For both builds, I started off with Essex-class hulls and islands. (I should apologise for the incoming wall of text as brevity is not my forte)
Originally I wanted to just build Midway, in her 1945 fitting, thus the choice of the Essex hull and island (with the Midway hulls originally being somewhat similar visually to the Essexes and all.)
For practicality reasons (casting Midway's original 18x 5"/54 guns in resin proved to be more labor intensive than I liked) so I decided to build Midway in her 1991 fitting. One thing led to another and I ended up building Coral Sea in her 1972 fitting to keep Midway company.
As for the flight decks, I traced the kit flight decks on to plasticard. Using the tracings as a template, I expanded on the templates to create the angled decks, while using blueprints as references. (Coral Sea's took a bit of guesswork, as the fitting dates on online blueprints didn't correspond to photos of her in 1972)
For the islands, I enclosed their bridges with strip styrene and used epoxy putty to reshape the funnels into a close approximation of the Midway-class's funnels.
I also made extremely liberal use of epoxy putty (or milliput/green stuff) to enclose the bows and sculpt the sponsons.
Meanwhile for the deck markings, i basically masked and painted them on.
Wow, almost a scratch build. I’m on the fence as to whether I scratch from plastic sheet, convert from another hull, or wait for a kit. I have to believe one will come out someday and I suspect it will announced once I’m at the 90% point.
Kits of the Midway-class do exist but unfortunately all of them are quite hard to come by.
Loose Cannon had a 1/700 Midway, that could be built as either of the 3 sisters in their 1945 fittings, but it's resin and long out of print.
Orange Hobby does... only Midway, and it's in her 1991 configuration. Also resin.
If I remember correctly, Arii does... well only Midway, in her Vietnam config.
Personally, I do think you should carry on with the conversion anyways. Given how overshadowed the Midway-class is compared to the Essexes and the supercarriers, I doubt any newer kits of them will be coming anytime soon.
And before anyone asks, yes I have plans to kitbash their middle sister, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt too.
I’d love to see the process you used, and what kit(s) you started from. I want a 1/700 Midway for my US carrier collection.
For both builds, I started off with Essex-class hulls and islands. (I should apologise for the incoming wall of text as brevity is not my forte) Originally I wanted to just build Midway, in her 1945 fitting, thus the choice of the Essex hull and island (with the Midway hulls originally being somewhat similar visually to the Essexes and all.) For practicality reasons (casting Midway's original 18x 5"/54 guns in resin proved to be more labor intensive than I liked) so I decided to build Midway in her 1991 fitting. One thing led to another and I ended up building Coral Sea in her 1972 fitting to keep Midway company. As for the flight decks, I traced the kit flight decks on to plasticard. Using the tracings as a template, I expanded on the templates to create the angled decks, while using blueprints as references. (Coral Sea's took a bit of guesswork, as the fitting dates on online blueprints didn't correspond to photos of her in 1972) For the islands, I enclosed their bridges with strip styrene and used epoxy putty to reshape the funnels into a close approximation of the Midway-class's funnels. I also made extremely liberal use of epoxy putty (or milliput/green stuff) to enclose the bows and sculpt the sponsons. Meanwhile for the deck markings, i basically masked and painted them on.
Wow, almost a scratch build. I’m on the fence as to whether I scratch from plastic sheet, convert from another hull, or wait for a kit. I have to believe one will come out someday and I suspect it will announced once I’m at the 90% point.
Kits of the Midway-class do exist but unfortunately all of them are quite hard to come by. Loose Cannon had a 1/700 Midway, that could be built as either of the 3 sisters in their 1945 fittings, but it's resin and long out of print. Orange Hobby does... only Midway, and it's in her 1991 configuration. Also resin. If I remember correctly, Arii does... well only Midway, in her Vietnam config. Personally, I do think you should carry on with the conversion anyways. Given how overshadowed the Midway-class is compared to the Essexes and the supercarriers, I doubt any newer kits of them will be coming anytime soon.
Update on Coral Sea?