disecting the 1/350 Trumpeter NIMITZ

[anyahajobuzi]

ATTENTION MODERN FLATTOP-LOVERS!!

I have a couple of buddies in Europe I contacted about making weapon sets in 350 scale instead of everyone -including myself- buying those mediocre GHQ sets that are bit oversized for this scale anyway. They are looking at costs right now and timelines, and I am looking for modelers who would like to deck-out their airwings even further. The weapons included would be:
- AIM-9L Sidewinder
- AIM-7 Sparrow
-AIM-54 Phoenix
- Mk82 500lbs bombs -basic version (possibly snake-eye?)
- drop tanks. I gave them the dimensions of the ones fitting: A-4, AV-8 and Intruder.
The items would be made of resin, and the droptanks could be easily modified to resemble those used on other types of aircraft.

Pass the word along. If we can get enough people interested they will develop the masters and see if we still wanna buy. I guarantee they are going to be way better than GHQ , though.

Any ideas for any other generic weapon types? I know the Phoenix is pretty specific, BUT I WANT THEM!!!

Cheers: Laci

[DWD]

Again man, your aircraft are looking great!!! Your ship and Air Wing are going to be spectacular when completed! And as far as your European friends endeavors in creating 1/350 scale ordinance and drop tanks.......COUNT ME IN!!!

[sgtryan13]

If the prospective manufacturer is able to deliver quality above GHQ, similar toi the missiles inclded in the veteran models sea sparrow sets, ten count me in for a pre-order that will equip 100+ aircraft, IF they will be available before spring 2015. If they are after that, then count me in for 50+ airraft. I would be willing to pre-order either way as long as the manufacturer was willing to give a satisfaction guarantee, similar to
what I did when I last cast my own resin satcomm domes and other parts.

[Jaguar]

I love modern flat tops, and i am very interested in such a topic. I think it is a very good idea so i will participate in whatever you need.

Appart form phoenix missiles i think that there are a lot od types of missiles that could be made. For example harm, maverick, torpedoes mk-46, mk-50 and so on.

Cheers

Jorge

[firemagi]

Excellent work as always Laci.

Count me in for the prospective ord sets too. Only things I can think to add to the list are MER/TERs for the Mk82s, launch rails for the Phoenix and maybe some AGM-84 Harpoons, as they were cleared as stores on A6, S3 and AV8..

Steve

[simon b]

Laci

Count me in for everything

[anyahajobuzi]

Whoaaa! Thank you for those VERY quick responses! I already told my buddies that there would be support for weapons in this scale!

-Ryan: I will forward your standards of the missile! I am looking for similar quality as veteran myself!

-Steve: yeah, I have been considering mentioning the MER/TER as well , but I figured that they are small enough and the bombs would cover most of them up, so that they can just be made out some styrene with minor mods. But I will bring it up with the gentlemen. Less scarthbuilding=more time building other models, right?!

- Jorge/Steve: about the other types of ordenance: maybe there could be a vote or something on what people absolutely want to have in these sets. It is obvious that not everything in the US arsenal will be made. These guys will need the measure ments of the weapons you want to see made. They are experienced in 48 and 35 scale, not 350. But casting is casting, just set up is a beach.

All this will take months, but I am on it, and whenever I will find out more, I am letting you all know. Thanks again for your interest, and here is to more superdetailed airwings to come!!!

And thank you for those commenting about those annoyingly small airplanes of mine I really appreciate it, you guys keep me going in times when I feel like turning green and start smashing !

Happy modeling: Laci

[firemagi]

-Steve: yeah, I have been considering mentioning the MER/TER as well , but I figured that they are small enough and the bombs would cover most of them up, so that they can just be made out some styrene with minor mods. But I will bring it up with the gentlemen. Less scarthbuilding=more time building other models, right?!

- Jorge/Steve: about the other types of ordenance: maybe there could be a vote or something on what people absolutely want to have in these sets. It is obvious that not everything in the US arsenal will be made. These guys will need the measure ments of the weapons you want to see made. They are experienced in 48 and 35 scale, not 350. But casting is casting, just set up is a beach.

You could be right about the MER/TERs when the a/c are bombed up and I guess a triangular shaped length of plastic stock with a bit of light carving would be god enough in our scale..

A poll might be an idea as we are all building in slightly different timeframes thus different weapon loads.. Came across the following looking for dims for the harpoon..

http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_displ ... d=200&ct=2

Sure they will have measurements for other ord too..

Steve

[Goodwood]

You could always do "era sets" of carrier-based external stores, such as "World War II/Korea", "Vietnam", "Modern ('80s-'90s)" and "Post-Modern (2000s+)" Just a shot in the dark...

[anyahajobuzi]

Sean, that "era" idea is excellent! I sure want to see some of the missiles to start materializing, but that is so far away. Don't worry, I am keeping pressure on those guys!!

I am glad so many modelers are on board for this!

