Dragon 1/350 USS Princeton wip

She is looking mighty fine indeed Fermis. Love the work so far.....Cheers mark

Thanks again, fellas...

I also did the Chevalier, a couple years ago. All pics are on P/B...so...well...

Back to the task at hand...

It's been...just sittin...waiting.

Been ticking away a little here and there. (Been too busy with work)

Anyway...did all the antenna wires and various lines, as well as the flags.

I did the decal flags on a piece of aluminum foil, so I could "shape" them. I start em out flat, naturally...after a few minutes, some micro-sol..then a few more minute...I cut em and bend to shape.

For the antennas in the port side...the provided plastic "uprights" were way too flexible. After a couple attempts of adding the "wires"....I uttered a slew of words fit for nobody but sailors and got rid of the damned things (I'm a pilot...not a sailor!).

I replaced em with aluminum tubing, and things went well from there.

All that's left now is the ships props, the rest of the Hellcats, then weathering/finishing!

You’ve done a great job on this build. The only Dragon 1/350 ship I’ve built was the Chavalier Destroyer and, while the molded in detail was fabulous, separating the small parts from the spruces was crazy hard and the assembly was very fiddly (especially the AA guns). I especially like the faded deck/ worn wood in center look that you achieved. Nice job!

I think that makes sense. A carrier launching planes would not be operating near other ships other than her escorts and certainly would not be flying casual signals in international codes. If I remember correctly the radio call signs were only flown entering or leaving port.

Thanks for the input

I think I'm going to keep it simple.

US flag....and the "red diamond on white" (aircraft ops), in line with with the US, but lower and on another halyard.

fermis

What I'm after, at this point, is...would any of these other flags be in use...and where would they be???

Yes, they could be of use.  Two parts to the answer:

1) to communicate with other Navy ships, the signals are all in a classified codebook.  You don't have access to it.  You can make up a signal, and hang it, outboard, top to bottom on the signal haliards (the several lines that are on the yards, going down to the "flag bags".)  Make up a signal like AD28, (which my Pusser's Rum cup tells me means "Splice the mainbrace") 

2) to communicate with civilian or other nations' ships that would not hve access to the US classified codes, you would use the International Code of Signals.  The current one is here: http://www.seasources.net/PDF/PUB102.pdf.  We can assume/pretend that the same book was in effect in 1944.  Take a look through the book and dream up a situation for which you might need to tell that approaching ship.

Example: "I require immediate assistance; I have damaged steering gear."  Go to page 33 and find that the signal to display is CB 2.  (put a flag-length space between the letters and the number.)

The choices are endless.  Have fun.

Rick

I'll defer to the experts.

See this:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/23.htm

The radio call sign is November Foxtrot Delta Charlie.

Thanks G....I have gotten that far, and have added that small mast (that the flag is hanging directly from)...

What I'm after, at this point, is...would any of these other flags be in use...and where would they be???

Here's a photo of the island of USS Independence, CVL-22. Courtesy of Navsource, labeled June 1944.

The radar fit is different than yours, and other details. But there looks to be a pair of gaffs pointed back towards the stern, both angled upward. The national ensign is flown between them, while not moored. It is not flown at the bow. When moored, the national ensign is flown at the stern. The staff at the bow is for flying the Union Jack, but only when moored. In your case, it would be the blue one with stars, not the "don't tread on me" jack.

Flight launching is definitely an "at sea" condition.

Thanks guys!

This has been quite the challenge, being that I am not a ship builder. It has been frustrating as all get out...yet still enjoyable, at the same time!

I'm going to have to use the "phone a friend" option now. Regarding the flags.

The kit comes with a limited selection, but doesn't even make any suggestion as to where they would go...other than the US flag going on the bow mast...which does not match up to any refs I have. I have added an extra "mast" to the main mast for the US flag, matching all my refs.

I have a much more comprehensive set of flags, from Alliance. But again, there is no indication of what flags should go where. The final model will be depicting aircraft in the process of being launched (if that means anything regarding flags?)

Help???

Just absolutely beautiful work Fermis.

