Hi,

I'm building the Revell Arizona and plan to use the 'new' colours i.e. Mediterranean Blue and Red Turrets. However, I need the know what aircraft the Spotter planes represent and what colour they ahould be. The kit suggests light grey with yellow top wing - they are biplane float-planes.

Thanks

Chris

Chris, are you doing her as she was on Dec 7th? If so leave the planes off all together, they had flown ashore before she docked the last time.

If not on Dec 7th then what time frame are you looking to make her?

HI there

Sounds to me that you should look up for the Curtiss SOC Seagull plane,
these planes where found on many US Battleships.

From the pictures iv seen they looked like they were silver with the top wing being yellow.

hope this helps?

reguards

karl

The planes would have been blue grey over light grey by December 1941. Silver with yellow wings was long gone by then...

By the time ARIZONA repainted into Sea Blue, she no longer carried Seagull biplanes. She had switched over to OS2U Kingfishers, and these were painted in non-specular blue-gray over light gray and were not aboard at the time of the attack.

If you want to do your ARIZONA with yellow-winged biplanes, you'll have to put her in pre-war #5 Standard Navy Gray with #20 Standard Deck Gray steel decks & horizontals.

Hey Chris,

Like Rodger said, ships that are home ported have their aircraft land based. That's why you never see aircraft on carrier decks when they are in port.

Kenny

I don't want to argue with experts on this ( I am primarily a figure and armour guy) but I have been reading an apparently well-researched book ( Pearl Harbor Betrayed by Michael Gannon 2001) which has a quote by Howard Huseman an aviation radioman in ship-borne OS2U Kingfishers on the West Virginia who was on board when the attack began.

' He went up to the quarterdeck to find that one of the ship's two OS2Us had been blasted off its catapult and was barely hanging over the side; the other was on fire.'

So it would appear that some BBs did have their aircraft on board. Possibly the almost War footing was the reason or they were being used to eke out the limited patrol planes otherwise available.

It does appear that the Wee Vee had at least one of her planes aboard. http://www.usswestvirginia.org/uss_west_virginia_history.htm
does mention

"The second bomb hit further aft, wrecking one Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane atop the "high" catapult on Turret III and pitching the second one on her top on the main deck below. The projectile penetrated the 4-inch turret roof, wrecking one gun in the turret itself. Although the bomb proved a dud, burning gasoline from the damaged aircraft caused some damage"

Other sources though do say that the Arizona's planes were not aboard, and if you're going to make her as she was on Dec 7th it's best to leave them off.

not sure how many boats were on board either as they would be ferrying sailors around the harbor. also in port awnings were in place on 07dec. thomas freeman's DAYBREAK OF DESTINY print shows at least 2 gigs in the water along side.