Postwar navy.

[Sauragnmon]

Random thought - with a real fine drill, you could drill out the windows into a common space between them, ostensibly, which would give you the outward space, and then you could overlay an acetate film fit to each window or overall. In the case of the Sea Knights, you could go one step further and drill the door into the back as open, so you see the full way through the cargo area. One could ostensibly use etch for the jump seats in the cabin of the sea knights as well, to give it a slightly more full interior.

Just a few thoughts to add to your madness.

[Cliffy B]

Not sure what scale those birds are but WEM makes 1/350 aircraft interiors in PE. Only helo they have parts for are Sea Kings but you might be able to use some of the parts inside. Worth a look at least.

http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/brochu ... pe3576.jpg


http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/cgi-bi ... aPE_203576

Looking good so far, keep up the great work man!

[Bob J]

Hey Nektarios,
I received my package today! You Rock!!!!! If you are looking for anything let me know!

Thanks again,
Bob J

[orb]

Hi Simon,

interesting ideas! I think drilling out the windows is feasible and I might give it a try using one of the Revell kits' choppers. However, I don't think that drilling open the back and trying to depict the inside is doable - at least I don't think I can. There might be one or two people on the forum that I think might be able to do that, but simulating an opening the way I did is sufficient for me. Also, I'm not sure the resin hull can withstand that, it might be too brittle, at least in this scale. I already broke off tailfins, elevators and wheels while assembling these, so I'm just happy I didn't lose any of the parts along the way. But the windows idea...definitely worth trying. Thanks!

Cliffy,

thanks for the links! I wasn't even aware that WEM offered additional PE for the in- and exterior of its air vehicles. That's definitely another advantage of building in 1/350, being able to add details like that. I'm building in 1/700 though.

[Nektarios]

Slowly but surely work on my LHD is nearing completion.

I've started to work on the airwing. I'd like to depict a busy deck with troops loading the helos for an ongoing mission. So I "opened" the back of the CH-53 and CH-46 and added the ramp for the troops. As for the Harrier and the Cobra, I sanded off the "cockpits" completely and intend to replace them with a clear piece after they've been painted. However, I really have no idea how the cockpits of the other helos can be depicted nicely, so if anyone has an idea, I'd love to hear it
Now mass production can begin. Most of the rest will not have as many details, since they will just be standing next to each other in a parking position, making many details superfluous, since they won't be visible.

Heiko it looks fantastic have you considered using V-22 instead of CH-46???

[Nektarios]

Hey Nektarios,
I received my package today! You Rock!!!!! If you are looking for anything let me know!

Thanks again,
Bob J

I m happy to assist a fellow modeller. I hope that you ll find useful the DSRV i sent you.

[Pieter]

Using .3 drills and the smallest (1mm) dremel 'dental' ball shaped round thing (I have no idea what they're called in english ) I managed to get some acceptable results on this Kombrig Ka25 helicopter by drilling out along the window markings and hollowing out the cockpit. The windows of Ka25's do not have sharp corners, this made my life a bit easier. Opening the door was easy, I didn't add any interior. Window glazing was done with Microscale Krystal Klear. Including semi-stratchbuilt undercarriage (I added copper speaker wire) and a new rotor mast in .3mm steel it took me about three weekends. And I am still thinking of doing it again in series for a possible Moskva built (the carrier, not the cruiser) as the opening and painting/glazing was quite easy. The problem for series production will be getting those complicated rotor masts and undercarriage structure at a similar level of detail and at the same height above deck. As you're doing a US vessel that will not be a problem, US helicopters do not have the spindly looking structures Kamow was using . As it is these pictures (Nikon D3000 in macro mode) show much more detail than you can see in real life so I probably overdid it.

Slowly but surely work on my LHD is nearing completion.

However, I really have no idea how the cockpits of the other helos can be depicted nicely, so if anyone has an idea, I'd love to hear it

Here are the first prototypes:

[

[kidcurrie42]

Fantastic detailing as always Heiko, have you thought of using the colored decal sheet that is available either as a whole sheet or in different sized stripes, cut to size and shape may solve your problem, or an Extra/Super fine Sharpie should allow you to mark the cockpit and cabin windows.

Happy modeling

John

[mitchell300]

Santa was really nice this year. I won a couple of 1/700 resin ships on ebay. The Italian version of FREMM and the Royal Netherlands navy LCF

What did you search at ebay to get model ships like this?
And you really dont know who/what made it?

Mitch

[orb]

Thanks guys for the kind comments and ideas!

Nektarios, yes, I did think about buying V 22s instead of the CH 46s but they were out of stock when I tried ordering them. Now that you mentioned it, it actually would make a lot more sense using the Ospreys with the Bataan, especially because it is the first LHD to now operate a fully functional squadron of those birds. Now I'll have to see if I can order them. The CH 46s won't be lost since I also plan on building an LHA ...sometime later The squadron of V 22s consists of ten birds. Do you perhaps know just how many of the other birds would now be found on a mixed deployment? I'm guessing 5-6 AV-8Bs, 3 CH 53s and a bunch of AH-1Ws.

Pieter, thanks for the pics. Looks more than acceptable, I think it looks REALLY good, especially since the KA-25s aren't the biggest choppers either. After seeing your pictures I tried what you did and Simon suggested and gave it a shot with a couple of those Revell helos... with not so acceptable results I'm afraid. I don't think I have the skill yet to work that precisely to make it look as good as your Kamov. Especially the CH 53s have very complex cockpit windows and I'm not confident enough to give it a shot anyway, especially since those little things also cost money and don't leave much margin for error. Whether you "overdid" it or not always depends on who you ask, personally I think you did not and I really appreciate all the work you put into a little bird like that. Every modeler has to decide for himself how much detailing makes him happy and how much is enough.

