The Ship Model Forum

[quote="FCM"]Hi Boys, Could you tell me how modern air wing could be selected to build the Enterprise and Nimitz 1/350 kits as they are as default? The use of Trumpeter 1/350 F-18Es are invalid once they are subscaled (same size of F-18C)...
What do you think about to convert Nimitz to other ships of the same class? The PE sets are enough for that?[/quote]

it depends on how anal you are and on which ship you are attempting to depict. any nimitz in a configuration post-mid-80s will require a fair amount of scratchbuilding regardless of how much PE you use - the 1/350 nimitz does not have any of the additional weapons sponsons (any CIWS platforms), nor does it have any of the NATO sea sparrow launchers, nor any of the satcom gubbins all over the ships. which of these items and where they go varies widely by ship.

if you can identify a specific a specific ship and time frame, we can help a lot more in terms of pointing you to the right resources.

as to airwings, this site http://www.gonavy.jp/ is a great resource as to what planes were on what ships when.

Hi Boys, Could you tell me how modern air wing could be selected to build the Enterprise and Nimitz 1/350 kits as they are as default? The use of Trumpeter 1/350 F-18Es are invalid once they are subscaled (same size of F-18C)...
What do you think about to convert Nimitz to other ships of the same class? The PE sets are enough for that?

:wave_1: Hey yj check http://www.navy.mil for nimitz con. Also what year are you building her from 2001 til now she has smei-look regan island. The year 2005 is when she went all bugs. Thats the year I'm building her in. Good Luck :thumbs_up_1:
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p226/raider-hall/?action=view&current=100_0032.jpg

Navysite.de is a good place to figure out what airwing and its composition would be for what ever time you are looking to build. Go to the Carriers page, select Nimitz and check under "deployments" and it will be there. I updated my Big E and found out that the Trumpeter F-18E's are the wrong size for 1/350th scale. They are too small when you park them next to the Tamiya F-18c's. They should be almost as big as a Tomcat. I used the WEM F-18E and converted them to the two seat F-18F using F-14 canopies.

which period are you building? because they're VERY different between as built vs. mid-1980s to late 1990s (minor differences as time progressed) vs post 1999ish refit/current.

and yes, as of now, the nimitz has no f-14s, only 18Cs, 18Es, and 18Fs (along with the hawkeyes, prowlers, etc).

yj

don't forget! not sure what year you are modeling her for, but on her starboard side island there used to be a CIWS mount. This must be scratchbuilt, and there are not a lot of pic's out there of it. I just found out that starboard island mount was removed during the 1999 refit.

Hi!
Note: The Trumpeter Nimitz "Island"-chamfer, is not right!
Look at this CVN-75 "Island" picture.
http://www.carrierbuilders.net/articles/20060201_CVN-75_WA_Pt_1/038.jpg

Well, i've been building the CVN-73 George Washington. I have to say that both WEM and GMM's extra detail kits for the later class were a little disapointing in that only 1 new deck edge radar platform was included between them! On the plus side, it got me started in scratchbuilding.

The current Nimitz (and IKE i think) will require a rebuilt main mast (Boxed shape) and you will need RAM launchers built from scratch to replace the Phalanx. Luckly i think you can still use the forward starboard sparrow sponsor?

I have a tamiya Enterprise here that has seen better days so it has been canabalised for modern parts. Still i dont fancy butchering Nimitz's sparrow launchers (Something else that needs changing).

A few can be replicated pretty easilly through the GMM extra-details(extras that should be required anyway) etch package and modern navy decals. They include later radar towers, radar, and details like the rear fender. It will take you up a few years before the ultra-modern masts and integrated radar towers of the latest carriers and re-fits. The newest stuff would require some scratch building but not terribly so. You can find some modern add ons like the Phlanx guns(2 each) by sourcing the "E" sprues from the Tamy Enterprise(the sprue also has 4 tractors-good ones actually, and a fire truck each and costs about 6 bucks per sprue from Tamiya.com) You can also get Prowlers(2 each) from their 'Aircraft set #2' kits. Someone here is doing a conversion to full Ronald Regan in the model gallery. It shouldnt take too many mods for either a recent-modern 68-75. Mostly the bridle catch extentions, sponsoon differences and electronics configurations make the bulk of the major differences. The decal set from GMM is pretty much a prerequisite for this kit and includes decals for all of them.

yj. I asked the same types of questions on the main forum a couple of days ago. There are a few responses that may help.

Response from Marty

The airwing composition is variable, depends on what year you're doing.

A rough approximation for the mid 70s to early 90s follows:

24x F-14 always
18-24x A-6 or 24x F-18A/C
18-24x A-7 or 24x F-18 A/C
12x S-3 always
3x EA-3 possible
3-5x RF-4 possible
3-5x EA-6 always
2-3x A-5 possible
2-4x A-4 usual
6x SH-3 always
1-2x COD always
2-3x Awacs always
2-3x UH-1 usual

The official airwing was usually 86 fixed wing aircraft plus six helicopters but the mix varied. They even operated a C-130 off a carrier deck once or twice. IIRC the F-14 replaced the F-4 by about 1975. HTH

And from Dave Becker

Here is the address to find ALL of the aircraft carried by the Nimitz from June 1975 till present day. Go to: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/gonavy/atsugi/gonavy606CVN68.html

Nobody seems to be making add-on or Nimitz update parts. Everyone seens to think that Trumpeter will be coming out with a late version of the Nimitz class carrier so, NO add-ons as yet. Of course you can always scratch-build your own.


Also on the page that lists all of the forums. The forum titled "Calling all Ships fans" there are some excellent photos fo all the Nimitz class carriers that should be of some help.

Hi guy :wave_1: , i looking some expert out there who can give couple of tip of converting my newly brought 1/350 trumpeter nimitz. two important question : 1) what should i add or delete on the original kit? 2) does the current airwing on board on have f-18c/f-18e/f-18f and no more f-14A/B/D.thanks in advance :smallsmile: