has there been any gossip as to any aftermarket biplanes for 1/350 carriers? Any major refit required for the Trumpeter kit to make it a pre war carrier?
A deck full of chrome yellow wings would be so cool.
Craig
I had heard that someone was doing a retrograde kit to make it into a pre war Lexington. But I don't think there is anything cast in stone that I have heard.
Yes, there is considerable work to be done to make it a pre war Lexington or Saratoga. Most of in concerns the bow. In the early days the flight deck narrowed considerably at the bow end. Since the under flight deck structure that supported that flight deck is all enclosed, it would be a major nose job to get it back to pre war configuration.
The replacing the 8" turrets that were removed to save weight would probably not be a big issue if the turrets were available. Maybe they are. I have just not gone looking yet. When sunk the Lex did not have the twin 5" mounts that the Sara was fitted with, but that is probably not a big issue as the base for the old removed 8" appears to still be in place.
As launched, the Lex was a pretty clean configuration. By that I mean not a lot of guns and stuff sticking all over it. By the time it was sunk it had a lot more anti-aircraft guns and catwalks and galleries added to the deck and island structure.
Since Trumpeter did the Lex as sunk in WWII, I doubt that they would be interested in doing any pre war biplanes. It might be up to the aftermarket folks to do them if a viable modification kit does show up.
On the other hand, Trumpeter has released the Essex class kit in at least three different boxings (Essex, Yorktown and Franklin). Maybe we could get really lucky and they would do it in an earlier version. To my limited knowledge, that possibility has not ever even been mentioned.
Norm
I am hearing on-off rumors about a Saratoga kit. I suspect either it will be a late war "Sara" with the 5'-38 twins, or very pre-war with the twin 8". Until someone gets their hands on a kit and can look at the way it is broken down all we can do is wish.
Bill Shuey
I am hearing on-off rumors about a Saratoga kit. I suspect either it will be a late war "Sara" with the 5'-38 twins, or very pre-war with the twin 8". Until someone gets their hands on a kit and can look at the way it is broken down all we can do is wish.
Bill Shuey
My understanding is the Saratoga will be a late war kit. Of course she survived the war and was sunk in the post war Bikini tests.
One possible drawback to trying to get her back to the pre war configuration is that she was even more modified during the war than the Lexington. A major headache would be the added blisters. While both Lex and Sara had side blisters added to their original cruiser hulls during construction, the Sara had even bigger ones added to increase torpedo protection and increase buoyancy during refits. The Lexington was sunk before those blisters were added.
All the U.S. carriers suffered from top heaviness because of the huge number of anti-aircraft guns added. That is part of why the big 8" guns were removed.
Norm
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