¹⁄350

USS Lexington (CV2) 1927-1942

Stage 27: flight deck light AA positions

Scratch parts: 46
Time (including painting): 1.5 hours
Kit parts D6 and D7 were discarded and replacements made from scratch.





Above: Replacement 1.1-inch mounting splinter shields.

Stage 28: overall detailing

Kit parts: 12
PE parts: 185
Scratch parts: 72
Time: 37 hours



At a minimum, half of the time at this stage involved painting the details and detailed painting.

Outboard gallery support webs: support webs between the underside of the 20mm AA platform on the outboard side of the stack and the flight deck: the situation is rather complicated regarding these parts which are F31 and F32 in the kit and their corresponding GMM PE parts. Not surprisingly, since they are like-for-like replacements, the latter replicate the errors in the kit parts.

Essentially there were three types of web, which I will identify as (a), (b) and (c). Type (c) was a wide web with two vertical rows of lightening holes, as represented by parts F32. Type (b) was a narrower web than type (c), with a single row of vertical lightening holes, as represented by parts F31. Type (a) was narrower still, had no lightening holes, and is not represented in the kit. The sequence of these, from aft to forward, was: (b), (a), (c), (a), (c), (a).

When the AA platform was originally a boat platform there was a further web towards the fore end which was type (b). When the platform was converted to an AA platform, it was reduced in length at the forward end back to the position of the next type (a) web. The GMM PE parts were used as appropriate, with webs type (a) made from styrene sheet. I said it was complicated!



Above: Replacement support webs, left to right types b, a, c, a, c and a.



Chocks (fairleads): four were made up from strip styrene and mounted on the starboard deck edge adjacent to the aft end of the stack structure and also near the bridge.

Bits (bollards): a pair made from strip and rod styrene were mounted between the rear two chocks and well inboard between the stack and bridge.



Above: Chocks and bits at aft end of stack structure.



Above: Chocks, bits and cable reels around the bridge structure.



Large cable reels: the ones on the aft gallery decks were made up from the GMM PE set. Instead of inserting an axle and winding it with suitable line (as suggested by GMM), I took the easier and just as effective approach of simply sandwiching a short length of plastic rod of the appropriate diameter.

Small cable reels: the very nice cable reels supplied by GMM on their PE for installation below the lower AA platform on the outboard side of the stack are not needed. This is because they were for the boat falls for the boats stowed on the platform above. When this level was converted to an AA platform the boats and associated fittings, including the fall reels, would have been removed. However, three of them come in very useful for the same purpose with the small boats suspended from davits alongside the bridge. They are a little over-scale (particularly in the width through the axis), but not so much as notices. Any smaller and they would have been very difficult to construct.

Catwalk between radar cabin on fore edge of stack and rear of bridge: this was adapted from the kit part. Upper surface detail was removed and the sides filed down to make it narrower. At the forward end the ‘shoulders’ were filed to a curved profile. Two supporting brackets on the underside at the forward end were made from styrene sheet. Having run out of the thin brass wire I was using for such things, the supporting struts from the brackets down to either side of the rear edge of the lower bridge structure were made from stretched sprue. At a later stage, the compass on the catwalk was made from a small decorative bead and a piece of stretched sprue.





Above: Catwalk and bits (bollards) between bridge and stack.