the tailstripes went before the red meatballs


I do have a sheet of roundels.

Excellent!
...so, how big is a 1/144 wheel chock anyway? And do you suppose the Navy had a directive on how to arrange planes on a carrier deck or was that just experience and common sense on the part of the junior officers or NCO's?
Anyway, carry on.
Cheers!
Sean H.

Actually, I THINK the tails stripes came after the red meatballs. I believe what you have there is an early or even pre-war shot with the roundels in 4 places. I think the next specified scheme was roundels in 6 places and the striped rudder, then (just before Midway) remove all red from the roundels and delete the tail stripes altogether.

That's my (admittedly) clouded understanding.

HTH

Michael

You may be right. The title of the above photo is "USS_Enterprise_CV-6_flight_deck_early_1942".
In any case, I'm working around what I have, rather than attempting a rigorously accurate depiction of a specific moment.
Rivet counters beware, that's how I roll.

Sean, the wheel chocks provided by Sweet Models are about 6.5mm long.

They look a bit overscale to me. A real 144 geek would connect the pairs together with sewing thread, but Im not that far along the spectrum.

I can easily imagine a manual of procedures for arranging the aircraft for launch, and the egg-heads in the basement of the Pentagon, "working" with large scale models, figuring it all out in advance!

Airplane kits are not my strength, so now the seams are causing me to stop and think.
In closing up the fuselage, I focused on a good join at the top, then I'll do the dirty clean-up on the bottom where my sins will be less visible.


Aargh. Then this beautiful kit gave me the old wing-to-fuselage gap-- up high and prominent. Not a big enough gap to cause panic. No styrene filler pieces needed, just putty. I recently learned of the thinning trick with nail polish remover, so I blended the putty with nail polish remover on a Q-Tip swab. I haven't checked it with primer yet, but it appears to have worked.


Also note that I didn't put any paint into the cockpit yet. I'm trusting that I can do it all to the complete cockpit inside the fuselage now. Okay, not the way the pro's do it, is it?
The Hobby Boss kit comes with no instrument panel detail-- not even decals. That surprised me. Is that normal for them? I'll have to conjure something up.
Cheers!
-Sean H.

Hi there Sean

Hopefully I'm not overstepping the mark here. There's couple of tricks that might help on your next build:

When joining 2 halves together use masking tape to hold them together whilst you align as best you can. Then using a liquid poly dab a little at the point where it matches the best, just as you've done. Once dry move along to the adjacent area and press the part to force better alignment. Dab a little more liquid poly and hold til set. Be careful not to add too much liquid poly as the capillary action may draw it under the masking tape which will damage the visual surfaces.

Work your way slowly around the part in this way until you've done a lap. Remove the masking tape as you feel appropriate and dab liquid poly in the spaces left.

For the gap between wing and fuselage I find using medium CA the best. Pour a little onto some card. Then dip a needle into it and dab it into the seem. It sets quite quickly allowing you to work faster, and is very accurate. A little silver paint applied to the seam will help show whether you need to add more CA or if its ready to sand.

Jonathon, those wheel chocks are all wrong. Look at the picture and you will see how they should look. I have dragged many of the away over the years and they are basically just triangular bits of wood... Dunno where they got those ones from..
Cheers
Warren

Hi Warren, I know the type you are describing, but I have found quite a number of images which show the C-shaped ones which the Sweet Models kit ones sort of resemble, here one example

just browsing around, found another, and another.
no idea when these went out of use, but they seem quite common in the Pacific war period.

Howdy all should be starting Friday Doing a revel 1/48 scale Hellcat Marked up White 71. yall have some good looking builds going on .

sascha(Ironowl)

Yep, you are 100% correct there.. Might be something to do with stopping aircraft skidding sideways as well.. rolling deck and all.. you don't get much rolling on a concrete tarmac..

Cheers mate
Warren

More progress on my Corsair II of VA-27 on the Enterprise in 1973...

outside, and in...

Neither the kit nor the aftermarket decals included any cockpit detail. Luckily I had an old MicroScale TAC set with an A7-D panel. (Don't tell anyone ) I was able to find enough internet photos to craft ejector handles from wire, seat belts from tape, and paint the cockpit and seat to a decent degree of detail. The Hobby Boss canopy is very thin and clear! Not hiding any sins there.
Having fun here.
Thanks,
Sean H.

Some good work going on here. About a month and a half left everyone, so get cracking!

Michael

Hi Guys,

Great builds going on here.

Finally got some pics of the Osprey in the galley,

Si

Guess I'm coming into this thing a little late... but I bought an Enterprise on E-Bay last week, should be in my hands within a couple of days. A little over a month isn't long to get a model done, but I'd like try!



Tim

Here's a picture to look at for an Enterprise update. I wrapped up my baby all snug in her masking tape. I used common painters tape with good effect. I had started with blue, delicate-type tape, but it had lifted along the edge of the canopy, unbenownst to me when I sprayed the white primer, so there will be some sanding and polishing and Future in my future.
Also, I want to extend a welcome to Sascha and Tim. The more the merrier!
-Sean H.

Ok, my Enterprise arrived yesterday and I'm ready to start on her. This one is the very simple Revell 1/1200 scale kit. I intend to build the model out of the box with minimal, if any, modifications—since I have only have a month to finish!




There’s a 2004 date on the Revell Germany instructions, but this little Enterprise is actually a repop of a much older molding. The model first appeared as an early 1970s release by the Italian company Casadio; it has has also been marketed variously over the years by ESCI (Italy), Almark (England), Sablon (France), MPC (USA), and probably others. It is a very simplified, snap-together model/toy intended for quick building, probably with wargamers in mind. Interestingly, it was designed to be issued as Enterprise's near-sisters Yorktown (CV-5) and Hornet (CV-8) as well, with a number of differences in each issue such as alternate airplanes, armament, different islands, even differently positioned elevators. I built the Hornet version with B-25s a few years ago, had a lot of fun with it.


Not much time for building today, though. My mission as an American is to get with the family, eat and drink myself into a stupor and watch college football until the wife and kids rebel... Happy Thanksgiving all!

Welcome aboard Tim, glad someone's doing the Big E! One more month everyone, looking forward to some good stuff here.

Michael

My Big E was MUCH bigger than that Big E!

Can anyone point to where the gallery is for this campaign?

Cheers
Warren

Of courses Warren. I would NEVER want to ignore your Big E. I was referring to the original Big E. The gallery, by the way, is here . Build on!

Michael

Ah... I did not look in the 2012 area.. Thank you Mr Satin.

Progress on my little Big E so far:



https://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/forums/215290

Tim! That's a good idea and a powerful photo.

For me, I'm on day 3 or 4 of decaling (15-20 minutes a day). The CAM Pro aftermarket decals are working very well, with Walthers Solvaset decal setting solution, snugging down into the lines. They are thin and tore in places, but manageable with care.

This photo is around day 1 of decaling. Didn't realize just how many decals go onto a jet. I can't remember the last time I had built one. I think she's really starting to look good though. Being a hobby, I take it slow and steady, in my cocoon away from the world.
-Sean H.

Very nice work Tim and Sean!

Only a couple of weeks left, how's everyone else doing?

Michael

Not gonna make it, got the base coat on my E but nothing else

David: Sorry to hear that! I was looking forward to seeing the finished product. But I sure know how that goes!

A week left everyone, time to be putting those finishing touches on.

Michael