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USS Lexington (CV2) 1927-1942

Stage 31: rigging and stores handling (part 1)

Scratch parts: 22
Time: 2.75 hours



The outrigging structure at the rear of the forward 5-inch control top was made from stretched sprue.

Aerial spreaders at the top of the stack (fore and aft) were made from brass wire. The battle gaff (represented by kit part D10) is very thin, being little thicker than a halyard and almost invisible in photographs. The kit part was discarded and replaced with stretched sprue.

Flag staffs at bow and stern were made from brass wire. The steering pole on the starboard side forward of the aircraft handling crane was made from stretched sprue. This could be stowed flat on the deck but I decided to model it in the mounted position for added visual interest. It actually occupies the hole in the flight deck (slightly too far aft) intended for the starboard paravane derrick.

The kingposts for the portable stores-handling derricks (I chose two on the port side – replacing kit parts F11 - and one abaft the rear aircraft elevator) were made from styrene rod with a single wrapping of masking tape top and bottom to increase the diameter at these points. The associated booms were made in a similar way, with two separate layers of masking tape used to increase the diameter in the mid-sections.

On the Lexington pulley blocks were attached to the flight deck to run hoists from the derricks back to their associated winches. On the model these were made from thin brass wire inserted almost flush into holes drilled in the flight deck.



Above: Scratch-built portable kingpost and derrick after rigging.

Stage 32: paint finishing

Time: 2.5 hours

The overall flat finish of the matt paint made the ship look like it had been marooned aground in a very arid desert for months. It also looked rather ‘rubbery’ and soft, with little impression of hard painted steel afloat in a wet environment.

I decided to lift the finish and improve the reflective qualities - particularly on the weapons, which looked totally un-metallic and unrealistic in a flat finish. Satin varnish seemed ideal, but had absolutely no effect whatsoever on the rather gritty, and very absorbent, airbrushed finish. On the other hand, where I had brush-painted, it was too effective.

I switched to thinned-out gloss varnish which created the desired effect, depending on the thickness sprayed on. This sounds frightening and undesirable, as though it would create a highly reflective and rather plastic finish, but it didn’t at all. I was quite selective where I applied it – plenty on the weapons and along the waterline, a moderate amount on the very dry looking flight deck, and very sparingly on the hull and upper works vertical surfaces.

The varnish improved the colour depth of the paint (which had previously looked rather chalky) and helped protect the paint finish which had been very prone to scuffing and marking.

Stage 33: rigging and stores handling (part 2)

Scratch parts: 64
Time: 12 hours

All rigging was done in 0.1mm (2ib 5oz/1.07kg) monofilament fishing line. I left all wireless aerials and the rigging for the foremast in natural finish. Elsewhere, I found rope work for the derricks, whaler davits and boat booms to be almost invisible against the background colour. To make these more visible I experimented with different shades of grey paint, with a bias towards brown/greys rather than the blue/greys of the ship. Standard Navy Grey was too light and Standard Navy Deck Grey was too dark and too blue. I settled on an old tin of Humbrol USN 2, 36270, but I don’t know if this is still available. However, a word of warning: solvent-based paint seems to have a tendency to loosen the tension in the rigging. For the cross-deck rope work for the derricks I ran a black spirit-based marker along the line before cutting and fixing it.

The finishing touch was the bearing light carried high up on the inboard side of the stack. This was made up from brass wire and stretched sprue.



Above: Rigging around the bridge area.

Stage 34: side ladders

PE parts: 12
Scratch parts: 18
Time: 2.25 hours

In British terminology these are called accommodation ladders. In the Lexington they provided access between the hull-side accommodation ports and boats alongside. I made up the ladders from spare PE and the upper and lower platforms from styrene sheet. The lower platform supporting structures with their cross-braces were cut from the WEM ‘ultimate destroyer’ set. The structures were assembled using temporary water-level platforms made from sheet styrene glued to the underside of the hull edges. When everything was in place and set solid these platforms were cut away.



Above: Aft side ladder on temporary assembly platform.