Well, here is something that did get built: the main rotors for the MH-53-s!!! I never imagined I will actually go thru with them, for I complicated the building process soooooooooo much!
The kit comes with the main rotor with 2 options: made entirely of plastic AND P.E. . I liked the 3D look of the rotorhub in plastic, but found the brass blades to be much more realistic than the thick plastic ones, so I merged the mediums. It was tricky, and a total female dog (censored) to mate the plastic with the metal flawlessly. I broke a couple of blades in the process.... I used crazy glue over the whole joint and put a bunch of putty over it. I had to wet-sand it, build it up with putty and sand it again so many times that I totally forgot what year it was..... Each blade was held in a locking tweezer during the sanding process... Good thing it's only a 7 bladed rotor
But after a back and forth over 10 times I got it pretty good. Then the whole blade got covered in glossy black to accept the tiny decals that Bronco did actually thought of including! very nice of them!
After decaling I had to weather the blades, because there is heavy discoloration on them in real life.
With these and the 2 Vikings tomorrow I will have 23 finished aircraft. Another 21 to go.....Pretty painful , I tell ya....

Now: onto the Corsairs!!!!

Cheers: Laci

[LE BOSCO]

HI Laci

your work is still as awesome the work you have provided ,pays "tribute" at sea stalion
congrats et good luck for the other aircraft
cheers
Nicolas

[Dadeo911]

I would love to be able to get this ordinance as well. I currently have 100+ modern US Navy aircraft sitting waiting to be built. Any chance on getting some Russian missiles as well? The Kuznetsov would look great with a loaded deck as well.

Chris

[anyahajobuzi]

Thanks a lot Nicholas, it's an honor to get your admiration.

Chris: I share your enthusiasm, believe me, but at this point I don't even know if these guys will bite on the US arsenal deal, and if yes, how much of it. As usual, money will wipe away all doubt, but I am just waiting for them to figure out cost for the first few types of weapons. Once these guys will see how these tiny weapons are turning them into millionaires ( ) , I am confident they will cast us anything. Even Russian stuff

[task force 58]

What about laser guided bombs?

[anyahajobuzi]

Yeah, laser guided bombs for everyone! But as I mentioned before, the guys aren't looking for any more ideas right now, they are working on just making some basic weapons profitable now. There is no limit after that. They are new to this scale, so they are just setting up. And today I did actually got confirmation that they are going to go ahead with the proposition. Their finance and marketing guy gave it the OK, so for sure they the little weapons are getting manufactured, but for now we just have to wait until they finish other projects on the go. I do not have even the slightest indication as to when that might be.
But I will keep everyone posted!

Happy modeling , guys!

Laci

[Jon]

Yes, please put me down for interest in the drop tanks etc...

[anyahajobuzi]

Roger that!!

[NWarty]

Absolutely stunning Laci!

[anyahajobuzi]

Hello everyone!

It has been a little while since I posted anything and it has been very little progress since I last put up pictures.
I am bogged down with the airwing. The Corsairs are horrible. Not just the shapes , but the type of aircraft...

- HARDPOINTS- 8 of them (if You include the Sidewinder rails) . The wing pylons are all different from each other in style and size as well. To get the most accurate look, I combined WEM and TOM's again, because they had different ideas as to what these parts look like in reality. Because of this it seems that WEM nailed the inboard and the most outboard ones, and TOM's got the center one right.

-UNDERCARRIAGE : Trumpy's main landing gears are actually not bad (after you sand off the "rim" and make the wheel flat on the side.
TOM's nosegear strut is very nice , they nailed the height as well. Corsairs typically sit with the nose pointing up. Although there are photos out there with oleos lowered, and showing the plane parallel with the ground. The nosewheels are created with the same pain-staking method I used on my other planes: copper wire between two slices of round plastic or styrene. (kill me now)

-GEARDOORS: The nosegear has more accurate doors coming from WEM. What TOM intended for the nose gear can be used for the bottom main gear doors. For the top piece I used Tom's again. The narrower one of what they call the "main gear doors". It is shorter than the nosegear piece but tn reality it is as well, as there is a separate piece covering the gear strut. ( I am going to conveniently forget about those)

-NOSE AND TAIL these two were just either too ugly or too out of shape to use on a nice Corsair. So I borrowed them from Tamiya!!!! Crazy huh? You bet. But I sleep better at night with those pieces installed.

-INTAKE and EXHAUST: Did a lot of Dremeling here, but I think those jet pipes came out pretty nice. Wherever I felt too lazy to drill, I just put "engine covers" on the plane...

-WINGS: just one little note: For accuracy's sake : do not just glue the folded section ON TOP of the wings to get folded look. Use a piece of PE (a piece already scribed on one side-like WEM's wingfold pieces-and fold these 90 degrees, and place the folded section on top if THIS instead on the wing itself.) It will look SO much better.

Well, those are all the things I could think of in pursuing more and more accurate little airplanes... I hope I didn't bore anyone to death. Nah. I don't even think anyone read it this far

Well, back to building these little bastards. Only one is complete...10 more to go....



Happy modelling everyone


Cheers: Laci

[sgtryan13]

Hahaha! Dude, you are nuts! And I don't even think that is a "pot calling the kettle black" statement anymore! Your level of commitment proves that you should indeed be "committed" right to the nut house. They look awesome man, but if I were you I would model the Nimitz with the majority of her corsair squadrons off doing some flight quals or something!