The Ship Model Forum

This may sound like a dumb question but what the heck....

Anybody try to adapt the Eduard 1/350 PE details to the Merit JFK model? I thought I saw that someone on here successfully pressed the Nimitz set into service. Obviously, the details on the pennant number would have to be adjusted from 63 to 67 but are the dimensions between the two models sufficiently close so that things like railings, radars, nets, etc fit "reasonably" on the Kennedy?

I'm thinking about giving it a whirl. Tetra isn't giving a release date so it could be awhile before the Merit Kennedy-specific PE set comes out and I've had my Jack for nearly a year now.

Thanks!

Bob Delaney
Currently in Drydock: 1/350 Intrepid circa 1967

Hi Mark

Thanks for the info, when I was looking at your build pics I noticed the etch as this is the "main" reason that I have yet to "purchase" the JFK yet. LHS has the JFK kit but I think I will see what aftermarket or Tetra produce as the upgrade set. Info I have seen on other posts / Forums have the 1/350 Kitty Hawk and Constellation being very, very similar and what differences there are have been well replicated. I have also purchased Ray Bean's Vol 3 USS Kennedy, I think (for me anyway) it is a must for a modeler.

Bob, guessing your recent question re PE will relate to Mark's work on his 1/350 JFK & WEM Nimitz set, see previous post.

Thanks again.

Regards
Peter Hoskins
Sydney, AU

I have the Kitty Hawk as well. I plan to back fit her to 1976 ish.

As far as PE sets go. I used generic railings for the JFK. The SPS-43 is all I needed from the Nimitz set. The kit provides the flight deck nets which is the only pieces that would need to be fitted correctly by a vendor. The Nimitz set nets would be wrong I think. The flight deck dimensions between the JFK kit and Nimitz kit are different. I have both and they are sitting next to each other in the curio as I type.


Everything else you can make from other sets. The Tetra and Pontos sets look nice but my JFK comes in at around $876.00 without another $100-$150 for a custom PE set. Just a thought. You can buy a lot of nice after market generic PE sets for that kind of money. I also built mine in a 1968/69 era and the custom PE sets will probably be for JFK 2006 ish. So I would still need to find an SPS-43 radar somewhere else.

Here is what I came up with for costing:

Price Qty
Merritt USS John F Kennedy Kit 180.00 1 180.00

Air wing
L'Arsenal A-4C 10.56 6 63.36
L'Arsenal EA-1H 9.50 0.4 3.80
Trumpeter RA-5C 7.65 1 7.65
Trumpeter EKA-3B 7.64 0.5 3.82
Trumpeter F-4B 7.95 3.3 26.26
E-1 (cannabolized from Intrepid) 0 0.00
UH-2 (cannabolized from Intrepid) 0.00
Phantom/Skyhawk Drop Tanks 43.47
Phantom Drop Tanks 20.31
Airwing Photo Etch 50.00
Decals 50.00
Total Airwing 268.67

Hanger Deck Details
Conflag Station/Carrier Cargo Set/Fork lifts 46.99
Lighing set 45.00
Hanger Fire Doors 28.00
Jet Engines (X2) 3.00
Pallettes (X2 sets) 23.00
Gallery Deck Equipment 12 2 24.00
Boats/Carriage/Tilly 101.99
Sheet Syrene 30.00
MD-3 Tow Tractors 39.00
Total Hanger Bay 340.98

Misc. Materials 50.00
Ship Decals 36.55

Total Cost 876.20

3D Printing is really cool but really pricey on a big project like a carrier!

Good Luck,

Mark

Mark,
Your Kennedy is looking great. An you list is great but I would also add a case to store your project during build and to display afterwards.

I got a curio like this one from a guy in Miami for half price to store my 1/350 Super Carrier projects in. It lives in there when I am not working on it.


http://www.howardmiller.com/GenericView ... 20Townsend

It is a big piece of furniture!

