USS Essex by Jman8763 - Trumpeter - 1/350 - PLASTIC

[Jman8763]

Hey guys, this will be my first build log! I am doing the USS Essex by trumpeter 1/350 scale. The time period I am going for is the summer of 45.  I am average model builder so you will see some mistakes. I am trying to get the most detail out of the model thru PE sets, 3d printed parts, and scratch building. I never scratched build before and this was one of my challenges I want to tackle with this project. I want to have light in the flight hangar and this will also be a first for me. I started this build a month ago and had made some progress. I hope you guys enjoy this build as much as me. I appreciate any advice or tips and tricks! I will upload pics of the build so far and accessories I plan on using.

[Jman8763]

Here is the products I am using currently. I am waiting for more 3D printed parts to come in. Once they are in I will show them off!

[Jman8763]

Here are some photos of progress being made. For the hull, I used 6mm tape for spacing between the plates. I used Mr. Surfacer 500 then stretch sprue. For the ceiling of the flight hangar, I used T face and I beams to show the beams. I left a gap in the middle of the ceiling for the lighting. I started working on the island first and have most of it completed already. I need to finish the radars and some  PE on the island. After this, it is ready for paint. The bow and stern are 90% done. I am waiting for some miscellaneous bits to show up and to be added.

[Jman8763]

Finally here is the project as it currently stands. I installed the anchor and anchor chain. I started to scratch build inside the hangar. I replaced the beams between the doors since I cut them out with the hangar doors. This kit is really showing its age now. There has been a lot of flash and pin injectors. I used some plastic card to cover the pin injectors. I am constantly dry fitting the flight deck to the hangar deck to make sure there is a good fit. My next goal is to get the other side of the hangar deck done. I want to get a beware of propeller decal but I cant find them anywhere. Any suggestions?

[Jman8763]

Update for this week. I finally finished the island! I added the last details to it and did a lot of CA glue clean up. I am really happy how it came out so far. The SM radar gave me major trouble and I am not a fan of it. The mast and radar set up is suppose to be in the summer of 45. I found a few reference photos to support the placement. I added the other side hangar deck detail. I feel like I should add more but how much are you going to really see in it even with lights? What do you guys think? More detail or nah? Outside the ship, I filled in gaps as much as possible. I added the twin bits to bow and stern of the ship. I also got the booms installed. I finished up the elevator housing and is ready for installment. This week coming up, the game plan is to finish up exterior detail and start playing the paints. Its starting to come together quickly now.

[ddp]

why are your 2 forecastle deck paravanes laying on the deck instead of stacked vertically against the forward bulkhead? the  CV-17 USS Bunker Hill Booklet of General Plans 1946 shows them stacked vertically against the forward bulkhead.

CV-17 USS Bunker Hill Booklet of General Plans (1946) https://archive.org/details/cv17bogp1946

[Jman8763]

1 hour ago, ddp said:

why are your 2 forecastle deck paravanes laying on the deck instead of stacked vertically against the forward bulkhead? the  CV-17 USS Bunker Hill Booklet of General Plans 1946 shows them stacked vertically against the forward bulkhead.

CV-17 USS Bunker Hill Booklet of General Plans (1946) https://archive.org/details/cv17bogp1946

I didn’t know where they went so I guessed. I never seen these plans before and thanks for sharing! I guess it’s to late now to reposition them 😞

[ddp]

so i presume the kit's instructions did not tell you where to locate those paravanes, correct?

[Jman8763]

1 minute ago, ddp said:

so i presume the kit's instructions did not tell you where to locate those paravanes, correct?

It did and it was on the ground. This is an old kit from trumpeter. It’s really showing its age now. You have to do a lot of scratch building with this kit. 

[mikegr]

Great PE work

[Jman8763]

4 hours ago, mikegr said:

Great PE work

Thanks! I'm trying my hardest to keep the model clean from CA left overs... I'm learning a lot from working with PE on this model. 

[Jman8763]

Any body want a plate full of airplanes???? 

[king derelict]

The aircraft are lovely little models and your PE work is excellent.

alan

[Jman8763]

12 hours ago, king derelict said:

The aircraft are lovely little models and your PE work is excellent.

alan

Thank you so much! I wish I could do my railings better. 

[Jman8763]

Here is a tease of my next project coming up after Essex. Wonder if anyone can guess the model and ship!? Full update on the build will be tomorrow! 

