[berth44]

Well,I've just got this Trupeter 1/350th from a dear friend of mine for me birthday,and I say to the world "thank you dear friend of mine!!"
So,like all 'new stuff' I needs to 'look' and see what I'm in for! So I sees a very large and highly detailed model with a lot of parts, I like the wee 'individual' box of aircraft..just like my bigger Arizona kit..nice touch....
Anyway, I was just going to put it in the garage (along with me others) and I took out the hull parts,'Hmmm', waterline?,naw..I'll go for the full hull version, she's got a nice stand.
The upper hull part has what you might call 'braces' every few inches along it's length,I found these to be awkward by making it a wee bit difficult fitting the bottom hull part,so I simply sawed them in half then proceeded to 'tack' one side at a time with super glue,then just run 'ordinary' plactic cement down the full length of the hull to fully stick it together.
The two parts unfortunately don't quite fit flush so a wee bit of sanding was needed to get a satisfactory 'flush' result, I'm happy with it now...
Lastly, I turned my attention to the deck parts,there are 3 top parts,so you have the enevitable join seams,are they good or bad??,they are infact quite good (thinking of a wooden deck,looking for a 'blue one??)
I thought about glueing them together at this stage,then I thought if I'm getting an after market kit all the 'safety netting' requires to be replaced with brass,keeping these parts separate would therefor be an advantage,but I still wanted the 3 parts 'as one'
So I looked at a 'sliding bracket' system and came up with using wooden strips from my 'spares' box and lollypop sticks..it worked,so they can now be 'as one' deck,or simply pulled apart to be separate parts once again to be 'worked on' ....sorry no camera,no photo....Dave

[bluedot0]

You wasted no time there ole friend, I like your idea for the deck, quite inventive......Phil

[berth44]

Phil,any good shops for the brass? I found the Tom's Modelworks set for 26 bucks (US) but going through the order procedure I could not enter 'Australia' so I gave up on that I found 'other dealers' (all USA) but the cost was 33 bucks or above.
Can you assist?? I also found a huge 'build' review and the guy is quite scathing of the kit but procedes to build it anyway with just about everything above and below the water line altered or rebuilt...Dave

[bluedot0]

Who did you try to order from.....don't buy anything just yet, I need some brass as well, so we could split an order......

I wouldn't let that guy worry you, you have experience with know alls and people who are just plain pedantic, anyhoo the kit must have been of some use, or did he scratch build the hull as well.......Phil

[berth44]

Hey Phil,this boy izza not worried,infact, this guy, he's really like you and me,we find something 'not right'...we fix it,this guy is doing just that,Pommy or not, I'll be following in his footsteps with some of his mods, or most of them if I can.
Not having any 'books' or plans on the subject, some mods could be difficult (to measure)so, I'll be doing the old 'eye' thing to follow his lead,you'll see what I mean when I give you how to look this guy up on line. You can tell me what you think after you've seen his 'work'..to me,in a word 'Elbrilliantio!!'
OK Phil, if one goes and 'Googlepoos'... 'model ship world the lexington by chris smithers, you'll find that one of the blogggy thingies tell you who he is, but if you scroll down to this one...it starts PRINT.Model Shipwrights,in this he tells you 'blow by blow' just exactly how he goes about the entire build, he also gives you references on the best publications on the ship...it's quite a site, very informative..(it goes over my head a wee bit at times).
Anyhoo, I'm trying to see if I can get it printed off here at work............Dave

[berth44]

Right,if you have had time to read about it Phil,you can knock off the book by 'Robert C Stern'- 'The Lexington Class Carriers', I've just ordered it from 'ABE' books N/Z...26 quid delivered, it's second hand,but it's in fair nic according to the shop.
Anyhoo,this should give me an insight into the ship and perhaps give me a better understanding of the changes that Mr Smithers had made..Dave

[SkyFire]

Avast I b' thinkin' this b' ta site ya be mentionin' ma friend Dave.

modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=printpage&artid=2191

Arrrrrrrrrrrr

[berth44]

Harr Anthony,that be right me matey.......Dave aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar

[bluedot0]

Sounds like you have it all under control, that guy put a bit into the build, came up really well.........now to your build, be just as good........Phil

[berth44]

Thankoo Phil, I'll do me besht....That 'innovative' idea that I had (joining the deck sections)'bit me on the bum!!' I didn't think of the positioning of the 'aft' lifeboat 'pockets when I put in the 'sockets' for my 'fixing mechanism',so I'll need to remove two of them and think again..'oh woe is me!'..."Hmmm???" """"fixed!!!""",(in my brain)..............I'll do one centrally,that'll 'old it!!
I got all the material from Mr Smithers printed out by ra by...60 pages of it!!!..
My book should help me,and it's on it's way from New Zealand as we speak.......................Dave

[bluedot0]

Well a book too, all you need is a wooden deck and some photo etch.....cruising......Phil

[berth44]

Yes Phil,no photo etch yet,one step at a time, I've got 'the book' coming...the definative 'hard to get book'....."cough cough" This'll allow me to get an insight into the ship before I do any mods, you must have an understanding of the 'ship' I reckon, I know zilch really about her when she was afloat, just her ultimate demise through what one might say, 'unfortunate circumstances',like her fire fighting stuff failure and 'ammunition' (torpedo warheads apparently) and 'gasoline' explosions, otherwise,she may have 'lived' to fight another day!
Anyhoo, history aside, I was looking at backdating her before her final refit with the 8" guns still in place,this kit is available from 'Yankee' (doodle dandy) Models, but it does not contain the extra boats and various other stuff required to do this..plus...I'd still require the detail set that I'll be getting anyhoo (Eventually),and then, I'd be looking at a wood deck as well,(probably)so it's getting to be a bit expensive if I do all that...so I'm just going to go ahead with 'super detailing' her(as per the Smithers way) in her final guise before sinking.
At this stage I'm not going to replace the plastic deck,it's a 'fer' (Scot) representation of it,the joints are pretty good and it gets painted in deck blue anyway,but we'll see as we go forth,(or firf) I could still 'change' my mind Phil,one never knows, does one?....now, where's the 'Saratoga' from the same mob??........Dave

[berth44]

That mob I tried to order my Lexington stufff rom Phil are called 'Scale Hobbiest' I tried again this morning to see if I could order the 'backdate set' and detail set (Yankee Models) but once again came up against that brick wall!!
SoI found their contact web site for 'customer relations', they wasted no time and got right back to me, 'USA and Canada only' at the moment....what a bleedin bummer!!,especially as their prices were the best,that's why I was going for the two sets...I'll now look further into it and let you know if I find something and perhaps we can go for an order.
I've decided to go for the 'backdate'Phil because it'll be easier (I think, and different)than trying the 'fix' by the Pommy Guy,he just pointed out that the bridge,upper and lower and higher and topper are ALL wrong,so getting the backdate set it'll include the correct bridge, and associated bridge parts all in resin and correctly modelled as per her 'earlier' condition,ie, before the 'Pearl Harbor' refit, prior to being sent into the Pacific ring and her ultimate demise........decision made!!.........and yes,it'll mean a wood deck as well!!........Dave

[bluedot0]

At least they were up front, from what i've read about her, everyone who builds a kit back dates her......interesting I thinks.....Phil

[berth44]

"Hmm", I vunder vy?? Another thing that'll cause me a bit of humming and hawing is the paint job,seems she was a sheep,OK,a rather big steel sheep!!
I'm planning a late 'early' version and it seems she was blue,grey,light grey,her deck was a dark brown with 2 lines for the aircraft guides 'stem to stern' ,these could be blue or grey,so she's gonna be an 'individual' job, just like another kit I have!!...Dave