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

scottrc

That is a big base GM.  I am still painting mine. It needed another coat and then I will be applying the gesso to simulate the waves.

Still putting decals on planes.  Gad, there are six to eight per plane, at 1/700, this is getting pretty mundane.  

Scott

 

Looks very good, Bill.  Nice work!

Scott:  it does get tedious, doesn't it?  But that ship is looking good!

Had a massive failure with that Airfix Devastator, so I reverted to Plan B with it:  the trash can.  Have to look around for something else.  I do have Trumpeter's Lexington in 1/700 in the closet, and may try that--or Admiral's F4F-3, but it's a finicky kit; built one a few years ago.

Also had the home computer died, and I'm limited to using the computer at work, so my response time will be slower than normal.  Hopefully I can find time to get it back to Best Buy, but it's a trip of about an hour's drive away.

Got all my planes spotted on the deck and started the decal process.  Got the Big E finished in the background.

That is a big base GM.  I am still painting mine. It needed another coat and then I will be applying the gesso to simulate the waves.

Still putting decals on planes.  Gad, there are six to eight per plane, at 1/700, this is getting pretty mundane.  

Scott

I have the base ready to go. This thing is 8" by 30"!

Ah, yes:  motivation, the bane of making progress.

Looking forward to seeing the air group, Scott.

I have been out for awhile with work and other stuff.  I am set up and ready to start decaling the planes, well, really its looked like this for two weeks now, I just cannot get myself to sit down and start.  Maybe tonight.

GM, those guns look soo much better in 1/350.

Very fine, ET.  I'll adjust the build roster.  

Would it be possible for me to switch from the 1/72 Hasegawa SBD to the 1/48 Academy SBD-3?  Looking to start this soon :)

I very much like the looks of those, GM.  Nicely done!

A couple of updates. I'm working on the gun tub contents which will be hard to get to once the deck with its safety nets is installed.

.50's with the blue bases shot. Still need to paint the guns.

5" guns.

20 mm.s

I think you're right, Scott.  It must have been reboxed a number of times.  I got one from Sprue Brothers labeled "NAVAIR Historical Series," and specifically claiming it's a rebox of the Airfix mold.

Scalemates says that the MPC kit is the Airfix version, reboxed, and dates the original molds to 1969.

Admiral put out a new-mold a couple of years ago, and it looks much better from the box, but I haven't examined it in detail.

Thanks for the building info GM.  Lots a great tips.

CM, I had the exact issues with the MPC kit, which now I am convinced is the same kit.  

That's a pretty innovative base, GM.  Something like that would be handy in 1/700, too.

I've got the sheet of Starfighter decals for Coral Sea, and I believe the only Devastator markings I've got left from it are for a Yorktown TBD.

GMorrison

I've been thinking about building the CV-2 Lexington, 1/350 Trumpeter kit. Barring another move, things should settle down this year.

It looks to be a pretty simple build, only thing would be to load the deck up with more Wildcats.

 

Best GB in a while to come along.

I wanted to show you all my builders base for warships. I got this design from one of the other modelers, either Ed or Bill or Tracy, can't remember.

What sets it apart is the end vertical piece.

Which allows me to do this.

So side details like the safety nets have a slim chance of surviving to the end of the build.

You have a good clean build going. Sometimes seams- it is what it is. What ship is that aircraft assigned to?

Managed to accomplish some more progress:  installing the wings.

Lots of gaps to fill in where they join the fuselage.

The joint where the wings fold is pretty clunky, but not much to do about it without destroying the corrugations.

Great tutorial, Bill.  Very helpful.  Thanks for including it with the photos.

The arrestor wires weren't molded on the deck, but there are very faint little circles molded flush that locate the reels at each end of the arrestor wire pendant (removable sections).

I used those to drill small holes fore and aft.

Then I installed really thin monofilament and taped them on the underside to be taut. Touch each end with a little CA before trimming off the extra and removing the tape.

Back topside, theres a little PE cover over each reel.

Once I get all of the deck detail done, I'll go back and touch up stuff with 5-N and flat coat to kill the shiny CA spots.

Here's how I did the safety nets.

As molded in the kit.

Besides looking pretty clunky, they are flat, which is incorrect. I learned from reading the build article on MWS by Tracy White that they sloped upward at about a 15 degree angle. Pictures show that. (Saratoga).

I made a little 15 degree gage which turned out to be most useful to set the angle after the CA glue was about half dry. Also shown are the kit part and replacement PE part. That xacto was included in the picture for scale, funny that it's angle is very similar.

Next step was to glue little ledges along the edge of the deck. Shown here after painting.

Final product.

Thanks GM, that means a lot.

Your safety nets look perfect. How hard was it to keep them in alignment?  I thought of cutting the plastic ones off the 1/700 kit and using the PE, then sanity kicked in and I talked myself out of it.  They look to be a must for 1/350.  Keep on it GM, I am excited to see your progress.

I noticed on the 1/350, the arresting wires are molded in the deck, on the 1/700 there is nothing molded into the deck.

Scott

Nice work, GM.  Safety nets are something I've never attempted in 1/700.  Yours are looking very good.

Scott, the pastel looks good to me. It's almost like a sunlight effect.

I love your Lex and need to get mine further along.

Safety nets.

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.   

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!

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!

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.

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