The Ship Model Forum

More steady progress today. Put a few decals on the fore and aft flight deck sections while i was waiting on other stuff to dry. I bought the Starfighter decals...they don't fit! While they're made for the Tamiya kit the ones around the blast deflectors didn't match any of the shapes. I cut those apart and stitched something together. Here's what the elevators look like for reference as these weren't even close. Even if I'd sanded off the existing details they come up short by 1/16". I would not recommend these to anyone.




So, time for the save...maybe. I decided to start them at the edge of the ship and work inward. Then break them up on the inside edge of the elevator where the aircraft would go over and over them slowwly wiping them out. Definitely going to take some weathering, maybe very focused to reflect A/C travel paths. What do you think, workable?





mounted the island. There's a little torque on it from 130 fibres so I decided 2 screws would ensure it doesn't pop free in the future.




and finally put my figures in and lit it up!




Actually have to travel for work this week. Gonna help a buddy with his clear coat issues while I'm in North Carolina. Back next weekend with more progress!

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

I've got a little something to show for the week. All the decals are done, the island is attached and all the lghts are lit!










Im waiting on the Flory washes to show up. At this point I'm really avoiding building those hose reels. Holy cow they are a headache!

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

In amongst all the car and house projects I got a little modeling time. My Flory washes came in from England last week, I watched the video of applying washes to the Iowa Jima. Based on that Iput a few coats of satin clear on the deck, island, and gray hull sides in preparation. Ill wait a few days before starting so look forward to that later in the week.

I'm half way through the hose reels. It's been so hard to get motivated on these that i think you can see desk build up in the tray lol



Never did find any steps on how to assemble them. For anyone who searches hose reels on here in the future I'm going to post a few pics to help them out.

I started by cutting a rod just smaller that the fold lines on the reel frame. Glued these on while everything was still on the tree. Ended up sanding them down to get the right height on the rod. Any that popped off i deemed not fit for duty



then the frame was glued onto 1 side.




then i folded them, leaving the top PE spine in place to hold it all together. Doing it without this was a real pita! It's just so much to hold onto without springing parts across the room








then fold the frame over and complete the glue joint with CA in the open end of a needle!




And then lastly the 1st set of 144(now 143) sailors were painted. Just have to gloss coat them. Found 4 more packages of them in Japan Super cheap. Unfortunately shipping took most of that away but they still ended up being $6each cheaper than the ones on ebay.




That's it for this weekend. There's a few more nights working in the garage this week, then trying to get an old car running before i get back to her. That should guarantee I give the clear coat planty of time to dry before the wash is applied

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

INPUT NEEDED...ok I've stopped at this point to get some opinions. I'm weathering the flight deck now. This is Flory washes over a satin clear so it sticks a little more. I'm trying to decide if I should darken up the flight deck more, closer to the scene being recreated, OR if I should leave it as is with more contrast between sections?

Attaching 3 pics and then a few closeup for review. 1st is the scene I’m after. 2nd is as painted for perspective on how much weathering is done now and 3rd is weathered. I’m thinking stop here because I don’t want to lose all the visual affect I have if I try to duplicate the scene. Scene seems awfully dark now that I’m painting. Maybe even less weathering? Tell me what you think.



as painted


Weathering



close-ups, weathering

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Looking good mongoose. Progressing quite nicely. Have a question on what diameter fiber you used on:

a. Flight deck (runway and foul line)
b. Island numbers

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On the Workbench:
1/350 USS New York (LPD-21)

In the Shipyard:
1/350 - USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7 2010)
1/350 - USS Abraham Lincoln (2003)

On the Drawing Board:
1/350 - USS JFK (1991)
1/350 - USS Hancock (1965)
1/350 - USS Valley Forge (1951)

Thanks cam!
Runway centerline is .75mm
Everything else is 0.5mm

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

It's ASSEMBLY TIME! Finished up all the little painting and weathering today. Final flat coat is on everything.
The last thing I decided to do was paint the screwtops. The Trumpy marking are generic so I grabbed a pic and printed it on the silhouette.


Dark Navy sea blue




and finally flat...barely any room here but this round was successful



I did breal one small piece off on this one though. Easy to redo but geez this thing is awkward to move around.

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Will you be gluing the flight deck down? Just wondering how much work there will be hiding the seam between the three sections now that you looked to have finished painting weathering the deck. I have always assumed the flight deck would be joined first before getting too far along.

Looking forward to seeing the finished result.

