posted 10-12-2010 06:47 PM               

As for the ship's current configuration, there are no kits currently available. There have been a couple of angled-deck Essex-class kits produced as resin kits (of Oriskany and Ticonderoga), but neither is suitable for Hornet. The little Lindberg kit of an angled-deck Essex, in about 1:800 or so, isn't worth dealing with. Dragon's kit of Antietam isn't suitable, since Antietam was a one-off, basically a WWII-configuration Essex with an experimental angled deck.

Renwal did an angled-deck Essex in about 1:520 or so, but it's based on the Lexington/Bon Homme Richard/Shangri-La and would require a lot of work to turn into Hornet. It's also hard to find.

The Revell 1:540 kit also needs a lot of work, but can be found more easily on the secondhand market (good building kits seem to average about $40 US on eBay), and best represents an SCB-27A/-125 ship. It's been issued as Essex, Yorktown, Hornet, Lexington, Wasp, Bon Homme Richard and others, but it's all the same plastic inside, just with different aircraft.

But, yes, this is a great disappointment. At this point, I'm thinking my preferred route (if I don't convert the Lexington kit I have upstairs) will be to buy a set of plans and scratchbuild my own in 1:350.

Still, the news from Revell sure is a disappointment -- I have so many fond memories of that kit, even though I know its many flaws, and the "Hornet + 3" had a neat anti-sub air group, just right for a late -27A ship.

posted 10-13-2010 07:51 AM               

1. The hull is much too narrow and needs to be widened. There's no easy fix other than cutting the bottom of the hull off and make it a waterline model (you can really tell how narrow it is by the way the top of the escalator housing at the base of the starboard side of the island doesn't match up with the escalator housing on the starboard side of the hangar deck bulkhead).

2. There's no hangar deck. Easy to fix with sheet styrene. This (and some lengths of sprue or Plastruct I-beam) will also let you fix the hull width problem, too.

3. The island is about 3/16" too tall at the base. It's easy to fix, but you have to restore a lot of detail. Also, the bridge levels are sort of crude, and their configuration varied from ship to ship.

4. The platforms on the stern beneath the flight deck are just flat platforms, without the enclosures you see on the real ship.

5. As is typical for Revell ships of the period, the radars and railings are molded solid. Gold Medal Models makes an excellent photoetch set for the Revell box-scale carriers; it comes with a lot of valuable detail pieces, and is highly recommended.

Now, on to Wasp/Hornet-specific details (since the kit basically represents Essex circa 1956):

6. The curvy bow shape is roughly okay for Wasp (here's how her bow looked), but Hornet's has a different shape, flaring smoothly out and meeting a flat facing. In either case, to depict Wasp during Gemini recoveries or Hornet during Apollo recoveries, you'd have to add the stem anchor that was added during their FRAM overhauls.

7. The guns are all *very* crude, and by the mid-1960s most of the Essexes were down to four 5"/38 mounts. For Hornet and Wasp, you'd also have to remove the big gun platform on the stern (as in this picture of Wasp) and delete the aft Mk 37 gun director on the island (behind Primary Flight Control). IIRC, there are no representations of the Mk 56 gun directors along the gallery deck level, either.

8. The radar fit had changed drastically by the mid-1960s; you'll have to scratchbuild both the SPS-30 (the horn and reflecting dish on the platform at the top of the island) and the dome on the rear of the island (which I used to make from those bombs you got in Monogram's B-17 kits). You'll have to make the outrigger for the air search radar from plastic rod, and modify the platforms on the mast according to references. The Gold Medal Models sheet provides excellent period radar antennae. An SPS-30 (and its associated IFF on the mast) isn't too difficult to scratchbuild, since it's sort of just a bunch of basic shapes.

9. Finally, the other big letdown with all the kits are the decals. Starfighter Decals makes excellent decals for specific ships, including sets for the Wasp as Gemini recovery ship and Hornet on Apollo 11.

For aftermarket parts, Starfighter Decals sells some really nice replacement bits and supplemental aircraft, and Matt Stein Models also makes replacement guns, directors and other accessories. They're well worth taking a look at.

posted 09-28-2011 01:56 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ea757grrl:
Happy to share what I've learned about these ships the last two and a half decades. Feel free to e-mail me if you need any additional details (and I'll extend that to anyone else who's interested, too).

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posted 09-28-2011 04:31 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by alexbaja:
I have recently bought one these kits on e-bay is it possible that anybody could share the colors used on this particular model.

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The best-looking, most easily-accessible color I've found for modern US Navy ships is a 2:1 ratio of Testors Light Ghost Gray and Testors Light Sea Gray. The Light Sea Gray gives that little hint of blue-green I've noticed in modern US warship paint. Below the waterline the hull is dark red; there's a black stripe at the waterline.

The flight deck will be a slightly darker gray than the hull and island, with the angled landing area painted black with white stripes and a white/yellow centerline. This page has an overhead picture of Hornet during the recovery deployment that should help you. (Don't paint the flight deck too dark of a gray, or it won't look right.) All other decks will be dark gray.

posted 09-28-2011 05:27 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ea757grrl:
If you're so inclined, Starfighter Decals produces a nice decal sheet for this specific kit, complete with aircraft markings. The artwork captures some very nice subtleties about the ship's markings during the Apollo 11 recovery.

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I have managed to pick up lots of photos of the Apollo 11 recovery so I would like to build a diorama of this recovery.

posted 02-07-2013 12:59 PM               

Even a new decal sheet would be a nice touch.

posted 02-09-2013 05:39 AM               

Now, whether Revell managed to make an effective fix to the old tool, or if a new tool was made, I'm not yet certain. It's also possible that if a new tool was cut, it could have just been a pantograph of the old hull. That would be the easiest way to do it.

posted 02-09-2013 10:42 AM               

I was just curious because my understanding was that the planned re-release a couple of years ago was Revell USA and this time around it is Revell Germany, both effectively being run as separate companies although I believe both are now owned by Hobbyco.