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

That is a nice interior!  Good work with it, Steve.

Thanks Check, Ihave a little more now.

Continuing on with the Kate. I attached the fuselage to the wings and vert stabilizers to the fuse. The only complaint I have with the kit, which is easily remedied with a little trimming and sanding, is the attachment point of the wings and stabilizers to the parts tree. The attachment points are big and invade on the surfaces. But like I said these are easily remedied.

If you decide to build this kit, be aware of the gauge at the bombardier's position. The panel it is attached to came loose while installing the fuselage because the gauge slips into a slot on the fuse. This was easily fixed bit reinstalling the panel after the fuse was on.

The gaps at the wings and stabilizers are very small and the fit is tremendous IMO.

I really like this kit. Good on ya Airfix!

Looks like assembly is going well, Steve.  Good crew positions!

I think Airfix does sometimes get carried away with the attachment points, but overall their recent kits have been exceptionally good.

Thanks Stick,

The kit also comes with crew, although I'll be putting them in the Hasegawa Kate. for the Midway GB.

The attachment point on the wings and stabilizers are easy to remove. Just a little cutting and sanding.

Are you planning to do the Hasegawa Kate from Kaga for the Midway GB?

Yes I am. 

UPS shows my Lexington should be delivered today.  Woo Hoo!

Good news, scott.  What with the biplane your're doing with the RAF GB, you're going to be busy for the next few weeks!

I worked on the seams tonight, painted some grey to check for smoothness and sanded a little more. I then went over the panel lines to remove the Mr Dissolved Putty and I think that should do it.
Tomorrow night I'm spraying silver for a base for some chipping. Japanese aircraft weren't as worn out and chipped as they were at the end of the war but there was some. I also sanded and smoothed the torpedo. I'm not going with the Type 91 modification 2 Torpedo which was used at Pearl (adding the wooden fins) because I'm building this as a May 1942 time frame. The kit is awesome enough to include the wood fins for the Mod 2 torp, but doesn't seem to include instructions to add the modification to the kits torpedo. 

Went hoome for lunch and look what arrived.  The box looked like an accordion, but the contents seemed ok. 

They look like nice sized kits Scott. Can I have the Akagi? 

Gee Steve, its damaged really really bad, so I don't think it would make another trip through the mail, so I think I better keep it and nurse it back together

Both kits are boxed much larger than Tamiya and other Hasagawa kits, but they also have a gazillion parts.  I can't wait to get home from work and really look into them.  

Scott

Looking very sharp, Steve.  Nice construction!

Congratulations, Scott!  The boxing of the Lex I have doesn't appear to be that big.  They must have enlarged it so that the mail folks would have a bigger object to toss around.

Glad at least the contents are safe.

I love your Akagi and I want it to be my son.

Be aware that the apparent color of Lex on the box is incorrect for Coral Sea. She was Measure 21 Navy Blue.

Nice looking progress! I pulled out my 2 figures I'm doing and of course after 30 years missing half the binos for the Naval officer, looks like I'll scratchbuild it. I will get some pics up this weekend on the limited progress.

GMorrison

I love your Akagi and I want it to be my son.

Be aware that the apparent color of Lex on the box is incorrect for Coral Sea. She was Measure 21 Navy Blue.

 

I was going to ask what exactly was the color code of the Lex at Coral Sea.  I get conflicting information.  Measure 21 was 5N Navy Blue, not 5S Sea Blue correct?

Scott, take a look at this site. It will give you what you need. 

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/measures.htm

Yes indeed. Be aware though that while that site seems to be without error, there are some gaps of more arcane short term color schemes.

A good second source, while indirect, is to look up when ships were refitted or repaired, both at Pearl Harbor and stateside. That usually is when the ships were repainted.

Lexington was at Pearl Harbor the first two weeks of April 1942. When she was sunk she had a fresh coat of paint, which shows up in the battle photos as almost shiny.

GMorrison

Yes indeed. Be aware though that while that site seems to be without error, there are some gaps of more arcane short term color schemes.

A good second source, while indirect, is to look up when ships were refitted or repaired, both at Pearl Harbor and stateside. That usually is when the ships were repainted.

Lexington was at Pearl Harbor the first two weeks of April 1942. When she was sunk she had a fresh coat of paint, which shows up in the battle photos as almost shiny.

 

Oh boy, my head is now hurting.  So the Lex was MS12 from Sept 41 to April 42, then MS21, but according this MS website, MS21 didn't go get released until 6/42? Anyway, I watched this discussion get pounded into the sand too many times on other sites, so I think I will try the 5N on all horizontals with the deck stain blue flightdeck. It looks cool to me.  

LOL Scott, Yeah, American camo can be fun to figure out (just try and discuss what the Arizona looked like on Dec 7th). And trying to find matching paint for the colors and give you a headach.

Just go with what works.

Here are the first pics of my project:

Primed and cleaned up the metal seams and flash.

Been awhile since I did metal figs in this scale.

These are 90MM.

I'm going to do a mockup of a bridge scene and see how that looks this weekend.

Looking good there, Steve.  You've got a nice coat of silver on it.

Thanks for the info on Lexington, mc and GM.  I checked Synder & Short and they do say she was repainted in MS21 in April--just in time for Coral Sea.  Useful information when I get around to building mine.

And, scott, I've read that the Navy was already substituting 5-N for 5-S in late 1941, so even though MS21 didn't "officially" become effective till June, it's possible that "unofficially" Lexington was in Navy Blue, rather than Sea Blue.

On the other hand, existing stocks of paint were often used up, and new paint applied only after the old stuff ran out.

Seems like you have to make your best guess, then go with it. 

Nice-looking figures, Tonka!  Detail is very crisp.  Looking forward to watching your progress.

I checked my paint stock and I am out of 5N so will need to get some.  Or maybe do a "what if" senerio in that Pearl only had red oxide and white primer to mix up and paint the Lexington

scottrc

I checked my paint stock and I am out of 5N so will need to get some.  Or maybe do a "what if" senerio in that Pearl only had red oxide and white primer to mix up and paint the Lexington

 

Operation Lexington Petticoat?

You can check here, Scott:

http://freetimehobbies.com/searchresults/?search_query=IPP&Search=

It looks like a new brand of paint.  I haven't bought or used any of it, so I don't have any experience how it works.  Model ship forum says they are lacquers from Korea.

Otherwise, H & B seems to have Colourcoats 5-N in stock at the moment.

https://www.hbhobbies.com/collections/us-navy

Great progress with the Val, Steve.  Good looking color!