by Hanchang Kuo
1/700 USS Franklin CV-13, 1945 (Trumpeter)
This is my Trumpeter 1/700 USS Franklin finished in her early 1945 fit. Extensive modifications was made to make this thing as accurate as possible. Special thanks to Mr. Tracy White and Mr. Burt McDowell for providing me with valuable research information. I have been working on and off on this project for almost a year. Researching was the most time consuming part of the project.
Main PE set used is Tom's new Essex set. For some reason the metal of my copy of the set is extremely soft. Despite being very careful I still managed to damage quite a few items--including that valuable SK-2 radar and elevator support. I had to use GMM's old US Carrier set as supplement. Other after market parts used were Paper Lab's 20mm Oerlikon, 5" twin turrets, search lights and Mk.51 directors. Tom's perforated catwalk, Tom's floatation basket set, Eduard's pre-painted naval figure set, GMM's aricraft parts and of course tons of Everygreen and brass wires and rods.
