So, it looks like Trumpeter has out a whole bunch of carriers, but no Big E - most decorated USN ship. (Come on Trumpeter - do the Big E!)

What 1/350 modeling options are there for CV-6? Either Midway or Leyte Gulf time period ?

I saw the full resin kit - too expensive. Anyone have experience with the conversion offered by Nautilus?

I'm slowly working on the Revell 'Battle of Midway' Enterprise, it's Ok, but detail is nothing like Trumpeter or Tamiya. Aircraft are rather generic.

Peter

I used a diferent company's resin set when I backdated my Lexington. It went well and instructions were pretty straight forward. I understand the same is to be said for the Nautilass conversion. If I remember, the set is something like $70. Maybe you can find it at a discount.

The HOrnet was Trumpeter's first entry into the big time 350 scale market. Don't think it too likely they will do an Enterprise/Yorktown anytime soon. Of course never say never.

Ahoy Peter,

Nautilus Models came out with a Yorktown/Enterprise conversion set for the Trumpeter Hornet kit some years ago. It's still available.

Nautilus Models

Thanks for the info Gator.

Have you or anyone else had experience with the 1/350 Nautilus Models Enterprise conversion kit?
How is the resin molding?
Any problem with warped resin parts?

I have seen one installed. The builder liked it. I have heard nothing but praise for their products. As to difficulty. When dealing with rein there is always difficulty. Parts come on blocks which you have to cut off and then do a lot of heavy sanding to level. You need to use super-glue...or better still Gator glue (There ya go Kenny) to attach them. They also frequently requires you to cut away some of the original plastic. And resin is brittle. It easier to bend back (after hot water heating)if it is warped as it doesn't have a memory like styrene.

The Nautilus resin conversion just covers the island; you'll need one of their wood decks too or a complete rebuild of the kit deck if you want to convert a CV-8 to CV-6. Hornet had a different shape to the front of her flight deck than Yorktown and Enterprise.

I saw one of the resin sets a while ago at the shop I work at. Now, keep in mind, this was a while ago and the quality could have changed.

I wasn't quite sure if it would be easier to fix the conversion set or start from scratch... about the only thing I considered usable was the main island piece. All of the platforms were warped. Half of the gun tubs had incomplete cases, due, I believe, to an overambitious attempt at a super-thin splinter shield.

James is a good guy and I'm not trying to slam on him; that's just the impression I got at the time; it's possible he's improved his casting since then.

Hmmm,

So, making an Enterprise out of a Hornet will involve a bit more than just replacing the island using the resin conversion kit.

Resin conversion kit, wooden flight deck - just $125 for those items.
I might want to rethink this.

How much reworking of the flight deck would be involved to change Hornet to Enterprise? Does it just involve the front of the flight deck? is elevator placement the same?

Additionally, how much other work/change would be needed to make an Enterprise out of a Trumpeter Hornet? (gun deck or gun placement changes? Flight deck elevator changes?)

Thanks for any and all info and suggestions!

Peter

Check out this page at the Nautilus Models website: Yorktown/Enterprise conversion It shows the difference between the Yorktown/Enterprise and Hornet decks.

Additionally, there is an ongoing threads on the Hornet, Yorktown and Enterprise over at Modelwarships:

Hornet
Enterprise
Yorktown

Lot's of information there on the differences between the 3 sisters.

You'll also find pictures of Yorktown and Enterprise conversions here, here and here

HTH

Thanks for the build threads - wow building a big E is a lot more difficult than just putting a Nautilus conversion island on a Trumpeter Hornet.

The various pictures will be helpful in improving a Revell Enterprise.