Hey Scott - working on the Trump Hornet in 1/700 myself. I think the biggest problem I found with the kit was that the missing parts gnomes took control of my workbench intermittantly. Probably one of the downsides of the method I use to build ships. The ship is complete and I am now working on the B-25's. (I'll be posting pics soon)

Be careful with the rear decks of the island. I found that the support holes had to be opened up to fit the kit rods and ended up fabricating new supports - they are thin and will snap easily. Also the upper deck of the 3 didn't fit flush and level - in my pics above you can see the angle - the only part of the kit where I could say there were fit issues.

Looking forward to seeing your build - the CV5 class carriers are by far my favorite!

Great Akagis!
Anthony – love the detailed WIP, learning a lot from your build.

Steve – congrats on the finish, looks good.

Keith – I am doing the same build, with Toms Modelworks USS Essex Aircraft Carrier Detail Set. Never tried such a project before! Look forward to your build.

Eugene – those are great pics and info! Thanks for sharing.

Lots of great builds in progress!


Cheers all

PS Weird, first time I posted my replies to the campaigns, they did not show up on the board…

Thanks for the heads up on those issues with the kit, I appreciate it! Looking forward to watching more of your progress amigo.

Finally finished getting her sides painted. I have a little bit of touch up work to do then it is on to painting the deck. In the mean time I have my air wing ready to paint so I may get those knocked out while I am waiting for an opportunity to paint the deck.



I was unable to do the fade in on the sea blue due to the small size of 1/700 and my smallest air brush nozzle doesn't spray a small enough pattern. I got a good fade on half of the ship but I figured that it would look weird with half of the ship having a fade pattern and the other half not so I made it all solid.

I had to shelf the Akagi for my sanity. Having a new tool come out while working on this didn't do well for morale. Everyone's builds are looking great good builds and smooth paint jobs.

I'd really like to hear from Karl Zingheim and see photos of his scratchbuilt 1:350 IJN Taiho he is working on.

Hi Anthony!

Work on the Taiho will resume very soon--that's the thing about having multiple projects, you have to be a master juggler!

Seriously, though, I recently got in a set of PitRoad 1:350 Tenzan 'Jill' torpedo bombers. Very sweet.

--Karl

Taiho is a beautiful carrier. My first waterline in fact and it is the one that got me into carriers.

Definately scribe the wooden deck! It will look so much better. The island of Taiho is quite majestic, too.

Progress update 1/700 Trumpeter USS Hornet

The hull and deck are for the most part finished and ready for painting. The deck is just sitting on top and hasn't been attached yet, I'll do that after painting.

good progress; always like your excellent pictures. Seems the kit has some nice detail.

Thanks, I was debating whether or not to add PE to this kit and decided not too. It would be nice to actually finish a build without taking forever to do it.

The only real trouble so far was getting all the hanger deck vertical walls aligned properly so the deck fits right... I think I'm going to have my work cut out for me when it comes time to attach the deck.

Looking good, Scott!
Seems like the kit doesn't need that much PE, anyway. Maybe cranes, gun shields and bit of PE.
Cheers,
Guido

Hi Jim!

You're right, Taiho was probably the most elegant fleet carrier design ever. She didn't have a wooden flight deck, but I will have to install hundreds of tie downs!

--Karl

Well I got stalled out recently but here are some bench pics of my almost completed CV-8 Hornet. Working on the airwing now (which I dread). Most of the rails are in place which are far more visible in these pics than in person.
This particular build has me rethinking my approach to railings on 1/700 kits.....

Wow she looks great

Beautiful work on the Hornet John! She is looking fantastic!

Finally some more progress on my Bogue. I made the needed touch ups to the hull, got the flight deck painted, and I added the flight deck and the guns to the hull. Next step will be the paltforms along the flight deck and the island.

Beautiful job John.

Great progress David.

I have everything but the mast and decals on my Bogue. I guess it is time to start that work on the aircraft that I have been putting off.



How is everyone else coming along?

John – nice progress looks good from here! Paint/Camo job came out good.

David – very nice job, specially the paint job.

My Essex is still boxed and un-started, still slowly progressing on other builds : (

Does anyone have any tips on getting a small decal to attach to a ridged surface? The catapult is in the way of the decals for the dashes that run along the flight deck and I can't get the little decal to attach properly.

I never ceases to amaze me that these model companies put very awkward contours right where the decals go. Normally I say screw it and skip the decals but I would really like my beck to have the dashes across it, but it wouldn't break my heart to skip them.

Are the decals in small white strips or one long strip? For long strip, cut around the section where the decal will meet the raised detail and apply seperately so to maintain the straight line.

If it is just a small white strip, you need decal setting solution to help adhersion/contour over irregular shapes. I would think any decals on deck will need decal setting solutions just to make the carrier film less visible.

Applying decal seems to be the finishing touch but still involves a bit of work. The surface should ideally be glossy (gloss coat surface that'll receive large decals especially). Some decals are thicker than others so you'll need decal setting solution/softeners to help them adhere to the curves/shape. Apply the decals with decal setting solution below (this reduces air bubbles) and on top of the decal then when dry, another light gloss coat to even out the 'sheen' and finally the flat coat to seal everything and achieve the desired finish.

Then it comes to weathering, decal included. I was about to say if you don't have decal solutions handy can use thinned liquid cement as an alternative but it is takes practice so I wouldn't recommend it as it may marr the paint job if not done properly.

Having come from subjects other than ships, decaling can easily take up 20% or more of the build when it comes to aircraft and some 40% when it comes to auto.

They are tiny segments. I have decal setting solution but I couldn't keep the edges of the decal down. They either covered the catapult like a tent or the corners lifted up off of the deck. With how small the decals are there just isn't enough material hanging over the edge to keep it down.

I say: Cut it and touch up the akward bit.

Guido

Well I had an interesting week. My attempt at decal surgery worked but only after I had messed up enough of the stripes to be unable to use them. Oh well, a little practice never hurt. Then an “industrial accident” struck and demolished half of my air wing. But no fear, there were survivors. So here we are completed.

Very nice work David!