Corona Virus Project #2: Completed - USS Wasp [CV7]

To my surprise the USS wasp [CV 7] was much less challenging as there was no extended flight deck lines or identification numeral (see below, she also has the look of an escort class carrier - I put it down to the treaty limitations and the USN being inventive with the tonnage allowance):

The mighty eight (or really seven CVs and a Seaplane Carrier) ready to face the might of the IJN (see below, only two would survive the war, USS Saratoga [CV3] and USS Enterprise [CV6] - note I also went back and made the numeral three slightly bigger to fit in with the rest of the fleet, all done with hand to eye approximation):

Bring on their cruiser and destroyer supports next (Corona Project #2a).

Corona Virus Project #2: Battle Sisters - USS Yorktown [CV5], USS Enterprise [CV6] and USS Hornet [CV8]

Next comes the Midway carriers, that magic combination of capabilities that made them the perfect modern carriers for the USN to fight the Pacific War against Japan, just at the right time (see below, primed in their basic colours):

CV5 the USS Enterprise is first up on the painting stocks. By the time of painting the USS Enterprise I decided that the flight deck deserved some more "effects" such as arrester-wires and elevator markings (see below, seen here after taking a coat of Humbrol 'satin varnish' for the sea and wet sheen effect):

I liked the look so much I decided to go back and work through CV2 to CV4 (Lexington, Saratoga and Ranger) and fill in the details and change solid lines to dashes (see below, the revised USN CV fleet to date with my hand scribed deck-markings):

Another fly-by (see below, Enterprise [CV6], Wasp [CV7, a smaller type of Yorktown - due to treaty tonnage restrictions] and Hornet [CV8] at the end of the line, still in their base colours):

A furious night of painting ensued and USS Yorktown [CV5] is joined by the USS Enterprise [CV6] in a battle ready state (see below, I am starting to enjoy this crazy adventure):

USS Hornet [CV8] was next up for the deck marking treatment (see below, I think the "number 8" marking is particularly funky):

USS Hornet again (see below, I am so liking this!):

Now the sisters are ready for battle (see below, bring on Midway):

That just leaves the USS Wasp [CV7] to do for the complete US early war carrier fleet.

Corona Virus Project #2: Lex's Sister "Saratoga" - CV3

Following on from "Lady Lex", her sister "Saratoga" CV3, another 1922 converted battle-cruiser
design (see below, my hand painted flight-lines and "number three" will have to do for the moment):

Again using the Flight Deck Decals site for inspiration I took up a very fine paintbrush and tried my hand (please see link below for merchandise I hope to come back to [perhaps] in a post Corona Virus world as their shipping is disrupted to the UK/Europe at the moment):
https://www.flightdeckdecals2400.com/product-page/1-3000-cv-3-saratoga-gray-deck-nav3003a-1

To see if I had an acceptable match with the "sea basing" I put the USS Saratoga alongside her sister, the USS Lexington, plus two protective 'eligible bachelors' the modern battleships USS Washington and USS South Dakota (see below, a 'powerful package' or 'high value target of opportunity', depending on your point of view) :

Coming into land on the Saratoga (see below, a nice clear flight deck - something I might well change later as I found some 1/3000 Navwar US aircraft I can artistically add):

With the majority of the US Battleship stock resting at the bottom of Pearl Harbour it fell upon teh USN 8" cruiser fleet to protect the carriers (see below, these are the Task Force 17 cruisers that fault at the Coral Sea):

Task Force 17: This looks to be a nice little offshoot Corona Virus project in itself. I have "Lady Lex" and the USS Yorktown is coming after CV4 USS Ranger.

Footnote: Renko raised a verry interesting point in the comments .. Blue or Brown that is the question. A slight OMG have I done it wrong moment (I went Grey/Blue instead of Brown) but then it seems in 1941 the USN carriers went to a Deck Blue wash/stain by default on their carriers prior to seeing combat. So given the 'paint I had to hand (Vallejo 868 Dark Green Grey instead of 867 Deck Blue Grey) I may have to do a subtle "blue wash"on the carriers deck [Or touch up the flight deck with 867 when I 'eventually' get a pot of it] ;)

I go by the this excellent reference resource as the final word:
https://www.shipcamouflage.com/specialtopics/BlueFlightDecks.html

Corona Virus Project #2: Making out with "Lady Lex" - CV2

Mea culpa, after reading through the links from a previous post I found out that my hunch (of brown flight decks) was completely wrong (maybe I was thinking 18th and 19th century navies, rather than 20th century navies) and for the USN the Blue and Green Gray are beautiful. Out of the fifty shades of grey out the one I was looking for was :

Deck Blue Grey Vallejo Model Colour 867

Extremely useful was this Vallejo Colour Chart link:
https://www.megahobby.com/products/17ml-acrylic-paint-bottles-model-colors-vallejo.html

Well guess what, despite what I thought was an extensive selection of Vallejo paints - this was one I was missing, but I had the next door cousin 868 Dark Sea Grey- so in these Corona Virus times of make do I used that instead. I was going to mix in a lighter shade anyhow so what the heck! (see below, my revised carrier flight decks, no more "wooden walls"):

I decided to take one example through to the end. I opted for CV2, the USS Lexington "The Lady Lex" and tried my hand at a little bit of shading to the deck and give her some "flight landing lines" (see below, my hand drawn lines will do for now, although there are some excellent decals from: https://www.flightdeckdecals2400.com/product-page/usn2a-cv-2-lexington-grey - another casualty of the lock-down, just now as no air-mail)

