volunteers as well.

BTW I like your avatar. Sounds like a surly old guy like me. Welcome aboard too.

Woodrow - we are grateful that there are heroes still who are willing to give the "last full measure of devotion" to defend our values in the world.

Regarding the Essex deck - have a look at pontosmodels.com. Looks like it'd set you back 50 bucks, but it looks nice. I think it has the blue stained wood deck.  Also have a look at the complete PE upscale kit... Wow.

Does the Doctor volunteer on the Hornet now ? Mikey and I were the first father and son team aboard. There were alot of ex-Navy aboard and didn't hesitate to act like they were still in. So Mikey and I had some patches made that read,"U.S. Army 1st. Cavalry Det." sewn on our jackets. Our "boss" Warren, about had a fit. We had some fun on that ship.I understand that there is a brass plate on the bulkhead in the "crew's break area" compliments of Don Arnold.

Woodrow - Sorry for your loss, we are, well words are not enough to express, are grateful  for the ultimate sacrifice you and your son have given.  

The Hornet museum by far is my favorite.  It still feels like a working ship and not  a science / art exhibit and its tied up to a famous carrier pier.   The volunteers are the best.  I spent hours in pri-fly talking to one of the dockets and a few other vets.  They have done miracles with the renovation of the ship considering what is looked like when it came to Alameda.

Regards,

Scott

I would second the Pontos deck. It's thinner than the Nautilus decks and has a good  backing "glue" to it that will hold it down firmly. Pre-stained, as mentioned before.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did provide them with tons of research for their Essex PE set. I don't have one myself yet, though, so I can't comment on it, biased or not.