Battle of the Coral Sea Group Build 4 May, 2017 - 8 May, 2018

Great info there CM.  So you are going with a closed canopy?  I have mine opened up and a good amount of the interior shows.  So much that I wish I would have taken the time to detail it instead of just leaving it OOB.  I also should have tried to vac form a canopy.  The MPC kit had one thick enough that it should have been alright to make one off of it.  

I too started the airwings for the Lex.  Between the Lex and Enterprise, I have 42 aircraft to install wheels, props, and airwing markings.  That will take a few evenings of steady work. 

That'll be a nice touch, GM.  Looking forward to seeing how you add the wires and all.  I've only built in 1/700, so haven't had to attend to so much detail.

And, to add to the interior color issue, there is this from Martin Walgorski's article at  http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/05/stuff_eng_interior_colours_us_part3.htm

"Douglas SBD Dauntless

In production from mid-1939 to1944, the SBD was another long-runner in the US Navy inventory. Not much appears to be known for certain about its interior finishes. Some sources state the SBD-1s most probably had Aluminium lacquer interiors, while others claim some Mixed Green/Interior Green with Zinc Chromate for the remaining airframe. Camouflaged mid-production SBD-2 through SBD-5 series almost certainly had Interior Green cockpits."

The article does not mention the TBD directly, but given Dana Bell's claim, it seems odd that the Navy would specify Bronze Green for Devastators and Interior Green for Dauntlesses.  

Anyway, thanks for posting the photo, stik.  Maybe it boils down to using whatever paint was at hand--either at the point of manufacture or at the squadron level.  

Scott:  yes, I planned on closing the canopy over the pilot position, but leaving off the one for the gunner.  The kit canopy over the pilot is too thick to fit over the rear canopy without a lot of sanding and then polishing, and the only vacu-formed ones I could find were at Hannants in the UK.  I don't currently have enough "needs" to make an order cost effective.

But I do have several TBD kits for the future.  Might try it then.

Forty-two aircraft is going to give you a pretty full flight deck.  And that will be impressive. 

42 aircraft are for both the Lexington and the Enterprise.  I cannot believe I am about  done with this kit.  I started it on 5/22, so its a little over two months.  That might be a record for me.  

0915 on May 8th, 1942.

CLAG Ault with 4 SBDs.

VF-2  Gayler with 9 F4Fs.

VT-2 Brett with 12 TBDs.

VB-2 Hamilton with 11 SBDs.

36 aircraft in all.

Thanks GM,

Was it you trying to find how these were spotted on deck?  I seem to remember someone inquiring the arrangement either here or on MWS.    

scottrc

42 aircraft are for both the Lexington and the Enterprise.  I cannot believe I am about  done with this kit.  I started it on 5/22, so its a little over two months.  That might be a record for me.  

 

Just like building cannons for a sailing ship....

15 for Lex, 2 for Hornet.

checkmateking02

 

 

scottrc

42 aircraft are for both the Lexington and the Enterprise.  I cannot believe I am about  done with this kit.  I started it on 5/22, so its a little over two months.  That might be a record for me.  

 

 

 

 

It's hard to fit the requisite number of aircraft on the Tamiya Yorktown class, since the kits are a little underscale.  But it appears from photos, that the flight deck was a crowded place during launches.

 

Actually, two months isn't so bad for a ship with the level of detail you're going for.  It's a record you can be pleased about!

 

I don't have a lot of info, but the Yorktown Strike on the morning of the 8th looks to be:

Bombing 5 (Short): 17! SBDs.

Scouting 5 (Burch): 7 SBDs.

Torpedo 5 (Taylor): 9 TBDs.

Fighting 42 (Fenton): 6 F4Fs.

Anti-Torpedo-Plane Patrol was:

VS-5 (Woodhull): 8 SBDs.

VF-42 (Flatley Jr.): 8 F4Fs.

CYAG Pederson remained on the ship to run combat fighter operations.

I recently read somewhere that the SBD was the only bomber in WW2 to have a positive air-to-air kill ratio.

scottrc

Thanks GM,

Was it you trying to find how these were spotted on deck?  I seem to remember someone inquiring the arrangement either here or on MWS.    

 

Thats my current way of thinking for my model.

Yup, it was over at MWS under Calling all Enterprise Fans page 32.  They were talking about any documentation that might exists on the order of deck spotting for the Enterprise for the morning of the June 4th Midway strike, and someone gave a link that showed the order for the Lexington on May 7, 1942.

scottrc

Yup, it was over at MWS under Calling all Enterprise Fans page 32.  They were talking about any documentation that might exists on the order of deck spotting for the Enterprise for the morning of the June 4th Midway strike, and someone gave a link that showed the order for the Lexington on May 7, 1942.

 

 

If you've ever read "Incredible Victory" by Walter Lord, it is mentioned that from Enterprise that the SBDs launched first and spent time circling the ship and climbing before being sent on alone due to a TBD breaking down on the flight deck prior to launch. Meanwhile (again according to Lord's book) Hornet launched with Torpedo 8 leading and the SBDs and F4Fs following on.  40 some odd years after first reading this book, it is still one of my favorite reads.

scottrc

Yup, it was over at MWS under Calling all Enterprise Fans page 32.  They were talking about any documentation that might exists on the order of deck spotting for the Enterprise for the morning of the June 4th Midway strike, and someone gave a link that showed the order for the Lexington on May 7, 1942.

 

 

The Devastators had to haul a 2,000 lb torpedo down the deck with a 900 hp engine so I get why they were given the longest takeoff run.

Air Wings under construction.

 Hi Stick, your right, that is a great read.  My local library has it and I need to check it out again.

