discussion Boatmans 1/200 scale USS HORNET CV8 BUILD AN LIGHTS for the Doolittle raid on japan

[boatman]

HI all well ive been wanting to do this ship build for yrs but the plastic kits to me dint seem big enough not even the 1/350th an i heard someone say that a 1/200 scale was on sale so i went to hannants to see if its true an i asked the girls on the computers in hannants an they said they dont stock the big kit so i was dissapointed SO i bought a 1/350 th TAMYIA USS ENTERPRISE to cheer myself up an as my freind an his wife was with us as they had never been to hannants so went back into the wharehouse to ask where my freind was as i was grumbillin about no big hornet an one of the workers in the whearhouse asked what was up an i told him an he said hang on a minute an went upstairs an he came down with a wackin great big box an yes it was the hornet i wanted an he said someone ordered it but never came to pick it up so i had it what luck eh an here is the build if anyone would like to see it an at the moment im only half way through the build an its quite big an first pic is the box an more pics tomorrow as gettin bed time as jen has been tryin to get me to go to bed but i just wanted to post a pic firstly
chrisb

 

[Steven000]

That's a great project Chris, sounds like you guys had a lot of fun at Hannants : D, looking forward to this, Cheers

 

[flyjoe180]

Sounds like it was a good day out Chris. Look forward to your Hornet build.

 

[boatman]

HI Guys yes was a good day out at Hannants but very exspensive as bought three kits in the end an they were this big 1/200 USS HORNET an the Tamyia USS ENTERPRISE in 1/350 th scale an a big 1/32 scale tornado aircraft kit an i cant remember the top total on the bill but i got £65 discount on all the kits so i came home very pleased as money cant take it with you can you so ive now got enough kits to keep me busy for yrs an i'll include a big model combine kit in 1/17 scale with 4 an a half thousand parts an seven eletric motors to make it all work by r/c so as im gettin on in yrs i wont have to buy any more kits now so now here are the first build pics of the hornet an i'll load just a few at a time so i dont overload the forum an here what the finshed ship will look like
chrisb

 

[boatman]

AN this is a I LOVE KIT as never heard of them before but they sure packed in a lot of parts in the kit an there is 16 B-25 PLANES in the kit for the DOLITTLE raid on japan an they are made in clear plastic as well as other aircraft of the time such as the dauntless - an devestater an such more but first a shot of the B-25 aircraft an tiny decals to go on them an i will show the tiny kits when i get that far

 

[boatman]

instruckions sheet to show a lot to build

 

[boatman]

an while i was at Hannants i bought just a few crew members till i order more

 

[boatman]

AN thinkin ahead which is a good idea on these big kits as i want to light it up i bought a reel of copperfoil sticky tape to fit on the under side of the flight deck as i wanted to light up the flight deck runway

 

[boatman]

an i wanted to use 3v white 2mm led's so 30 or so which is 15x2mm led on each side of the filght deck but workin from a 12v mains transformer so here i bought a mini 12 v to step down to 3v voltage reducer an it works great

 

[boatman]

AN Last pic for today is the big hull of the hornet about nr 5ft long or maybe a little less but looks big to me for a plastic kit more pics tomorrow
chrisb

 

[Steven000]

I can feel it in my toes Chris, this is gonna be another epic project, looking forward to the build. Have fun! Cheers

 

[Ian M]

1239mm or just over four foot in old money. An Impressive kit. Oh I Love Kits is a rebox for Trumpeter. So is should be fine.
Looking forward to seeing what you do to her.

 

[boatman]

I can feel it in my toes Chris, this is gonna be another epic project, looking forward to the build. Have fun! Cheers

Yes Steven i have been havin fun on this big kit as i love big kits an im half way throuth this build but lost my mojo after havin windows 11 laptop an all the problems that came with it but im learning to work it ok now but windows 10 was far easyier but 10 is fininshed now for me so ive got to stick at 11 an hope your toes like the build lol
ATB Steven for 26
chrisb

 

[boatman]

Ian qoute
1239mm or just over four foot in old money. An Impressive kit. Oh I Love Kits is a rebox for Trumpeter. So is should be fine.
Looking forward to seeing what you do to her

AN hi Ian well i did just put under 5ft or a bit more so she's just over 4 feet well thats a fair size for me to have fun with lighting her up but this is the biggest plastic kit ive ever had or treid to build as god there are a lot of parts in this kit an quite detailed to so yes it will be fun to see how she turns out but on this kit im not goin overboard on lighting as by rights when dolittleplane an all the others were takein off the hornet they were in japanese waters so the lights will be not to bright so not to give their postion away but they got caught anway an had to launch the planes early some very brave men there an hope you like the build
ATB sir
chrisb

 

[boatman]

HI GUYS well the tomorrow day is here so here are some more build pics for you to look over an first thing to do was drill holes in the hull to take the bilgdle keels all 4 as if i dint the keels would easy knock off an i also drilled out the plastic port holes as i was thinkin of lighting up the port holes but gave it a miss as she would not be showin a lot of lights in dangerous waters

 

[boatman]

an one of 4 bilgde keels fitted to the hull very awkward to fit as they are made from very flimsy plastic

 

[boatman]

here all 4 bildgle keels now fitted took quite a bit of time to get them right an the front ones are also curved

 

[boatman]

here i fitted the prop shaft A -frames

 

[boatman]

prop sharfts an rudder sorry i know these pics are not to instresting but in my opinion they are nessasary to show in the build

 

[boatman]

NEXT i wanted to do the water line on the hull so i had to use a spirt level to get the hull dead up right as if the hull was leaning just a bit the water lines would be at different levles an thats no good for me got to be correct