1/350 USS Yorktown (CV 5) Build/WIP

Really coming along great,lots of details.

I can't decide to go with a wooden base, or a simple acrylic one.

Nicely done. Going to build the airwing next?

Needs a base

I've finished the rigging and the ship is basically complete.  There are always a few tweaks and touch-ups to do.

The rigging consists of used guitar string, some craft shop beading wire and a few odds and ends grabbed from old 1/700th PE frets.

The CXAM radar is from the kit PE.  The other antenna are from Tom's.  Most of the work was trying to match photos of the ship as referenced in past posts.

I'd love to have really fine stuff and do more halyards, etc., but it obviously would start looking too busy.  The thinnest wire I used was .08 of an inch.

I've got to figure out what sort of case I need and of course, do the 16 aircraft representing the dawn CAP and search Yorktown launched on 6/4/42.

Here's a few more photos of the island with most of the work done.  I thought I'd include a few photos before any more rigging is added.

I've completed installation of all the photo etch, AA guns, etc.  I'm going to rig some halyards, etc., before adding the extra antenna I bought from Tom's Modelworks.

The bend you see at the top of the foremast is to support the YE antenna when installed.  That small antenna needs a little extra surface area to hold to.  It is a cheat I learned doing the 1/700th carriers.

The kit contains deck furniture for the island and the instructions call for its installation even though that gear was removed in Norfolk prior to Yorktown's return to the Pacific in Jan. '42.  If someone wants to build the model of Yorktown as built, those parts would be welcome additions.  I found substitute pieces for all but one of the gaps in the railings.  I had to fill it with foil.  It is a problem with the kit.  It can be fixed with buying additional PE railings, or using some of the island railings to fill the gaps and then using solid replacements for the railing around the island.  I might have done that if I'd known that kit supplied PE would fall short.

As you can see there are spots within the railings where canvas covers were used.  I could have used foil to replace the railings just aft of the pilot house.  As is, I covered those with foil to simulate canvas. That ended up leaving me short to fill the gaps left because the kit's railings don't fill every space.

giving a true definition of the term bowline.

Paravane sweep gear rally only works against moored mines, which only occur in water shallow enough to anchor those mines.  Carriers were just too valuable to take into shoal waters, adn if that were necessary, smaller, more expendable minesweepers could be sent on ahead.

The rigging at the bow is a combination inhaul and outhaul.  The sweep cable is laid out, outboard of all lifelines and ship's structure.  This is tied off with marline and small stuff.  The paravane, otters, and the like are rigged at the aft end.  The inhaul is brought to deck level, and the forward (inboard) end of the sweep wire (or wires) is made up to a shackle on the un/out haul/

The paravane (or paravanes) are let go and the towing eye is hauled down to the forefoot.  The 'vanes then stream the sweep wires out.

For ships without a fixed foot at the bow, there was a sliding foot, which was hauled down into place with yet another pair of chain hauls.

Which makes for a bunch of test questions to grill midshipmen in NROTC classes, and to complicate the 1c & Chief's Bosun's testing materials.

Thanks Tracy.

The plans show the paravane rigging and the kit has some paravanes to mount on the foc'sle but the 6/1942 photos don't show them.  So, I left them off.  I knew the stem post fitting was used for the rigging, but I didn't understand that the two cables on the bow were part of it.

Thanks again.

Hey Mike - glad to see your progress! Those chains off the bow were for the paravanes.

A few new shots:

There was a boom on the ships starboard side as you can see from the 6/4/1942 photo.

Using some stock rod, guitar string and a few leftover odds and ends of old PE, I believe a reasonable approximation was reached.

The island has been installed and most of the PE work is finished.  Notice the gap in the railings.  The kit's PE is all pre-sized and part numbered.  As I've mentioned before the kit's instructions have missed a few part number call outs and some of the railings have gaps or don't complete the area to be covered.

The kit's instructions call for nine rafts to be mounted beneath the island, but the only photo I know of Yorktown's starboard side prior to damage on 6/4/1942 only shows eight.  The kit only allows for individual rafts, but there were two each stacked together and lashed.  I couldn't find any aftermarket 1/350th rafts that matched the kit's, which look correct, so I just doubled each kit raft with some stock plastic.

