The Ship Model Forum

Any updates on your build?

Dude, that is looking good. I like the work you did on the mast and that you used the metal for it.

Ryan,

Just saw this thread and had to comment - In 1966 I was aboard USS STODDARD (DD-566) and part of KITTY HAWK's task group that left SDiego in Nov 1966 for Westpac and returned in April 1967. Prior to departing CONUS, I was part of a small group of seamen from the various ships in her group that spent a week taking Air/Sea Rescue training for downed pilots - this was to give hands on training with the actual planes that would be embarked on that particular cruise (the air groups always change depending on what the mission and goal of the cruise is to be). So, we were given access to all the aircraft cockpits in order to learn how to open the canopy and remove the pilot and back seat crew member - the 'GOONIE' COD aircraft does not have ejection seats so if one of those went down, Sayonara to the crew - dead ducks! It would have been almost impossible to remove the top canopy panels to pull them out. As it's been 53 years since then, I also "think" that the Skywarrier had ejection seats thru the bottom of the plane, not the top. In any event, we only were called out one night after midnight when a squadron of Phantoms returned from a bombing run over NVN and their last plane was so shot up it could not maintain enough altitude to get above the flight deck to land. Our ship's 26' MWB was at the rail, ready to go when the last pass finally achieved the necessary height and was caught in the landing nets. The back seat guy was dead and the tail damn near shot completely apart, but it got home.

I spent a week on the KITTY coming out of Hong Kong after our R & R there and was choppered back to STODDARD afterwards along with several other task force crew going to their individual ships. Got the Horse Collar treatment and winched back to a fantail rockin' & rollin' in not-so-calms seas. Won't forget THAT little trip!

Your model is turning out really nice - keep up the great work!

Hank

Nice work Ryan as always!

I try to clump a similar model, but in 1/700. I do not hide that I want to watch how you do it and I would be grateful for any hints and comments . I hope you do not take offense?
P.S. I apologize for my weak English language

Thanks fellas!

Well, I haven't been nearly as busy updating this thread as I have at the workbench, so lots of progress to report.

While waiting on the airwing decals, I have jumped ahead and been working on the island. Lots of kit parts were omitted, and others were significantly altered to backdate the Kitty. The mast was scratch built from brass rods and bars, shaped appropriately with a sanding attachment on my Dremel. The mast has a very slight taper that honestly I could have probably saved myself a lot of time and just used a perfectly round brass rod, but where would the torture in that be? The rest of the mast details are either scratch built or are repurposed and altered leftover PE or styrene parts from various kits and PE sets I have used on other projects over the years.

The island is mostly done, I have a few details to add, but I am going to do the rigging first since the remaining details are too delicate and need to wait until I am done manhandling the island.

Beautifully done hangar deck, Ryan. I love the flak damage on the aircraft - very realistic!

She looks great so far, Ryan ! I'm loving that hanger deck. The detail is fantastic.

Since it can be tough creating a seascape for a carrier that has all the over hanging decks and elevators, I decided to be smart and do it before all those things are added.
To represent the waters in the Vietnam theater of operations, I started with a muddy green base, and then went over that with a darkish blue/gray color, intentionally leaving it slightly patchy to let some of the green show through here and there.
For a base color, I am very happy with how it came out, usually I need to re-do the paint on my water a few times before I am happy with the base, but I got lucky and nailed it on the first try with this one.
And yes, I repainted my workbench in a hideous orange color to make it harder for tiny model pieces to disappear on me.

Way better than mine!

Thanks very much.

For my hangar references I used Ray Bean's (stillmotion graphics) photo DVD on the Kitty&Connie, available direct from him at stillmotion or possibly from freetime hobies. I also supplemented what is on his DVD with whatever I could find on google to come up with the est collage of pictures I could find.

Hi sgtryan13,
Beautiful model.
I'm starting with mine Connie. Do you have any photos of the hangar deck (kitty hawk class) that you can share?

Kitty Hawk's hangar Bay is complete, I'm pretty happy with how it came out.
I have gotten into the habit of pre-weathering the hulls on my builds, and it is paying Hoff nicely. It allows me to get at all sorts of spots on the ship without details being in the way or at risk of being knocked off.
A lot of ships, especially during the fast tempo of combat, develop a pretty noticeable thick line of gunk on and above the water line, I've meant to try to replicate it in the past but forgot until it was too far into the build. This time I remembered, and I love the character it adds, especially since Kitty did not have a ton of rust on her hull at this point in her career, so this breaks things up nicely I feel.

And now on to what is really going to make this carrier unique amongst my fleet:. Her airwing. This is going to test my airbrush skills, but the results should pay off big time. On this cruise, 1/2 of each squadron was painted in various types of camouflage schemes and colors as an experiment, but the Navy opted not to go with it after the tests. Since it was experimental, there was not a set scheme or pattern, so I get to have a lot of fun. Some birds were all green, some all black, some a combo of greens, and some in tri or even quad color schemes. This is going to allow me to have a lot of variation on her flight deck. Some here are still tests for me to see what shades I prefer compared with pictures of the real planes, but I can tell already that I'm going to love the way these look parked next to high-viz planes.

One of the scenes I decided on for the hangar is an engine Being removed from a phantom that took some decent AAA damage.

Well detail.

The hangar bay is progressing at a decent pace, I am close to where I wanted to be after this weekend, so I'll take it.

All of the hangar structures are from scratch, and yes, those are legos you see supporting them on the backside. I figure why waste time trying to ensure a 90 degree angle fit with styrene pieces when a lego brick guarantees it? Smarter, not harder! One lesson I learned well in the Marines!

These carriers, especially during the war, were absolutely packed to the gills with cargo stored in every space they could find, so that is what I am going for here. All of the piles of cargo are from Black Dog models, some cut and reshaped to suit my needs. Individual pallets of gear and boxes will be added later tonight or tomorrow.

Like Scott said Shapeways. Post photos later today.

Hey Sgt,

I got both of them from Shapeways. I know, I know, the surface can look rough even at the highest level of material, but I got an air eraser on eBay and it took care of it so they're pretty perfect now.

Also, Shapeways now has modern USN Captain's Chairs in case you're looking.

Regards,

Scott

Thanks guys, and Nice work Red! Where did you get the missile launchers and directors from? Can you post an up-close picture of them?

Really looking forward to watching this build. Having gone through your previous carrier builds and the improvements being made as you went along, this one should end up being absolutely fantastic.

Glad to see you back. Still working on my Tonkin Gulf Kitty!