I was just watching that “Movies in Time” special on the History Channel. They were showing a movie called “Midway”. I got really facinated in the USS Yorktown. I really want a model of her, but can’t find any kits. Can I convert the Trumpeter Yorktown CV-10 (?) 1944 to the Yorktown’s 1942 apearance? Please tell me what I have to do , thanks!!!
~Anthony~[:p]
The 1942 Yorktown (CV-5) and the one represented by the Trumpeter kit (CV-10) were different ships. The former was the lead ship of the Yorktown class, which also included the Enterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8). The later Yorktown - the one represented by the Trumpeter kit - was a member of the larger, and quite different-looking, Essex class.
The place to start on a 1/350 model of the first Yorktown, therefore, would be the Trumpeter Hornet. I don’t have the kit, but on the basis of the pictures of it that I’ve seen the conversion would be significant but not overwhelming. The big differences, so far as I can tell, were in the bridge structure, the tripod mast, and the radar. I’m sure there also were some differences in the two ships’ anti-aircraft armament.
Quite a few years ago I started a project to build a Yorktown on 1/700 scale, combining parts from the Tamiya Hornet and Enterprise kits. I got bogged down when I became aware of a major problem from which both of those kits suffer: their islands are ridiculously skinny. I got as far as fattening up my *Yorktown’*s island, and was confronting the changes that would have to be made to the flight deck in order to accommodate it when I got diverted by some other project.
I also bought a set of plans for the Yorktown from The Floating Drydock. Those drawings, which are reproduced from the Navy’s “Booklet of General Plans,” are fascinating. They illustrate a conspicuous mistake in the Tamiya kits - a mistake that’s been repeated by Trumpeter, and on every other Yorktown-class kit I’ve seen.
There’s supposed to be a huge opening (marked “Void” on the plans) at the front of the funnel structure. Why this gap was there I have no idea; it looks as though the funnel was made in two halves that didn’t reach each other. The gap is at least six feet wide (I don’t have the plans in front of me), and stretches from the base of the funnel to the cap. Its location makes it hard to see in most photos; that’s probably why all the manufacturers missed it. But if you look for it in the right photos you can find it - on all three ships.
I mention this mistake mainly because it would be easy to fix - on the Trumpeter kit or any other. Just trim back the front end of each funnel half, and built a shallow styrene box inside (the back of the box being the front of the funnel trunking proper). Easy to fix while the model’s under construction, but next to impossible once it’s finished.
Back to CV-5 - two excellent sources, with lots of pictures, are That Gallant Ship, by Robert Creswell, and Return to Midway, by Robert Ballard. The latter book, a National Geographic publication, contains some fascinating photos of the wreck on the bottom of the Pacific.
Hope this helps.
Hi Anthony,
No you can’t use that ship. The CV-10 Yorktown is an Essex class, and the CV-5 Yorktown is a Yorktown class. However Trumpeter’s 1/350 USS Hornet (CV-8) IS a Yorktown class ship. The main difference is in the island. There is a resin aftermarket island available out there made by Nautilus Models. Pacific Front has them for $69.
Here is a link:
http://www.pacificfront.com/
The flight deck is also different. Nautilus models also produces a replacement flight deck in wood for a Yorktown/Enterprise configuration.
http://nautilusmodels.com/enterprise.htm
WOW! Talk about increasing the price of the model![:O][:O][:O][:O][banghead][banghead][censored][censored]
Now if you wanted the ship that was used in the movie, then maybe CV10 would be correct. Many of the standing shots and at sea footage taken from “Tora Tora Tora” were done on the Yorktown CV10. However, the present Yorktown CV 10 is a much much different ship than the Trumpeter CV 10 WW2 version.
Just my
[2c]
Scott[:D]
After reading the posts from other folks in this thread I took a look at the Nautilus Models site. The 1/350 resin Enterprise/Yorktown island looks like a beautiful kit. I was startled to note, though, that it does not have the “gap” in the front of the stack that I mentioned in my earlier post. There seems to be a pipe or something similar running down the front of the stack, but no gap.
The rest of the Nautilus kit is of such obvious quality that I started wondering whether that big gap was a figment of my imagination. So I looked up some photos of the Yorktown to refresh my dubious memory. The gap is there, all right; in fact it’s considerably wider than I remembered it. (“Is,” incidentally, is the operative word. The gap is quite prominent in a couple of photos of the wreck in Dr. Ballard’s book.) In several photos of the ship in happier times you can see the gap if you’re looking for it. At first glance you may think there’s a wide black stripe painted on the front of the stack, but not so.
I mention this not as a criticism of anybody, but simply because it’s so surprising that a rather conspicuous feature of such a famous class of ships should elude so many modelers. I wouldn’t have caught it if I hadn’t spotted the word “Void” on the old plans. If I remember correctly (the usual caveat; I don’t remember lots of things correctly these days) those two superb 1/72 scale Enterprises (at Pensacola and Oshkosh, I think) do have the gaps in their stack fronts. But every other model of that class that I’ve seen lacks the gap.
These, of course, are the prattlings of a senile sailing ship modeler who may, once again, have ventured out of his depth. Any comments from the modern warship enthusiasts?
scottrc wrote: Now if you wanted the ship that was used in the movie, then maybe CV10 would be correct. Many of the standing shots and at sea footage taken from “Tora Tora Tora” were done on the Yorktown CV10…
This is one of those rare occasions where I have some firsthand knowledge of the subject at hand. The ship used in the movie was the Lexington CVT-16. I was onboard during the shooting and was in the background in one of the bridge shots. Glenn Ford and Charleton Heston were up on the bridge and flag bridge with us for numerous shots. Glenn Ford was a Naval Reserve captain and really knew his stuff.