Having never done a full hull WW II carrier, I've never been able to do this rigging at the bow before.  I tried to match the shape of the underwater fitting with the ship's builder's plans.  I used guitar string sections for the cables.  I'm not sure why this was there.  Perhaps someone can enlighten me, but in this scale they need to be represented.

The island detailing is the next big step.  The kits method of doing the stack railings was a fun challenge.

Mike,

I love what you're doing with this kit!  Very tempted to but one for the stash.

Steve

Sorry for the delay in posting more WIP shots, but I've been wrestling with a somewhat troublesome flight deck.

As I've said earlier, everything has to line up and fit well for WW II CV flight decks to work.  I can't really blame this on the kit, it was my doing, but I didn't get part of the hanger bay bulkheads exactly right.  And as the saying goes, "One thing leads to another," so my error caused several misaligned parts.

When attempting to repair the problem, it lead to a problem with the 5/38 gun platform on the left.  Notice  how the piece seems to tilt slightly lower to outboard and the gap in the bulkhead.  This also created the gallery walkways to not quite fit up to the flight deck forward round down.

And it left a misfit and gap I had to attempt to repair with stock strip.

It was frustrating, but moving on the flight deck is weathered about the way I want it.

I'm using the kit base for the model.  Since every CV I've done before has been 1/700 and waterline, I haven't bothered with bases.  The kit base looked "dry dock-like" enough, because I couldn't see using any kind of polished brass pedestals with a weathered underwater hull.  While the kit base is attractive, It really didn't have much direct fit to the hull for a solid mounting.

I laminated to pieces of stock strip together (the same stuff I used for the armor belt) mounted it to the hull with small screws.  This gave some good attachment points for the kit's base.  I left the option open to remove the kit base and just use the laminated "planks."  I used five pieces for both of them and they can mount to a case and leave enough clearance for the shafts and rudder.  I'm still kicking it around.

I studied some modern shots of CVN props in dry dock and came up with this look for the kit's props.  I painted them in Acryl steel and then applied a dry brushing of light gray mixed with a little touch of green.  I believe I got a good approximate look.

I've had to go aftermarket again to get more aircraft than came with the kit.  I intend to have the model represent Yorktown spotted for launching the ten SBD scouts and the six F4F CAP a/c that were launched at dawn on 6/4/1942.

A few tweaks here and there.

The flight deck has been painted, decals are on and over coated with flat.  There are a couple of little spots that will require a  little fitting work, but I expected some as with any WW II carrier model.

I picked up a couple of details while studying some photos.  This crop of the ship at Midway shows that some of the railings on the foc'sl were apparently covered with canvas.  

So I grabbed some foil, painted it ocean gray and fit it over the railings like so.  It is some embossing foil I used for a Lunar Module I did a few years ago and posted here at FSM.  I believe it approximates the look OK.  (It is always a bit humbling when you come in this close to your model work.

Here's another raft stowage duplication attempt.

Here's also a spot where I've had to compromise and fudge a bit.  The kit's supplied boats only have one boat that doesn't have enclosed cabins.  So, if you leave off the deck house parts, you just have an empty boat hull with no detail.  Since Midway photos show that Yorktown didn't have any enclosed boats on the weather decks, I had a problem.  I could just put enclosed boats on deck.  I could attempt to scratch build some open boats.  I could try to find some aftermarket boats, (I couldn't.) Or, I could cover the boats with a tarp even though photos don't reveal any tarps on the boats.  I painted some foil with 20-B deck blue, as camo measure 12 dictates, fit them to the boats and weathered them.  It is a bit of a cheat, I know and I have visions of some chief chewing out some poor seaman for not having things "squared away!"

I also added some stock strip into the forward hangar deck openings.  If the roller curtains were up, these stanchions would remain.  They were removable, but photos show them in place.  The one on the left needs just a small trim.  Often you can see photos of them on various carriers leaning a bit to one side or the other, but for a model, they should look somewhat straight.  Otherwise, someone viewing your model will say, "Ya got one of them sticks a might caty-whompus there don't ya?"

Steve,

I have a PDF of the original builder's plans of the Yorktown I found online.  PM me and I'll see if can send you a copy.

Basically, the forward uptake trunk follows the angle of the leading edge of the stack section of the island.  All I did was use a piece of stock tube, sand one end to the approximate matching angle and cement it to the inside of the island's top piece.

The kit's PE stuff is fine. There are plenty of "bends" included within a single PE piece.  If you don't have to bend them too often, they won't break. You may find it easier to take apart some of the complex bendable pieces and assemble them as separate parts.  Both main deck cranes "bent" together without any trouble as did the large flight deck crane.  There are some discrepancies with the PE in the instructions however.  This is the first ship model I've built that had PE included in the kit.  I've enjoyed not having to measure out lengths of railing from a stock fret and in most cases everything has fit in place.  There are several instances though where a given sloping ladder is shown in the instructions without a call out part number for it.  The complex bend for the railing around the island platform forward of the "void" is shown as a single part (PE D6.)  The instructions show the railing fitting completely around the platform including the signal light platforms on both sides of the island.  It is obvious that the part won't make it all the way around.  I checked the Merit website and the photos of their build.  Those photos showed that the railing will fit along the platform but doesn't include the signal light bits.  However, there's no part call outs for which pieces of railings go to fit those spots.  I'm sure there are pieces of railing that will work, but will take a process of elimination to find them.  As I continue to complete installation of the PE I'm hoping there will be parts left over that obviously fill in the blanks.

I am disappointed that the PE doesn't include nettings for the two LSO platforms, wind vanes and foot ropes for the yards and a couple of radar antenna that Yorktown was carrying at Midway.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I bought a set of USN WW II radar antenna to cover that particular discrepancy, I'll probably scratch build the rest.

Mike,

I know what you mean about tedious, I've stropped enough blocks and built enough cannons to know.  I agree that you need to break up the chore with other sub assemblies. I am a firm believer that ship models especially need to be built in sub assemblies and that if you treat each as a small model in itself and do the best you can then the overall model will come out that much better.

Where did you find the reference material on the uptakes showing? I've been searching for it in my research on my Yorktown but have not found it yet?

Also, how do you like or dislike the PE included in the kit? I have used some of the included Trumpeter PE on my Dreadnought and it is not the easiest  to work with. You so much as look at it wrong and it goes to pieces.

Steve

Steve,

I believe sanding the plating down just has to be done, but it is of course at the whim of the individual model builder.

As Phil said above,  the sanding is a tedious process and it isn't what many modelers want to do first thing after opening the kit box.

I broke up the sanding time up by doing work on the island, doing assembly on the cranes, guns and started on some aircraft. It helped.

Having the sub assemblies done is paying off now.

Enjoy your build.

Mike,

The island looks great. It looks like i will have to sand the oversized plating details after seeing how your's came out.

Steve

Mike-

  Sanding went pretty well, although as you know, it's a pretty tedious process.  I think I sanded down a bit farther than you did, hopefully what's left won't disappear under the paint.  It looks OK to me under a layer of primer.  I can post some pics, but don't want to hijack your thread.   Thanks for taking the time to post this.  It's been very helpful.

Phil

Irish,

I've haven't built a Trumpeter kit so I can't compare.

My carriers have been Tamiya, Italeri, Hasegawa or Revell.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, any kit of a WW II carrier will have the same basic challenge.  All the parts between the hangar deck and the flight deck must fit as well as possible or the flight deck will not sit level.  And that can really kill a project.

Awesome build keep the posts coming!  Since you said you built a few carriers how would you compare this one to the trumpeter offerings?

Phil,

How did the sanding go?

Mike, Tracy-

 Thanks for the quick replies.  I'm getting to the painting point on my CV5, so appreciate the help.

Phil

Navy orders would be for all metal decks outside of the roller doors to be in exterior camouflage (20-B). Yes, they would have taken the time to do this, for anyone wondering. :)

Phil,

I used Gunship Gray, a close substitute.

