While battening down all my kits for an impending move, one of them caught my eye as yet another promising Ranger-conversion candidate:


Click on Image to EnlargeAlso IIRC released by Ideal/ITC, this is an ancient "box scale" depiction with LOA= 15.1" - on that basis making it 1/467 scale, and ostensibly compatible with all the Imex 450-scale merchantmen. But for some reason I've never been impressed with Savannah - and moreover, those who know more about it (which could be just about anybody) apparently find this kit to be about the least accurate depiction of her, ever.

Ancient though it may be, this mold nevertheless includes a hull which looks very plausible - for (at least) SOMETHING or other:

To me, fairly screams "carrier" - and maybe its all the raked, sleek lines but, particularly when viewed from the side, says: "Ranger"!

At 13.6 LWL, this equates to a Ranger in 1/644 scale - however, based on the more important BEAM (max.) of 1.75", it could be lengthened to produce a Ranger in 1/549 scale. That would provide a third conversion candidate, squarely between the 490-scale Revell Yorktown- and 600-scale Aurora Enterprise options - and closer than either to your 570-scale Revell North Carolina, and Lindberg Riley DE. Yum! (And likewise for the rest of your historical lineup of 1/525 Lindberg Essex, 1/535 Revell Missouri, and 540-scale Revell Midways and later, angled-deck Essexes.)

You would have to add a whopping 2.37" to the length, for a 549-scale Ranger, but note the center section of this hull does comprise a slab-sided area where this would be easy to do. Alternatively, it would also be relatively easy to make a true, 600-scale Ranger - by adding exactly 1.0" in length, but also reducing the beam by 0.15".

In any case, it's an enticing use for this reputedly innaccurate Savannah mold - correcting which might well require just as much effort as making it into Ranger(!) - particularly if you want to spare your Aurora Enterprise mold, and have far less interest in building Savannah, in the first place, than your obsession with (a 550-ish scale) Ranger!

Cheers,

-Matty