¹⁄350

USS Lexington (CV2) 1927-1942

Stage 8: upper bridge structure

Kit parts: 6
Scratch parts: 80
PE parts: 4
Time: 11 hours

The three-sided front to the pilot house (navigating bridge) is inaccurate since it should comprise seven individually angled facets. Although there is evidence of the Lexington’s flag plot (above the pilot house) being enlarged during her final refit, information on the exact shape is lacking. Right or wrong, I decided to modify it to follow the multi-faceted design of the pilot house.

•The angled front was sawn off parts E11 and E12 and an internal bulkhead added aft of the remaining windows to maintain the width of the structure. The roof of the flag plot (E20) was shortened by the same amount as the sides.

•New decks cut from styrene sheet and with the correct angled facets around the front edges were fitted at pilot house and flag plot deck levels and at flag plot roof level. The angled fronts were cut from photo-quality paper, scored, angled and glued in position. Window stiles were cut from PE railing.

•Jack rods made from thin stretched sprue were mounted along the bottom of the windows in the pilot house and flag plot.

•Parts E3 and E4 were discarded and replaced with platforms that taper outwards towards the rear to enclose the ends of the searchlight platform E5.

•Two searchlight platforms, each with a supporting bracket, were mounted at the rear of the flag plot roof.

•Splinter shielding was added to the forward part of the flag plot roof and to the two tapered platforms at flag plot level. Stretched sprue was used to represent the support ribs for the splinter shields. The life rails for the searchlight platform were made from two pieces of PE, with splinter mattresses made from styrene strip.



Above: Underside of upper bridge structure.



Above: Upper bridge structure.

•Scuttle covers (folded down) at pilot house level were sliced from styrene rod.



Above: 8-inch range finder.

•Photographic evidence clearly indicates that the 20-ft rangefinder for the 8-inch battery was reinstated on top of the enlarged flag plot. The rangefinder tubes in the kit are too short, so these were removed and replaced with suitable square-section polystyrene of the right scale length. Very thin stretched sprue provided the rangefinder tube supporting struts. Two extraneous ‘blobs’ on top of the rangefinder housing were filed off.

•A trial fit of the lower mast struts (E37 and E38) showed that an unsightly join with the upper mast struts emerging from the rear of the pilot house (E11 and E12) would be impossible to disguise. I decided to discard these struts, together with the upper struts (E39 and E40) and replace them with continuous struts from flight deck level right up to the 5-inch control platform at the top of the mast. This entailed removing the strut stubs from the pilot house bulkheads, opening up the recesses below and drilling all the way up through the roof.



Above: Upper and lower bridge structures combined.

Stage 9: 8-inch fire control platform

Kit parts: 7
Scratch parts: 38
PE parts: 3
Time: 3.5 hours

The platform is too narrow and this alters the geometry of the structure on it so that the angled sides are too short and the parallel sides are too long.



Above: Underside of 8-inch fire control platform.

•The platform sides were extended and parts E15 and E16 positioned further out and further aft, the length of the side bulkheads being reduced to suit. The straight rear edge of the platform was reshaped with two shallow angles either side of the centre line.

•All intermediate window stiles between structural angles were removed. The gaps between the angled sides and the front bulkhead were filled with styrene sheet, and a new rear bulkhead constructed.



Above: Interior of fire control position platform showing platform for director.

•The octagonal platform for the 8-inch director was fabricated from styrene sheet and the interior painted.



Above: Aperture in roof of fire control position.

•An octagonal aperture was cut in the roof and, when in place, the gap between the latter and the side bulkheads was filled with narrow styrene strips, carefully filed to match the roof profile.

•A jack rod made from thin stretched sprue was mounted around the bottom of the window aperture, and splinter mattresses made from styrene strip mounted below this.

•The circular section main mast (kit part E31) was discarded and replaced by styrene square section.



Above: Rear of fire control platform.

•PE life rails around the rear of the platform were faced with splinter mattresses made from styrene strip.