Modeling-ABC by Wilfried Eck

C

Carrier:

Projection of might. The possibility of reinforcing political intentions by application of force. The value of a carrier lies in its mobility, not having to rely on land bases or permissions for transit flight. Naturally the indication of possible intervention is only taken seriously if a substantial force can be presented.

A carrier therefore needs a certain amount of aircraft with adequate range and load carrying capability.

And here the problems begin. Many aircraft need a lot of space, not only for storage, but also for takeoff and landing. This requires  a large ship and this costs a lot of money to build and maintain. Shortly after WW II though the carriers had proved their worth the question of their further necesessity arose. This was answered positively in the Korean and Vietnam war. But today US budget restrictions again led to a reduction in carrier strength.

"Carrier" is used here as a general description, there being different kinds of aircraft carriers over the times. Not to forget US Marine assault ships with helicopters. The British "Invincible"-class, known as "through deck cruiser",  being a strange hybrid of a vessel with a sizeable superstructure and a narrow strip for takeoff and landing of a small complement of "Sea Harrier" fighter/strike aircraft and some "Sea King" anti submarine helicopters (see "Ark Royal" in the German pages).

US carriers today are essentially alike. In WW II there were

• Escort carriers: Small vessels converted from oilers or  tankers, approximately 490 feet long, carrying about 30 aircraft.
• Light carriers: Slightly larger than escort carriers, converted from cruiser hulls, also with a small amount of aircraft.
• Fleet carriers: Purpose built, up to 90 aircraft.

Common to all kinds of aircraft carrier is a  lack of deck space. Therefore wings are folded upwards or lengthwise to give the aircraft the least possible planform to accomodate as many aircraft as possible in a confined space. Same for helicopters.

As there are enough English spoken web pages on this subject, further information can be gathered elsewhere (some links below).

All US carrier aircraft bore and bear distinct markings.

In the thirties coloured tails (stripes on the cowling and fuselage denoting position in formation flight, only section leaders bearing fully enclosed rings on the cowling and fuselage stripes).

In WW II at first a combination of number of squadron/mission indicating letter/individual numer (i.e. 41-F-3), then reduced to letter/number ("F-3"), then just number (not necessarily corresponding with squadron strength). In mid 1943 on USS Yorktown a slanting narrow stripe on the vertical tail denoted the Air Group (on F6F-3's combined with a pea green prop hub), many other carriers following this practice of applying a geometric symbol for it's Air Group (when the squadron was assigned to another carrier, it retained it's symbol). The next generation of "G-symbols" indicated the carrier (escort carriers in July 1945 being officially assigned a pattern of rectangles and stripes). As these markings were hard to describe in radio communications, with directive of July 27th 1945 they were replaced by a single or double letters on the vertical tail (for example USS Yorktown "RR"), though some carriers carried  their G-symbols to war's end. Although letters changed more than once in the following decades the system is still in use today.

In the current letter combination the first letter denotes an Atlantic ("A") oder Pacific ("N") fleet assignment, the second one being the air wing identification.

modeling:

The problem getting as many aircraft on a carrier as possible, could/can only be solved by tight parking. Therefore all carrier aircraft since WW II have foldable wings (and sometimes fins too). As all aircraft are closely packed together, wings are spread only when the individual aircraft is about to take off. To facilitate parking the wings are folded immediately after tochdown and clearing the landing wire. In consequence:

With wings spread the model needs a crew. Without crew the wings have to be folded.

Running engines consume fuel. Less fuel means less range or less flight time. So takeoff has to be as quick as possible. This is the responsibilitiy of the flight deck crew. All aircraft destined to participate in a mission are packed together, with standardised motions planes are directed and launched. Briefing for the mission is not on deck but below in a more comfortable environment (wind, engine roar or jet blast isn't!).

There is neither space nor time for a chat before lauch.

After landing the aircraft has to clear the landing area as quick as possible to be parked elsewhere. The crew usually is expected for debriefing. So they go downstairs. In WW II when all aircraft had to be parked forward of the landing zone there was the hazard that a plane floating over the barriers crashed into these aircraft. And as no pilot wanted a Hellcat or Avenger as headdress, they speedily left this uncomfortable place.

There is neither space nor time for a chat after landing.

Photos depicturing leisurely scenes are pure publicity. So do not forget to add a photographer.

All carrier aircraft  were/are constantly checked for corrosion. This may result in a stained appearance from overpainting, but never (!) is there bare metal to be seen (yes, Japanese too!). And there is no sand on a carrier to remove paint from leading edges or propellers. Therefore:

Forget chipping paint on carrier aircraft.

Wooden carrier decks did not show natural wood. They were painted/camouflaged (example:  USS Charger, a training carrier). General rule for US carrier decks: Side colours of the aircraft, ergo shades of blue gray at first, then "Sea Blue"); modern carriers have a non slip covering of nearly black colour that apparently reflects light in different ways, for in photos sometimes it appears dark brown, in others dark blue.

Since the fifties flight deck personnel carries coded sweaters or life vests:

Useful links:

cockpit hoods:

Transparent covers of cockpits to protect the pilot/s from wind blast and other environmental hazards. Also to reduce drag.

In plastic kits canopy frames are protruding noticeably so the modeller knows where to mask before applying paint. Not so on the real thing. Raised canopy fames would create drag and excluding certain German pre WW II types (in eg. Ju 88, He 111) all framing was and is flush. On the first glance the infamous Ju 87 shows a lot of framing, but a close look reveals most of these frames were inside the perspex hood.

