The Ship Model Forum

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's cold and rainy here in New Jersey - perfect weather to build a model in!
The turkeys in the oven and so is my latest endeavor, the USS Independence, a weird and very sleek vessel!
Here are the kit contents - a low parts count for a Trumpeter kit:

However, it does have a LARGE number of P/E tie downs to attach to the flight deck:

The hull is divided into upper and lower halves with a one piece rear bulkhead:

And here is the painting guide:

Construction started with the hull. There are several inner bulkheads which make up the helo hanger, but as I was closing the hanger doors I left them out. There's no detail inside - so if you wanna display them open you'll need to add some!

The recessed bays at the stern did not fit very well and had large, hard to remove ejector pin marks:

The hull parts DID fit very well though, just needed a few passes with a sanding stick to sharpen up:


The bow radome was another trouble spot, but with careful sanding it blended in nicely:


That's where I am so far, but I am gonna work on her all day today (in between the turkey that is!)
Thanks for lookin' and, as always, comments/critiques are most welcomed!
Happy modeling and Happy Thanksgiving!
Mark

Looks great so far! Keep the pictures coming.

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Greetings fellow modelers! Just a small update tonight. I've assembled the display base and was puzzling over how to paint the nameplate. It's P/E metal and very thin. What I finally did was get a small piece of stiff cardboard, attach some masking tape folded over on itself and attach the nameplate to it. I sprayed the base and the nameplate flat black, and with a sanding stick CAREFULLY sanded the paint away from the raised lettering. The ship's badge or coat of arms? was especially tricky - but I like the result:

While I had the black paint out I sprayed the lower hulls too:

After the paint had dried a couple hours I began the assembly of the many P/E bits. I started on the flight deck tie downs:

Trumpeter encloses their P/E in between clear adhesive which holds the parts while you cut. Pretty cool, huh?

I'm about a third of the way done on the tie downs. There's 145 of 'em to attach!
Thanks for lookin' and comments/critiques always welcomed!
Mark

Looks great! The work you did on the nameplate sure shows. I hope to have that kind of skill some day!

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Anyone seen the Dragon and Bronco kits?

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Joe

I'm almost finished with the Bronco kit. A write-up and pictures will be sent to Timothy.

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My personal modeling site: http://keldq.webs.com/

In addition to Kelly, this guy also has: http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

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De quoi s'agit-il?

Looks like Cyber Hobby and Bronco joined forces on those kits so they are the same, and the Trump is like $20 less in price
and looks like much simpler hull / deck / superstructure construction

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Joe

Greetings fellow modelers! Finally got back to the bench after a very busy holiday - hope everyone had a good Christmas! I got all the P/E mounted on the hull - those tie downs actually went pretty quickly. I didn't use any adhesive, they fit snugly in the recesses and the paint will hold them in place.
Here's the upper works ready for paint:

Here she is with the decks and lower hulls masked, ready for the base color:

All painted and masking removed:


The railings around the bridge were tricky to mount, but came out OK. (Gotta fix that bent ladder!)

While the paint was drying I got busy assembling the little details and weaponry:


I was so eager to get paint on her after all the P/E I didn't get any pics of the model pre-paint!
I got her gloss coated and I am starting the decals tonight. Gonna get some more pics up soon.
Thanks for lookin' and comments/critiques welcomed and appreciated!
Mark

Boy is this looking good!
I like the detail on the Sea Ram.

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Greetings fellow modelers! The saga continues - on to decals! I gotta admit that decals are not my favorite part of modeling, but they can really make or break a kit. Trumpeter's decals are problematic at best (IMHO). They are printed well, are thin, and look the part but are very fiddly to work with. First off the bridge windows are decals and I was hoping they wouldn't detract from the model's appearance. Once in place though, I think they look pretty good.
You need to trim the carrier film very close to the edge of the window "frames" or it will lay across the foot rails:


Next were the dark gray areas on the bow. I think these represent nonslip walkways:

Now on to the flight deck. Boy oh boy was this fun! The first decal was large and the carrier film was only around the image, so sliding it off the trimmed paper was an exercise in frustration. After many a colorful metaphor I got it where I wanted. Whew!! I think it would be considerably easier to apply if Trumpeter gave the whole area clear film - decal solvent would render it invisible:

Next were the rest of the flight lines. These went on much better:

The rest of the session went on without any problems. Here's the stern view:

Woohoo! Decals are done! Now it's time for dull overcoat and adding all the final details.
I should have some more pics up tomorrow.
Thanks for lookin' and please keep them comments /critiques coming!
Mark

Very impressive!

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Looks great! I am thinking of maybe going out and getting one myself. Is there a 1/350 of the Freedom?

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Scott

Just found out the wife and son ordered the Dragon so I would have something after I finish the Vicksburg . I hated to tell them I still haven't started the Laffey, or the F-14 sitting on the shelf. I'm not the one to say anything

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/

Wow!! I am not that big into the the modern ships and planes but this looks really good I think that Trump is getting better in the design and mouldings of all there new kits.I just received the Prinz Eugen and she's a beaut also.The window decals are spot on and look great Sir and the PE ladder work on the side of the SS is nice.I like this ship now.Cheers Kevin

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Twain:Ethical man - a Christian holding four aces

Twain:Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.

hey, man, fantastic job. I like your thread! Keep up the posts. I am going to be starting my own LCS-2 from Dragon this year. I really like seeing how these kits build up, and yours is going up great!

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Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Thank you guys for the kind replies!
I'm just about done her now - just pick out some details to touch up on the flight deck:

Here's some pics after she got a dull coat finish:



I couldn't resist adding a flag:

Got her finally mounted on the display base - now it's time for the air wing!
The kit comes with a nice Seahawk and an unmanned drone:

Here's the Seahawk glued together:

Lots of windows to mask:

Here's the helo and the drone base coated:

That it for tonight. When I get the choppers done and on the flight deck I'll post some more pics.
Thanks for lookin' and happy modeling!
Mark

Outstanding job

_________________
God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
~ Chester W. Nimitz ~
My Builds ~ http://ussnorthcaroilna.shutterfly.com/