I did some digging and found some photo evidence that the extensions on the hanger deck to weather decks were painted in 20-B Deck Blue. There was a definitive demarkation line between the two so I masked just inside the hangar bay openings and painted Deck Blue outboard.

I don't know if CV 5 was painted that way, but it makes sense that she could have been.  The camouflage measure calls for all weather decks to be painted 20-B.

Looks really good!

Quick paint question.  What paint did you use for the Hangar deck floor?  it's was painted in standard Navy deck gray?

Thanks,

Phil

Lookin' good, Mike. I admit I had my reservations about that weathered underwater hull, but it looks great now.

You're right: when all the island parts come together The Gap is almost invisible. But not quite. The addition of the funnel trunk was, I think, a good idea.

I'm really impressed with what I can see of the detail in the kit. This is going to be a mighty impressive model.

A little more work.

I goofed on the bow gallery deck walkways because I'd installed two bulkhead pieces (parts G2 and G3 for Phil and Steve and anyone else building the kit) in reverse.  This would cause the walkways to extend too far beyond the flight deck.  Lucky I caught it while test fitting.

I've added the large gallery deck section between the bulkheads on the hanger deck.  I didn't paint it but it helps pull everything to pull together and will supports the flight deck.  I've decided not to add the hanger deck overhead structures for the same reason I mentioned in the last post.  Nobody will ever see them with my model in a case.  Besides if you install them per kit instructions, they block the amidships flight deck elevator.

The tripod mast went on without much difficulty.  Getting that lined up correctly is vital.  It isn't any easier installing the long ladder in 350th scale than it is in 700th scale.

I've started outfitting the island too since I'm doing mostly PE stuff now.

The deck blue paint will all be touched up after the railings are installed.  I won't install the platform and railing above the stacks, nor the masts and radar until after the island is mated to the deck.

She's looking good Mike!!  Can't wait to see more!

Steve

Returning to the Yorktown-class…

Here's the latest WIP shots.

You can see my work space, set up for 1/700th scale ships up to smaller 1/48th scale aircraft, is being somewhat overwhelmed by this kit.

While the hangar deck is detailed well, I've decided not to bother with the photo etch and whatnot on this deck.  I intend to mount the model in a case. Even with the hanger opened up, looking inside the hangar will be difficult from the case restricted distance.  I've painted the bulkheads white and I'll mount some aircraft in there, but I'll leave it at that.

Here's the fantail. I like the support pieces being separate pieces and that you can add the photo etch bits before mounting the flight deck. While much of the part  fit is good, as with any WW II carrier kit, all of this stuff must line up well to keep the flight deck level.  I've held off on some of the railings, etc. for the time being.

Here's the interior.

You can see there's no provision for that shutter door to be there.  I left this one as is, but cut the second one apart so you can see into the deck.

I've toyed around trying to figure how to represent the hull repair the ship received after Coral Sea.  The exterior below the waterline damage from a bomb near hit ruptured some welds.  It was easy to locate where the damage would have been, but the only photo I can find is in Chessman's  "That Gallant Ship."  While there must have been some misshaping to the hull as indicated in the ship's damage report, it doesn't show in that photo.

So, I just put a piece of strip the length of the frame damage and painted some unweathered hull red over it.  I'm not really satisfied with it, but unless there's some better info out there to find, I suppose it will have to do.

I posted Frankl

cavalryguy

Anyone have a good source to go to for pictures or drawings of the hangar deck on the carries Essex or Franklin?

I posted Franklin's post-war Damage report here, Plate 3 has a wee bit of a hint of structure but more so some of the hatches on the hangar deck. The Captain's report had some 8 x 10 photos of plans that I scanned in, but they weren't very large; Main Deck Structural Damage and Main Deck Fire show a little bit of the internal lateral supports that protrude into the deck space from the hangar deck bulkheads. Otherwise, I'd suggest the "Anatomy of the Ship - Intrepid" book as it has some decent drawings and is only about $15 right now.