Hi all! My first build log here. As promised after the review here, I'm starting this build log to show you how she builds. This will be a slow build as I have two other builds to finish but I hope to show you the main components, guns, planes etc. and I can do the mass production once you've seen how those components build.

Now since I'm new to the ship business I am very happy for any comments, criticisms and tips you can provide! (Incidentally, I would be even if I wasn't new...

Cleaned up the work bench to make room, the box is huge :


Contrary to the instructions I started with the hull first. Top is dry fitted, bottom is glued:


Two things to watch out for here: Fit is not that tight, so be sure to align the two halves correctly before the glue sets. It will save you all the sanding I had to do...
Second, if you want to use the stand, be sure to drill out the mounting holes for it before this step. This is not pointed out in the instructions. Fortunately for me the plastic was slightly discolored where the stand goes so I was able to save it.



Detail shot of the bow. There is some damage from the sprue attachment where DML removed the sprue from the upper hull. These will not be covered and have to be filled.


Going on to the hangar deck, be sure to have some kind of system with the instructions. They are so crammed it's easy to lose track of what's fitted and what not. I mark the numbers I have fitted already. Also note all the pin marks on this part. They won't be that evident if you don't mount a light inside the hangar but some may wish to remove them which is hard to do.


Parts fitted to the inside hangar wall:


Choice of plastic or PE hangar doors. PE is clearly the better alternative here:



Okay, that's it for now. Next is the other side of the hangar and fitting of hangar deck and walls.

Cheers and thanks for looking!
Stefan

Stefan,

Great start so far. looking forward to seeing her come together.

Hello Stefan,it seems strange you not doing armor,but since I also have this kit,I will follow your blog very carefully and take notes for my own build.Looks great so far far,keep all the info and pics coming.

Anthony

Thanks for the comments guys!

Anthony, yes it is a bit strange. I finished Tamiya's Fletcher last year and liked it so much I had to get more ships. So here we are!

Stay tuned...

Stefan

Have wanted to get this Kit for a while now. Watching your Build makes me want to get it sooner. Keep up the good work.....Cheers Mark

Nice progress Stefan.

Glad you started this build log Stefan ! I will be following this with great interest as I have this one sitting in my stash. Looking great so far !
cheers,
Julian

If you have any questions feel free to ask... I helped Dragon design the kit and have mostly built two test shots. Granted, they didn't have all of the parts (no hangar detail)...

For example, we TRIED to get them to do the construction order on the instructions differently but were only partially successful.

Thanks for the comments guys. Tracy, thanks for the offer, much appreciated. the Instructions are not only very crammed, they miss the attachment of some details. So careful study and double checking before gluing is very highly recommended... I will continue the build tonight I hope.

Cheers!
Stefan

Looks a fantastic kit Stefan

Good work so far

will follow your build with much interest

Si

Thanks for looking in, Simon!

So, lots of time spent on this big girl, but it's not really noticeable... After having sanded the two main hull parts to make a smooth transition, I attached the screw shafts. Unfortunately the attachment holes are a bit too big so more filling and sanding.


Then I finished the port hangar wall:


Next was the attachment of the whole hangar assembly to the hull. Be sure to take your time here and align everything correctly. It's quite complicated altogether (the hangar sides go between hangar deck and hull sides and have themselves part of the deck... get it?!? ) so there's a good chance for disaster here... On the pther hand, the method of attachment insures a very sturdy fit.
To make the transition from hull to hanger walls seamless I used some more putty (Mr. Surfacer 500 actually) and some more sanding was in order.



While the putty dried I turned my attention to the parts to be fixed outsie. Starting with the first smoke stack (the four are basically the same construction-wise with different parts). Parts layout:


Part F27 has groves that should fit the corresponding ridges on parts F10 and F12. As you can see highlited in this pic, they don't:


Incidentally, with the second stack, the groves and ridges don't fit either, not even left/right. I assume there was a mixup of some sorts in the instructions. I simbly cut off the ridges and aligned the parts myself.

Here's stack number one finished:


So, tha's it for now. More sanding to go and then I will go mad with the first quad 40mm mount. 15 minuscule parts!!!


Cheers!
Stefan

Great work Stefan.

Looks great Stefan, I notice that all hanger bay doors are closed, does that mean you won't be detailing and painting the hanger bay?
cheers,
Julian

Beautifully done so far Stefan. Watching this one with great interest.....Cheers Mark

Stefan, I noticed from the instructions, that the vertical supports of the stack, shows a bit protuding at the base in the instructions instead of being level. Not sure that's going to make any differences however, unless the the hull size where the stack came out of is not exactly flag (eg the support goes 'inward' compared to the stack body itself)

Thanks for the comments guys. I actually finished the quad 40 yesterday and didn't go mad... Also finished all the sanding and hope that's it for this kit. I'll be working my way from bow to stern with the outside hangar details now.

Julian, I am planning to keep one elevator in the lowered position so one can see a little bit of the inside, but not all of it. I think there are just too many pin marks to show it without lots of work... Also, there is no interior on the hangar doors, assuming they aren't just completely flat inside...

Jim, thanks for pointing that out. Now that you mention it and I consider the attachment points that is clearly the way to do it. It does not however solve the problem with the attachment of F22 (I think). So I will probably have to saw F10 and 12 off and reposition them... this would have been easier with some locating pins or something...

General question: The instructions have no mention of detail painting except on the final overall painting instructions... Something I only noticeed when I started wondering how to paint the inside of the hangar. Does anyone know what color the hangar insides were painted?

Cheers!
Stefan

Great progress Stefan, continueing to follow with much interest.

Si

Thanks for pointing out all the danger spots,this will prove helpful.

The deck (floor) was dark gray (officially deck gray). The bulkheads (walls) were white. The overhead (ceiling) was also white. The only exception: inside the elevator wells, the walls were painted a darker color. You can see what I mean in this picture that Tracy White posted on MW. com, in the "Calling all Independence Class Fans" thread:



NARA Photo 80-G-414667,
Caption: Navy crewmen aboard the USS Monterey (CVL-26) bringing an F6F to the flight deck on elevator. , 06/1944

Thanks for the comments guys.

Martin, that's a good pic and a good link there. Thanks for the info. I would have guessed white but feared I was prejudiced from Armor interiors... Even more interesting is the second pic in the thread you linked, also posted by Tracy White:



the caption reads:



Looks like two different grays, any guesses on what tones?

Cheers and thanks!
Stefan

Well, time for another update. I will have to get used to progressing slowly with lots of work done...

First off, here's how the quad 40mm turned out. No problems here, except that I had no idea where two of the parts (one PE, one plastic) were supposed to go and by the look of it I don't think they are supposed to go anywhere. Note: the railing behind the guns was added from a left over GMM PE set and is not included in the kit. I assumed the quad mounts were the same as on the USS Missouri and therefore had the same railing.


The 20mm went together without a problem, although the sight is very easily broken. Fortunately there are 2 extra parts. I destroyed one for two guns though, so it could get tight...


Note there are two barrels for the 20mm and the instructions tell you to use L7. When attaching the shoulder rests (MA1) you will however have to use part L1.


On to the bow. There is no railing provided for the bow section. The leftover GMM PE set came in handy here as well. Unfortunately, the GMM set is much finer than the DML railings, so be sure not to mix them. As long as you don't have them right next to each other I think it will be okay. The chains are very flat, but they can hardly be seen once everything is fitted.


By the way, I used a razor saw to get some of the very fine parts off the sprue, so up to now I've had no broken parts... Touch wood...

The bow AA gun platform was a breeze to build but also requires some railings (again, thanks to GMM leftovers). The fit to the hull was somewhat lacking, buit some file work took care of that. Can't tell if this was due to misalignment on my part or the kit.



I dry fitted the smoke stacks G and F to the hangar sides and noticed that they don't fit where they're supposed to. I think DML mixed these up in the instructions and G should go where F is supposed to and vice-versa. I'm pretty sure I didn't mix things up as I built and marked them one at a time...


Next up, I fitted the (what I presume to be) screw protectors (to protect anyone from the screw who would fall into the water there?). The instructions don't tell you when to fit them, they just appear. These are two different parts and you don't know which goes on what side. In my case this was pretty irrelevant though as they both broke apart through handling... Well, this gave me an excuse to attempt a scratch replacement which hopefully will be closer to the real thing anyway. Here's the broken parts and a start on the replacement:



So, that's it for now. I'll be finishing the latter parts next and then I will take a break as I have to add some sandbag armor to an M4A1 Sherman for the Sherman Campaign...

Any comments very welcome!
Cheers!
Stefan

Hi Stefan, you seem to be making good progress ! The photo etch looks good, reward for the fight fitting it
The screw protectors are to prevent damage to the screws when manoeuvring alongside the berth, how are you going to fix the support bars? Soldering?
cheers,
Julian

Stefan,that detail work is fantastic.FYI,there is a guy on steel navy.com selling a DVD on the Independence class,his name is Ray Bean,check it out,it might help

A couple of points... first, apologies for not following this thread more closely and being tardy in the response. With regards to the hangar deck color, the majority of it would be as Martin described, deck gray and white bulkheads and overheads. The "two tone gray" you described is actually black on the top; we know that based on this document I found in the archives and posted. I've never seen any documentation to say what colors the non-black areas were, but it's most likely either 5-N Navy Blue or 20-B Deck Blue. Independence's dark colors extended farther back than just the elevator wells though, at one point. The "Christian Services" photos on the CVL-22 site Gallery Page 3 show that a good portion of the hangar bulkheads were black. They're undated, but I have some high-resolution photos of the hangar following her November 1943 torpedo hit that show pretty much the same. I just don't know precisely how far forward the aft elevator dark paint was extended... my photos don't show that.

Also, there were two styles of prop guards used by the CVLs. CVL-22 had solid top braces such as what you saw in the kit with bar supports underneath (at least in 1943); other ships had bar supports on top and bottom. You can see the CVL-22 supports in Navsource Photo 022217.

I did a news post on that exact one here.

CVL DVD News

This will help out a great deal. There are going to be many good photos on it.

C|:-)