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USS Lexington (CV2) 1927-1942

Stage 3: gallery deck

Kit parts: 12
Scratch parts: 14
PE parts: 10
Time: 4.5 hours

Overall impression: Starboard main bulkhead scuttle and door positions not entirely accurate, but not too bad and easily corrected. However, the port side bulkhead is moulded as a mirror image of the starboard bulkhead and is very inaccurate. Trying to work out what was in the right position and what wasn’t was so confusing that I simply filled all the scuttles with filler and then measured out the correct positions. Any that were in the right position were then easily drilled out again. Because I planned to replace all the doors with GMM photo-etched equivalents, the moulded-on doors were simply all removed on both port and starboard sides. As with the hull, all scuttle rain-strips were removed.

The kit provides what resemble light AA range finders for mounting between the two 0.5-inch machine guns in the aft sponsons. The US Navy never employed range finders sited remotely from their associated directors for light AA, and, according to Robert C Stern (The Lexington Class Carriers), the Lexington was never fitted with the light AA directors intended for her before she was lost. Therefore I filled in the mounting holes, not intending to fit these anomalous instruments.



Above: Clamping bulkhead to gallery deck.

The gallery deck moulding - being so large - is quite bendy, so I firmly clamped the side bulkheads to it while the adhesive dried. It might sound obvious, but it is worthy checking that these are absolutely vertical – t hey are relatively long and there are no intermediate vertical support ribs.

The complete gallery deck assembly was then cemented in place on the hull. Given the sheer size of it, and the fact that it needs clamping to the hull in a number of different directions, I did this in three stages. First at the forward end, clamping the hull sides to the transverse bulkheads, then at the stern weighted down with 700g of kitchen weights, and finally the mid-section.

There are a large number of circular moulding depressions in the underside of the aft deck and 5-inch sponsons which deserve filling. Given the size of the model and the fact that it is likely to be critically examines at close quarters from different angles, these will definitely show up if they aren’t filled. Curiously, the starboard light AA sponson beneath the 0.5-inch mounts has a rectangular recess, whereas that on the port side doesn’t. This was filled.

I chose to use the Nautilus laser-cut wooden flight deck and this requires the aft round-down to be removed from the moulded kit part along the line that demarcates the joint between flight deck planking and the steel round-down. This was then cemented in place on the aft deck assembly.



Above: Gallery deck detail, port side.

The incorrect pair of moulded-on mooring bits (bollards) positioned athwartships on each side were removed and replaced by pairs scratch-built from styrene strip and rod. Further pairs were made and installed between the two forward 5-inch mounts on each side. The aftermost mooring rope chocks (fairleads) should be of the closed variety. I removed a little of the tops, bridged the gap with styrene sheet, and filed to shape. Capstans and beds were again made from styrene strip and rod, the latter ‘wasted’ by filing to give the right profile.

Two ready-use ammunition lockers were mounted on each of the 0.5-inch machine gun platforms. These are pure conjecture, but a reasonable assumption.

Stage 4: forward 5-inch sponsons

Kit parts: 10
Scratch parts: 14
PE parts: 10
Time: 3.75 hours

The hull blister supporting the port sponson has scuttle holes and, since these are not evident on the constructor’s drawings or photographs, these were all filled. There are moulded-in aligning ribs on the outer edges of the sponsons, designed to help locate the hull blisters below them. I removed these because they are not strictly necessary and might have interfered with getting the blisters to fit snugly against the hull.



Above: Forward 5-inch sponson detail, starboard side.

It is worth being aware that these sponsons were not mirror images, there being considerable differences in the position of fixtures and fittings. The inboard bulkheads are moulded as mirror images, which is incorrect. Furthermore, three doors are missing from each and some scuttles are missing. This was all corrected. The platforms were fitted to the hull first, followed by the bulkheads. Capstans, mooring bits and chocks were all fashioned as described above for the aft deck, plus three small ammunition hoist scuttles on the deck each side. Photo-etched kapok life rings were mounted on the forward bulkheads. Note that there is also a door in the forward bulkhead on the starboard side only.

Stage 5: forward light AA sponsons

Kit parts: 6
Scratch parts: 4
Time: 1.75 hours

Assembly follows the kit instructions apart from filling in the mounting holes for the discarded light AA range finders (see Stage 3 above). At the forward end of the starboard platform there is a gap between the splinter shield and the hull. This is easily rectified by inserting a small piece of styrene strip. This gap is not so noticeable on the port side and easily cured with a spot of filler. Two ready-use ammunition lockers were mounted on each platform. Again, these are pure conjecture, but a reasonable assumption.

Stage 6: light AA sponsons in boat pocket positions

Kit parts: 3
Scratch parts: 12
Time: 1.75 hours

These are moulded with a deep inboard extension that sits on the former boat pocket deck. Although this makes for strong construction it creates a step-effect at the edges and would also interfere with the various stanchions and ladders already fitted. I removed these inboard extensions and attached the platforms directly to the hull sides but slightly lower down (equivalent to the thickness of the moulded plastic I had removed), creating a flush deck.

The supporting brackets on the underside interfered with some of the scuttle positions, but there was nothing to be done about that since they are on a continuous level the length of the ship. The circular moulding depressions in the undersides were filled before fitting in place. Ready-use ammunition lockers, one per gun, were mounted inboard on the pocket decks. Pure conjecture again, but not unreasonably.

At the painting stage I realised that the coamings were too shallow. This followed a test fitting of a 20mm mount. Although the coamings are slightly under scale-height on the outboard side, the thickness of the plastic deck within gave a scale-height of only about 18-inches, and the 20mm mount looked dreadfully tall and exposed. I remedied this by pulling the platforms off and removing the coamings entirely. I re-cemented them to the hull sides with the intention of replacing the coamings with scale-height styrene strip at a later stage.