disecting the 1/350 Trumpeter NIMITZ

[LE BOSCO]

Laci

thank you for this master class on the weathering thank you for taking the time to do it
I think it going to help many people
cheers
Nicolas

[DWD]

Ya! Thanks a bunch Laci! Great tips! Keep up the great work. Your Nimitz is outstanding!

[boomstick68]

Very nice and effective weathering technique.

[gtbred]

Thanks for posting how to weather mondern warships Laci!

[anyahajobuzi]

Hello everyone!

I am glad you guys liked the weathering lesson, but I am even more glad that it turned out this nice, for this was an experiment I tried on this ship for the first time (the airbrushing part of it for sure). Sometimes I just amaze myself
But this project couldn't be on this level without the help from some of you, fellow modelers!

despite being married, working on my house, going to the lake on the hot afternoons, I also managed to slip some work in, and get some things done on the Nimitz. Yes , I am aware I live in North pole and that I just used the word "hot", but we 'eskimos' are experiencing one hell of a summer up here! Anyway, back to business:

I installed all the life raft canisters on the port side. It was quite time-consuming to have them all line up straight. The dark grey band across them make it look like they are out of alignment, but I assure all the eagle-eyed builders out there, they are as straight as, let's say,Brad Pitt. Those bands are all over the place on the real canisters too, even half fallen-off in some case. This was excellent news for me, since it would've been impossible to keep them straight on all 120 of them, anyway....

I also finished the Fresnel landing lights! Building that was a lot of fun and I am not even being sarcastic! I love stratch-building pieces, as long as I only have to make the item ONCE!
With these lights, again, one must pay attention to the era being modelled. The "meatballs" changed a lot in the last 30 years!
There are a couple of mistakes one could notice on mine here, but I am pretty happy with the result, I was definitely not ashamed to add this to my ship. Plus, I corrected some of the poles not being perfectly straight. I hope it will meet you guys' expectations too.

I am also working on the catapult control station, adding windows and all that jazz. pictures are on the way.

I will be leaving town for a while, may not be able to post until the end of the month.
But everyone else should have a lot of progress done on their projects by then, right?

Happy modeling

Cheers: Laci

[boomstick68]

What is that wayyyy up in the sky. I can barely see it. Oh, I know what it is, it's the bar you've raised for all us CVN builders!

[LE BOSCO]

HI Laci


it's superb ,no ,grandiose ,no........ my poor vocabulary is exhausted in front of this masterpiece which happens
"chapeau bas l'artiste "
cheers
Nicolas

[Channell]

Sometimes I get all snooty and start thinking I'm "hot stuff". This is the thread I look at to remind myself how much further I have to go before I can honestly say that.

Simply unfreakingbelievable! No, that's not a word... but it should be.

[gtbred]

Laci,you have taken model carrier building to a new levei.

[anyahajobuzi]

Gentlemen, I thank you for those overstatements regarding my build! You guys are waaaay too generous! Nevertheless, 4 years ago (Jesus Christ, FOUR?!) I set out to build a Nimitz that is better than most , and I am glad that my goal is being supported by talented people like you. I especially love when guys -way more precise and simply just better at this than I ever will be- saying that I "raised the bar". Now that's fantastic, and I again thank those individuals for lifting me up to be amongst them!

On raising the bar: my skills had gotten better in last few years, and this has led to a somewhat sad thing: My unfinished USS Essex ended up being scrapped yesterday. It had a bunch of broken pieces and very simple paintjob and it was a BBO with some PE.... just didn't make the cut anymore... out with the old, in with the new. My next ESSEX will be way more accurate.

and back to the Nimitz: I almost finished the catapult control station. I built a rectangular box for this out of styrene, so it could have a more 3D look to it. I put some random pieces of styrene inside it to make it look like there are seats and instruments inside it.
I painted up some clear plastic with clear green, same technique I used for the windows on the island, including the use of decals for the frame on the windows.
There is also a hatch on the top of this station, I used a PE piece out of the WEM watertight door set. It's a bit small for the scale, but I can live with that. Note that this hatch is not in the center of the roof.

I like the way it turned out, especially when compared with the Chinese #$%^&. There is still some minor things to be addressed before I can sink it into it's proper place.

There also mistakes emerging all the time. I actually keep a bunch photos on file too, that contain some really obvious mistakes on my Nimitz. I messed up so many simple things that are soooooo bad, that I sometimes cry myself to sleep. Just so I don't think that "I am all that", cause I am not. Once you guys see these, you'll be thinking: how can this idiot build a nice tilly crane when he can't glue catwalks and safety nets straight?!

but thanks for following guys!!

Cheers: Laci

[Channell]

Don't sell yourself short, Laci! This is easily in the top 5 most impressive kit builds on this forum ever and I'm sure most everyone would agree!

It just goes to show what "slow and steady" mixed with incredible dedication and skill (plus long, cold winters ) can accomplish!

[DWD]

Magnificent build Laci!

Every time I see updates on your build I think, this is gonna end up being one of, if not "The" build that modelers will talk about or refer to when they build this same kit. The work and detail that you are putting into this kit is extraordinary!!!! Absolutely positively spectacular man!

[sgtryan13]

Man, that landing array is impressive, very well done! That particular part is one of the areas on my Reagan that I promised myself I was gonna improve on, but have yet to tackle. I think I will be stealing some of your ideas on that thing. Luckily for you, you live up in the morth pole, so it is not practical for me to break in and just steal yours!

Keep it up man!

[NWarty]

"I will not rip stuff off my ship and rebuild it because of Laci's awesome work"
"I will not rip stuff off my ship and rebuild it because of Laci's awesome work"
"I will not rip stuff off my ship and rebuild it because of Laci's awesome work"
"I will not rip stuff off my ship and rebuild it because of Laci's awesome work"
"I will not rip stuff off my ship and rebuild it because of Laci's awesome work"

[anyahajobuzi]

Thank you for your kindness, guys, REALLY!

Blake, if you go back and re-work things on your ship, you will leave that FANTASTIC airwing without a home longer, and that would be a shame! by the way I can see an evil domino-effect taking shape here...
Ryan might after all rent a dog sled, and sneak into my house and take things off my ship (while I am fighting war on poverty, establishing world-piece and saving kittens stuck on trees, would you have the heart to steal from a saint like me, Ryan?!) and then I can see myself "borrowing" Blake's airwing. I don't even care they are Hi-vis, I like those detailed little bastards so much..... and of course Blake would "somehow" acquire Ryan's mast and someone will end up swiping Doug's Enterprise, and horses will be eating each other and the sun will be setting on East..... I can see this getting very ugly
Thanks for following this thread, and everyone: keep working on your great projects!

[anyahajobuzi]

What is that wayyyy up in the sky. I can barely see it. Oh, I know what it is, it's the bar you've raised for all us CVN builders!

James! I had a pretty good laugh about your comment man!!!!!

[boomstick68]

....And I've got dibs on your sponsons.

[youngtiger1]

Reading through DWD's build I learned that I need to see you're Nimitz and I must say that I'm glad I did because you're doing incredible work with this kit. Keep up the good work and you have another follower

Mike

[autodecepticon]

Speechless. Salute.

[Jaguar]

Amazing, simply spectacular. I love your weathering work. I will try it on my Nimitz when the moment arrives.

Jorge