I finished a 1:700
Hasegawa USS Essex. Like the 1:700 Akagi kit, it was fun to build. I
also built the little 1:700 IJN destroyer I picked up on eBay.
The attached images features the USS Essex and my 1:48 Hasegawa F6F-5 Hellcat
with markings for Cdr. David McCampbell, the top U.S. Navy ace. In
building the Essex, I reasoned (via some research) that the Essex was camouflaged
in the the "dazzle" scheme, Measure 32 (a fun and challenging paint
job). McCampbell did one tour on the Essex then left the ship just prior
to a damaging kamikaze attack that sent her home for repairs. After that,
the Essex returned to sea in an overall grey/blue scheme that I guess was common
on late WWII vessels in the Pacific.
I built the Hellcat about nine months ago. It received the first of my
three US Navy Verlinden pilots who had to be broken and crammed into the seats
of the Hellcat and AM Dauntless. Despite that challenge, the Verlinden pilots
are very detailed which adds to the realism of any kit where the modeler wants
to display a pilot figure.
I now plan to redo my Butch O'Hare 1:48 Monogram Wildcat image on my website
with a 1:700 USS Lexington I want to build at the time of the defense O'Hare
gave the ship during the early '42 Rabaul campaign with netted him the Medal of
Honor.
I picked up a 1:700
Tamiya USS Cushing and dressed it in dazzle to join the USS Essex in the
background of this image featuring Navy Ace David McCampbell and his 1:48
Hasegawa Hellcat.
For more ace images, see my website at http://home1.gte.net/konman/AcesMenu.html.
Konley
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