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, Jman8763 said:

Wonder if anyone can guess the model and ship!?

 Iowa-class BB. I have a 1-in-4 chance of correctly guessing which one.

[Haliburton]

Hmmm based on the joyyard detail set in the foreground that is marked Missouri I’m guessing BB-63!

[Jman8763]

If anyone wants a review of this kit please let me know! I got all the goodies for this model for a good price. There is an Canadian seller that sells the kit for a good price and aftermarket pieces from Joy yard. He also sells wooden ships and extra stuff for the wooden ships.

[Haliburton]

4 hours ago, Jman8763 said:

There is a Canadian seller that sells the kit for a good price and aftermarket pieces from Joy yard.

Hi Jman can you provide the seller info. I visited Missouri at Pearl this summer so BB-63 is on my list of future builds 

Scott

[Jman8763]

1 hour ago, Haliburton said:

Hi Jman can you provide the seller info. I visited Missouri at Pearl this summer so BB-63 is on my list of future builds 

Scott

Hey,

Here is the website. The owner is very friendly and explained to me why the prices are so low on these kits.

 

https://drydockmodelsandparts.com/collections/joy-yard-ship-model-kits

[mikegr]

9 hours ago, ccoyle said:

 Iowa-class BB. I have a 1-in-4 chance of correctly guessing which one.

you got the easy part😁

[Jman8763]

Update for the week….. the bow and stern are completed except paint. I added the elevator to the ship. I hope this doesn’t bite me when putting the wooden sticker on it. The fuel lines are added on both sides. I added the external ladders and AA gun placements at the bow. The starboard accommodation ladder didn’t agree with me soooo I’m pretending it was lost at sea hahaha. I started working on the catwalks. On the starboard side, it feels like  two steps forward and one step back. A lot of detail on this side. Portside catwalks are completed.  

[mikegr]

great amount of work

[Jman8763]

19 minutes ago, mikegr said:

great amount of work

Indeed…. I’m trying to get as much as I can build up before painting. 

[Jman8763]

Since I am getting closer to putting the flight deck on, I have a few ideas of how I want the deck to look like. I really like this photo and I would like to recreate this image however I got a good amount of airplanes with their wings folded out. I could do a take off scene however, I'm pretty sure this heavy bird didn't get airborne till after leaving the deck. What do you guys think? 

[Jman8763]

Need your guys opinion….. I’m stuck between take off position and landing position for the aircraft arrangement. What do you guys think? The landing and takeoff airplane will have a clear rod under it. 

[Canute]

Looks good. You may want to double check where the crash netting sets up. Your recovery flight deck looks like the whole air wing is positioned on deck. The launching configuration deck looks much better.

[Jman8763]

1 hour ago, Canute said:

Looks good. You may want to double check where the crash netting sets up. Your recovery flight deck looks like the whole air wing is positioned on deck. The launching configuration deck looks much better.

Thanks! I'm leaning towards the landing positions. I need to get more folded wings for my bombers and that will cut down on space on the deck. I want to have all four aircraft wings down to show the size of the aircraft on deck and another four wings down in the hangar deck. 

[Jman8763]

I did some test painting to see what the paint colors would look like. Most of the paint is from MMP, Ak real colors, and one Tamiya. Out of the navy sea blue, I really like the MMP. The anti-fouling red looks good. For the hangar deck im leaning towards either gunship grey or dark ghost. The flight deck blue looks good but idk if it matches the wooden deck from Pontos. Which flight deck blue paint range matches the wooden deck? What do you guys think of the color ranges I am thinking of using?

[Jman8763]

Sorry for being late this week for updates. So I finally got some paint on the old girl. I used tru color USN set. I really like the colors but man…. it’s a pain to airbrush. It gunks up the airbrush quickly and I mean quickly…… The hangar deck was painted insignia white and deck was painted gunship grey by mmp. I like these colors but again a pain to airbrush. The white was spraying like water. The grey was better but it still sprayed like water. I feel like there was to much thinner in these paints where the opposite is for tru color. The hangar flight deck was also painted and the outside bits too.  I made the cranes and completed the catwalks and AA mounts for the turrets. This week I’m going to start working on the planes and weather the hangar deck. Weathering overall is going to be light. I want to make the navy blue lighter.