Achieving a longtime milestone, I defined and cut open the flight deck-edge piercings:
Click on Image to Enlarge Note already these openings - only about
half as many as indicated on
my drawings - even from a distance, create a strong resemblance of a typical (WWII-era) Essex. Noticing this early-on, I mainly installed just the
permanently-open ones - the archways, of various heights/widths - on the theory that the remaining
hatchways, can be added closed-up - or opened - as desired. Clearly, on the real Essexes, either about half of all the piercings (hatchways) must typically have remained closed, or somehow I've mapped 2x too many, total, onto my drawings.
The work itself typically involved the "backside-whittling" approach required for thick plastic, such as presented by the Lindberg mold:
Click on Image to Enlarge The technique, best (by far) done
before catwalks (or any of their associated details) are in place, I try to illustrate here - in which fineness of the knife, as especially its very tip, is paramount - to achieve crisp (outside) edges on the cutouts. Whittling away a bevel from the
inside, like this, also removes from view (as much as possible of) the wall thickness, which would be appear very overscale (even for an armor belt).
Again, the piercings add remarkably to the transformation from the crude, toy-like Lindberg deck to the distinctive appearance of the Essex deck-edge catwalks:
Click on Image to Enlarge Effective, that is, wherever "daylight" isn't glaring through (esp. right, bottom and left, top) - so that light-baffling is definitely required behind the vast majority of these areas, which are shown here in various states of progress: bow areas (left, bottom and right, top) being the furthest along , with PE doors already in place (and already painted once, and the paint stripped off), while the aft-starboard (left, top) has not yet received its catwalks.
Similarly, light baffling under/behind the catwalks began at the bow - where, especially at first, I went rather "whole-hog":
Click on Image to Enlarge Scavenging whole sections of catwalk from the (angled) deck of a boneyard Revell Essex, I installed complete, "soffit"-like structures of the gallery, behind the catwalks - accordingly endowed with rib detail already molded into the Revell pieces. In particular, the first-worked area, forward (left), shows its by now tortured
history of experimentation - including repeatedly applied-and-removed paint, putty, glue and gouges aplenty - however the goal was achieved and, more importantly, efficiencies learned. Thus, initial overly-thorough construction, attempting to fill- and detail the entire flight deck underside, between catwalk and hull-side, was ultimately (and mercifully
) abandoned for simple retention of Revell's clapboard-like "railing" moldings, as inboard bulkheads (right), to provide the needed light-baffling. These chunks of Revell catwalk "trough", affording whatever shapes they might, turned out not only to function as required, but actually to add quite convincing "interest", when glimpsed (from below) with flight deck dry-fitted (not shown). In many cases, however, the "trough" was not quite deep enough, so that small gaps with the deck remained in need of filling.
Even after considerable trials and their inevitable expenditure of parts, my boneyard Revell flight deck was still able to provide all the "soffit" pieces required:
Click on Image to Enlarge Note this application is required only around some 3/4 or so, of the (straight) Lindberg flight deck, as no (significant) catwalks run outboard of the island, nor the twin-5" turrets. So, without the above, experimental losses, a single Revell (angled-deck) Essex flight deck can easily supply all the catwalk needed - with additonal, short segments from the island catwalks, etc., to boot.
Due to the demands of effective light-baffling, the installed soffits required comprehensive gap-filling:
Click on Image to Enlarge Supeglue/talcom powder putty served excellently for this, but did require (tedious) prior masking with aluminum tape - ideal as a shield, for its smooth and impermeable surface, which promotes clean release from the (hardened) putty. However the timing of the tape removal is critical:
immediately after the putty first hardens, as curing will progress rapidly, the putty hardening yet further to very soon imprison the tape (more or less) permanently. Also, correcting mistakes and/or carving the putty is accomplished far more easily before it cures (nearly) rock-hard.
Though demanding, the above yielded immediate and gratifying results:
Click on Image to Enlarge In this quality/completeness check, employing silver paint, you can already begin to see recovery from the prior, much-worn appearance, and all its stripped/chipped paint, glue and putty.
And of course, the "main event":
Click on Image for FULL RES The views from outboard - now with
zero light/visibility coming through anywhere that it's not
supposed to. (Note the little SeaBat forward, tail folded, with light even glimmering faintly through its cockpit window. Actually, by 1956 I think Boxer had her portside forward hangar doors plated over - but now you can see an example of why I wanted to depict it open, anyway!) I tried to take these shots from as nearly beam-on (orthographically) as possible - for easy reference by you other builders. (Go get 'em, Donny!)
And to give a hint where the build is headed: accurization/mods with fresh paint and (ultimately) detailed with both resin- and PE fittings. So, stay tuned for that...
Cheers,
-Matty
