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Revells 485 scale USS Yorktown


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Hello all! Ive always been fascinated with aircraft carriers! So with the revell carrier Id like to build the sister ships all in one diorama!

As always thanks for stoppin and keep on wit the keepin on!

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Edited by ajulia
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Hola Mr. P!! O.... you got jokes!! lol!! Ive placed matte aluminum BMF for the deck braces and landing markers! Ill finish the deck with tamiya flat base!! lol.. Other than the obvious hull accuracy and the amount of guns in the kit versus the actual amount the kit is pretty cool and will be the bases for the USS Hornet and USS Enterprise. Im finishing up the assembly of the deck to the hull and debating if I should model the aircraft supplied with the kit or source out some aftermarket items! Thanks for stoppin!

peace

ajulia

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Good looking build so far. I like the way you did the deck in balsa. Nothing says wood like, well, wood.

Harry, US carriers had wood decks from day one until around '54 or '55. Right after Korea the old WWII designs were modified to better accomodate them newfangled jetplanes. The speeds, weight, and overall different landing characteristics of the new planes mandated steel decks.

We had substantial issues in the beginning of WWII with carriers being quite vulnerable to air attack because of wood decks. Britain and Japan had already gone to mostly steel decks.

G

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I believe there may be a misunderstanding as to which Yorktown this model is. Unless I read my research incorrectly, plus being a big WWII buff, this is a model of The first Yorktown built in 1937 and sunk as a result of action in the battle of Midway. I have read that the Revell model is this one the CV-5. The one in Dave's reference is the CV-10 built I believe in1943. Here is a link to the CV-5. http://www.navsource...hives/02/05.htm

Edited by my66s55
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Hello guys! From my past experience I think Mr. P is bussing chops here! lol Also I agree with Mr. Craig If my research as well is correct Revell modeled the USS Yorktown that was to set to sail for its trial and work ups in Norfolk in the late thirties and began support runs in the Atlantic and then off to the Pacific which it claimed its final resting place at the Battle Of Midway heres a link to the CV-5 that Revell modeled!Also Mr. Zinn is also correct with the dilemmas in having a wooden deck and the eventual switch from wood to more reinforced steel beams and frame work!

Id go into detail but Id like to let those people interested in such a subject to read themselves.

http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/y1/yorktown-iii.htm

Heres the updated pics of Yorktown minus the flat base to replicate the stain that was applied to the decks thanks for stoppin and as always" keep on wit the keepin on!!

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USSYorktown2004.jpg

USSYorktown2003.jpg

USSYorktown2002.jpg

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Nice work on replicating the wooden deck. In future I would suggest using basswood, it has a much finer grain. As an aside, British carriers of the period had armoured flight decks but they had reduced aircraft stowage partly I think because of the added weight of the armour but I think there were other reasons as well.

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Guest Johnny

No, I was serious! I wasn't trying to mess with you, I actually never knew that aircraft carriers had wooden decks. It seems so illogical to me!

Gee Harry! They used to make whole ships out of wood too! ;):lol:

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Guest Johnny

Yeah... a couple of hundred years ago. I thought an aircraft carrier would have gone beyond shipbuilding technology from the days of Columbus!

It was a hold over from the converted flat tops that they first made into carriers! One being the USS Langley on which my Grandma's little brother went down with in WWII!

Weight was a of big concern I believe and was probably one argument for it . But you can bet there were some that argued it wasn't a great idea too for reasons that became very obvious!

I will add that there may have been an engineering issue with the use of steel at the time too, I don't really know.

Edited by Johnny
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are you mixing the flat base with a color for the decks?

i tried once to use it as an adhesive for some scale leaves on a weathered car and it dried white :) i've mixed it with paint colors since though with excellent results.

Hey Mr.Z' I had to pump the brakes on continuing the deck and thank goodness i saw yer post! I was gong to apply it directly on the deck and realized i would need to put a flat clear base on it wash it with a dark hulll gray, then apply the tamiya flat base to start giving it worn down tones. Thanks for the heads up fella!

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No, I was serious! I wasn't trying to mess with you, I actually never knew that aircraft carriers had wooden decks. It seems so illogical to me!

No worries here my friend! SO....... I guess you do learn new things everyday! Also many carriers were made by combining a series of hulls to complete the carriers and yes wooden decks seemed to be the least desired route however with availablity and the fact that steels beams would have to be made in several yards resources were scarce and technology primative! Now please dont quote me but this is what I gathered from varied research and information! Also Mr. Holt is correct with weight restrictions! I jus think carriers are awesome and a heck of an accomplishment!! Something about floating cities are soooooo cool!!

