Carrier hull construction

[Admhawk]

Hi Darren!!!
Awesome shot of USS "Reagan" you posted ( do you have more??? ),

Thanks, I found it online, can't remember where. Would you like a copy of the unmodified pic?

[Jimmy Conway]

Thanks, I found it online, can't remember where. Would you like a copy of the unmodified pic?[/quote]


yes, thanks....you could post here.........
Nice regards: Jimmy

[Admhawk]

Here you go jimmy, sorry it took so long, been busy!

[Jimmy Conway]

Hi Darren, thank you very much, the photo is astonishing.....

I know you've been busy studying hull lines bow of aircraft carriers!!!
Sorry, just kidding, hope we had some contribution here but would like someone ( draftsman ) to draw complex lines for those bows........
Nice regards: Jimmy

[Scale Shipyard / W.L.U.]

Patrick:

I may have missed your answer, but...Which Carrier are you trying to build?

The phot of the Nimitz hull in drydock with the large protruding bulbous bow is how the hull design changed for the Reagan, the Bush has the same modified bow design and I believe that a few other of the Nimitz class will be modernized with this shipalt as well.
The original Nimitz bow did not go straight down from the waterline either, they have a slightly forward bulb on their underwatrer stem profile as well as a good size bulbous shape to it.

[boatman]

hi patrick boatman here i am a new member an looking through site see your thread that you are building nimitz class carrier in 1/144 scale.Well i am building USS NIMITZ in same scale and have nearly fininshed scrachbuilding hull its taken me two yrs so far because i have been makeing aircraft lifts & hanger doors to work from R/C. Hopefully be able to start building sponsons soon i hope to be able to post some pics soon as i find out how as i am new to computers an still learning.It would be nice to see some pics of your build if possible
best regards chris the boatman

[boatman]

HI Jimmy boatman here i am a new member of this forum and reading one of your posts i see a person named CLAUDE is building a carrier.Now is he a member of this forum ? as i would like to talk to him about his carrier build as i am building USS NIMITZ in 1/144 scale .I have just scratchbuilt my hull
hopeing you can help me to contact claude
best regards chris

[Charlestonguy]

Patrick:

I may have missed your answer, but...Which Carrier are you trying to build?

The phot of the Nimitz hull in drydock with the large protruding bulbous bow is how the hull design changed for the Reagan, the Bush has the same modified bow design and I believe that a few other of the Nimitz class will be modernized with this shipalt as well.
The original Nimitz bow did not go straight down from the waterline either, they have a slightly forward bulb on their underwatrer stem profile as well as a good size bulbous shape to it.

What about the Saratoga Class ships? Did they have a forward bulb as well and are all carriers painted the same below the waterline?
Thanks

[boatman]

HI Charlestonguy boatman here i see you are intrested in carriers i have only been builing my carrier for a couple of yrs seel post above .Exscuse me for asking but are you building a model of sartoga ?

[Charlestonguy]

HI Charlestonguy boatman here i see you are intrested in carriers i have only been builing my carrier for a couple of yrs seel post above .Exscuse me for asking but are you building a model of sartoga ?

I have an old Revell 1/542 scale kit that I was thinking of starting. But this would be my first in over 30 years. I was planning a trip to Charleston, just down the road from me now, and see the USS Yorktown. I saw the USS Forrestal off the coast of Palm Beach in the early 60's, but never got within a few miles of her.
So now I would like to start collecting information and see if I can make a respectable model of the Sara.
My Grandfather and two uncles� was Navy, one died on the Arizona. My father was Army, so to keep peace I joined the Air Force, but have always loved the sea.

[boatman]

Hello charlestonguy read your post and sorry to hear about your grandfather on the ARIZONA.You must have quite a family history my dad was at dunkirk .But on a happier note go for the sara i would love to read your posts about your build and maybe some pics i hope to post some pics of my build of nimitz but i am new to computers an dont know how to post pics yet so i look forward to seeing your posts
regards chris

[gtb -red]

Patrick:

I may have missed your answer, but...Which Carrier are you trying to build?