Hey Fermis,

This build is looking outstanding.  Your balance of colors and the attention to details are top notch.  

Scott

Sorry I'm late to the party - work has been so busy that I haven't had much time for hobbies this year.

I'm glad to see such a good build of somehting a bunch of us put a lot of time into!

goldhammer

All those 20's and 40's......the patience of 5 saints.  And still sober enough to take pics and type

 

Haha..sober when I took the pics and posted. Can't say the same for when I was working on those things!

All those 20's and 40's......the patience of 5 saints.  And still sober enough to take pics and type

Thanks again all. Sorry for the long delay...spent a couple weeks in Hawaii, and had to get things ready for work season...and get to work!

I have finally gotten over a major hurdle. The guns...the tiny, tiny guns.

Very tedious, frustrating, and made me not want to play at the bench.

1st set are quads....50 individual pieces, each.

..and the twins, at 33 pieces each...

There is also 22 single 20mm guns. I pretty much built those in place, on the model. Too damn tiny and delicate...I know I would have destroyed at least a few of them, if they were installed after building.

As she stands now...

Always loved you work my Friend and this is no exception. Beautifully done so far.....Cheers mark

I had lost track of this one,its just outstanding.

just caught up with ythis build fermis , look's amazing .

Many frustrating hours later, and a few rum-pops...the railings are all on, along with the obvious bigger stuff.

Now, with one rum-pop down, and a fresh[full] glass on the bench....time to take on all those tiny guns.***sigh***

Thanks dudes!

Moving along...finally!

For as large as the hanger deck is...very little is visible, which does make things a bit easier (requiring less stuff to be in there).

I got all the pieces that attach to the deck on and painted. It's now down to the tiny details, railings and guns!

Hey Fermis ;

 Bistue and I would both agree .You'rs doing swimmingly with this " Floaty Thingy "T.B.

Lovely sharp work so far my Friend.....Cheers mark

Fermis,

As usual, your airbrush work is superb.

As to the liquid mask canopies, you seemed to have better luck than I, for the mask always seemed to overlap and I end up peeling off more paint that required and still had to touch up the canopy.

Scott

After some more messin around with the Hellcats...it has been decided that all planes will be just sanded, flat finished, and "spinning" props will be scratched.

Tired of dealing with the Ctas, I built up the Avengers...

Comparison of PE "prop blur" vs scratched disk...

Thanks for the kind words!

Still a bit "on the fence". I dig both...but leaning toward not filling the lines. At this scale, you'd not see panel lines...but like DRUMS, I kinda like to see the detail, even if it is on the heavy side.

I have no plans to light the hanger, and there really isn't much that will be visible beyond the rear elevator area.

For the canopies...I masked the whole thing with liquid mask. It sucked! I was only able to peel off maybe half of it. For the rest, I used a fine brush and thinner to clean the canopies off. I just brush painted the frames. Tedious...YES!

Fermis; Your build is looking fantastic so far! Your question is kind of difficult... First I want to say either way would be really nice with the details you are adding putty or sanding). Part of me likes to have my eyes drawn to the finer details (like the panel scribing). On the other hand, the panel lines provided by the molding look a small bit out of scale. I kind of like either of your methods if it were me.  The real question for you is what are you after? How much of the lines will be seen if they are hanger queens? Are you going to light the hanger with LEDs? Are some going to appear folded on the deck? How to the sanded panel lines look when compared to the deck engraving? Like I said, I think both look wonderful. It is your kit... build it the way you want to, not what we say. From what I see, your skills and eye for detail will have it look like a show stopper either way you go...

Ben

I agree. How do you paint those canopy frames?

fermis

Thanks guys!

 

Before I proceed to the rest of the details, I wanna get the hanger deck situated.

That means...I gotta do some planes. As they are in the kit, the panel lines are pretty gross. As a test, I did a pair...I puttied the lines on the Hellcat, and just sanded down the TBF a bit.

Thoughts/opinions on the route to go are welcome!

 

Here they be...

 

 

I missed a little bit of filling on the Hellcats tail...oops

 

Those are simply gorgeous!