Corona Virus Project 2c - WIP: USN Midway Destroyers (DD)

Onto the painting tray, flash metal trimmed away, based on hard cardboard and sea textured with the spreading of a DIY flexible sealant and the US Destroyer is well under way (see below, a flotilla of thirty "boats" should see all my early war needs fulfilled, and courtesy of the "Navwar Leyte Gulf party pack" I bought way back when - I have another fifty mid-late war Fletcher class DDs to add at some point in the future):

It is also nice when a 'sensible storage solution' comes along as the same time as a collection takes shape. The BAs, BBs, CVs, CVLs, CVEs, CAs, CLs and CL-AAs of the USN pacific Fleet have a variety of small plastic boxes to fit into, but I was struggling for something for the DDs, things were just not the "right size". Then a magazine shipping package" (akin to  a very thin pizza box) I had kept for no better reason than I thought "one day it might be useful", on closer inspection was "just what I needed" for the destroyer flotillas' home (see below, TF8, TF16, TF17 destroyer contingents - along with four WWI era four-stackers I needed for the Battle of the Java Sea I did a while back):

Following the basing and texturing, the metal was covered in Airfix Gray Acrylic Primer (01) and the sea base around the ships received the same ad-hoc mixture of Anita's Acrylics as the previoys projects (see below - Navy Blue, Jungle Green and Midnight Blue in approximate thirds - forming the dark sea-base):

The last stage of the "shade coat priming" is to give the destroyers a Vallejo "Black" Wash all over (see below, the darkness of the resulting shadows makes the painting of the grey base and subsequent highlighting stage much easier):

Next stage: Grey hulls-superstructure and blue decks.

Corona Virus Project 2b: Coral Sea USN Cruisers

Coming next on the maritime theme, after the US CVs (as in the new capital ship of the Pacific Theatre) it is the ships charged with their "close" protection - AA and ship-to-ship gunnery. The first wave of which is the USN 8" CA (Heavy Cruisers). Thankfully they do not have the intricate deck markings associated with the CVs (see below, these had been lurking around in the deck for a good decade and their time has finally come): 

With the varnish still drying on their decks and the satin sea effect hopefully coning to fruition the Coral Sea Task Force 17 and Task Force 44 (US) cruisers are on show below:

• USS Minneapolis 
• USS New Orleans
• USS Astoria
• USS Chester
• USS Portland

Task Force 44:

• USS Chicago
• RAN Australia (not shown)
• RAN Hobart (not shown)

(see below, I am sure these CAs are secretly hoping they do not meet any IJN BB/BA opposition, as most of their's (US) is still resting at the bottle of Pearl Harbour):

Next up the DD escorts that provide the second ring of steel around the CVs.

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: USS Ranger and USS Langley (CV4 and CV1)

USS Ranger was the first "designed" as an aircraft carrier ship for the USN - still experiment in many concepts - the funnel arrangement for one thing looks a frightening nightmare for any friendly aviator approaching her, but she did have a modern island bridge. She was deemed unsuitable for operations n the Pacific so spent her wartime career supporting European Theatre operations (see below, a rather large number "four" shows proud, a bit thicker than the one I put on the Saratoga, but that should not matter as they wouldn't be present in the same fleet operation):

Stepping back, I redid the USS Langley to be in keeping with the other ships (see below, but teh time WWII came around she had been converted to a sea-plane tender, so technically not a CV at all, but I am not going to quibble here):

The early war carriers together (to date I have done four out of the eight needed so I am halfway there). Originally I thought I would do these in an evening .. what a "foolish child" I was! The flight deck (surprise surprise causes all the grief .. I don't mind the "sea bases" now). Still I am pleased to get to this point (see below, an armada of US naval air power, this also means I an going to have to go back and look at the RN flight decks at some point .. I also want to upgrade my sea basing technique across the board): 

Note to Self: Still thinking about that big looking number "four" compared to the skinny number "three". Watch this space I might have to fiddle ;)

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 ;)

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

Note to Self: Painting Sea Bases fro 1/3000 ships

Painting Recipe used for 1/3000 WW2 Pacific ships used for Battle of Java Sea
 (IJN versus ABDA)

Ships mounted on card-stock 
Cruisers: 30mm wide 80mm long
Destroyers: Combination of 30mm wide by 50mm long and 20mm wide by 60mm long
(Latter version is better/preferred for larger destroyers)
Navwar 1/3000 figures washed, filed of flash and glued to base using wood-glue
Note: Basing note important for GQII rules used

Wave Effects
After wood-glue sets (or alternatively painted ship "plonked" into wet filler
DIY Brand (Focus) Flexible Gap Filler, ready mixed in tube thinly spread over base
Rough irregularities represent waves

Sea Painting
Base left to dry overnight
Mixture of Anita Acrylics: Midnight Blue/Navy Blue + Jungle Green (50:50) applied to base and sides
Uneven coverage requires second application of same mixture
Lighten composition with progressive amounts of Ocean Blue in wey brush fashion not seeking 100% coverage
Sufficient to take the prominent tops and crests
White may also be added to this mixture (actually used Games Workshop Skull White as it was the nearest thing to hand and I wanted to use it up before it dried up on me)
Final dry-brushed sparing with a white wave top. 

Ship Wake Painting
Here I need to do some more research
I went with my standard white down the sides of the ship with a churned propeller wash
This is probably more cartoon than physical representation
Assumes ship travelling at speed without generating great "V" wave
Comments appreciated
Three step process using:
(Games Workshop) Codex Grey
(Games Workshop) Fortress Grey
(Games Workshop) Skull White
Why these paints simply to use them up

Photographs of finished ships to follow in subsequent posts
Perhaps  I can retro-fill description of the above better with more examples as I go along