1/72 scale USS Enterprise

[HvyCgn9]

Good to see ya back on the forums Mate!! See ya in a couple of weeks for TF72 Regatta....

How goes the refit??

Cheers from Adelaide

Bruce

[craig175]

Hi Bruce, she is almost back together again with new speed controllers and props. She has new rudder mountings and the sponsons are now reinforced with fiberglass, so she will be a different ship

See you next week Bruce

I will post some more pics shortly everyone

Cheers

Craig

[HvyCgn9]

Will she be on the water next weekend? Look forward to catching up with you and the Wagga crew

Bruce

[craig175]

Yes Bruce thats the plan, she will be back in one piece as of tomorrow, and the hull will be resprayed in the next day or two, I am going to power her up for testing on Monday

Cheers

Craig

[HvyCgn9]

Sweet mate!

I will be out in the workshop too 2mora doing some maintenance on CGN9...always something too fix after a long road trip!!

Cheers Bruce

PS: Don't forget 2 charge Rx battery!! (note to self do same for Tug!)

[craig175]

OK so the model Enterprise has been in refit for about 2 years now, Cracks were appearing all over the flight deck due to expansion in the heat. I used a light fibreglass coating and this wasn't strong enough.

The sponsons were made of thin plastic sheet and these were breaking up with use. So there were a few things starting to show that needed fixing. I decided to pull the plug and put the ship back into the shed for some major work.

So what follows are some photos of that exercise. This weekend coming will be the TF72 regatta in Wagga NSW, this will really be the first time Enterprise has been in the water for over 2 years.

Sorry for all the pics, but any questions please let me know

Cheers

Craig

[craig175]

Most of the work is now completed on the model to get it back to where it was 2 years ago but is much more resilient.

Here are some more pics

New Props have been fitted

[Paul Salomone]

Hello Craig,

Now that is quite a monster - Wow a modern carrier in 1:72nd scale. Now that is a real challange.

WELL DONE MATE

I build static models so that I can elaborate more on the detailing side. At the moment I am building the 1:72nd scale Scharnhorst, and after I intend to do the German WW2 Aircraft Carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, which shall have an overall length of between 13 to 14 feet. But shall surely be dwarfed by your carrier.

Shall you put any aircraft on board the flight deck?

Cheers.

Paul.

[ozpirate]

A small tug at work with USS Enterprise a few years back.

[craig175]

Hello Craig,

Shall you put any aircraft on board the flight deck?

Cheers.

Paul.

Thanks for your comments Paul

I look forward to seeing a 72nd scale Graf Zeppelin Paul that will be an exercise.

The intention is to put an air group on board and even underneath I have fitted rails inside the boat that you can see in some shots to drop hangar sections in through the battery compartment and slide into position.

The hangar doors were originally fitted closed, but I am now re fitting them to open electrically

Cheers

[Haratio Fales]

Nice RC, I was acctually stationed aboard her in 1984 for a short time. I have built a 1/400 scale model of her for teh Navy recruiter in Cheyenne Wy. That is My home town. I am currently working on a 1/72 scale Z plan German cruiser that was planned but never built, it is posted on here, Kms Munich. You should consider adding cat walks and rails to your model, if you gt to the point of modeling an airwing. You would probably have to use somthing sturdy lile stainles steel, and they would probably get in the way of transport for RC play purposes. I saw an article in and old fine scale model magizine of a scatch build of the Big E that was in a garage and I believe took the man 10 years to build. It was a static model with working lifts, a detailed Hanger bay with complete air wing and working lights. I hope that You don't take offense, I am only making suggestions, Your ship is a work of art a she is. I am attempting to make molds for the one I am working on as to make a nice detailed static version, and to be able to make a nice RC version also. Good sailing to You, and I look forward to seeing more posts of progress from You. Haratio.

[craig175]

Hi Haratio, no offence taken and your comments are valid.

I have been working through getting the hull back in one piece so I can move onto the details.

We made a lifting jig this month to raise The model off its trolley to repaint below the waterline

I originally started making catwalks out of Plastic and as you commented they didn't last too long so I have started experimenting with Brass and it looks like this is the way it will go for all the catwalks and other fragile details

I will get back soon
Cheers
Craig

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Craig great job I just love the lifting jig . It reminds me of how Duncan Cameron lifted his 28foot Invincible into the water using huge slings. At least yours is more practical and manageable . Looking forward to more updates and thanks for posting.
Dave Wooley

[Rene]

Hi Graig

let me tell you how much I really admire your work and the effort you have put in this project so far. This is quite an ambiti�us project you have at work here. What I admire the most is that you keep up a real high detail level , which is so important cause I have seen quite a few other models in this scale which were simply "only big"

There is one at least for me important question: In one of your last pictures I have seen that you also building a fine model of the 6 wheeled crash crane. Where have you got plans for this vehicle? I've been trying for a quite a while to find some plans, well any kind of plans with dimensions so that I could build one, Perhaps you can give me some hint where I can find these informations. Any help would be great and if there are any cost involved with that please do not hesitate to tell me.

Thanks a lot in advance

Ren� Hieronymus

[HvyCgn9]

G'day Mate!

Just saw this new product from Italeri on the Hannants website ( I think it was about $31 Aus) instantly thought of you mate!! the blast shield would come in handy as a template.....

Cheers Bruce

[craig175]

Thanks for the info Bruce I will look into that.

I was making a plug to cast some JBD's to get them working but I have misplaced the master.

This may be a quicker solution to get them working.

Cheers

[craig175]

There is one at least for me important question: In one of your last pictures I have seen that you also building a fine model of the 6 wheeled crash crane. Where have you got plans for this vehicle? I've been trying for a quite a while to find some plans, well any kind of plans with dimensions so that I could build one, Perhaps you can give me some hint where I can find these informations. Any help would be great and if there are any cost involved with that please do not hesitate to tell me.

Thanks a lot in advance

Ren� Hieronymus

Hi Ren�, the Tilly crane has taken a while to start, as you said finding a drawing for it is difficult, I finally found a US Navy document that outlined all the vehicles and appliances that are used on the flight deck of US carriers. It was only a profile drawing but it was enough to start with. With the help of about 20 or 30 photos I was able to determine rough dimensions for the actual crane and thats how I have stated building it

If you like I can try to dig up the electronic version of the Doc and send it to you with any pics if you need it.

Cheers

Craig

[Admhawk]

Hi Craig, I'd like to see that doc as well, please!! Darren

[VF31TomcatterFan]

Just wanted to know if you know where to get the plans for the 1/72 CVN-65?

[tweety777]

Great build in a nice scale, I'll be following this one.

Greetings Josse