The phot of the Nimitz hull in drydock with the large protruding bulbous bow is how the hull design changed for the Reagan, the Bush has the same modified bow design and I believe that a few other of the Nimitz class will be modernized with this shipalt as well.
The original Nimitz bow did not go straight down from the waterline either, they have a slightly forward bulb on their underwatrer stem profile as well as a good size bulbous shape to it.

What about the Saratoga Class ships? Did they have a forward bulb as well and are all carriers painted the same below the waterline?
Thanks

The Forrestals have no bulbous bow. scratchbuilding a 1/350 Ranger waterline.

[Charlestonguy]

What about the Saratoga Class ships? Did they have a forward bulb as well and are all carriers painted the same below the waterline?
Thanks

The Forrestals have no bulbous bow. scratchbuilding a 1/350 Ranger waterline.

Thanks for the info; do you know if they are painted red below the black waterline?
Also and I know this may sound dumb to most of you guys but what are things that look like antenna's?

[Scale Shipyard / W.L.U.]

First:

Yes the Forresal class did have a bulbous bow, in profile the bow rakes back with the angle lessening as you get towards the waterline but once it reaches back to the FP it goes straight down to the forefoot. None of the conventionaly powered carriers had the forward protrusion below the waterline, only CVN-65 and 68 thru 75 had the lower bow go forward of the FP, and of course anyone following this thread have seen the large forward protruding bulbous bow on CVN-76 and 77.

A bulbous bow does not neccesarily always protrude forward of the FP.

The items that your pointing out on the photo above are 35' whip antennas in their down position, these are hinged as to get out of the way of flight ops.

The carriers had a 7 to 8 foot black boot top and then red below that. another note of interet is that the boot top could be 7 feet high at the bow but only 3 feet at the stern, the top line of the boot top is parallel with the base line but the bottom of the boot top angles upward along the entire length of the hull.

[gtb -red]

Yes you are right Mr.Upshaw the Forrestal do have a bulbous bow. but not like BigE or the Nimitz class. I stand informed as in now.

[Charlestonguy]

First:

Yes the Forresal class did have a bulbous bow, in profile the bow rakes back with the angle lessening as you get towards the waterline but once it reaches back to the FP it goes straight down to the forefoot. None of the conventionaly powered carriers had the forward protrusion below the waterline, only CVN-65 and 68 thru 75 had the lower bow go forward of the FP, and of course anyone following this thread have seen the large forward protruding bulbous bow on CVN-76 and 77.

A bulbous bow does not neccesarily always protrude forward of the FP.

The items that your pointing out on the photo above are 35' whip antennas in their down position, these are hinged as to get out of the way of flight ops.

The carriers had a 7 to 8 foot black boot top and then red below that. another note of interet is that the boot top could be 7 feet high at the bow but only 3 feet at the stern, the top line of the boot top is parallel with the base line but the bottom of the boot top angles upward along the entire length of the hull.

Thanks for the info
I always wondered what the antennas were, or even if they were antennas at all. Thanks again.

[boatman]

HI PatrickGin boatman here how,s your carrier comin on ? as you have,nt posted in a while i wonded if you still building
chris

[gtb -red]

Hey you guys still buiding out there?

[gtb -red]

Mr. Conway any update on your build.

[joss29840]

hi Admhawk could you post the pic of the left or right view of the hull section please?
thanks
joss29840

Hi Jimmy,

I wouldn't say that the model shown above is wrong. But I would say that the edges need to have more curve put into them.

I understand what you are saying, but I think it is matter of degree. Yes there are curves in the bow. But I don't see as much as you see. What I see is shown below.

In this pic of the Reagan, you can see a prominant weld line go across the front and some creasing from internal welding above it. To my eye, they go straight across for a large portion of the front. The red v outline is what I would call flat. The green circles are where I would use blocks/putty/sanding to make the sides curve into the front.



The following is a set of plans I got from Floating Drydock. They don't show the curves as much as I would like, but you can see that they are understated, rather than over stated.






Finally, even though I strive to make my models as accurate and detailed as I possible can, I don't expect others to. Modeling is supposed to be fun and relaxing so I usually make my responses lean toward that direction. If a model doesn't have quite the exact curve, so be it, hopefully someone had fun making it and is proud of it!

Cheers!
Darren