The Ship Model Forum

I did a little research on the box top pic and it appears, if that represents the kit, that it is post 1994 major overhaul. JFK did not really change much after that cosmetically.
If that is true:

1994 - de-commissioning

The kit. Probably small modifications for this era but it would appear that out of the box would get the job done. Check pics for mainmast changes.

1979 ish - 1993

I think that by not doing the various domes along the flight deck and island gives you a decent start to a 1979-1993 JFK. There appears to be some re-work required on the port aft sponsons for that era. It appears from some of the photos I have seen that JFK got the SPS-49 Radar( that is what appears to be on the kit) on the island around 1979/80. The main mast needs some re-work for the various antenna but I think that the cross member stayed pretty consistent throughout her life. I need some help with that assessment.

The Desert Shield/Storm airwing for JFK was CVW-3 and the last A-7E cruise.

1968-1978/9

For her original look, the sponsons on the stern are not there and you have a platform on either side and small curved sponsons on each side for the Sea Sparrow launchers, very similar to Nimitz sponson on the port side. SPS-43 on the island and of course, check the main mast for all/any corrections. The CWIS platform on the island would not be there as well.


I plan to do JFK 1969 era. I have the 1/350 Nimitz Kit so I think that I can swap the radars (trade SPS-43 on Nimitz for SPS-49 on JFK) and sponsons between the kits to get the JFK Kit back to 1969 and the Nimitz Kit up to 1991.

Now we have a 1/350 Kitty Hawk, JFK and Nimtz. Now get a Forrestal and Midway and we will be cooking with gas! It would be nice for some of the after market folks to do some upgrade kits that do the various sponsons for the different era's for each kit in a ddition to the PE sets.

It is a great time to be a ship modeler!

I too plan to do her in 1969 era.

If anyone gets the kit first please post your findings. I order mine 4 days ago.

Did Merit bring JFK to the National's?

Nope, no sighting of a JFK anywhere at nationals. I was convinced that there was one there, and there were 6 vendor rooms, I triple checked all of them. I think Devin asked the MRC guys about it, and the designer, and they sort of gave him a vagueish excuse and that was that. I was really disappointed, I wanted to see that kit real bad. In my frustration, I also forgot to ask them when additional aircraft for Intrepid would be out.

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Enlisted men are stupid, but very cunning and deceitful and bear considerable watching." - Marine Corps Officers Manual, 1894

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

Merit International's Facebook page is saying Late August-Early September for the JFK to be in hobby shops.... I'm posting the link to the Merit FB page for the photo with the info in the comments. If the link does not post the photo, and just the page itself. Just scroll down the page and you'll see the "3rd Quarter" announcement for the JFK. Click that photo and Merit posted a reply to a comment which has when it's to be in stores...

Thomas

https://www.facebook.com/MeritIntlLtd/p ... =1&theater

Free Times Hobbies shipped my kit on Friday. I'll post when it gets here.

looking forward to all you Merit 1/350 JFK builds... Still I am very happy with my 1/700 kitbash.. My brother in law took this to a meeting of Fellow Kennedy plank owners.. They really liked it... I hope he doesnt want a 1/350 build as I have to do my 1978-79 med cruise Nimitz first..

Change my mind for the year. 1970-1972 too many A-6's and A-7's in my closet.

Just got mine Saturday and started putting it together. There's no hanger doors, nor any hanger details beyond just the deck itself. The hanger deck pieces and the hull are all stamped Kitty Hawk, suggesting the Trumpeter Kitty Hawk coming next month uses the same exact pieces. There's quite a few 'remove this molding' or 'open this hold' instructions too. Some photoetch but not railings. I'm no expert on the class but the one-piece hull and one-piece flight deck pieces look really nice to me. Nothing new in the aircraft, alas.

Pretty sure that's the case and what a lot of people expected. I think the kits will be pretty much the same except for some sprues required of each ship. I noticed on the Trumpeter website when looking at the sprues for the Kitty Hawk and then looking at some of the photos posted for Merit's JFK, some of the sprues were identical in pieces and layout. So...I'm thinking they will be the same kit with some differences in parts provided. Oh well, I'll still buy both!!!

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Doug

Currently building:
Tamiya 1/350 CVN-65 USS Enterprise 2001
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=120496

http://modelshipgallery.com/gallery/use ... index.html

Yeah, I'm doing the same thing. So far the JFK looks really nice (though there are some TINY pieces to put all over the island); I think I'm going to scratch some closed doors for the hanger deck as I don't have the skill or references to scratch all those walls. Tried that on a Nimitz and it looked horrible even without lights.

I laid my JFK Hull on a set of 1/350 scale plans for the Ranger and the Hull length is short, about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch or so. They should be the same. All 8 Forrestal's and Kitty Hawks (including JFK) had the same hull. I wonder if the JFK kit is a bit under scaled, which means that Kitty Hawk will be too. They got the Intrepid a bit under scaled as well.


Has anyone else seen that?


Mark

the fantail is what gets me Mark. BigE is huge compare to J.F.K.

I know a lot of you have been talking about back-dating this kit to other time frames. My question is has anyone planning on building the JFK in 91-92 Desert Storm configuration.
Starfighters decal still sells the airwing from the Teddy with the cool nose art. I know they are different CVW but I think they could be used. Finally what aircarft are need for flight deck that looks busy Specifically how many f-14, F-18A, A-7, S-3 and A-6 (B or E) I am thinking two boxes each plus E-2's and C-2 and for effect various helo's SH-3, SH-60B, CH-46's and CH-53E/ MH-53.
Thanks...

Hello Major I'm doing her about 69-72. Not too many sponsons during that time.

My wife got me the merit 350 for Christmas, cant wait to start on it. I was on the Kennedy 75-76 in VF-14

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Chuck Swartz
Gatlinburg, TN

Hi Chuck,

Do you have any pics of JFK's Hanger Bay? I need to figure out where the Conflag Stations are located?

Thanks,

Mark

Mark

Sorry, no I don't, all of my pics have gone missing over the years. I do have my cruise book, I'll dig that out and see if there are any pics in it that may be helpful to you.

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Chuck Swartz
Gatlinburg, TN

I put my J.F.K away until March. Connie and Wasp will take to much of my time.