Calling all Nimitz-class CVN fans

[Angeliccypher]

Kit wise I went with the 1/350 trumpeter Nimitz (which is in her '75 fit). I plan on building the Vinson in her 1980-82 configuration. What mods are needed and what are the best after markets I am still looking into.

[dmorrissette]

Gabriel:

Thanks- was thinking about starting there also. I may do the current fit as my son is on the ship
Dave

[Angeliccypher]

She was my dad's last tour. I do not do modern as a general rule. My dad's ships I would make an exception for.

[sgtryan13]

Well, seeing as modding the 1/350 Nimitz kit into the later ships of the class has kind of become my "thing", here is a very basic rundown on what you will need:

Parts
Both WEM PE sets for the Nimitz
Both GMM parts for the Nimitz
Veteran models accessories (ECM, CIWS, Sea Sparrow, RHIB)
Modern aircraft
Decals for the airwing
deck vehicles
and lots of styrene

Mods needed (not an all-inclusive list by any means)
Scratchbuild all the weapons sponsons around the hull
scratchbuild the hangar
modify the island (a little or a lot depending on your ship and year)
scratchbuild a lot of satcomm domes and their sponsons
and depending on the year, scratchbuild the main mast.

There are about a million other mods you can do, but those are the big ones.

Click on the link in my signature line to see a few of the builds I have done, it details out pretty much every item you need and how I went about doing the conversions.

Good Luck!
Ryan

[Thomas E. Johnson]

I wish to build my model of the 1/350 Nimitz as she appeared during the movie "The Final Countdown." The kit it out of the box says it represents the Nimitz as she was in 1975, and the movie takes place in 1980.

In watching the movie and comparing the ship to the model kit, I'm noting that many details along the hull don't match up. Is the model in error or was the ship retrofitted during the 5 years at that point since she had been in service?

Is there a list anywhere that describes the changes that need to be made to the trumpeter kit in order to post date it to the Nimitz as seen in 1980?

[Mark McKinnis]

Hi Thomas,

Nimitz did not get her first big overhaul until the 1983-1984 time frame so I do not think that you would have to modify the Trumpeter 1/350 scale kit too much for the 1980 version. There were probably a few small mods and the kit might not be perfect but it is the only one available for any Nimitz Class for all era's.

The biggest visual differences for the 1984 mod would have been the CIWIS and the sponsons associated with them and the mast and radar arrangements. So I think that you are pretty good to go out of the box for the 1980 version.

There are also a lot of after market decals for CVW-8 for that era. Ray Bean's Nimitz Photo CD would also be a big help if you are going for extra accuracy.

Good Luck!

Mark

[boomstick68]

Take a look at my Nimitz in my gallery as she was in 1976. That's how she should look for a Final Countdown ship.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

Thanks guys for that information. I am still puzzled however, by the non matching details from the flybys of the ship in the movie, when compared to the Trumpeter kit. lots of details (small bays along the hull, grated over openings and vents, etc) along the hull on both the port and starboard side don't match up. That was the real USS Nimitz that appeared in the movie as far as I know. Either the model kit is loaded with errors, or that wasn't the Nimitz in all of the scenes in the film, or there were changes made between 1975 and 1980, which doesn't seem likely based upon the information the two gentlemen above of this post presented.

What I may do is build it out of the box with the photo etched sets added, and just make the air wing as close to what she had in late 1980 as I can.

[Timmy C]

IMDB indicates that the Kitty Hawk was used as a stand-in for the scene where the carrier was passing the Arizona memorial (since Nimitz was still in the Atlantic fleet at the time of filming) - maybe that's what you're noticing? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080736/tri ... tt_trv_trv

[Thomas E. Johnson]

IMDB indicates that the Kitty Hawk was used as a stand-in for the scene where the carrier was passing the Arizona memorial (since Nimitz was still in the Atlantic fleet at the time of filming) - maybe that's what you're noticing? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080736/tri ... tt_trv_trv

As well as the opening flyby of the Nimitz after the credits roll by, and then the wide angle shot of the starboard bow approaching.

[Mark McKinnis]

Thanks guys for that information. I am still puzzled however, by the non matching details from the flybys of the ship in the movie, when compared to the Trumpeter kit. lots of details (small bays along the hull, grated over openings and vents, etc) along the hull on both the port and starboard side don't match up. That was the real USS Nimitz that appeared in the movie as far as I know. Either the model kit is loaded with errors, or that wasn't the Nimitz in all of the scenes in the film, or there were changes made between 1975 and 1980, which doesn't seem likely based upon the information the two gentlemen above of this post presented.

What I may do is build it out of the box with the photo etched sets added, and just make the air wing as close to what she had in late 1980 as I can.

Starfighter Decals has the sets required for the 1980 CVW-8 Nimitz Airwing.

CVW-8 details can be found here: http://www.gonavy.jp/CV-CVN68f.html

The cruise from Sep.10, 1979 - May 26, 1980 (Med, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea) would have been the failed hostage rescue for the Iranian Hostage Crisis.


Good Luck!

Mark

[Thomas E. Johnson]

Thanks guys for that information. I am still puzzled however, by the non matching details from the flybys of the ship in the movie, when compared to the Trumpeter kit. lots of details (small bays along the hull, grated over openings and vents, etc) along the hull on both the port and starboard side don't match up. That was the real USS Nimitz that appeared in the movie as far as I know. Either the model kit is loaded with errors, or that wasn't the Nimitz in all of the scenes in the film, or there were changes made between 1975 and 1980, which doesn't seem likely based upon the information the two gentlemen above of this post presented.

What I may do is build it out of the box with the photo etched sets added, and just make the air wing as close to what she had in late 1980 as I can.

Starfighter Decals has the sets required for the 1980 CVW-8 Nimitz Airwing.

CVW-8 details can be found here: http://www.gonavy.jp/CV-CVN68f.html

The cruise from Sep.10, 1979 - May 26, 1980 (Med, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea) would have been the failed hostage rescue for the Iranian Hostage Crisis.


Good Luck!
J
Mark

Thanks! My goal though is to make her appear as close as to she did in "The Final Countdown" as I reasonably can.

[sgtryan13]

The decals Mark speaks of are correct for the final countdown. Look closely at a few scenes from the movie, and you will see that a few of the aircraft still have the wing ID markings from the iran hostage mission. For TFC, you want a high-viz airwing except for the Black aces, they had already transitioned to the low-viz scheme.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

Thanks guys for that information. For my hangar deck, I am only going to have the two forward most elevators on the starboard side of the flight deck in the lowered position and those bay doors open, so this is the only area that needs to have any scratch built details added, and I'm not lighting it so it will be dark inside, so accuracy is not really as important as simply looking believable. Are there any decent photos of the portside hangar bay bulkhead in the area directly opposite the two starboard forward hangar bay doors?

for the overhead, I'm just going to install some thick styrene strips to the underside of the flight deck to represent longitudinal beams. Again, doesn't need to be super accurate, just believable.

I believe that one of the sets of retractable partitioning doors that divide up the hangar bay into three sections, is located in between the forward two hangar bay doors?

[gjholmes77]

Here's one

[gjholmes77]

and another...

[gjholmes77]

and finally

[Mark McKinnis]

The 1/700 scale Trumpeter Nimitz Kits do a pretty nice job of detailing the Hanger bay with respect to layout of the doors and the bulkheads. Take any part on the 700th kit and double it. Then you have the 350th scale equivalent. Less scratch build and more of a copying project without the guesswork. If you don't want to build the 700th kit after you use it to scale up the hanger, you can sell it.


Just a thought.

Good luck,

Mark

[Thomas E. Johnson]

Thanks guys. I think what I'm going to do is just install a plain flat white bulkhead into the area in question. I may dress it up some styrene to create some cat walks. Again, it doesn't have to be accurate at all, no one is going to get a good enough of a look to be able to tell. It just has to look believable from across a dark bay with aircraft and other scale stuff in front of it.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

Another ideas that occur to me that I can use to hide the general lack of accurate detail along the hangar deck bulkhead in question, and that is to hang a couple of large American flags from the overhead girders in front of the bulkhead. Would that violate any operational protocols for the hangar deck well the ship is at sea? If not then it would be a clever way to do the hangar deck and get away with under detailing the bulkhead.