Model Monkey

Please press on! It's looking great. If you like the early island (I do) you could easily make it very accurate for 1942-1943 fit with some minor AA tub surgery. Here's one possibility: http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/020678a.jpg

Brilliant!

Brilliant! Terrific subjects well-modeled.

Fantastic. Just wonderful.

Brilliant!

Brilliant! And so is the Star Destroyer.

Thanks, fellas! It's been a really fun build.

Hopefully you'll be able to return to her soon. She's really a beauty. I've got a few models "in ordinary" myself. It happens.

If you would like to try a conversion, a "round bridge" to build sistership USS New Jersey as she appeared in 1944 is available. Here's a link: http://www.shapeways.com/product/K3AGU5F2C/1-350-new-jersey-44-round-bridge?optionId=58524343 Best wishes on your model! It's one of my all-time favorite kits.

Great discussion here and very good kit to work with. As Alan P pointed out, the Tamiya kit's 5"/38 single mounts are underscale. As you consider aftermarket items, an additional feature of the ship's mounts may be worth noting: Of the five 5"/38 single mounts fit to wartime Fletchers, the ships carried two distinct designs of 5" mounts with slightly different gunhouse shapes: 1. three lighter-weight "single knuckle" mounts on top the deckhouses (Mounts 52, 53 and 54) 2. two heavier-weight "double knuckle" mounts located on the main deck in the fore-most and aft-most positions (Mounts 51 and 55). The heavyweights had additional roof reinforcement to resist the blast of the superfiring lightweight mounts near them. This reinforcement made for an additional bend (bump) in the gunhouse roof that is noticeable in photos and plans. The reinforcement bend is located at the rear of the slot for the gun on the roof. Compare the gunhouse roof shapes of the two forward mounts, heavyweight "Mount 51" and superfiring lightweight "Mount 52", in the photo of USS Saufley above and USS LaValette below. Mount 51's roof has two bends, or "knuckles". Mount 52 has just one knuckle.

Hi Rick, just found your post! This is one of my favorite kits and has been so since I was a kid. It is one of the first commercially available plastic model kits, dating back to 1953, and is still in production after all these years. The kit's strange hull bottom was designed back in the day when the real hull shape was still "classified". If interested, accurate 3D printed parts are available specifically for this kit. Here's a link: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Monkey?section=1%2F535+Revell&s=0

Brilliant! I've loved this kit since I was a kid. You're breathing new life into it! If interested, accurate 3D-printed turrets and Mk.56 directors are available specifically for this kit. Here's the link: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Monkey?section=1%2F300+Ships&s=0

Brilliant! Very impressive. If interested, there are 3D-printed products designed specifically for Revell's Fletcher. Here's the link: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Monkey?section=1%2F144+Ships&s=0

Brilliant!

Thanks so much, friends! The model has taken about a year to get to this point, working on it mostly on weekends. It has been "in ordinary" since last September while I build up a 3D-printing business for ship and armor modelers. I hope to get back to it this fall and finish it for Christmas. I did it for the sheer challenge of it. Expecting the hull to be the toughest part of the build, the hull was actually not that bad. Surprisingly, the flight deck turned out to be the most challenging part to build because of the floatplane tracks. It took two tries to get a flight deck looking well enough. Flight Deck Version 1.0 is seen above in the closeups. Version 2.0 looks much cleaner. Having had so much fun with this build, please be encouraged to try a conversion. Since building this model, in order to help others convert any 1/700 or 1/350 Sara or Lex kit without having to do all the scratchbuilding, I designed accurate 3D-printed islands, funnels and turrets for Sara and Lex at various points in their service lives, including an island and funnel for Sara as she appeared 1944-1945. They have been popular products in several scales. If interested, they can be found in my Shapeways store - please see link below and click on the scale in which you are interested on the left-hand column of the webpage. http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Monkey Thanks again for the kind comments!

One of my all-time favorite kits being done well. Terrific!

Brilliant!

Love it, Jamie!

Terrific!

Brilliant!

Great model! This kit has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. If interested, accurate 3D-printed turrets are available specifically for this kit. Depending on which ship of the class you want to model, you can choose from either a twin 5" mount or single 5" mounts. Here's a link to the two designs for this kit. http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Monkey?section=1%2F285+Revell&s=0 Best wishes on your build!

Hang in there! It is really a well-done model.

Awesome!

Thanks, Keith and Nick!

Scratchbuilding USS Saratoga CV-3, 1944 in 1/350 scale. This model depicts Saratoga late war with asymmetrical hull, cut-down funnel, and heavy AA fit. It is NOT being converted from the Trumpeter kit. As of this writing, the model is about 75% complete. Actual ship length overall: 910' - 1-3/4" Model Length: 31.205 inches (79.26 cm). Material: Evergreen polystyrene sheet, strips, tubing, rods, H-sections, etc. Hull construction method: double plank on frame Plans and References: 1. US Navy Booklet of General Plans dated 1942 (implemented following Kamikaze damage sustained on February 21, 1945), available from Floating Drydock 2. US Navy Booklet of General Plans dated April 23, 1936 (implemented during a refit in December, 1943, plans updated Aug., 1944 to include cross sections - vitally important for this build). 3. US Navy Booklet of General Plans for USS Lexington CV-2, dated 1936, for comparison 4. detail photos and comments posted by Tracy White (invaluable) 5. photos from USS Saratoga Squadron at Sea by David Doyle (Tracy contributed much to that effort). 6. hull sections for USS Lexington CV-2, drawn by Thomas Walkowiak, available from Floating Drydock. Your advice, constructive criticism and comments are most welcome and appreciated. Below are some photos taken very early during construction and roughing out the major structures. A comparison of other 1/350 scale islands, all under construction - Saratoga, Yorktown and Enterprise. The very beginning: