Hi all,

Here is the WIP of my first ship model in 25 years, the brand new Gallery Models 1/350 USS Iwo Jima. Unlike the 1/32 jets that I usually bang out in 2 to 3 months, I think this will be a much longer build. But when it's done, it'll be loaded with details and tons of aircrafts - Harriers, sh!tter CH-53's, Ospreys and Whiskey Cobras. Additional aircraft sets, flight deck equipment sets, and 1/350 resin crew figures are on their way.

I also ordered a PE set for the USS Wasp kit. I know it won't be 100% usable on the Iwo Jima, but it's kind of a fall-back in case I mess up some of the kit's PE pieces.

This is the hull sitting on my workbench. A big sucker she is.



Right now I'm working on the lower deck. The parts fit together really well. Not much of it will be visible when the kit is completed, but I'll still paint it, weather it and throw in some trucks and crews.



I'm not a ship guy so I'm not sure what this is called. It's the tunnel that the hovercrafts go out to the sea. The molded details are quite nice. I'll put in one may be two hovercrafts here and some Humvees onboard.



Here's the hull in my display case - the grey thing on the bottom that's blocking the Sukhoi Sotka and the Chinese stealth. It just about dwarfs everything inside the case.



Cheers,

Terry

Nice one Terry, it will be interesting to see the differences between the Iwo Jima and the Wasp. Did GM include the flashy crossed anchors with stars and bars wings and the "Why we are here" markings as decals for the island?
cheers,
Julian

Julian,

The island has an American flag decal. Underneath it is the wording "beware of jet blast and rotors". Hmm, I wonder what kind of damage a Harrier's jet blast can do.

Terry

The jet blast decal sounds familiar. Have you found the photos on line with the "Why are we here" motto? I can post them if you like. Maybe you can rustle up your own decals.
There is more work to these Assault carriers than appears at first. I am still working on the hangar bay at the moment. Fit is very good though, someone did their homework well
cheers,
Julian

[quote]I'm not a ship guy so I'm not sure what this is called. It's the tunnel that the hovercrafts go out to the sea. The molded details are quite nice. I'll put in one may be two hovercrafts here and some Humvees onboard. [quote]
Hi Terry: It's called the well deck. It is where the LCAC's, LCVP's and AMTRACS are launched from. It is flooded and then the assault egress through the rear. The vehicles are loaded onto the ship via ramps that lead up to the ship, once inside they are parked and secured on the various decks below decks. I was and embarked Marine on the Kearsarge (LHD_#3 and the Belleau Wood, (LHA-3) and it was interesting to do the tours of the vessels. The LHA is just an earlier version of the LHD. I have seen these kits and am tempted to get one and do it up as the Kearsarge, I will be following your build with interest. The Material in the Well Deck is timber and is the color of railroad ties.
Best
Mark

Mark,

Thank you for the pointers. So railroad tie color = a reddish brown? I had to google that because I'm too used to FS colors, and names like gunship grey and light ghost grey, LOL.

Should the reddish brown be paint on both the well deck floor and the square pattern on the walls (see pic below)? How about the ramp?





The MK1 PE setting finally arrived from luckymodel.com last night. So I installed the railings on the well deck and painted it light ghost grey. It's not my first time installing PE (been doing that for years on jets), but it's my first time installing such long ones on a ship. The MK1 frets are intimidatingly fine for this ship newbie, so I'm glad my first attempts will be in the well deck so my screw-ups will be mostly hidden out of sight. I hope I'll get the hang of it after a few more tries.

Terry

I think I've found my answer on this site with some Wasp pics:

http://www.norfolknavyflagship.com/collection_4e57bd16-cf48-11e0-916e-001cc4c03286.html

Looks like a very dirty, dark grey-brown.

Terry

Railraod ties color yea a dark dirty brown....just go out to your nearest rr track and take a look. Looking at your railings looks like youve got the hang of it . They get difficult when you have to bend and shape them around curves and corners. I use gator glue when i do mine. It has tack and will hold them in place after you get them set into position....also as it doesn't dry immediately like super glue it gives you some time to make sure you have it where you want it

I finished the base painting of the well deck. Next I will spray a coat of Future to seal things in, and start the fun part - weathering.







thanks for looking.

Terry

Looking good there Terry,
cheers,
Julian

Hey Terry, a site you might want to bookmark is the Navy News Photo Galleries:
http://www.navy.mil/view_galleries.asp
I did a search for "well deck" and got some potentially useful links for you:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=68536
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=67906
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=63747

For what it's worth, some ships have different decking:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=66433

I'm done some more work on the well deck. The decals were applied. The white and yellow stripes were too sharp so I blended them in with the rest of the deck by spray a diluted coat the base colour. Everything was then sealed in with Future, then a black wash was given to pop the details, followed by a raw umber wash to make things look filthy. Further highlighting of the details was done by spraying some Tamiya smoke on the doors, panel lines and the nooks and cranny. Finally a flat coat was applied.









Now I'm contemplating whether to work on installing the deck into the hull, or decorating it with those tiny armour vehicles and LCAC's.

Terry