The Ship Model Forum

Hi everyone.....this is my first real post here, so I'd like to say hi to you all from 'The Land Downunder' and introduce my build.
Firstly I would like to say that having browsed this forum and enjoyed reading many threads and posts that there are so many exceptionally talented modellers out there and I hope I will continue to learn from everyone.

I have been out of scale modelling for around 20 years and missed it so much that I just had to get back into into it. I have a passion for aircraft and warships....and have always been interested in the USN Carriers.

Call me crazy .....but for my venture is a massive project which I expect may take years..how many, I have no idea!! Since I last built a model there has been massive advances made in the products available to enhance the kits from the standard 'out of the box' kit. In particular the incredibly detailed photo etch which is amazing. I will be taking the 350 Trumpy Nimitz and converting this kit to represent the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 as she appeared in 2005/6. In particular on her cruise commencing September 2005 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The significance of this cruise for me was this was the last cruise the US Navy used the mighty Grumman F-14 Tomcat in active service, my favourite aircraft of all time.
I will be making this kit using a lot of scratch building, utilising all available photo etch, fully detailing all areas of the ship and air wing, lighting hangar bay and hopefully displaying her in an ocean diorama.

Many US carriers have visited my home port of Hobart - including Enterprise in 1975 when i was young boy, during the 90's Kitty Hawk, Lincoln, Stennis, and Vinson all had port stays.....sadly these have ended.

So this build has no first hand knowledge at all and will be done purely from photos in books, the internet and a couple of Ray Beans DVD's.....so please understand if you seen something which may be interpreted as 'artistic license'....however I am striving to get CVN-71 as accurate as possible for my own satisfaction as i am somewhat of a perfectionist!

I am no expert at all at modelling and much seems to have changed since my early days. I can possibly only dream of ever producing anything of the quality of the builds on this forum.

I would especially like to thank Ryan Labieniec who I have messaged and emailed privately already and he has been a great help.

This all lies ahead of me, and I hope you enjoy following this build with me. Any ideas and suggestions are very welcome.

Cheers Cam H

....the first few pics are of the work on the hull making the required alterations and attempting to fix errors in the kit

Welcome aboard. Great start to your project!

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Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

Hi Cam! Welcome to the forum! I'm glad to see another modeler join us, especially another one like me who has been out of it for years and want to start up again. It looks like you're starting out in a big way! There's no way I could ever tackle something as daunting as what you're about to do - mainly because I suck at scratchbuilding. At any rate, I'll be watching your progress and cheering you on.

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Larry Steiner


Completed: 1:200 USS Missouri (Monster Mo)
Next project: Definitely NOT another big ship!!

Welcome Cam

You've definitely got a big project in front of you. I'll be watching also as I am new to this era of modeling. I have a lot of catching up to do. Since you are doing a lot of scratch building I am that much more interested in your progression, it appears that you have a great start.lease keep the pictures coming.

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Scott

Salisbury, NC
USS Iowa BB61 1943 post refit
1:200 Trumpeter w/ Pontos detail up with deck
USS Missouri BB63 1945 1:350

In planning T2-SE-A2 tanker AO-82

Welcome aboard, mate. You seem to have your scratch building skills well in hand, certainly a lot better than mine. I'll be watching your thread with interest.

Bob M.

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Give me a fast ship, for I would like to get out of harm's way!

Hey Cam,

Looking forward to watching your progress on this build. Can't wait to see all those Tomcats in all the different color schemes for this cruise in 1/350!!! Woohoo!!! Welcome aboard. Modelwarships is a great place to hang out and share your work and learn a heck of a lot from everyone else here. Good luck with your build......I'll be watching.

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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

Thanks for the Welcome guys....and for your interest in my build.

Doug, i have seen your Enterprise WIP and that is just an insane work of art...mind boggling, and brilliant.

Cheers
Cam

Welcome onboard. I like this stern very much. The accuracy is amazing and you have a lot of work in front of you if you make the rest of the ship like this, and a lot of fun too . I will follow this build, I love the carriers

Jorge

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Currently working on:

USS Nimitz 1/200
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=153310

Welcome aboard to the form,, your off to a great start on your build cant wait to see more.

Lindsay

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on the bench

Tamiya 1/350 Musashi
Merit 1/350 LHD-1 USSWasp

I always welcome another carrier builder. What an outstanding start you have on Teddy. Will be following this closely. Good job

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James

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/users/James-Guard/user-index.html

Outstanding..
Another CV builder.. Welcome and your teddy looks great. I will be following this with great interest.
Major-B

Hi there guys....need a bit of assistance if possible.

In my research on the TR i have been unable to source the exact location of the SLQ-32 antennas.....i believe there is 1 is on the starboard side of the Island?

Any assistance you can provide would be a wonderful help.

Hoping to post some pics very shortly......

Cheers
Cam

That's correct and there is one port side a bit forward of the FRESNEL landing system.

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James

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/users/James-Guard/user-index.html

Cheers James...that is awesome...thanks heaps!!

Hi folks...im interested in knowing what everyone's preferred primer is these days...I want one which can be sanded to fix any probs the primer shows up. I have usually used Tamiya, however there now seems to be so many different brands its mind boggling. I have an airbrush, but for smaller areas and parts I still like to use a brush as well......

Appreciate your thoughts ....
Cheers
Cam

Hi guys..... a few more pics of my slow progress on CVN-71.....i can now envisage this being a 'few' years build.....coupled with a full-time job finding the time for long modelling sessions is not easy as Im sure many of you know.

Have continued to add some details to the hull, especially around the elevators and scratchbuilt the main stern port satcom dome platform.

I re-visited my island and added a bit more detail work to there ...it is certainly not complete yet but coming along ok. I'm finding if i spend to long on one thing i get slack...so i move around a fair bit.
I decided to also get the photo etch mast and radar tower out of the way build wise, so they are basically done...just need priming and painting....Far out the mast is nearly a kit by itself!!!....it certainly takes time to get everything to line up correctly.

Hoping to move on to the hangar bay next which am really looking forward to........also will keep revisiting the hull to finally tick that off. Needs a lot more details re piping, vents etc added as well.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my Teddy.
cheers
Cam

Cam,
First Class Work... I will be using this thread when I build my teddy.
Keep it up.

Any updates on this?

Superb work!

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Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
Follow Model Monkey® on Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/modelmonkeybookandhobby

I definitely will watch this one along!! The scratched parts look very fine!

Aop

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On the way:
--1/350 Tamiya DKM Tirpitz Nov 1944

--1/350 scratch-build HMS Lion never built battleship (1938)

And our artworks!