The island is pretty much a WW2 configuration with a few upgrades. Since I'm building the 1953 configuration the only difference is the upgraded bridge. This didn't fit very well and even after removing material from the bottom of G1, the fit was still not quite right. The extra length of the bridge interferes with the gun director between the 5in gun and the bridge. The PE radar, part # MB1 is great and goes on good with superglue. Same for MB2 but MB3 is not clear at all on the instruction sheet, had to guess at that one. Photos of the Antietam from this period show a yardarm on the tripod mast, but none is included in the kit. I used one from a GMM 1/700 PE fret. I assembled the whole thing on a holder as a sub assembly. The holder makes it easy to position the island at different angles for easier PE attachment. Assembled the 5in. guns and other flight deck items and glued them down with liquid cement. The raised place for the island to glue onto looked pretty shallow and I was concerned the island could get knocked off easily (this has happened on other models). So I cemented a .080x.080 piece of styrene onto it for reinforcement. After cementing the island structure onto the flight deck, I mounted the model onto its faux ocean stand. There is a section under Modeling Tips on how to build a fake ocean.
Welcome to my Web site
I chose Revells’ Cutty Sark as the launch project because there are a large number of these kits out there in closets, attics and modelers collections, waiting to be built. Also, this kit builds into a pretty impressive ship model, no matter where the modelers’ skill level is.
The plan is for this site to grow over time, featuring a different model about every month. Previous models will be archived for reference and new visitors to the site. As you may have already noticed, this site is written in a blog foremat with the latest post on top and previous posts in decending order. I hope that modelers will find this website enjoyable and useful and will visit often……………..John
Island and 5in Guns
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Labels: USS Antietam CV36
Deck Edge Elevator
The deck edge elevator is a clear part in this kit. I made the mistake of installing what looked like the correct part but it was too small. Pays to read the instructions sometimes. I painted the top surface of the clear elevator dark grey to match the flight deck. This also makes it easier to work with the photo etched parts on the underside. In order to get the support struts in the right place, I used the large PE part as a guide and marked the underside with a pencil. I use a piece of glass as a cutting board and a no.11 exacto blade to remove the PE parts from the fret. Once freed from the fret, a wad of modeling clay is the best thing I've found for picking them up. Zip Kicker ACC accelerator was brushed onto the elevator bottom then each support was lightly dragged through a drop of thick super glue and set in place with tweezers. After all the stuff dried the supports and elevator bottom were painted. The large support was too big ,even after
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Labels: USS Antietam CV36
Flight Deck
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Labels: USS Antietam CV36
More Hull
Model Master Dark Ghost Grey was painted on the hull, this is very close to haze grey. The darkening around raised relief did not work out as nice as I had hoped but looks OK. I dry brushed some Model Master Light Grey to highlight raised areas. Masked off the boot topping with Tamya masking tape and painted Testors Flat Black. I decided to finish all of the hull assembly at this time and install the photo etched railings. It is easier to do this now, before the flight deck is installed, but there is more risk of knocking them off during later stages of assembly. I think it's worth the risk though.
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Labels: USS Antietam CV36