John, thanks! That's also what I've been thinking. Using simple decals cut into the right shape I think will be the way to go for me. While every other alternative is tempting...it's also very time consuming and nerve wrecking. For the Cobras and Harriers I think I can manage rebuilding the cockpits with clear styrene, but for the other helos, I think I can live with taking the easy way out. Is there a specific colored decal sheet for the cockpit windows? or is it part of a certain kit decal set?

[Nektarios]

What did you search at ebay to get model ships like this?
And you really dont know who/what made it?

Mitch

I searched for 1/700. A guy from Canada made them.

[Nektarios]

Nektarios, yes, I did think about buying V 22s instead of the CH 46s but they were out of stock when I tried ordering them. Now that you mentioned it, it actually would make a lot more sense using the Ospreys with the Bataan, especially because it is the first LHD to now operate a fully functional squadron of those birds. Now I'll have to see if I can order them. The CH 46s won't be lost since I also plan on building an LHA ...sometime later The squadron of V 22s consists of ten birds. Do you perhaps know just how many of the other birds would now be found on a mixed deployment? I'm guessing 5-6 AV-8Bs, 3 CH 53s and a bunch of AH-1Ws.

The aircraft complement depends on the mission. 6-10 AV-8Bs 4-8 CH-53s 5 AH-1Ws and 3-4 UH-1W is something you would expect to see on an LHD.

[orb]

The aircraft complement depends on the mission. 6-10 AV-8Bs 4-8 CH-53s 5 AH-1Ws and 3-4 UH-1W is something you would expect to see on an LHD.

Thanks. And I also finally got my hands on some V-22s

[Nektarios]

Arsenal ships are finally finished. When i started building them i intended to replace the four Iowas.
They were ugly ships to my eyes without the grace of the battleships. I ve seen some builds of these ships in the past and decided that i had to use several extra parts in order to try to make these ships a bit more attractive.

The armament of each ship would consist on 512 VLS cells and an 8-inch gun. I wanted to add something more in the form of a medium calibre gun. I had two choices Oto Melara 3-inch gun and the Swedish Bofors 57mm gun. I chose the second because it is now the gun the USN did choose for its newer surface ships. I also added four 25mm bushmasters and four 20 mm guns for close in defence against small craft.

The arsenal ship was supposed to be constructed without radar(s) in order to save cost and manpower relying on other accompanying warships for targeting information and defense. I used several domes that are used for communication.

Among them are:
1) Four USC-42
2) Two SHF domes
3) a dome that is used for drone guidance. (aft of the helicopter landing area-the big one)
4) a dome for BMD(aft of the helicopter landing area- the smaller one)
5) an inmarsat antenna
6) AN/SPQ-9B (atop the mast)
7) a data link for SH-60s.

I also added SLQ-32. Note that space has been reserved for the addition of Nulka launchers.

Here are some photos of CG-83. First of the class it was completed without the 57mm gun which will be retrofitted at its first refit.

[Nektarios]

One of the ugliest parts in the kit is the mast. It is stealthy huge and looks empty. I thought of how i d fill it with stuff. The solution is the PE-139 set of Pitroad that i bought for the Bushmasters and the 20mm guns. The set also contains the masts for an Arleigh Burke. I thought since the arsenal ship was a mid 90s proposal it would be logical to have a similar mast with the Burkes. As mentionned above AN/SPQ-9 and a datalink for the helo were added atop the mast.
PE-139 also provided the stack ventilators

Here are some shots of CG-84.

[Nektarios]

The helicopter landing area is another part of the model that deserves special attention. I judged that it was so big that i could use its aft part to place electronics. I used decals provided in the Ships and Co generic decal set for the landing area markings. Decals from this set were used also for the hull numbers, the bridge windows, the ribbons and the excelence markings.
Fore of the main gun a vertrep marking from the Pitroad USN generic decal sheet was added.
Finally on the sides of the ship grilles provided in the GMM USN/JMSDF set were placed.

CG-85 photos

[Nektarios]

The aftermarket sets used on this project are:

Pitroad PE-139 Arleigh Burke/Kongu set
GMM 700-10 USN/JMSDF WARSHIP
GMM 700-1D NAVAL SHIP DECALS
JAG JAG 710 SATCOMM Domes
L' Arsenal Bofors 57mm stealth guns
Ships & Co. Generic USN decal set

Finally photos of CG-86












As always any comments or questions are welcome.

[Sauragnmon]

You know, Nektarios - I look over those, and I'm left to think, that those structures might be similar to what one would expect to see on, say, a true 21st century battleship. The hangar, the missile battery, the structure - though it would need radar systems and further operations, of course, and the hull would likely be different, but still, it almost seems to dominantly scream that it would be the 21st century battleship structure.

[Nektarios]

CG-47 Class modernisation has been completed. It involved the first four ships in the class. The Mk-26 launchers were replaced by Mk-41 VLS. and all four ships got the extra domes that the BMD ships received. They will act as escorts to the four arsenal ships each one being virtually the flagship of a SAG which will be composed of:

1) one arsenal ship
2) one CG-47 class ship
3) one DD-963 class ship
4) one DDG-51 class ship
5) two FFG-7 class ships
6) one AO-177 class ship
7)two SSN-688 submarines

Here are some photos of one of the upgraded ships

[gtb -red]

Nektarios, my friend your still kicking butt I see.