USS Gambier Bay

[PAPER FAN]

I've started the USS Gambier Bay, from Military Model 2003. It's a kit I've had for years but after finishing Hornet decided to take the plunge. Glad I did, what a fantastic kit of a Heroic ship that saved the day despite being blown out of the water my Japanese naval gun fire at Leyte Gulf, most likely the cruiser Chokai.

I have used balsa to laminate the frames with paper on both side. This is a very easy non-laser cut way to make hulls. Easy to cut, light and very sturdy.

I added upper frames to the hangers to keep the paper from sagging. not sure how the designers thought this would work without something. The frame work won't be visible even with the open hanger and should provide sufficient support to apply the hull sides.

[wireandpaper]

Looking forward to your build!

[PAPER FAN]

Hull plating completed and flight deck start. The entire flight deck will be built off of the ship and s seen will be installed as a final assembly. The last few images the flight deck is dry fitted, tight and sweet fit.

I did com up short on the starboard side some how with the plating. No issues on the port. Not sure if it's me (most likely) or an error with the kit. I made a makeshift filler and used a sharpy to blacken the background to try to match the basic camouflage. The camera actually makes it look worse than it is. The rest of the parts including the flight deck frame line up really well.

May be a bit before my next update. This is a really well designed model and so far the build has been clean and quick.

[Don Boose]

Superb work on this excellent model. It looks like your artisanship is making the most of a model that is very good to begin with.

Don

[Olo]

I always admire people who are building aircrafts.... Great work so far...looking forward to see her completed

[shipbuild]

Nice use of balsa. I follow this project with great interest.

[PAPER FAN]

Some progress. I had to color the underside bracing. The deck was completely assembled off the hull except for the deck edge platforms. It fit like a glove when lowered onto the hull. I used a generous amount of CA to take up a bit of warpage. Laid the entire assembly upside down and manually pressed about 20% of my weight on the hull while the CA dried.

The 4 funnels will be very tricky, built one shell and am reasonably pleased (not photo'd yet). If I had access to a 3D printer I would have drew one up up and printed it.

[Olo]

Great build ,looking good...the only thing I would suggest to try to mix closer color to the original that you use for touch ups...

[PAPER FAN]

Yah, I'm disappointed with some of it. Black is ultimately unmatchable though. The edging was done with high end markers but this particular paper seems to bleed more than most.

The camera also adds to the mismatch, it is less visible to the eye at normal viewing ranges.

[Michael Mash]

Great photos of your Gambier Bay.
You always include abundant details on the underside with all the support structures.
It is a lot of work, but it reveals a high level of craftsmanship.