Yellow Gear Part 1

One of the reasons I like aircraft carriers is the colorful aircraft and vehicles found on the deck.  For the Clemenceau, I wanted to show a deck filled with a decent amount of activity.  In order to do this, I needed to find suitable vehicles.

My journey lead me to Hobby Lobby.  The yellow gear comes from the Gallery Models USS Wasp, thanks to a Hobby Lobby 40% coupon.  "Wait", you say.  "Isn't that kit 1/350 scale instead of 1/400 scale?"  Well, yes.  The size difference is about 12% - meaning the deck vehicles are too big.   I am willing to live with it because, so far, there are no aftermarket deck vehicles in 1/400 scale.

The forklifts were built straight out of the box.  Even at 1/350 scale, the details on these things are amazing. My eyes strained to see the very tiny steering column, but thanks to a good pair of tweezers I was able to add them.




The nitrogen carts were also built straight out of the box.  Again, the level of detail is impressive.

The starter carts (I think that is what they are) came together pretty well, although I did have trouble with the very small wheels.  I just couldn't get them to lay down right.  A little brute force pushed them down into place.

Now for the deck tractors.  The French use a smaller tractor on their flight decks than the Americans.  Makes sense, since they use smaller aircraft carriers.  The French tractors also have a very distinctive hood that has a very sharp angle. The tractors found in the Wasp kit are larger than the French ones, and they have very square front ends.

To help make the Wasp tractors look more French, I sanded the front hood down as best I could to simulate the sharp angle of the French tractors. I also sanded down the rear deck as well.  Granted this is not perfect.  However, I think this changes the look of the Wasp tractors enough that you won't think of them as American (not sure what you would think of them as).  I will let you judge whether or not I was successful.

Perhaps L'Arsenal can add 1/400 French flight deck equipment to their list of products.

I am also considering adding the mobile crane from ISW's carrier vehicles in order to replace the one from the kit.  Just need to place the order.

Oh yeah!  I am going to need a set of JAG's Wasp replacement vehicles.

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