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1/700 scale "Doolittle" Hornet.

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  • Member since
    February 2006
Posted by navy07 on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 7:31 PM
I have the Trumpeter 1/700 Hornet.  My initial look see is that it is a major improvement over the older kits.  I haven't yet checked the dimentiions, but so far, the Trumpeter carrier kits are the best so far. 
  • Member since
    November 2006
Posted by Grandpa1949 on Friday, December 1, 2006 1:01 AM

 The Tamiya kits (Enterprise and Hornet) both scale out at 1/719. The  kits are undersized,  the island is even more so than the hull and flight deck. 

The Trumpeter kit is 1/700 scale, so it would be larger. I read that this is a scaled down version of their 1/350 ship. They both have some of the same problems, mostly the shape of the hull. A nice looking model can be made with this kit. Search for reviews on net for both scales.

 To do any of the three Yorktown Class carriers  with the Tamiya kit(s) you will need both the Enterprise and Hornet kits.

Hornet & Enterprise hulls are the right shape.

Hornet flight deck is good for Yorktown  and Enterprise (Big E through Midway and with a small modifcation you can have a " Eastern Solomons" flt. deck) It has to be modified to the correct shape at the bow for Hornet. It needs to be 12 feet wider at the bow.

Enterprise flight deck is good for Big E at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 10/42 to Bremerton O/H in mid 1943.

Hornet 20mm layout is good but not perfect. You need parts from Enterpise for the port side midship galleries and the aft flight deck rolldown 20mm galleries.

 Hornet island to narrow and needs other work.

Enterprise island is to narrow. It  closely fits her shape at Santa Cruz  but it needs work to do that. 

There's some basic info.

HTH

gp1949

 

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: W. Chicago,Il.
Posted by Steve H. on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 9:45 PM

Hi

I've been pondering that "url" deck plan{Hornet CV-8}, and I think I'm on the right tract for how wide to make that bridge. Once I have it figured out for 1/700 scale, I think I'll have the right width figured out.

SteveH

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Monday, November 27, 2006 10:59 PM

I don't remember just how much the Tamiya island had to be fattened.  To do such a project you really need to get hold of a set of plans.  The Yorktown set sold by the Floating Drydock is fascinating - a set of big, rolled blueprints that originated with the Navy, and can, I think, be trusted completely (at least as far as the ship's original configuration is concerned).  To anybody with much interest in the history of the aircraft carrier, the detailed plan of the hangar deck alone is worth the price of the set.                            

Actually the deck plans on the Nautilus models, to which Ed kindly linked us, are good enough that you might be able to take the basic breadth and length of the island off a printout of them.  The 1/350 resin Enterprise and Yorktown islands on that site look beautiful.  The gap in the plating on the front of the funnels is missing, but I don't imagine it would be terribly difficult to add.   One other small point that Tamiya (and Trumpeter and Nautilus) missed:  one of the three circular funnel caps (the aftermost one, I think) is supposed to be slightly smaller than the others.

I don't remember how much those Floating Drydock plans cost, but they were quite reasonable.  The other solution - buying the Trumpeter Hornet kit - might be cheaper, though.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: W. Chicago,Il.
Posted by Steve H. on Monday, November 27, 2006 10:47 PM

Hi

Thanks for that "url", looks great.

SteveH

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: W. Chicago,Il.
Posted by Steve H. on Monday, November 27, 2006 10:25 PM

Hi

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, , , , I've been pondering what would be a correct bridge width on Yorktown{formerly Hornet}. I think I have all the pics in Squadron's Warships #5, U.S. Carriers in Action part 1 of the Yorktown class edged in my mind. On page 27 of that book it shows Enterprise about the time of Midway, I think that "gap" off the stack is somewhat noticeable{JUST barely!}. If you have that book take a look, what do you think? And how much wider does the island have to be? ? ?

SteveH

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Sunday, November 26, 2006 9:59 PM

I think we need to back up a little here.  My comments about the Tamiya Hornet and Enterprise had to do with the widths of the islands - not the flight decks.  Ed may be right in suggesting that their flight decks are too skinny as well; I don't remember checking that point.  I do know the two Tamiya kits have different flight decks, which do indicate their different outlines at the bow.

Tamiya did make the distinction between the bridge structures.  The Tamiya Hornet has a round bridge, and the Tamiya Enterprise has a block-shaped one (though both are too narrow, as are all the other island components).  All three ships in the class had different bridges; the Yorktown and Enterprise originally were similar, but the forward part of the Yorktown's was a little different.  (Later in the war the Enterprise went through a refit and got a round bridge that looked quite a bit like the Hornet's.  The Tamiya kit, unfortunately, mixes up some details of the Enterprise's various configurations; even if the island is fattened up, it doesn't quite look like she did at any one point.)

