Battle of Midway Group Build, 3 June, 2017 - 7 June, 2018

I have been in the January modeling funk.  Nothing much has happened other than I positioned the planes on the flight deck.  I just cannot come to terms to finish them.  Maybe this weekend I might get some ambition. 

What you've got done looks excellent, Scott.

Know what you mean about the funk.  I've started a number of projects that haven't worked out so well.  But--keep plugging along!

I finally got some more done on the Monogram B-26.  Had an R/C project that had to get done.

I picked up some of the dental alginate that Paul Budzik uses.  I'm still working on finding the right proportions to use with gel CA but it seems to be pretty good.  I'll find out when the primer goes on.  I used it where the resin wings join to the plastic, and filled a few spots where I made the cuts a bit wrong. 

Next I started on the new tailplane parts supplied by the Lone Star conversion set.  Some holding your mouth right required here but everything actually fits pretty well.  I have some gaps to work with but the main course in my mind was alignment.   I made a paper template to locate the holes and drilled for brass pins to reinforce the stabilizer attachments.  An adjustable angle tool from an old drafting set was used to get the angle between the fin and the stabilizers the same on both sides, the actual angle is LAR definite.  The last photo shows how much bigger Martin made the fin when they extended the wings.  Now all I have to do with the tail is figure out how to fit it to the fuselage.  Worry worry!

scottrc

I have been in the January modeling funk.  Nothing much has happened other than I positioned the planes on the flight deck.  I just cannot come to terms to finish them.  Maybe this weekend I might get some ambition. 

 

I seem to be going through that as well, have had trouble getting going last month, hopefully a new month will mean and freash start. Its still looking good Scott.

Some impressive work your doing there John.

Scott, that carrier looks great!

John, you are doing some excellent work on that bomber.

Seems like January is not a good month for modelling.  I too have been in a funk.  A little got done on the Wildcat, so I will take some pictures when I get home.  Not a lot of progress, but every little bit gets me closer to done.  Next piece of the project is wiring up the engine.  I have never done this, and I keep psyching myself out, and setting it aside.  My construction skills are still not that great, but they won't get any better if I don't try.

My compressor died, and a new one is on the way.  Should have it next week.  This may get me more motivated since I will have a new "toy" to play with.    Just have to get it connected properly.

Nice work, John.  Useful techniques you're demonstrating.  Things are looking good!

Here's hoping that February will put the "funk" out of commission for everybody.

I got out of the funk and completed the Akagi.

The pic below can go on the front page.

And now a few pictures of the Akagi with its nemisis, the Enterprise.

And tucked away in its case.

Outstanding, Scott.  Another great build!

I particularly like Akagi and the "nemesis."

Thanks for being part of the GB.  Your contributions are always exceptional, and your shipbuilding skills obvious!

Front page is updated.

Nice job on the Akagi Scott. Looking forward to seeing Enterprise finished.

Really nice build Scott, very imprssive. I didn't realise she was so big, certainly did not expect it to be bigger than a US carrier. And interesting that it has the island on the opposite side.

Thanks Lewbud.  The Enterprise was finished earlier this year for the Aircraft Carrier GB.

Hey Scott, congrats on finishing the Akagi.  Really impressive build  The Enterprise is equally impressive.  Very nice water effects.  Painting all those little planes must have been a full project in itself!

Thanks Bish.  The Akagi and Kaga were larger than the Yorktown class due to the fact, like the Lexington and Saratoga, they were originally designed to be battlecruisers.  At the end of WW1, battlecruisers were the largest ships afloat in terms of physical size, but not tonnage. HMS Hood was a battlecruiser.  Due to the Washington Treaty, a number of new battlecruisers on the ways were over the legal tonnage, so they were converted to aircraft carriers.  The problem with the ships were that they had limited space for aircraft storage and support.  The hulls were set up for four to six large gun barbetts and magazines for large caliber guns, and these interfered with the location of hangars and aircraft maintence storage.  The ships had makeshift, unprotected storage for avgas as well.  Both of these limitations led to the demise to three of the ships, Akagi, Kaga, and Lexington, when they were damaged.  

Here is a picture back in the early stages of the build for the Lexington, with all three ships side by side to kinda see the differences in overall size.

The Japanese were conscious of air and fluid dynamics and how the movement of the ship with a large structure on the deck and warm air from the stack would affect the aerodynamics of landing airscraft.  Putting the island on the opposite side and keeping it small lowered the chance of vortexing currents and then having it opposite of the stack hopefully would allow the warm air currents to cancel out the vortex from the island.  The new USS Ford Class carrier is the first carrier since the Akagi to take this phenomena into account.

ManCityFan

Hey Scott, congrats on finishing the Akagi.  Really impressive build  The Enterprise is equally impressive.  Very nice water effects.  Painting all those little planes must have been a full project in itself!

 

 

Thanks Dwayne,

I hate detailing all those little planes, especially the ones from Trumpter that require the landing gear to be attached. Yet I seem to have an attraction to these floating bird farms in 1/700 scale.  I'm about to start another one sometime soon.  The Dragon Lexington CV16.

Looking at the pictures, I seem to feel the models need crew on the decks.  I have a few frets of 1/700 crewmen, but I don't think my mind and eyes will stand up to the task of painting and installing them.  Maybe the next model.

Scott

O ye, forgot she was a conversion. Some nice info there.

Hi all, its been a while since my last update.

I havent worked on this build for several months, but this is where I got to last.

I have fnished the cockpit, married the radial, filled in the starboard side window.

So, I have commenced the ball turret, filled and inside ejector pin marks (which there are allot) and about to look at the 30mm upfront.

Till next time.

Nice looking pit and a good job on filling the window.

Bish

Nice looking pit and a good job on filling the window.

 

Thanks Bish.

How things been?

Not to bad thanks. Keeping busy at the bench and elsewhere. Good to see you back.

Good to back!

That is great work, damouav!  Nice, neat and very precise.

Thanks check.

Nice work Damouav, excellent  attention to detail.

A little more work done on the Wildcat.

Pit is in the canopy:

IMG_0722 by Dwayne Munk, on Flickr

Wings are on, and started painting the engine in preparation for wiring it up:

IMG_0723 by Dwayne Munk, on Flickr

Still lots to do, but I am finally over my funk, and am getting bench time again.  Bought a small space heater, which helps in my cold basement.  Also got this:

IMG_0716 by Dwayne Munk, on Flickr

My other compressor finally died after 20 years...most of those years being neglected.

Hope to get some bench time this weekend, so maybe I can get some painting done and start the wiring.

Thanks Dwayne, back at you.

Your build is comming along very well.

Good looking Wildcat, Dwayne.  Looks like it's going together very well.

I know very well how cold a basement can get in the winter!  I only go there to paint, and do the assembly upstairs where it's warm and civilized.

checkmateking02

Good looking Wildcat, Dwayne.  Looks like it's going together very well.

I know very well how cold a basement can get in the winter!  I only go there to paint, and do the assembly upstairs where it's warm and civilized.

 

 

I'd like to see the "offender!"  We have five of them; yes, that's a lot; and they have messed up a few things over the years--stolen parts; sat themselves on finished kits; etc.

And I can't find handcuffs small enough to fit them.

OK, here is the offender.  This is Punkin.  I often say to my wife that we should have named him "what the hell is wrong with you", since that is my most frequent comment to him.

IMG_0706 by Dwayne Munk, on Flickr

And this is Casey, who is 3 years older.  He is a very nice kitty, although he will race through the house with Punkin quite frequently.  Less likely to shoot model parts through the house, but still, not to be trusted with kit parts.

IMG_0229 by Dwayne Munk, on Flickr