It was more than 50 years ago when I first made alterations to a commercial model. I always collected models on the basis of each model representing a specific actual ship. Using that criteria I had acquired 3 models of the Midway class aircraft carriers from Comet-Authenticast. They were all identical. The US Navy began modernization programs to improve the capabilities of the actual ships and extend their service lives. The Midway class were modified several times. Each ship received her own alterations.
The first variation was the addition of an angled flight deck so that an aircraft landing would not interfere with other aircraft being launched off the bow, This is what the first model I ever modified looked like after I was done. I removed the original flight deck and replaced it with a new one made from balsa wood. Balsa is not the ideal material for this sort of thing. It’s soft and can be easily damaged. But I was new to this kind of work and that was what I had to work with. I also removed all the 5″ gun mounts located along the sides and replaced only the ones that were actually retained on the real ship. A bit of plastic wood was used to enclose the bow and fill in under the new angled flight deck. Then I painted my new model, and used some white model railroad decals to mark the flight deck and catapults. The number 42 on the bow, and on the island, was hand painted. Several years later I added an air search radar on the starboard side of the stack. Her is how it came out.
Obviously my skill as a photographer leaves a lot to be desired. When the weather gets a bit warmer I plan to try making some new photos outside. Till then, these will be here along with my apologies.
A few years later I got another model of the same type in a trade with another wargamer-collector. This prompted me to make the next conversions. The first version had taken me several months of planning, but only a few days to execute the changes. The next model took much longer. I made the flight deck out of a piece of sheet metal. Cutting it and smoothing the edges took weeks. Almost all the original sponsons were removed and the structure under the flight deck was filled in with a combination of cut rubber erasers and modelling clay. The original mast was replaced with a new one. By this time I had a lot of experience making alterations, and even building models from scratch. I used decals for some of the numbers, and a drawing pen with white ink for the deck markings. Finally, I added a little piece of eraser for the mirror landing system, and put a boat from my stock of spare parts on the starboard side. Here is the result.
Te next variation for the class came after I got a new Weyer’s warships book. It included the flight deck plans for all three of the former sister ships. This time I used a sheet of plastic for the flight decks. I replaced the cranes abaft the island and the masts. Once again, modelling clay was used for most of the filler and shaping the enclosed hurricane bow. Sponsoned air search radars were added. This is when the first model got this same modification. I made a new CVA-42 because in the interim the real ship had her forward elevator moved from the center line to the deck edge. I even tried drilling holes for the the inside of the stacks on one model. Painting was, once again, all by hand, and the deck markings were done as before with white ink.
Making changes like this gave me unique differences to emulate those of the actual ships. It also provided me with hours of research time. These changes are not of the standard of some of the better model makers, but they made me happy. In the end, it’s my model and I can change it’s appearance (physical and painting) any way that pleases me.
Some day I may even learn how to photograph my models.
Wetherhorn 