To correct exaggerated frame detail in model canopies is very very difficult. Therefore all my models have PVC canopies. May seem diffficult, but it's easier than one would mind. See scetches in German text.

Moulding the form over which the canopy is formed is the easiest part.

There is no need to carve, sand and fill wooden blocks!

I take polyester. That's a filling paste (usually found in the car repair department)  hardend by the addition of a few percent of hardener. At first it's of pasty consistence but as hardening beginns it can be carved roughly into form and after thorough hardening can be sanded and polished smooth. An inset foot of whatever material gets handy makes it stand clear of the surface. As an alternative "Fimo" can be used. "Fimo" is sold in little blocks of different colour and is hardened in the oven at 175° C. It can be sanded and polished too. The difference to polyester is that "Fimo" is easily moulded to the desired form from the beginning but doesn't accept an additional layer (as does polyester).

Next trace the horizontal outline of the canopy on  thin plywood or hard cardboard, add a few millimeters and cut out this silhouette. A piece of clear PVC is then fastened over the hole with  thumbtacks. 0,8 mm thickness is about right. If thicker forming gets more difficult, if thinner it's prone to tearing.

Now take or borrow a toaster, for it is necessary to heat the PVC evenly on both sides till it shows a slight shine and sags a little. To prevent roasted fingers pliers or gloves are useful.

Now grasp the template with both (!) hands and pull it evenly over the mould. Gloves prevent burns.

After a few seconds the canopy has set and can be roughly cut out. For the correct outline dry fit it over the model and take in consideration there is some additional material needed to fix the canopy into/on the fuselage.

As the material of new canopy is fairly thin and PVC cannot be fixed with styrene glue some trick is needed. Where the cockpit is flaps can be cemented to the (inner) sides. Front and rear of the canopy rest in grooves filled with sticky material.

For fastening do not use cyanacrylic glue for it easily gets  milky. Homemade "plastic paste" (in short: plastic filaments dissolved in liquid plastic cement) does best.  It fills gaps and sticks well. I use a black one because nearly all instrument panel covers are black. The part of the canopy which should remain clear is masked before installation. As "plastic paste" shrinks the remaining imperfections are filled with putty and sanded afterwards (to say after a few days).

Cockpit frames can be painted on (mask canopy with masking tape and cut out the necessary thin strips or - a proved way! - paint some useless decal with the required colour and, after this has dried thorougly, cut strips of the required width, apply as usual for decals (for addidional adherence I use a mixture of  glue and decal softener - vinegar does it too -  and pull the decal through this solution. To fix this strip a wetted cotton bud helps a lot (especially to remove overspilled glue).

For the beginning I recommend a canopy which has to be bent only around straight edges.

Watch for dust on the mould. It will show clearly.

Don't be disappointed if the first one isn't perfect. Sometimes this happens to me too.

frames on cockpit hoods

While aircraft designers took (and take) great pains in reducing drag kit manufacturers take great care in making them as obvious as possible. Taking aside some pre WW  II aircraft (especially such types as Ju 88, He 111) the frames of cockpit hoods  had recesses in which the glass panels rested, with a covering thin metal strip to keep them in place.  In effect  a flush appearance. Not so in kits! The term "greenhouse" is taken seriously. Prominent ridges  shows where paint should be applied, pronounced height seeming mandatory. In the real thing such protuberances would stick out two to three inches above glass level.

Masking the clear parts and sanding these unwanted "detail" off helps a little bit. In my opinion it's easier to make a new canopy, as told above.

colours:

Pigments in solvent. On the real object applied for protection and camouflage. On models to make them look like the original. And therefore the question is what the real colour looked like. No problem it seems for there are a lot of model paints (alledgedly) mixed to official formulas. But beware:

Because of scale effect a 100 percent correct colour is too dark for a model.

As explanation another example of scale: If an aircraft weighs 20.000 pounds a 1/50 model should have a weight of 400 pounds. A little bit heavy, isn't it?

Therefore model paints have to be lightened. The smaller the scale the more. For 1/48 10 % should be sufficient, for 1/72 15 % are about right.

To get the right shade adding white isn't always correct. For red, green and brown it should be yellow, for this colour is included in each of these (though addition of a tiny amount of white can be helpful). For dark blue use light blue.

Colours of US Navy aircraft in general (for others I am no expert): "Sea blue" wasn't simply dark blue. It contained a sizeable amount of black and may therefore described als black-blue. Even darker was/is "Insignia Blue" (the disk below the star); it is/was nearly black and not bright dark blue as many decals show.  "Intermediate Blue" had a blueish gray appearance, by specification a shade exactly between "Sea Blue" and "Insignia White" (the bottom colour). Bleached "Sea Blue" therefore got nearer to "Intermediate Blue". The previous "Blue Gray" was a little bit darker than "Intermediate Blue" but still contained so much blue that even if very bleached it held a blue tinge (never plain gray). In short: Exept white all these colours "aged" to variations of blue-gray (neither lighter blue nor plain gray).

Original USN colours see "Originalfarben" in German page O

Inside colours: Article in IPMS Stockholm website.

Tables of colours to Federal Standard (same source):  http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2006/01/stuff_eng_tech_fsserver.htm