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Nice work on replicating the wooden deck. In future I would suggest using basswood, it has a much finer grain. As an aside, British carriers of the period had armoured flight decks but they had reduced aircraft stowage partly I think because of the added weight of the armour but I think there were other reasons as well.

Thank you Mr.G' you are very correct and Ill have to revise the topic heading. I did in fact use the basswood for the deck which is MID-WEST part 1138 that has a measurement of .0208 x .0833 x 11.. Im also using it for the USS Helena that revell issued in 480 scale. Again thank you for pointing that out with me.

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No, I was serious! I wasn't trying to mess with you, I actually never knew that aircraft carriers had wooden decks. It seems so illogical to me!

While Britain's Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy built their carriers with steel flight decks, the US Navy specified flight decks built from fairly massive pine timbers from USS Lexington & USS Saratoga (commissioned in 1927) to USS Ranger (commissioned in 1938), to the legendary four prewar fleet carriers (Yorktown, Hornet, Wasp and Enterprise), the large class of Essex Class carriers, Independence Class light carriers, and the nearly 100 Escort or "Jeep" carriers. The reason was two-fold:

First, the use of wood for the flight deck surface was lighter in weight than a similar-sized flight deck made of steel would have been (also, steel flight decks could not be of a thickness adequate to provide serious armor protection and still be high enough above the hangar deck for maximum storage space for a large number of aircraft), and were much more readily repairable from battle damage (USS Yorktown took an aerial bomb at Midway) and was back conducting flight operations within hours--witness what happened to the Japanese carriers in that battle--all were reduced to sinking condition from aerial attack, there flight decks damaged irreparably at sea--had they survived, they all would have limped back to shipyards in Japan for months of repairs.

Second, the lighter weight of the wood flight deck surface allowed for tremendously better armor protection against aerial attack from dive bombers--Essex Class carriers had a 3" thick steel flight deck, serving as a "splinter deck" which could trigger the fuse on any bomb dropped from above; and a much heavier (5" thick I seem to remember) deck just below the flight deck which could stop virtually any aerial bomb in the Japanese naval inventory (No US Fleet carrier was sunk solely due to aerial bombs--USS Yorktown was sunk by a Japanese submarine, Wasp, Hornet, and Lexington were sunk by damage caused by fires that raged out of control due to aerial bombing and by a lack of understanding at the time of their construction as to how to prevent such from happening.

The second USS Hornet is a museum ship today (the carrier that picked up all the Apollo astronauts upon their return to earth and splashdown in the Pacific), moored at Alameda CA. Hornet still has her wooden flight deck (even though she was seriously upgraded for the jet age), but that is covered with a steel surface, itself coated with a very abrasive high traction surface (you can see the outline of most of the planking timbers as the steel deck plating was pressed into the wood by thousands of jet aircraft over her nearly 25 yrs of launching and recovering jet fighters).

In contrast, USS Forrestal (the first of the modern Supercarriers, launched about 1954) was built with a steel deck. In a severe flight deck fire off Vietnam in the late 1968's, that flight deck was holed by several aerial bombs cooking off, necessitating a return stateside for extensive repairs, effectively ending Forrestal's combat career. Imagine the effect something like that would have had on operations in the Pacific against the Japanese Navy in WW-II!

Art

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Nice work on replicating the wooden deck. In future I would suggest using basswood, it has a much finer grain. As an aside, British carriers of the period had armoured flight decks but they had reduced aircraft stowage partly I think because of the added weight of the armour but I think there were other reasons as well.

Of course, bear in mind that the aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy were considerably smaller than even the early "short hull" Essex Class ships of USN (more on a par with the first USS Ranger (first ship to be built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier). That meant smaller (in numbers) aircraft complements), and reduced storage capacity in the hangar deck (USN Essex Class carriers were built with the capability of slinging spare fighters, dive bombers, even torpedo planes from chain falls up underneath the underside of the flight deck, with room to spare below for dozens of Wilcats, Hellcats, Avengers, Dauntlesses and later, Helldivers).

Art

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  • 4 weeks later...

In contrast, USS Forrestal (the first of the modern Supercarriers, launched about 1954) was built with a steel deck. In a severe flight deck fire off Vietnam in the late 1968's, that flight deck was holed by several aerial bombs cooking off, necessitating a return stateside for extensive repairs, effectively ending Forrestal's combat career. Imagine the effect something like that would have had on operations in the Pacific against the Japanese Navy in WW-II!

Art

I lost a cousin on the Forrestal.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ajulia, I had a run in with this kit in my youth, many, many years ago. I will say this; Anyone who can do this basic kit justice has my respect. You, my friend did this kit justice! It looks great! I'm anxious to see the three sisters together again! My prewar 'Sweetheart' is Lady Sara, but I have the utmost respect and admiration for the Yorktown Sisters... and the men who loved them!

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