Monday, April 28, 2008

Hangar Wall Layout

Originally I was to have straight walls in the hangar, however after doing some research I was able to find a photo which had the layout of the hangar deck. With the aide of Adobe Photoshop I resized the image and printed it out to scale. Afterwards I taped it to the styrene sheet and with a red marker made an outline for future reference.

Below you can see the deck with the wall outlines on the hull. Also notice in the stern section (back) the elevator shaft and in the bow section (front) to the port side (left) the stairway shaft which I have added for extra detail.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Cross Section

Here we can see the cross sections needed to support the scratch built hangar deck. I determined that six were needed to give proper support and make sure the deck does not slope inwards. Fortunately there were two slots designed to hold batteries which the styrene sheets fit perfectly and helped keep everything aligned properly.

You may also notice that in red I have signed and dated the model as an artist would sign a canvas painting. This is a tradition I have done with every model I have built since I was a child.

Gold Medal Models

Today I placed an order with "Loren Perry Gold Medal Models" www.goldmm.com for photo etched parts and a decal sheet to be used on the U.S.S. Midway. I was a bit disappointed that the site does not accept a direct credit card payments and initially I thought I would have to create a money order but fortunetly they do accept PayPal now.

I have ordered the following:
  • 1/720 Scale USN SUPER CARRIER ($20)
  • 1/700 Naval Figures ($6)
  • 1/700 USN NUCLEAR CARRIER DECALS ($9)
Shipping was only $2 and I had to add 3% of the total to cover for PayPal fees which is cheaper then having a Money Order created and I would also get my items faster!

I have done some research and despite not being 1/800 scale it has been proven by other modelers that the 1/700 scale can be adapted fairly well. See this interesting article from SteelNavy.com of how Mark Leonard built an ARII U.S.S. Midway with some of the exact same parts.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Hangar Deck

To make the hangar deck I used a piece of paper cut out to the maximum width of the hull. I then proceeded in trimming it to fit the hulls curvature. Once I was satisfied with the cut I then placed it on a styrene sheet with tape and cut the pattern out. With only a few slight adjustments which were probably due to the thickness of the styrene sheet it fit perfectly in place.


On the scale model is the paper mock up and below the styrene sheet.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Contruction Begins for the U.S.S. Midway!

Below is a photo of some of the first steps taken in this project, I drilled out a hole on each side of the hull where the anchor is linked with chains inside the ship.

Details Plans for the Contruction of the U.S.S. Midway

Today I have started work on the ARII 1/800 scale U.S.S. Midway aircraft carrier. This model will be the first one that I will apply major scratch building to it.


For this project I plan to do the following:
  • Open up the elevator doors so that a detailed hanger will be viewable.
    • Ceiling piping will be added
    • Details to the interior walls
    • Interior elevators
  • Add real cables for the arresting cables on the landing pad.
  • Raise the jet blast deflectors.
  • Add the doghouse to the island (the doghouse is an extension of the island).
  • Fold wings of some of the aircrafts which are not in use.
I have purchased several "Gold Medal Models" items to add extra detail including:

  • Photo etch Naval Figures (set of 100)
  • U.S.N. Supercarrier Decals
  • U.S.N. Supercarriers photo etch parts

Monday, April 14, 2008

New Kit - U.S.S. Midway

Upon visiting the U.S.S. Midway located in San Diego California on October 20th 2007 I purchased the scale model of the vessel from there gift shop.


It is a Chinese ARII kit in 1/800 scale model measuring approximately 15 inches long and has 76 various aircrafts. I plan to make extensive modifications and super detail this kit.

I have since been fortunate enough to return to San Diego and visit the U.S.S. Midway a second time on April 7th 2008, this time taking lots of reference photos in anticipation of the construction of this kit. I was glad to have purchased this scale model on my first visit because when I returned to the gift shop they no longer had any left and from the research I did it is a hard to find kit.




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