Repairing the Hornet

I started this 1/700 Tamiya 1/700 U.S.S. Hornet (CV-8) in the spring of 1992 after finishing law school, and finished it the following March, complete with build info sheet. The Hornet was depicted as she appeared at the time of the Doolittle raid on April 18, 1942.

Tamiya's kit had some modifications. The flight deck was reshaped at the bow to provide the Hornet's unique shape, the Mk 37 fire directors were replaced with new ones from Skywave's parts kit, and additional life rafts were added from a Tamiya Enterprise kit. Photoetched railings and radars were by Gold Medal Models. The Hornet was camouflaged to Measure 12 Mod. , which she wore from February, 1942 until her sinking. Measure 12 Mod. consists of Sea Blue, represented by Polly—S Blue FS 35045, and Ocean Gray, represented by Polly—S Ocean Gray FS 36176. The flight deck is dark gray, represented by Humbrol Gris Bleu Fonce (Dark Blue Gray) over Testors Gunship Gray FS 36118. The B—25s were camouflaged in Humbrol Olive Drab over Testors Gloss Gull Gray FS 16440.

At some point I realized that I made the cardinal sin when modeling the Hornet of using the same paint colors for the island as the hull, when in actuality the pattern on the island was not the hull colors of Navy Blue (5-N) and Ocean Gray (5-O), but Ocean Gray and Haze Gray (5-H). Also, while I believed the hull was the Sea Blue called for by Measure 12 Mod., I now know that the darker Navy Blue was likely used. But more importantly, the FS 35045 I was using for the hull color was far too dark.

By 2025 the old Hornet had been severely damaged when something fell in the display cabinet, and the island was heavily damaged. While actually gave me an idea, since I cleared the way for a repair job that - along the lines of the 2023 redo of the Wasp would correct the hull color and replace the island with a Model Monkey one that was accurate, and could be correctly painted.

But unlike the scratchbuilt Wasp, the model is the substantially undersized undersized Tamiya kit. I almost discarded it, but it is a generally good build with a lot of railings, and I have no plans to build another Doolittle Raid Hornet model from a better kit, so I thought it would be worthwhile to correct the major errors.

I had not planned on doing it all this weekend while I was working on my new 1/72 B-25, but this weekend turned out to be the right time.

heading

Correcting the Hull Color

As with the Wasp while I changed the Navy Blue and added Haze Gray, I did not change the Ocean Gray which colored most of the model. I “primed” the dark sections of the hull with Scalecolors Ocean Gray to block the darker paint underneath, though, then top coated with Scalecolor Navy Blue.

heading New Island

As mentioned above, I got a Model Monkey island, opting for the 1/719 version that's the actual scale of the undersized Tamiya kit. I added Mk. 37 directors and radars and searchlights from a Trumpeter Ticonderoga, and brass and stretched sprue masts and yardarms. I also added a photoetch SC radar, which is what Hornet carried until July 1942, when she received the CXAM radar salvaged from the battleship California. The island was primed and coated with Scalecolors 5-H, and the Ocean Gray panels were painted on, using the same Polly—S Ocean Gray FS 36176 that I'd used back in 1992 so the island panels matched the hull.

heading New B-25 Paint Job

The olive drab on the B-25s always seemed a bit dark, so I I repainted the army planes in the Scalecolors Olive Drab and neutral gray undersides that I got for the 1/72 Airfix kit, and added insignia from a Starfighter Lexington (CV-2) set, using the correct 52” roundels for the wing, and 45” for the fuselage.

I deliberately didn't spend extra time adding railings and other details to the new island, since even with all the extra work, this model will stay on the bottom shelf. But at least now it has a correctly colored - and far more accurate - island, and a better air group.