Looks nice, although...

Yorktown-class had metal deck and catapults?

Early Wildcats were catapult launchable?

They did have catapults, but they were not steam. don't think that they used them much operationally.
2 × flight deck hydraulic catapults
1 × hangar deck hydraulic catapult

"In drawing up the preliminary design for USS Essex (CV-9), particular attention was directed at the size of both her flight and hangar decks. Aircraft design had come a long way from the comparatively light planes used in carriers during the 1930s. Flight decks now required more takeoff space for the heavier fighters and bombers being developed. Most of the first-line carriers of the pre-war years were equipped with flush deck catapults, but owing to the speed and size of these ships very little catapulting was done?except for experimental purposes.

With the advent of war, airplane weights began to go up as armor and armament got heavier; crew size aboard the planes also increased. By the war?s end in 1945, catapult launchings would become more common under these circumstances with some carrier commanding officers reporting that as much as 40% of launchings were effected by the ships? catapults."

I have seen photos of the Lexington class were they used the catapults for launching seaplanes and such

The USN didn't have steal flight decks until the Midways came on line claiming that the wood was more easy to repair then steal

Its beta. Its simply a test dataini to get in the water. The correct era setup will be installed. Nice work Hinch.

Oh yeah forgot to say that,, looks great! Hinch! hopfuly Rising sun never scraps there Big-E like the USN did :-(

Like I say............ tales of the future. Not written in stone.


Colmack,

I was reading about Enterprise's demise. Complete cock-up. You have a number of rebuilt Essexes preserved, but yet this carrier that went through WWII gets the axe?

Yes they should of saved her, I think it would have been like if they scraped Constitution. Bull Halsey gave it everything he had to save her, kids all around sent in all of there piggy bank's pennies but there were so many ex WWII ships going to the cutters that she just got caught up in the wash you know you cant save um all but "historic landmarks" should never be messed with, there is another Enterprise getting ready to start her "golden years" I don't think she will ever see the cutters but don't think she will be made into a museum either because of her propulsion system, probably suffer the same fate as her half sister CV-66 America after the EPA is satisfied.

Hinch,

This is a tough audience. Almost any story we want to tell, there will be someone as or more knowledgeable than we are.

Another exceptional ship...maybe the best yet...that or the Prince of Wales. I look forward to putting it to sea.

Looks good Hinch - poly count looks pretty spot-on

It must be a massive task to convert the SF:P1 engine into a WW2 sim - it's a testament to it's flexibility that such a project can even be undertaken!

I still think that the boat pictured in this thread is of the "Yorktown" class and not the "Essex" class - but I'm definitely not an expert on naval vessels.

It struck me as odd that Wildcats would be on the cats in the first image, but considering that SF:P1 would be natively instructing all aircraft to attach to the catapults, it makes sense.

No457_Squog,

You're right, she's a Yorktown. The planes are just there because something has to be for testing purposes (making sure shadows don't get screwed up, etc.).

Cheers,
Hinch

Plus, today's Enterprise is just too big for a museum ship. The upkeep for all that acreage would sink any museum foundation.............. no matter the interest.

There were attempts to save Ark Royal (IV.......... not the modern one), but in British terms, she was just too large to maintain for any willing heritage group.

Quick update before she goes to the breakers...........er, painters, that is.

Yorktown as she enters the painting yard.

Way to go Hinch.

Having been launched, Lexington is now in the fitting out basin.........

As I was testing the as yet basic model for shadow problems, I thought I'd take a shot......

It's a good start. Looks like you are going for the earlier version of the ship, before the inevitable updates that WW2 brought.

First iteration, for building purposes only, will be Lexington as she was in the mid '30's. Then the 8" guns will be removed, flight deck at the bow widened and AA enhanced.............. as needed.

Incredible work so far, Hinch! I've been enjoying watching the genesis of this project, and seeing the carriers coming together is truly awesome!

As for the 'Prise, they'll never sink her as a target, as the EPA and other agencies would never be satisfied- WAY too much radioactive contamination throughout the ship, including outside of the plant spaces. Same reason why the Long Beach, Bainbridge, et al got turned into razor blades instead of sunk. I do hope they can turn her into some kind of museum.

Thanks NavyNuke99

Due to an oversight on my part, I've had to rebuild the port boat galleries, but am now back on course.

The weekly shadow check........

Got bored of Lexington sailing alone, so...............

Great looking set of ships, Hinch.

Outstanding Work!

Regards,

J. P. Kelly

Last shot before the weekend........

Getting closer.

I have a special place in my heart for the Lady Lex. My grandfather served aboard her.

Wow! Beautiful!

Looks very good.

i hope, the texture-mapping will allow easy re-painting ? so we shall be able to do new liveries for these beauties.

keep up your fine work
Phamtuan

We will do all the skins for them all.

