Outstanding, Warren, as always. Your PE work is almost unbelievably clean. How do you attach your PE, CA or white glue? The glue is utterly undetectable. Its almost a shame to cover it with paint. Thanks for the tip on the PE to. I've got Hasegawa's super upgrade set for my Gambier Bay and I'll definitely make a note of it. Congratulations on what is shaping up to be another triumphant build!

Bob

Hi Bob.

I use a mix of glues depending on how fast I want the glue to cure. If it is going to be easy to clamp, or will stand free with no clamping I will normally use Gator Glue. But if I have to sit and hold a part for a while or until it cures I will use THIN CA glue, not thick, and run it onto the joint using a pipette attachment on the container. Then I will hit it with accelerator to cure it instantly, well mostly instantly.. I find the thin CA is great for railings as you can apply it at one end and it flows along the whole length of the railing. Just have to make sure you don't glue your fingers to the part as well..

Warren, I know what you mean about gluing your fingers. When I came back to the hobby and started using CA for the first time, I glued my fingers to one another, or to the model, more than I glued the parts together. It takes a light touch on the applicator and a little forethought about how you hold the pieces.

Again, great work, Warren. I envy your talents.

Bob

I'm baaacck...
After having to spend a week at Coolangatta putting up with sun, sea and going out for dinner every night I am back to reality in beautiful, tree infested Casa Inman.
Well, the PEing is mostly finished but before I attach the island and mast I decided to apply the wooden deck. Here is the nicely moulded deck before wood..


I had already sliced off all the bits I had to remove before planking the deck. And after applying the wood..



And after being wooded...
One thing I never knew was that they had flight deck catapaults in WW2. I always thought they were a post war invention. Seems I was a little .. ahem.. wrong..
Tomorrow I should get the the PE on the deck and the few bits I need to apply to the hull. I have decided against much of the smaller brackets etc on the hull as I know they are just going to get knocked off eventually anyway.
More news as it comes to hand!!...

Now that is a very elegant looking flattop you have going there Mr. Inman Excellent work and progress, (despite goofing off for a week in the sun ).
I have been wondering about adding a wooden flightdeck and then painting it blue but seeing this has convinced me it's the way to go. Looks somehow sharper than the poly kit supplied deck.
Cheers mate,
Julian

Thanks Julian.
Will be interesting to see how the dry transfers go...

For what it's worth the USN was using catapults even before the war; they just didn't hit their stride with them until later in the war.

Good to see some progress, from one "had to spend some time in the sun" (Hawaii) guy to another

Thanks for visiting Tracy. Problem with my week in the sun is that I had the flu for 90% of it and still have very little energy. Bad timing..

But back to the build. I have finished applying the deck PE and am about to start the dry transfers. And my verdict about THIS wooden deck??
Don't bother. Sorry but after painting I think the plastic deck could look almost as good for no extra outlay. If it had not been painted, sorry, stained Deck Blue it may have made a difference as it is not an easy task to make a realistic plastic wooden deck using nothing but paint and pigments.

At least it was good practice for the many other wooden decks I have collected over the past few months.

Pictures later.

cheers
Warren

Warren, I just got back from vacation in Mexico (ah, the young and not so young nubiles!) and caught your update. Looking great as always. The deck looks fantastic and I love the contrast between the flight deck blue and the haze gray of the verticles. Very nice, my friend.

Bob

I guess I was lucky; I didn't get the flu until the night before we left. Made for an "interesting" flight back though.

Your opinion matches mine; I could see it being handy for people who don't know how to weather decks IF it came pre-weathered, or if it was natural wood, but since the decks were stained anyway, I don't see any advantage to a stained wood deck.

Hi all.
Just a quick one.

As you can see I have gotten all the deck PE and dry transfers on. The light coloured transfers were a bit of a pain as it was difficult to tell when they were on, but the black ones were great and left no doubt when they had departed the backing.
I used normal transfers on the hull as it is a pain trying to rub the transfers on and hold the transfer in position and hold the boat at the same time. Need another hand.
The PE went on without too much trouble but I didn't bother with the smallest parts as the wood deck with the same parts diecut out looks exactly the same as if I had bothered with the PE parts. Also added some more PE and put the island on. I am leaving the intricate mast until last.
A bit of good news I though I had lost one of the cross-shapped aerials on the mast but it turned up on my cutting mat last night. I had turned it upside and shaken it a few times looking for other PE parts and I do not know how it wasn't dislodged. A bit of luck for a change with the PE.
Not too far to go now.

Warren, great progress! Seems your flight deck blue is much lighter than mine? You are still using Lifecolor, right?

Cheers!
stefan

Hi Stefan.
Still using Lifecolor. If you look at the floors of the gun tubs they are painted, but the flight deck came pre-painted as did the PE for the deck. The Lifecolor and Hasegawa painted deck blues very difficult to tell apart. It could be that the flash is making it look a lot lighter than it is.
I don't know anyone else who mixes deck blue, and Lifecolor paints are very good for brush painting, which is important with ships.
Thanks for looking.

I didn't realize the flight deck was prepainted Warren.
Julian

[quote]


To be 100% accurate Julian it is actually stained, not painted. The deck itself is prepainted, but they could have made it even more convienient and put the deck markings on as well..

The dry transfers are not as good as water slide transfers at snuggling down into gaps etc but they came out looking pretty good anyway. Certainly easier than having to mask everything up and spraying it.

This one I am leaving in relatively clean condition, just out of refit, but if I build one again I will weather.

Cheers
Warren

Okido, looks good there Warren !
cheers,
Julian

Looks great Warren. Will be good to see her done and dusted......Cheers mark

While the deck does look nice, its still a question if its worth the extra bucks - stained you say, how does it react to a slight sanding, will it bring out the wood to make it look used?

The ship does look great - very colorfull, whats Your plans about weathering ?

[quote][quote]


Thanks for stopping by Mark.

Hi Jan. Please see above re-weathering. The wooden deck can be lightly sanded to depict weathering, but I am not sure how much it would have had as most navy ships, even in wartime, have a large number of crew who have very little to do fighting off attacks 99% of the time, and lots of free time to think about what they are missing out on at home. The ideal way to get their minds of those things is chipping and painting.. and swabbing decks..

Hi Warren,

Appreciate your comments on the wood deck, was considering shelling out for one for my Indy, but I think I will stick to painting the deck.

Si

You're overstating how much free time the sailors had. Even when they weren't fighting there was a lot of drill and non-paint maintenance that had to happen. Flight decks received a lot of punishment and tended to show it.

I have a question...
The Hasegawa PE set has thirteen weird looking things you are supposed to place three of on each corner of the flight deck. They look like a fram with a seat on it and then another hinged frame sitting in front of the seat. I vaguely remember seeing them called observer station or something similar. I haven't been able to find a picture of one to tell me what they look like. Anyone out there got a picture or diagram of one?

Well, for better or for worse the ship itself is finished, but the airwing need a coat of semi-gloss clear, but it was too humid to do any spraying today. So without any further ado here is the GBay..






One note on the rigging or lack thereof, I can't afford to get a case for this one at the moment, and to complete the rigging I would need to attach delicate PE that extends out the side of the ship and I know that it would get knocked off due to my sometimes ham-fistedness. Therefore, when I can afford a case for the ship I will do the rigging then and put it away safely.
I will take better photos in a few days and submit it as a feature, although my North Carolina hasn't made it there yet..
Thanks for looking!

Nice build Warren, the bridge with radar array looks very nice now its painted. The airwing on a carrier is always impressive.
Cheers,
Julian

The photos are also a good way to pick up parts you have missed while painting..