Thanks all. This was probably one of the most time-consuming projects I've undertaken... with massive delays caused by two week-long trips and moving cities...
This is nothing short of spectacular! What an incredible effort. Well done, Ian. I can see the painstaking research that has gone into this...
I love the plan view, especially how you have included the yielding elements in the arresting set up. Also, the detailing of the catwalks catches the eye. What is the gold lining on the 40mm shields in the plan view? Stored ammo?
You've done the ship and her crew proud. I'll need to update my drawings accordingly.
The only remarks I have to make are the absence of deck landing lights (perhaps) and the way the squadrons are labeled looks a bit untidy.
I was waiting for your reply
The gold colored elements in the 40mm gun tubs are racked clips. Regarding deck landing lights, I see them indicated in the booklet of general plans for CVL-26 from the 1950s, but my Floating Drydock plans of CVL-23 in 1944 don't show them. That said I found a ton of errors in the FDD plans for this ship (incredibly frustrating considering their cost). My desktop computer (with my photo library of these ships) is packed away right now, but once I get it setup in next few days I want to review my high-res photos to understand what the deck landing lights actually looked like and their position on the flight deck. The Mare Island photos of Independence available on Navsource don't appear to show lights in the same location indicated by CVL-26's BOGP, so it makes me wonder if these lights were relocated from somewhere else (maybe at the flight deck edge?) or were added in a later refit.
Regarding the labeling of squadrons, I stole this from your drawings of the Essex class but agree it doesn't look tidy - I wanted to indicate the exact subtype of each aircraft - so will revisit this and post a new version soon.