With regard to painting, etc., Z5 is the 'go to' guy.

Hi,

will the more complicated measure (32-11A for example) be included ?

waiting for the release :-)

On which ships? The Sumner?

As far as the carriers, they do not enter our story line until the Lexington at Rabaul so expect each ship to appear in whatever paint schemes they used from that point onward in this order:

Lexington
Hornet
Enterprise
Yorktown
Wasp
Saratoga

Are you doing a Coral Sea scenerio? If so the Yorktown should be ahead of the Hornet.

We were going to do Butch O'Hare first. That was on February 19th or 20th (dateline)...so a couple of months before Doolittle or Coral Sea. I said "Rabaul" because that's about where they were. It is not associated with any battles for Rabaul.

It's hard to break out the hard core truth from the hyperbole of the moment but it is said that he saved the Lexington. Two things are certain. He did something extraordinarily brave and skillful... and they named a very busy airport after him. In WWII huge heroes were important to all sides when their actual deeds were amazing without embellishment. It's a good pilot tale and if we can get the Betty's to attack low enough, it ought to be fun as hell to fly.

Yeah, those were the first strikes against the Japanese. Very limited stuff.

Weekly update.

Got bored of working on Saratoga........

So another shot of Repulse...

I'll see your Repulse...



and raise you a Prince.



We are finalizing this mission. Wrong G4M version. Wrong torpedo. Wrong results from G3M2's. Wrong FM's. Wrong AAA from ships. And, finally, I decided I did not like the paint on the Prince of Wales.

It had to be more than a long ferry for a one-shot attack. It is now.

And, Hinch, what paint do you want on the TBD-1?

Standard blue will do nicely.

In your email.

Pilot canopy Animation 4
Torpedo officer 5
Tail gunner 6
Wingfold 8

I included the torpedo and rack but not any pilots. If you want them, I will send the guys in May Wests. The gunner faces backwards and is wearing denims. I have removed the middle crewman because they were left on the ship at Midway because casualties were expected to be high and we won't be using these planes after that battle.

It's a little "stall happy". I will fix that later but it should give you the appropriate fits when landing on one of your decks.

Got it.

Will test things, once Dad stops hovering around.

Lexington before the 8" are removed and AA added.

.............. and Saratoga. Another work in progress.

That's a nice looking Saratoga.


Wheels

Soon for the painters.........

One more........

Regarding the size of the funnel, does anying know if it caused problems for pilots when landing on either the Sara or Lex?

I don't believe so. If you look at the Yorktown class the funnel size wasn't that much different. Likewise the Essex class really wasn't much narrower.

In all honesty, the Lexington class were a masterful reconstruction of the old battlecruiser hull. the Akagi and Kaga needed substantial rebuilds before they could be considered up to 'modern' carriers of their day and they still lagged somewhat behind the later model IJN carriers. The Akagi could handle really only around 70 aircraft at best while the Shokaku could handle a similar number and more with much less displacement. the Lexingtons could easily handle 85 plus aircraft and the Saratoga carried a larger complement at the end of the war. There were very few ships designed in the 20s that could still hold their own 20 plus years later when put with the Essex class but the Lexington class could easily do it.

I still think it was a tragedy that they used the Sara for the A-bomb tests. That was one of the two ships that made US naval aviation in the 20's, without her we would have been hosed in the first few years of the war.

I have to assume there was some issue with the size/height of the funnel, as Saratoga's was cut down by some 14' in her major post-Pearl Habour refit. All the air eddies around such a complicated structure could prove a nuisance for those attempting to land.

Could also be due to the change in weight related to the increase in AA guns. I know losing the 8 inchers probably helped some with the weight but that may have been offset and then some by the 1.1 inchers and the extra 20mm guns that were added.

Never really read what was the explanation.

The old girl finally goes to the painters...........

Okay,
Time to finish Saratoga...............

And so Wasp begins..................

Hey Hinchinbrooke,

how do you build your ships in such a fast manner? At least we will see the USS Wasp, a ship that I never saw i a computer game before. Do you plan to use her for the battles in Guadalcanal?
Can`t wait to see her finished.

Porto,

I just build ships. Z5 is the operations 'go to' guy. Plus, I don't remember

Closest thing to the Wasp that I have seen is the generic 'US Fleet Carrier' in SHIV.

Nice ship to have but probably wouldn't have been around much after 1943. She would have gone back to the Atlantic at that point. She was a compromise carrier, too weakly set up to handle the Pacific war in 44 and 45, especially the Kamakazee aspects. She only came to this side of the pond because the Lexington and Yorktown were sunk and the Saratoga had to spend time in drydock due to a torpedo hit.

Wasp definitely wasn't around much after 1943; she was sunk 15 September 1942.

That's why we asked Hinch to make her. Eastern Solomons.