A hypothetical shot of "Lady Lex" being escorted to the ball (see below, two previous 1/3000 scale warships are used to eyeball my sea base painting for wargaming compatibility between them all - in fact I think that is it is unlikely an historical reconstruction as I think "Lady Lex" was "down and out" [sunk 8/5/42 at the Battle of the Coral Sea] before these two [USS Washington - although 15/5/41 commissioned she started her Pacific duties much later from 23/8/42, and the USS South Dakota - entered the war much later, it was 26/7/42 before she was ready for active service] got into the fight in 1942):

Close up of "Lady Lex" (aka "The Grey Lady). She was a big ship an would have been a heck of a battle-cruiser if finished to her original design (see below, she still carried 8x8" guns so potentially packed a hell of a surface punch too):

The painted "Lady Lex" alongside the other early war USN CVs (see below, the sea base was an additional wet-brush layer of Anita's Acrylics Navy Blue mixed 50:50 with Ocean Blue, followed by a highlight of Ocean Blue, Green Vallejo "wash" was added, then with wave-tops and churn being achieved by mixing in Antique White and White for a feather-lite highlight - in an artistic fashion):

A final Humbrol "satin varnish" was applied (see below, not "an in your face" gloss but a subtle reflective shimmer is achieved [as per the battleships]): 

OK, end-to-end test was a success, production mode is on ;)

Corona Virus Project #2: US WWII Pearl Harbour CVs - Base Coat

Base Layer Painting: Despite having researched the pants off WW2 USN Pacific Ships I decided to go with what looks good IMHO (see below, hull - Vallejo Model Colour - London Grey [70836] and flight decks, Vallejo Game Dark Flesh [72044]):

Technically "wargame table ready" .. but I want to highlight and sea effect too!

Corona Virus Project #2: USN CV's Pearl Harbour (WIP)

Slow progress I am afraid on this one (I have heard tales of legendary gamers painting 150+ stands of confederates but me I seem to be caught between doing things rather than doing tings), I have black-washed them in Vallejo Black Wash (see below, needing a little more tender loving care [TLC] IMHO to add the USN greys of the hull/camo and the brown flight-deck (tbc?)):

Any 1/3000 USN painting guide references appreciated ("links to" sources or home brews both welcomed and appreciated).

Update: Useful Documentation
http://ipmsswamp.com/files/VallejoWWIINavalColorEquivalents.pdf
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships.html 
https://blackpowdergames.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-step-by-step-guide-to-painting-ww1.html
https://www.shipcamouflage.com/camouflage_database.htm

Second Corona Project: WWII Pacific Pre-War Carrier Fleet

Next up on the "Painting Tray" are some old naval friends from WWII (see below, Navwar 1/3000 USN commissioned pre-war CVs): 

The hulls as painted in Airfix Grey Primer and the bases covered by a thin layer of cheap DIY flexible filler(see below, the painted "hull" one to the left is CV1 USS Langley in her converted [again] to a seaplane carrier):

Next came the painting of the sea bases, something I had done before so a search of my blog manually revealed nothing - but a Google search of my blog found this link:
http://exiledfog.blogspot.com/2010/10/note-to-self-painting-sea-bases-fro.html

Something about automated AI indexed being far better over large complex data sets than manual tagging methinks! Thankfully I even had the original Anita Acrylic paints in the loft. The magic formula being: (50:50) - Midnight Blue/Navy Blue with Jungle Green, which I erroneously  interpreted as a 'blue mix' or a 'green mix' - we'll see how it goes (see below, "end state one", everything dark blue or dark green blue; I also touched up the grey primer again as some waves had inadvertently splashed over the sides):

Fast Forward - This is the desired end point, but again I have forgotten exactly "how" I achieved it and my note to self does not really seem to cover to get to this effect (see below, the USS Washington and the USS South Dakota - the sea is also varnished Satin if my memory serves me correctly);

Moving on .. next .. experimenting with a "wash".

Update: It seemed to be a Gloss followed my Matte varnish!
http://exiledfog.blogspot.com/search/label/USS%20South%20Dakota

US WWII Carriers WIP ... now "Mounted on Bases"

The early war US CV's mounted on bases. Two things to note, one from a historical context regarding their dimensions and configurations namely (see below):

• The USS Wasp is small, as per reflected in all historical commentaries but so much more noted on model (forth up from the bottom)
• The USS Lexington and USS Saratoga are large, even though converted battle-cruisers and so not ideally configured for CV operations their flight deck space is impressive (second and third up from the bottom)
• The USS Ranger looks very ungainly and I can only imagine those smokestacks being operationally awkward (bottom of stack)
• The USS Yorktown, USS Hornet and USS Enterprise (top three on stack) seem a very good step in the correct direction but seem to be fighting to be bigger, something the Essex class clarified successfully  

Second thing to note: This is the best way of assembling them. First "unflashed" lead is (UHU) glued onto card stock already annotated underneath with the ship's characteristics ready for the second  DIY "sea-scaping" to quickly follow, followed by undercoats (and then official ship and sea painting).

The US "Early War " Ladies (mostly in the Pacific) of WW2

The striking power of the WWII US (Pacific) Fleet was built around the US carrier force. In the early war (before the mass produced Essex and light Independence class dominated the Pacific arena) these unique almost experimental ships faced by the equally bespoke IJN flat-tops (see below):

The battle wastage in these craft was high (only USS Ranger, USS Saratoga and USS Enterprise survived the war), Going from left to right:

• USS Ranger
• USS Saratoga
• USS Lexington
• USS Wasp
• USS Yorktown
• USS Hornet
• USS Enterprise

Notably the USS Ranger is noted spent her active life in the Atlantic versus the Pacific, her capabilities (she was the first US "as designed" carrier and was part of a (steep) learning curve) deemed better suited

Next stop: Basing the Flat-Tops