Well guys... as I promised, here are the photos of the construction process of the island. It is not finished yet and a lot of details have to be added, but I think that it is time to show the main structure.
Here are the first stages of construction and the lights of the numbers
Hi mates. I have begun the painting process. also some weathering has been added, so here are the results.
Next step, I have to add decals and stencils. It is very difficult to place some decals in certain period, so I will take some decisions for example with the wings in front of the Island.
Very impressive! USS Nimitz has always been my favorite ship. I've built over 30 models of her in my lifetime including a 1/200 as well as the 1/120 in the gallery here. I thought a few times about doing a more up to date nimitz but never had anywhere tonput it till recently. Still i have years worth of other priorities.
1/200 is a great size. It really gets your attention when you see it and it's just big enough to really go all out in detail with ease. Everyone was always impressed with my 1/120 but it required a special vehicle to transport and took up so much space i literally couldn't give it away. I think 1/200 is much more the ideal size and it's a shame there aren't more aircraft carriees in this scale.
I find your work very impressive. Looks like you're using motors and all. I haven't taken time to read the rntire thread but can i assume you are doing everything from scratch?
Thank you very much AK-AK. When I started this Project I was considering the scale, and as you said, 1/200 is a compromise between detail and size. It is true that there is only a few planes at this scale and are very expensive, so I have to build all the planes from scratch.
Everything in this carrier is from scratch, except for some details that i have found on http://www.shapeways.com. There are a lot of little components for carriers made in 3D.
I will take a look on your projects in order to learn how to solve some problems that I have found during construction.
Jaguar wrote:Thank you very much AK-AK. When I started this Project I was considering the scale, and as you said, 1/200 is a compromise between detail and size. It is true that there is only a few planes at this scale and are very expensive, so I have to build all the planes from scratch.
Everything in this carrier is from scratch, except for some details that i have found on http://www.shapeways.com. There are a lot of little components for carriers made in 3D.
I will take a look on your projects in order to learn how to solve some problems that I have found during construction.
Thank you again for your kind words
I could have made the 1/200 just as detailed as the 1/120. The beauty of 1/200 is that you DON'T have to make a compromise in detail. That said, if i were to build a monster again, i would still stay very large but that's just personal preference. And tbh, i am more impressed with your 1/200 than my 1/120 which was nearly half my life ago and a far cry from my current standards.
Scratch building aircraft is not as big a problem as it sounds. If you need any help with detail, right before i moved back to Alaska i visited an aircraft museum and photographed in detail every inch of an f14 tomcat that i could reach. Right now i am limited to my phone and what it can do but soon i will be uploading the pictures to an online album.
I also got a few good pictures of an A7. I know people laugh at it but i always thought they were an interesting aircraft.
AK-AK wrote:I could have made the 1/200 just as detailed as the 1/120. The beauty of 1/200 is that you DON'T have to make a compromise in detail. That said, if i were to build a monster again, i would still stay very large but that's just personal preference. And tbh, i am more impressed with your 1/200 than my 1/120 which was nearly half my life ago and a far cry from my current standards.
Scratch building aircraft is not as big a problem as it sounds. If you need any help with detail, right before i moved back to Alaska i visited an aircraft museum and photographed in detail every inch of an f14 tomcat that i could reach. Right now i am limited to my phone and what it can do but soon i will be uploading the pictures to an online album.
I also got a few good pictures of an A7. I know people laugh at it but i always thought they were an interesting aircraft.
When I started to build this ship I was considering to build her in 1/144 scale. There are a lot of planes available at this scale, but due to the size at this scale (and of course her weight), I finally decided that 1/200 scale would be more healthy for the ship.
Of course I would appreciate every photo that you have of the planes. A7 and F8 are rare beauties and I love them. A6 is one of my favourites plans. As I say the ugly the best
Great work Jorge! I am going to be resuming work on my America very soon! I just put a bid on a large house here in Maryland and I will again have a dedicated hobby room. I will be sending for all my stuff in the next few months and getting my office and hobby room set back up.
I am also getting married in the summer and my fiance is very supportive of my hobbies.
I am currently stationed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, the home of Naval test aviation, and we have a great museum here with most of the birds on our ships. If you need detailed pics of any bird, just lmk and I can go take them.
Great progress! I will have some questions!
MC
Good Modeling!
Michael Clare
On the Ways:
Scratch-building: 1/192 USS America CV-66
Finished:
Scratch-built: 1/192 USS Arcadia AD-23
Kits: 1/350 Adm. Kuznetsov & USS Wasp LHD-1