GM, after the blue top coat, those planes will be camouflaged in the blue painters tape.

CM, I have not made it to the bench for the last two weeks.  Work has been keeping me away.  

Impressive airpower, GM.  They'll look good on the flight deck!

Scott:  no worries; just got back from a three-day road trip, so I've got plenty to catch up with, too.

scottrc

 Hi Stick, your right, that is a great read.  My local library has it and I need to check it out again. 

Yes it is. I need to get a new copy, preferably hardbound. My original paperback one from way back when is beaten beyond help...

Back at it again.

Got the fuselage closed up.

Finished the landing gear.  Not much detail here, but I added a black pin wash where there was some.

Masked the canopies; and a fun job that was.

Liquid mask?  Hmmm, as thick as that canopy was, I wish I would have used it on mine instead of painfully cutting masks for it.  

I've been working on the airwing while I add PE to the ship at the same time.

I have a fair sized collection of Navy WW2 decals, but was short on tail stripes. Both the extra TBD and SBD sets I bought came with Midway era decals. For some reason my F4F-4 set came with Coral Sea era ones.

So I've printed up an extra decal sheet with all of the tail feathers I could need. I debated whether to paint the tails white and print the red on clear film or to print on white and trim extra carefully. In end end I opted for printing on white because I was having a tough time getting a good red out of the printer.

Brother inkjet, Testors decal paper, Trumpeter decals. I got a better print from a direct copy of the decals than I did from scans, which I at least will save.

Nice work, GM.  The planes are looking good already.  The decals appear to have turned out very well.  

Scott:  It's MicroMask filling in the outline.  It's tedious framing the windows with masking tape first, but mostly it works fine.  I didn't consider whether there are after-market masks available for the Airfix Devastator.  Have to look next time.

GM, nice work.  

Many like the Trumpeter planes, myself, in 1/700, these tiny wheels are driving me insane. Most the planes have sink marks that need filling.  My personal preference is still Hasagawa for 1/700 aircraft.  

I am about 1/2 way through getting all the planes assembled then it will be time to touch up and then decal.  My Lex is pretty much done now except for the aircraft.  

CM, I looked for canopy masks when I built mine, didn't have much luck finding them.  

Good to hear about your progress, Scott.  Looking forward to see the results.

I didn't know Hasegawa made 1/700 aircraft.  Are they clear-molded like Trumpeter?  Something I'll have to look into.  

What's the CW on whether or not to stick these little guys down? I'm inclined not to, in order to dust the thing.

CM, unfortunatly, Hasagawa doesn't have SBDs or TBDs. They usually are molded in grey or green, mostly due to the fact they do a lot of IJN.  I have a few Fujimi SBDs and they are molded real nice and were in blue.  The clear really messes with me.  I didn't see the sink holes until after I painted the planes.

GM, for mounting, I glue mine, usually with white glue. 

Got my hosting site established,  here are the latest pics of the Lex.  All painted up and ready to take on aircraft.  

Beautiful work, Scott.  Great looking ship, and very fine job with the rigging.  

I built USS Shangri-la a while back, and used Hasegawa's Ticonderoga as a basis; but never got as far as the airgroup, and didn't even bother to check out what came with it.  I'll have to look for the planes now.  As I recall they were not clear molded, so how do you deal with the canopies?  I was thinking maybe painting them a glossy black would work best.

Bill: I've read about both ways.  Seems like dusting carriers can be a problem if the air group is glued down.  For myself, I've never glued down the aircraft (except some on the hanger deck--but if they popped loose, I'd never get them back in place).  If I did glue planes on the flight deck, I believe I'd use white glue as Scott says.

I've never much liked the clear airplanes as I find that styrene brittle and hard to glue. These 1/350 ones for Lex are about 8 parts each, including a clear canopy, grey airframe, and black wheel/ strut parts. Black props too. 

My various PE sets come with replacement propellers. Problem is that requires using the kit spinner cut from the kit prop. Life is Waaaay too short for that.

Did you guys see Aaron and Liz's video of the 1/700 Academy Enterprise? Nice looking kit. The aircraft even have molded props!

GM:  I've got some PE props too in 1/700, and they also say to cut off the spinner and replace it over the prop; way too small and fiddly for me to do that!

As for brittle, yeah, I've found Trumpeter's clear plastic to be very fragile.  When I first got their Wildcat set in 1/700, I broke almost every propeller trying to clean them up.  

I'm going to look at that video for Enterprise.  I don't think I want to build another one (and I still have Tamiya's Hornet to work on), I'm interested to see what the kit's like.

Thanks for the information!

Thanks CM!  I am pleased at how the colors turned out.  I got a new pastel set and really like it.  Maybe got the paint a little too faded since the Lex had a fresh coat right before it was sunk.  But I like the effect the pastels gave the model.  

For canopies, I think 1/700 scale is so small, I prefer do use a little gray and light blue mixed to offset the canopy from the rest of the aircraft and keep it subtle. Like the big lollipop wheels, when I mask and leave the canopy clear, it looks too out of scale for me.

By the way, I lost at least 1/3 of my wheels shooting off into space when trying to trim them to fit.  I have managed to cobble enough for all the planes from my old Dragon Ticonderoga kit.  Since I used this kit as a base to build the Oriskany, I never needed the WW2 planes that came with it.  Dragon planes are just like Trumpeters and are clear, multi-part sets, but without the flash or sink holes.  The props still suck and the wheels are like big lollipops if they are not trimmed down.  

I tried putting props on my planes but the plastic just crumbled when trying to cut them off the sprue, so I tried using some photo etch ones and, well, GM said it best, life is too short to spend time building 40 some flea scale props with hubs, so I guess all my planes will have the engines running.