Tamiya also missed one curious characteristic of the Enterprise's island.  (To be fair, every other kit manufacturer seems to have missed it too.)  The forward face of the funnel on board both her and the Yorktown featured a prominent gap, several feet wide, through which the funnel trunking was visible.  On the relevant deck plan included in the "Booklet of General Plans" (available through The Floating Drydock), this space is simply marked "Void."  The "gap" is hard to see in most pictures (it's usually concealed by either the funnel or the tripod mast, depending on the angle), but if you look carefully enough you can see it.  (It shows clearly in several of the National Geographic shots of the Yorktown wreck.)  I don't know why the funnel was built that way; perhaps the "gap" was intended simply to improve air circulation around the funnel uptakes.  In any case, the Hornet didn't have it; Trumpeter and Tamiya are correct in making the forward side of the funnel of that ship smooth.  But an accurate model of the Enterprise or Yorktown ought to show the "gap."

Some years ago I bought both Tamiya kits with the intention of using them to kitbash a Yorktown.  It turned into quite a project, and I put it aside.  (I think it's up in the attic somewhere; I may pick it up again eventually - but I say that about lots of projects.)  I fattened up the island, using the Floating drydock plans as a basis, and changed the various features of it as necessary.  I lost interest when I trial-fitted the island to the flight deck, and saw how many details on the latter would have to be changed as well.  (The corrected island encroaches on such things as the foremost arrestor gear cables and the bomb elevator.  It didn't occur to me at the time, but I suspect Ed's right:  the whole flight deck is too skinny.) 

I still think my original idea was a good one, though.  To my knowledge the only plastic Yorktown kit so far has been the awful old 1/485 Revell one, from the sixties.  That ship deserves better.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: W. Chicago,Il.
Posted by Steve H. on Saturday, November 25, 2006 9:37 PM

Hi

Ok, then if it's the wrong deck for Hornet, will it "do" as Yorktown or Enterprise? Or more likly is it more correct shape for one of the others?  I can correct the "island" defect, as long as the flight deck works for one of her sisters.

SteveH

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Saturday, November 25, 2006 9:09 AM

I have the Trumpeter 1:700 Hornet (not the MiniHonny Models version) and it does have a wider deck than the Tamiya kit.  It is wider at the bow and also has the midships "bow out".  The flight deck is also longer on the Trump kit than on the Tam.    The Trump kit has the correctly-shaped island bridge for the Hornet (round) as opposed to the angular one in the Tamiya kit. 

The hull shape may be too bluff,  as that was the major complaint agains the hull of the 1:350 kit,  but I do not find it greatly so.

Overall, the Trump kit is quite nice and I would recommend it over the Tam.

There are no 1:700 scale deck replacements in either brass or lazer engraved wood.    If you contact James Corley of Nautilus Models he may be able to burn you a scaled-down version of his 1:350 scale Hornet wooden deck.  He has the drawings in his PC.

http://nautilusmodels.com/

James has made some 1:700 decks under contract to Loose Cannon for their Langley and Gambier Bay, so the technology is there.  The cost will have to be negotiated

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Saturday, November 25, 2006 6:16 AM

Tamiya offers both a Hornet and an Enterprise in 1/700.  I haven't looked at them in a long time, but I believe they do have different flight decks.

Both those kits, however, have another serious problem:  their islands are way too skinny.  It's the sort of mistake that, once you're conscious of it, is ludicrously obvious.  And it's not easy to fix.  Sticking a piece of plastic sheet between the island halves just gets you started; you have to contend with all the features of the bridge, the tripod mast, the funnel caps, etc.  It's really a shame, because they're basically nice kits otherwise.  Tamiya's approach to the 20mm gun (molding the shields integrally with the decks, with your choice of wire or stretched sprue for the barrels) is hardly state-of-the-art nowadays, but when those kits were originally released, back in (I think) the mid- seventies, it represented a big jump forward from what any other company was doing.

Recently Trumpeter released a 1/700 Hornet, presumably a scaled-down version of its 1/350 kit.  The latter has gotten mixed reviews but, if I remember correctly, the biggest criticism has to do with the underwater hull - not relevant if you're thinking in terms of a 1/700 waterline model.  I haven't seen the inside of the box, and I haven't encountered a single review of the kit.  But I suspect it's more accurate than the Tamiya version. 

How about it - has anybody out there seen the Trumpeter 1/700 Hornet outside the box?

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: W. Chicago,Il.
1/700 scale "Doolittle" Hornet.
Posted by Steve H. on Friday, November 24, 2006 11:20 PM

Hmmmmmmmmmm ,  , , does the Tamiya "Hornet"{Doolittle Raid} have the right size flight deck? Years ago{late 60's Revell I think} I had both Hornet and Enterprise carriers, they had the same size flight decks which of coarse is wrong. Hornet was an "improved" Yorktown" class carrier with 50 feet more flight deck width. Is the Tamiya kit flight deck correct? ? ? ? If it is incorrect does any p.e. kits have the size/shape correction?

SteveH

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