USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 Trumpeter 1/700

[orb]

Hi Arnaud,
thanks for the comment on the page. I'm actually not very pleased with the first two models that I built, now that I have more experience, I see where things could be improved.

The Nimitz diorama was my initial idea and now I find myself building all sort of things except for that...so it'll be some time until I finish it. Which brings me back to the actual subject of your thread...

...okay, I have to admit, I'm also here to see how building a CVN is really done Keep up the good work!

[Nektarios]

I worked a bit more on the tomcats. On the picture I posted yesterday the Trumpeter plane is painted with a brush. Bad idea: the hair marks are as big as the plane
Therefore I removed all the paint with oven cleaner and started again with my airbrush. I bought this Aztec airbrush 10 years ago, definitely worth the investment!

Its true airbrush painting makes aircraft look better.

[arnobiz]

...okay, I have to admit, I'm also here to see how building a CVN is really done

Lol Orb, we're learning together then as this is my first CVN and my second ship.

Open canopies are not such a big deal, a little practice on extra planes (Typically all the open wings tomcats I did not use in the Trumpeter boxes) with Kelly's tutorial will do the trick. You're just working with 8 times smaller stuff

[arnobiz]

The Tomcats are now painted and ready to receive the Starfighter decals. The almost white bird is the "213" of VF-213, with the fancy blue markings.


I tried to vary the grey shade very slightly as can be seen on actual pictures, what do you think of it? To strong? Could be stronger? Now is the time to tell me so please do so, any comments welcome as usual!

If you like it here is how to do it (The "special" bird is painted separately): I painted all the birds in light grey, and then I sprayed a layer of a darker shade at random on the planes. This created a very marked difference between them, depending on how long I sprayed over each plane. Then to homogenize the shade I just had to spray the light grey again in very thin layers until the desired contrast was obtained.

If no one complains about this step I will apply a Future coat on them and apply the decals. I'm working faster now as these decals have been waiting for a review for three months now. Sorry Mark and Patrice, I hope you'll like it though

[angeleyes]

look lovely, just wondering arent you going to apply a light wash to bring out all the detail?They would look nuff if left like these as the human eye in that scale 1/700 wont be able to distinguish the details without some contrast.

[arnobiz]

Thanks Kostas for your good advice, yes I will apply a dark wash once they are varnished to bring out the details. I prefer to do it after the coat of varnish, I found it works better.

[kidcurrie42]

Hi Arnaud, i would maybe go a slight shade lighter on a few of them, good idea about the wash after the clear coat. easier to clean up any overwashing.

Looking good Arnaud

Happy Modeling

John

[Nektarios]

Yeah they look good. I like the fact that you opened two canopies I may try it on my next build.

[arnobiz]

Roger John, I agree some of them are a bit too dark, thanks!

Nektarios I opened two at the moment but as I said earlier I will open more eventually, I just wait to see if the masking did not work for some planes to decide on which I will open the canopy. Eventually I plan to open the canopy of about 5-6 Tomcats and about the same number of Hornets.

[orb]

Very nice Arnaud! Love the idea with the open canopies

[Nektarios]

Roger John, I agree some of them are a bit too dark, thanks!

Nektarios I opened two at the moment but as I said earlier I will open more eventually, I just wait to see if the masking did not work for some planes to decide on which I will open the canopy. Eventually I plan to open the canopy of about 5-6 Tomcats and about the same number of Hornets.

Me wants to open canopies too from now on.

[DBlack]

Wow, those look awesome!!

For the colors, if you're looking to be as accurate as possible, all of VF-31's Tomcats were painted in the Tactical Paint Scheme, which is FS36375 (lt. ghost gray) on the underside, 36320 (dk. ghost gray) on the sides of the nose and tails, and 35237 (med. gray) on the topside. VF-213's were more of a hodge-podge. Some were painted in that same standard TPS, and some had 36320 on the topsides with only a 35237 "skunk stripe" (around the canopy and down the nose). 213, their retro jet with the light blue markings, was overall 16440 (gloss gull gray). The 35237 quickly weathers to a lighter shade that's closer to 36320, tho, so you might wanna weather it (and lighten it for scale), by going back over it with a thinned coat of 36320.

Hope that helps.

[Nektarios]

Wow, those look awesome!!

For the colors, if you're looking to be as accurate as possible, all of VF-31's Tomcats were painted in the Tactical Paint Scheme, which is FS36375 (lt. ghost gray) on the underside, 36320 (dk. ghost gray) on the sides of the nose and tails, and 35237 (med. gray) on the topside. VF-213's were more of a hodge-podge. Some were painted in that same standard TPS, and some had 36320 on the topsides with only a 35237 "skunk stripe" (around the canopy and down the nose). 213, their retro jet with the light blue markings, was overall 16440 (gloss gull gray). The 35237 quickly weathers to a lighter shade that's closer to 36320, tho, so you might wanna weather it (and lighten it for scale), by going back over it with a thinned coat of 36320.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info on this

[arnobiz]

Work in progress on one of the Tomcats:

I used most of Starfighter decals but had to complete them with the original Trumpeter decals as the front diagonal stripe is missing on the Starfighter decals (I saw it on all Navy.mil pictures, maybe Patrice Rouyax used another source?):

Also some markings are a bit too tiny I think, especially the numbers. In the picture the "NAVY" underneath is from Starfighter but it looks tiny too (Compared to the real picture) so I might replace it with a larger PitRoad decal. Also, the light blue frame around the cockpit is too small so I had to cut the stripes to only keep the front and rear parts. I will complete this with either paint or homemade decals, I don't know yet.

Does anyone know which brand these decals are designed for? Maybe they are for the Fujimi Tomcats, which I hear are a bit smaller than the Trumpeters.

[simon b]

Looking good Arnaud. My 350 scale Nimmo to looming large on the horizon (just got to get the buzz to start).

[orb]

Arnaud, wow! Very nice!

[DBlack]

I used most of Starfighter decals but had to complete them with the original Trumpeter decals as the front diagonal stripe is missing on the Starfighter decals (I saw it on all Navy.mil pictures, maybe Patrice Rouyax used another source?):

213 didn't have the stripe when originally painted in that scheme--it wasn't added 'til shortly before the deployment began.

Here's a pic of it without: http://www.carrierbuilders.net/articles ... MC0143.jpg

[arnobiz]

Thanks for the info DBlack, I didn't know that. As I depict the unit during the deployment I need the strip though! It's a pity the Trumpeter decals are so poorly printed, looking at the picture I posted earlier this decal looks horrible compared to the starfighter's

This morning I gave a try at open canopies, just to see if it is doable. The canopy should be better cut and have a painted frame but I find the result encouraging

[simon b]

[Nektarios]

Stunning work. What method did you use for this result???