I have a 1/700 (if I remember right) model kit of this on my to do list. It was the ship my grandfather served on from around 1943 to the end of the war. I actually went into the Navy after high school because of him. But I went into submarine service partly from his stories.
I am not close to building it yet, I don't feel confident enough not to screw it up. :-( Car guy, not that good at those even.
However, I was reading another post on a ship and realised that I should take advantage of all you ship guys that still hang out here and ask if you know of any photos, prints, anything at all for this ship. My grandfather passed away many years ago, so other than remembering his stories of life on it and the stuff that happened that you didn't write home about I don't really know anything about the ship.
I do know that it was a shipyard conversion to a carrier while it was being built (if I remember correctly), and that it was one of many ships used for A-bomb testing sometime after the war, but that won't help me build the thing, unless I did a post detonation version. :-) My grandfather told me that even that didn't sink the ship, they ended up towing it out and torpedoing it.
Ultimately, I know I could just put it together with the basic grey paint and most people would think it was good. But I would like to at least have the proper colors where they belong. Photo etch details would be a nice detail also. Having some pictures would help both of these, although I imagine finding any color pictures may be a stretch.
Thanks, russ