Fly Model USS Saratoga CV-3

[Kevin G]

As promised in my intro thread here is my current project.

Fly Model Gomix
#81
USS Saratoga CV-3



Historical information and possibly general instructions printed on inside of front cover. No english instructions but that has never stopped us before!

Diagrams: 2 pages printed front and back and 1/3 page also containing parts. The diagrams are fairly detailed and appear to be a good substitution for written directions.


Parts: 8 pages of formers on regular thin paper. there are some formers that have been printed twice with no use for the second copy (I have no idea why they would do this).
14 pages of printed parts, the card is thick and seems to be pretty nice stuff. Have not cut any of it yet so we will see how it goes. Color is nice and there does not seem to be any noticeable differences between pages.

Part count: I tried counting them four times but i always ran out of fingers and toes on the first page so i quit trying.

The build: Standard ship building so far, laminate formers, cut out formers, assemble formers. This has to be the worst part of any build for me.
All formers are laminated to 1mm and assembled. I do not like how flimsy this whole thing turned out so I spent alot of extra time reinforcing the whole assembly.





Total build time so far: 11 hours

I am by no means a fast builder so this may take awhile to finish.
I am not the most skilled builder so don't expect any really fantastic things from this build.
Comments are always welcome good or bad. Hope I can keep you guys entertained for at least a little bit!

[Johnny]

I guess that amount of formers really can put you in a stage of frustration
I'm looking forward to follow your build!!

[dansls1]

According to moduni.de, there are 2240 pieces
Looks like a good start - I look forward to following this one come together.

[chapuzas100]

I have been a long time looking for a thread on this model. What I am going to continue step by step.

[boosed]

I'm always glad when someone has the gumption to build an aircraft carrier. It's been fun watching Barry's and Bob's carrier builds and this looks like it's going to be a good one. And the subject is wonderful. I take from the cover illustration that this is the pre-war Sara with the 8-inch guns still mounted, the wood-stained flight deck, and a deck-load of silver-gray aircraft (mostly biplanes) with yellow wings.

Don

[Kevin G]

Johnny, yeah i hate formers I still have not figured out how I am supposed to get a good clean skin over them and still don't really understand how I am supposed to glue two skins to the same former that is only 1mm thick. Once that is done though I actually start to enjoy the build!

dansls1, thanks for the link and the part count. Counting the parts doesn't seem like much fun so I am glad someone out there actually does it for the rest of us lazy types

chapuzas100, I too looked for a thread on this model for awhile before I started the build. I hope that my modest build will do the model justice and help some other people out in their builds.

Don, I seriously wouldn't know what type of guns it has mounted. The model has 4 large gun turrets with dual barrels and 12 much smaller single gun mounts. Wish I could give you an actual answer here but I just don't know what type of guns they are.
Flight deck is wood-stained, and yes there is literally a deck-load of planes.
There are 20 Boeing F4B-4's all with yellow upper wings and 24 Curtiss F11C-2/BFC-2's also having yellow upper wings. It will probably take longer to make all the dang little planes as it does to make the rest of the ship

Glad that you guys are interested in the build. Should have another update for you tonight sometime.

[boosed]

Kevin --

The Saratoga and Lexington were converted from battlecruiser hulls at a time when U.S. carrier doctrine was still being developed. They were each armed with eight 8-inch guns in four twin turrets (essentially, heavy cruiser armament) so that they could slug it out with any surface ship up to the size of a heavy cruiser and, with their turbo-electric powerplants and fine hull shape, could outrun anything bigger.

By the time the war began, it was clear that aircraft carriers weren't going to be used for surface action and the 8-inch guns proved to be of limited use, since they couldn't be fired across the flight decks without the muzzle blast damaging the wooden decks (not to mention any aircraft on deck). Sara's 8-inch guns were removed during a January 1942 refit and were eventually replaced with eight 5-inch/38 caliber dual-purpose guns in four twin gun enclosures. Sister ship Lexington had its 8-inch guns removed in April 1942, but was sunk during the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea before the 5-inch guns were installed.

So, if your Sara has biplanes, a stained-wood flight deck, and the broad vertical black stripe on the funnel (Lexington had a horizontal black band across the top of the funnel so returning pilots could tell them apart), it is in the pre-war configuration and mounted 8-inch guns.

Best wishes on the build of this beautiful ship. I'll be following with great interests.

Don

[Golden Bear]

Another good build choice!! It is one that I would have thought of building if I didn't have an aversion to really long models... that's why the Isuzu is on pretty much permanent hold. In terms of formers, I use about as many on the much smaller models that I am designing.

You might try to put 1mm patches in the corners of the formers and the bottom to avoid eggcrate bulges from handling during the build. You should be able to see examples of what I mean in the Charlemagne build thread.



Carl

[jimbean]

All,
I am building a Lexington (CV-2) which is stashed away for the winter. I think I remember that the instructions called for 2mm stock for the formers. Anyway by the time it was all assembled it was quite stiff, and so were my fingers from cutting out the stuff.
Jim

[barry]

I would be inclined to insert measured pieces between the formers running from stem to stern in effect 2 more backbones does not matter if they are a bit wavy down the length and I would double up the formers with pointy bits at the top or large chunks cut out again it does not have to look good it should all be covered up. Otherwise soak the fragile looking formers with super glue. Sorry for the non technical suggestions.

Carriers are ALL hull so you might as well make it as strong as possible.