USS Hornet CV-8 
by Richard J Price 
1

1/24 93 Corvette 'BB35 Edition' (Revell)

A while back someone (inadvertently perhaps) 'challenged' me to build car model, something I haven't done since I was about 15. I don't do cars so to help me complete the challenge I went in a *cough* custom paint scheme. So what we have here is an adaptation of the Measure 31a-8B camouflage scheme worn by the USS Texas in November 1944. The external pattern is an adaptation of the that painted on the ship's hull in proportion horizontally and stretched vertically as the side of the car is taller. The colors are 5-L Light Grey, 5-O Ocean Grey, 5-N Navy Blue and 20-B Deck Blue. The bottom panels are in black to reflect the boot-topping found on ships.

The interior scheme uses the same colors but takes it's lead from the various panels and features of the car itself. Thus the floor carpet is 20-B so carries up the sides and into the rear. The main interior color is 5-O with details picked out in the 5-L and 5-N. The rest of the car uses the various blacks and metallic colors called out by the kit instructions. About half way through the build I struck on the idea of making this into a "what if' someone has actually commissioned a memorial custom car job. To that end I drew up some artwork based on a '100 Years afloat' concept based on the ship's commissioning in 1914 (rather than leaving the slipway in 1912) and that the ship was still afloat in 2014 (as it is to this day). I also added the pennant number 35, an image of the ship's battle awards, and the ships nickname ('Might T'). Decals were produced by a paid service. The final touch is the Texas licence plate with ships designation 'BB35'.

Richard J Price


Gallery updated 1/26/2018

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