by Jon Somerville
1/350 USS Gambier Bay CVE-73 (Yankee Modelworks)
Model was completed in 2001 and waited till someone released aircraft. Didn't have to wait long as Trumpeter came out with some gems. This is my first resin kit and it wasn't too bad to build, a good starter. The cat walks were a real challenge. The only thing I would improve on the kit are the handrails for the walkways over the funnels.
Osprey's 'Combat Aircraft' on the Avenger shows three colour paint scheme at the time while and 'Aircraft of the Aces' shows the Hellcats with the single colour paint scheme. Thought it would really show the difference between the two paint schemes but doesn't look that out of place. The aircraft have Toms Model Works photo etch and a combination of decals from GMM and kit, but mostly GMM. The tails should have "B" on them but used "8" as the GMM decals don't come with enough. Painting was mostly done by hand, just couldn't think of masking. Canopies were painted completely with a water colour then just rubbed off the excess which left the frames coloured.
Only a decal was put on the bow with the ships numbers. Flight deck is all
painted, black letters and landing lines were done on the computer, then
printed and cut out using an exacto blade. Worked better then I thought it
would. I painted the hull a darker red then normal. I like to have the red
in the hull match the over all look of the ship which is very dark due to
the black paint in the camouflage. Weathering was a combination of pastels
and washes.