Hi Mark
Thanks for the detailed reply, that's a lot of extra being added to your kit as well as extra $.
But it will really shine when finished. Will keep watching your carrier builds with great interest, excellent work

Regards
Peter Hoskins
Sydney, AU

So, I bit the bullet!

JFK is MINE!!!!

But how much commonality is there between JFK & the other Merit KH's? I was gonna pick up the Eduard railings set, which seems to cover below the flightdeck ONLY. but does anyone know if it'll fit???

Eduard currently has 6 sets of etch for the Kitty Hawk CV 63 herself. They are:
EDU-53170 1/350 Ship- USS Kitty Hawk CV63 Island Pt.1 for TSM
EDU-53171 1/350 Ship- USS Kitty Hawk CV63 Hull & Deck Pt.2 for TSM
EDU-53172 1/350 Ship- USS Kitty Hawk CV63 Railings & Safety Nets Pt.3 for TSM
EDU-53173 1/350 Ship- USS Kitty Hawk CV63 Aircraft Pt.4 for TSM
EDU-53174 1/350 Ship- USS Kitty Hawk CV63 Lifeboats Pt.5 for TSM

But as for commonality I have no idea. There will be someone along shortly to answer that perhaps. I have all 5 sets but am not yet ready to start that project. I am waiting for airwing and deck decals from Boatswain Models. But it looks like the decals for CV 67 will be ready before the CV63 decals according to an email I received from them. And no word on etch for the JFK from any supplier so far. So it may be a bit before I start either. I have the JFK as well.

Tom

Hi Tom

Did Boatswain Models happen to give an approximate release date for the CV67 decals. All I keep seeing on their website is 2016 release. I sent an email to them a few days ago but, as of yet, haven't received a reply

Thanks!

Bob

Their email to me said third quarter of 2016. both airwings around 4th quarter & Kitty Hawk sometime 2017. So as is customary for release dates, I would imagine they are all off by at least one quarter.

Tom

Hi Mark
Thought I would ask if you have any progress or pics of your build yet ?
Thanks Peter H

JFK is mostly done. We moved during the build (Sept 2nd), dodged a Hurricane, and now I cannot find my Tilly and the deck tractors I got. Still in a box somewhere. The Air Wing is done so I need to get some photos posted and submitted to the gallery.

Mark

Hi Mark
Appreciate the quick reply, hope you find the deck gear soon. Looking forward to the pictures.
Thanks, Peter H

A JFK modelling related question. Is the hull of CV-67 the same as CV-66? I want to convert the Italeri CV-66 kit to a JFK so that I have a model of CV-67 that fits in with the rest of my collection ( the Monogram kit is too small a scale). I know the sponsons, island and flight deck are different but I'm more worried by hull length, width, profile, draught, and hangar deck door opening positions. Or is she closer to a Nimitz in size and profile?
Apologies if this has been asked before.

TIA,
Roy

Roy, I'm doing the America in 1/350 scale using the Trumpeter J.F.K. So yeah, you can used the Italeri kit.

I have been convinced! Starting in on an Italeri rendition of the JFK. Does the Italeri Kitty Hawk hull work as well as the America hull? Are these the same hulls, or do I need to find the America kit specifically?

The Italeri kits are the same for the hull, only the islands are different. I don't know if the island for America will work better as a donor than the one from Kitty Hawk. You will still need to sand off all the deck markings and fill the trenches around the JBDs and in the cats.

I know this is a long shot, but I was hoping someone has a spare instruction book for the 1/350 JFK or could even take some pics of the booklet. I seem to have lost mine while returning home from overseas. Help would be much appreciated!

Isel Caro

So....


Why not just wait a few more months and buy the 1/700 scale JFK that Trumpeter is releasing pretty soon? It will probably be the last configuration but much easier to modify to represent an earlier JFK Configuration than kit bashing an Itlaleri kit to a JFK.

Just a thought....

Good luck,

Mark

Here you are:

Merit 65306 USS John F. Kennedy CV-67

Hope it helps.

Regards

Adam