Yes, I understand. Just commenting on TC's comment.

Anyway...........

Beautiful, Hinch.

You know, it is ironic that the great ships you created for Yankee Air Pirate are, some of them, still afloat. For Rising Sun, your level of detail has risen considerably and everything you have done for us is going to Davey Jones' Locker rapidly.

Prince of Wales
Repulse
Arizona
California
Tennessee
West Virginia
Maryland
Pennsylvania
Oklahoma
Nevada
Utah
Akagi
Kaga
Hiryu
Soryu
Lexington
Yorktown
Wasp
Hornet

We are really going to make a mess of all your work.

Nice Screenshots.
Which carrier is the one in this picture.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p306/yap05/PH2.jpg
Maybe I should know from the markings but I don't.


Wheels

Seems to be the Akagi. Am I right Hinch?

Yes. Proxy for Hinch.

It looks like one hard landing coming up. AI. Looks goofy but at least they are finding the ships.

Saratoga let out for some shadow testing.................

Took a few of the old battleships out for a run

Following completion, Saratoga to be sent to the painting yard.

You heard it here first...........

One more.....................

The paint shop has the CV-3. Nice work, Hinch. We won't know until they are painted but this looks like the best yet. Hard to compare but certainly the best in the game.









Once they are mapped, it will only take about 4 days per ship then we will show them off. I think they will be eye candy.

Especially if you guys do the Measure 32 11A camouflage for Sara!

One more............

Looking great Phil, I can't believe no one has told me of this before.

Gramps

Hey Gramps! Long time no hear. Hope all's well.

Nice shot of the Tennessee class at sea.

Thought she was a Colorado until I noticed the three 14 inchers in the turrets.

We were talking about the Wasp a couple of days ago. The subject of the elevators came up. Should we? Shouldn't we? We decided you'd catch it if we didn't put them on so Hinch is putting them on. : )

The Wasp would be ok except she really wasn't there all that long and was really only in one major battle. I don't know how hard it would be to modify a Yorktown class ship to create the Wasp (she was a cutdown Yorktown class). If it was up to me I would rather see some IJN and US CVLs, you probably could substitute one of those for the Wasp in any scenerio. I know it isn't right but the Independence class filled a vital, and somewhat unheard of, role in the war. Either that or modifly the size and the stack on a Yorktown and that should do. The hull was pretty similar. Yep, the elevators are something on the Wasp, certainly different than any other carrier design but was more a function of the small hull than anything else. Would be cool to see in action. Few even know about the funky elevators they put on that thing.

Good thoughts but being story-based, the Wasp is one of those stories. We cannot start averaging out the models if for no other reason than Mike. He would come unglued if we used the wrong carrier. Definitely un-YAP. It has take months to get him to accept substitutes for ships out of the action. Hinch is going to Essex next then we need to decide upon a British carrier. We haven't discussed Independence Class with Hinch yet but they should not be a challenge for him.

See? You knew about the elevators.

Wasp is still in the 'elemental' stage. Much is 'in the air' (literally), but things are coming along.

Excellent Wasp. You rarely see her in any sim. Victim of the 'golden spread' of the Japanese sub I-19 . Can't wait to see her in-game.

Gramps

Hey there Gramps, long time no see! Welcome back.

More trying to placate wasps.

Yep Tom, it's been a while! A random click on the SimHQ Main Page on something called "Rising Sun" led me here, and it's just too good not to comment on. This project is something of a wish of mine, the finished project will be awesome.

Gramps

An early test of a very early Wasp...........

Hey Hinchinbrooke,

I think it is the first time I see the Wasp in a flightsim. It is a perfect representation of the small carrier (only 15000 tons) and easy to recognize due to the high stack. Should be interesting to land on her.

Yep, she was too small, too slow, etc., etc. Good for ferrying aircraft or participating in sideshows, but when it came to the Pacific, she met her match (don't put fuel lines outside the hull). Makes Ranger look like a compelling design................ not!

We need her for her missions. The challenge is to present variety and as much fun as the A2A missions are in Rising Sun, too many will dull the senses. Wasp did some interesting things before she went to the bottom. Anyway, we have some spectacular effects for her...a good show.

Well I am curious, but I think you won't make a mission dealing with the defence of malta? ;-)
Zero, I have to apologise to read your SimHQ email-message to late (even didnt know, that I could receive a message by this way until now) By the way: Do you meah the "taxi" signs on the runway?

Gee, Hinch. That's amazing! No kidding. Amazing work.

I can answer this real quick.

Because Malta wasn't in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. Zero and his team would have to make JU88s, He 111s, a whole slew of Italian aircraft and other items like British Carriers, escorts and appropriate merchants for Malta itself.

It isn't a bad idea, maybe something for the team to consider in the future.

More sea time for Wasp..................

Looking great.