USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) Desert Storm 1991 - 1/700 - Trumpeter

[Yuth]

A new kit on the workbench.

New? Not really... I’d started it back in September 2024... but quickly put it aside because the photo-etched parts I’d found were for the Kitty Hawk version...

I thought they’d work, but the differences are actually quite significant (the fuselages, a completely different tail section...)

Anyway, we’re bringing it back out



































That’s where I left off.

[Yuth]

and resumed yesterday with the castle :

[FFG-7]

look at Sheet 3 - Outboard Profile Stbd of the plans & compare it to the height of the model's funnel.
CV-67 USS John F Kennedy Booklet of General Plans https://archive.org/details/cv67bogp2011
https://www.navsource.net/archives/02/67.htm

[Yuth]

I see what U mean, it should rise more, as on this pic :


But the trumpeter kit depicts it during Desert Stom in 1991, and on the other pics I found the island seems to have raised and joined the funnel :

[Yuth]

Before gluing the deck in place, we need to fill this hangar a bit; as you’ll see, the planes will be painted, but I’ll skip the decals for now – those will be applied to the planes on the deck

S-3 Viking



E-2 Hawkeye


But... are the wings folded up in the hangar? Is it difficult? Not at all! With the ultra_sonic cutter, it’s a piece of cake...







F-14 Tomcat





F/A-18 Hornet




The ultrasonic cutter is absolutely brilliant for neatly separating these tiny parts and performing microsurgery!

[FFG-7]

the plans I linked shows the top of the funnel about level with the top of the guard rail & 1991 according to the dates on the plans.

[Yuth]

I will check if I can move the funnel

[Yuth]

I forgot to mention in my original post that the livery will be the 1991 Desert Storm scheme, so the air wing will be CW-3

There will therefore be significant changes, and the aircraft set provided by Trumpeter is rather paradoxical...
the decals feature the VF-84 Jolly Rogers, which did indeed operate from the Kennedy, but only until the late 1980s, AND F/A-18 Hornets, which didn’t operate from the Kennedy until around 1994–95...

[Yuth]

We’re tackling the railings on the island – a bit of a challenge because, as I mentioned, there isn’t a dedicated PE set for this model, so mine is designed for a Kitty Hawk...
It looks similar, but the differences are huge, especially on this part...

And I’m still struggling with the curves...

The chimney, which was a bit low, has been raised slightly...





















My nightmare... the AN/SPS-49 surveillance radar in PE... can't find it in 3D...

[Yuth]

And there you have it – the island is finished...

All that’s left to do is paint it!

[Pieter]

Nice SPS-49. Not the easiest radar to build.

[Yuth]

Thanks Pieter,

I must admit I whished a 3D version existed

[Flynn_lives]

Which PE set are you using for JFK? I've got it in the stash and all I have are the generic stuff from GMM.

[Yuth]

Hi, I found no dedicated set for JFK, I'm using sets from Artist Hobby dedicated to Kitty Hawk...
As JFK is sometimes considered as a subclass of Kitty Hawk I tought it could match... in fact, not really...

The reference is :
USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 basic set (For Trumpeter)
Item No.#: AH270024

[Yuth]

Haven't made much progress lately; I'm waiting for my aircraft fleet

But we do manage to get a few things done now and then

Like these hangar spaces, and still with that generic, rather lacklustre PE...

[Flynn_lives]

Yuth,

how much backdating are you doing to get her 91' appearance? I'm still doing work to get the kitty hawk detail set to augment my GMM modern CV set.

[Yuth]

it's quite complicated, the trumpeter kit is a kind of mix of all periods...

I try to find what to upgrade and/or change with pictures but I already know that the ship will be some far from reality, for the CVW-3 however, it should be much more accurate