Hi all, I don't normally build 1/350 scale ships; however, one of my wife's friends asked me to build a 1/350 scale model of the USS Hornet for her 25th wedding anniversary. Her husband bought the ship and a few aircraft sets several years ago. His spouse wanted me to build a clean display version of the model and also asked if I could come up with an idea that would make it "a little different and special". With that guidance I got to work. Based on the aircraft kits I decided to show the Hornet as she looked circa August 1942.

The kit built into a nice model, but I have admit that making the masks for the camo scheme was A LOT of work - and I'll not be doing that again anytime in the near future! There are a total of 30 aircraft and I ended up putting 300 decals in total on them. Surprisingly I rather enjoyed that little job, though it took some time. I decided to show most of the aircraft readied and spotted on deck for a strike. Five of the planes went into the hanger. That was the "different and special" part of the build my wife's friend asked for. I opened the covers on the starboard side of the forward hanger deck and positioned the 5 planes inside. I wired a couple of small lights to the bottom of the flight deck to provide light giving a pretty neat effect.

My wife's friend looked at the finished product last night and was so pleased and excited that she surprised me giving me a hug and kiss. Good thing she wasn't too excited; who knows where that would have gone!!

Enjoy the pictures,
Ernest

Very nice work,I like the lighted hanger

Outstanding work. Very nice, clean build. The idea of the LED lights in the hangar deck is brilliant! I have Hornet and I'm hoping to get started on her this winter. I have the hangar deck PE set and your use of LEDs has inspired me. I think I'll try that myself. Congratulations on a first rate build of a great ship and thanks for the inspiration!

Bob