I know the movie in all actuality really stunk but, we were allowed to view an advanced screening of the movie ( in Sensurround audio! ). We all thought we were really something.
I will sign autographs if you send me a self addressed, stamped envelope.
I’m sorry, I should have went further and billited the Lex as the prime movie star for the underway shots in “Midway”. However, since I had an ex-Yorktown crewman in my old IPMS club, who was on board the old CVS 10 when “Tora Tora Tora” was being filmed, he was glad to point out the few shots of the Japanese planes taking off of his “Akagi” that was footage from the older film.[:D] That was why I included the Yorktown as also being in “Midway”.
Watching any of these movies with an ex Lexington and ex Yorktown crewmember is quit an experience let me tell ya.[:D] My father was ET on the Lex and we can’t watch “Midway” without getting a detailed description of the ship whenever a scene of her shows up.
Scott
I am converting the Trumpeter Hornet to the CV 6 Enterprise. The biggest thing I have noticed on people converting the ship to the Enterprise or Yorktown is the forward deck. Everyone leaves the deck on the models as it appears on the hornet. If you look carefully at pictures on the web, the deck is shaped quite differently than the other two ships. It really shows up more than any other moistake in the conversion. If you have the forward area of the deck wrong, no matter how much you are correct on the island and other areas, the bow will really stick out.
Good luck
Ric
Scott… Sorry about getting indignant over your omission of the Lex.
( I am guilty of the same crime as that your dad. My kids disappear whenever Midway comes on)
Ahh, no need to appologize, I’m elated to hear that you were actually there during the filming.
Scott
“I know the movie in all actuality really stunk but, we were allowed to view an advanced screening of the movie ( in Sensurround audio! ). We all thought we were really something.”
Hi Suffixer:
I’m just curious if they screened the version that included the Coral Sea battle. I remember see this version on tv back in the late 70’s(I think) but haven’t seen it again since. I thought they would have had it on the DVD that had omitted scenes included but all they showed was about 5 minutes in Yorktown as they where preparing for the battle. I was starting to think I imagined seeing the longer version but somebody over at Tanknet confirmed it’s existance.
I agree that some parts of the movie where pretty bad but overall I felt it did a great job of showing how this pivotal battle came about and just how ballsy Nimitz was to see it through. The look of shock and dismay of the Japanese pilots on the deck of the Hiryu as they watched 3 of their fleet carriers exploding and burning around them was a truly great moment in the film. It certainly conveyed to me that this was indeed the turning point of the Pacific War and only 6 months after Pearl harbor. Incredible!
The movie started with the Doolittle Raid launching B-25s from the Hornet. It was in a tepia toned black and white that blended into the rest of the movie’s color after the raid. The theater was rigged with the “Sensuround” speaker system ( it was like a lot of sub-woofers and big midrange speakers ). It was loud and gave a good feel of being on a flightdeck.
It then went to a quick aside to the Coral Sea battle.
From there, the thing began to smell like last week’s skivvies with a few wiffs of salty air every now and then…
As several posters have noted, CV-5 is a VERY different ship than CV-10. CV-5 was the lead ship of the Yorktown class and CV-10 was an Essex-class carrier.
My grandfather , (then) Capt. Elliott Buckmaster, was the commanding officer of Yorktown (CV-5) when she was sunk and his character appears prominently in the Midway movie. My father was Senior Aviator on Arizona (we watched the attack together - I was quite little! - as he was home for the weekend). Later in the war he dropped the first bomb on Mushasi. And my uncles were the Crommelin brothers.
Me? I was a Marine. I made a carrier trap as a front seat passenger as a midshipman, which cured me of any lingering desire to wear “Wings of Gold”!
Wow, that’s some bloodline you come from - a true who’s who of the USN in WW2.
I always thought it was a shame that Captain Buckmaster never got to command another carrier during the war - he did a brilliant job with the Yorktown.
IF YOU ON A BUDGET, YOU COULD SOURCE OUT THE REVELL KIT OF THE YORKTOWN AND USE THE GOLD MEDALS PE SET DESIGNED FOR THIS KIT. IT WAS ALSO REISSUED AS THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY CARRIER A FEW YEARS BACK. SOME DETAIL IS A BIT SOFT BUT GENERALLY ACCURATE. I DID SOME RESEARCH ON HER AS PART OF A DIORAMA I WAS COMMISSIONED TO BUILD FOR OUR MARITIME MUSEUM HERE IN BRISBANE AUSTRALIA. I WAS ASKED TO BUILD APPROX. 60 VESSELS FOR THE DIO INCLUDING THE YORKTOWN FOR THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CORAL SEA BATTLE HELD HERE IN 2002. IT WAS ATTENDED BY FORMER CREW MEMBERS OF ALL ALLIED VESSELS IN THAT CAMPAIGN FROM HERE AND THE US. GOOD REFERENCE PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND IN RETURN TO MIDWAY BY BOB BALLARD.
oh and if you want to make a Enterprise (CV-6) after her refit you will have to craft some 40mm gun tubs and place them accordingly. As well as rework the Island as well.