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On the Workbench:
1/350 USS New York (LPD-21)

In the Shipyard:
1/350 - USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7 2010)
1/350 - USS Abraham Lincoln (2003)

On the Drawing Board:
1/350 - USS JFK (1991)
1/350 - USS Hancock (1965)
1/350 - USS Valley Forge (1951)

Hey cam thanks for stopping by again!
No, I’m not planning to glue it down. I thought about it early on but as I decided this was going to be a open display model it didn’t seem practical to glue it together. Taking the flight deck on and off multiple times seemed like a recipe for cracked joints. If I wasn’t removing except to re0ace a blown light that would be a different story in my mind. I want to be able to remove the center section for display of the hangar bay, to show kids what it looks like. I think some of the modern elements like fibre optics and led’s, plus the wiring would be interesting and maybe encourage them to build a model themselves. Our club has nobody young in it.
I made the wiring and fibre extra long in the center so it could be set aside without disconnecting anything. The way it’s set up each piece snaps down onto the hull holding it in place. There’s a little bit of springiness holding the deck up that I’m working on eliminating now. It should all sit flat once done.
Something your question just made me think about! Maybe I can lift the center straight up on 4 posts like the show car guys do with their hoods...hmmm this could be interesting

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Just realized that probably of all ship models the aircraft carriers lend themselves best to LED lighting. And Titanic I guess.

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- @Shipific on IG
my gallery

The USS Enterprise CVN-65 is complete! I finished up the base today. Borrowed my son's wide angle lens for the cell phone so I could get some better pictures without being 10' away hahha. Wishing i had a better camera after seeing how hard it is to get good focus with all these grey tones And dark lighting for night shots Tho. I started April 1st and estimate about 400 hours or so invested to get here. New for the final reveal, You'll see the sailors on deck for the commemoration of nuclear power and the base. The base is made up to look like it has rubber blocks on the wood frame. I scored and carved it to try and make it look like it had been used well. The edges and scores got gloss and satin varnish to replicate the shiny surface you get when rubber is cut open. Buried in the sailors is one with red hair, I've gone to adding a redhead to every build i do with figures as my signature

Ive got alot of pics And It's a big ship so here's my top 10 and you guys can ask for more in detail if you'd like.









I added some mirrors inside so you could see the 'blind" walls i built.

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Ha, jokes on me I couldn't do it in 1. Gotta post the night shots!

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Hi Mongoose nice work on the Enterprise. Has come up quite nicely and the lighting really adds a great touch. Works really well on a carrier.

Loved the concept for the sailors on the deck, but something doesn't quite seem right when compared with the photo. The sailors are struggling to stand out. Not sure if that is the weathering being too light and not having enough contrast with the white uniforms, or the sheer number of sailors that might be required for them to be noticeable. Are they all attached to a base sitting on the deck?

It has been fun to watch the build and picked up a few things myself.

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On the Workbench:
1/350 USS New York (LPD-21)

In the Shipyard:
1/350 - USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7 2010)
1/350 - USS Abraham Lincoln (2003)

On the Drawing Board:
1/350 - USS JFK (1991)
1/350 - USS Hancock (1965)
1/350 - USS Valley Forge (1951)

Yeah cam I have the same questions about the sailors but haven’t been able to figure out which yet. I was looking at them just yesterday morning wondering if I should add 1 in between existing sailors to increase the density. I also put the clear sheet they are on against a lighter background and they almost disappear. I’m beginning to think it’s a combo of both points you made. I need to do something with it for taking it out to display so going to try adding more sailors 1st as painting them “whiter” will really be hard now that they are standing together:-)

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Thanks cam, appreciate the feedback. After staring at the pics I decided Einstein's equation just didn't pop like it should. Played around with background color to see if guys weren't dress whites white enough lol, tried adding more guys, discovered staggering them and getting rid of the lines your eye sees the way I placed them was the biggest impact. Still added 200 sailors to this! I think it shows better here. Your thoughts?

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Hi Mongoose. That looks much better. Really stands out now.

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On the Workbench:
1/350 USS New York (LPD-21)

In the Shipyard:
1/350 - USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7 2010)
1/350 - USS Abraham Lincoln (2003)

On the Drawing Board:
1/350 - USS JFK (1991)
1/350 - USS Hancock (1965)
1/350 - USS Valley Forge (1951)

Hello
I would like to congratulate you on the realization of your ENTERPRISE
I am writing to you from France, I am currently making the BIG E and would like to ask you where did you find the plans for the layout of the aircraft hangar.
thank you Christian

hello
je tient a vous féliciter pour la réalisation de votre ENTERPRISE
je vous ecris de France , je réalise actuellement le BIG E et voudrais vous demandez ou avez vous trouver les plans de l'aménagement du hangar avion.
merci christian

Mongoose,

That is one incredible beast of a build!

I've been looking in vain for a color image of the "ships named Enterprise" doors. Did you paint those from scratch, based on the pic in the Detail & Scale book? In any case, could you provide a close-up photo? I've a hankering to build a 1/144 or 1/72 hangar deck section featuring those doors.

David Winfrey

David Kopielski Does the decals for these. Check out his site and grab yourself a set for sure.

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Tom Pope does the hangar bay drawings.
https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/cvn- ... e-drawings

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk