The Ship Model Forum

This is my WIP for the venerable Revell 1/720 USS Enterprise CVAN-65 in 1968 configuration.
[I'm also going to build one each of all the CVW-9 Aircraft in 1/72]
I started in December 2012

Below are all the kits, sets, parts, etc. I'll be using. And the references I'm using below that.
(Amazing how much stuff one accumulates!)

Mfgr Kit / Part # Scale Description:

Revell Part # 5046 1/720 CVAN-65, USS Enterprise, 1960s configuration
Dragon Part # 7079 1/700 USS Princeton CV-37; PE LSO Platform, Crew, S2F-1 Trackers
Italieri Part # 516 1/720 USS Independence CV-62; A-6As, F-4Bs, E-2As, antanae
Starfighter Part # 700-9 1/700 CVAN-65, USS Enterprise,1962-69, Flight Deck Decals
Starfighter Part # 700-53 1/700 1968 USS Enterprise,CVAN-65,CVW-9 (NG) all aircraft
G M M Part # 720-11 1/700 photo-etched rails, ladders, nets, radars, anchors
G M Mdels Part # 700-12 1/700 photo-etched underwing stores, landng gear
G M M Part # 701D 1/700 Naval Ship Decals
G M M Part # 703D 1/700 Naval Aircraft Insignia Decals
G M M Part # 704D 1/700 US Aircraft Carrier Decals
G M M Part # 700-19 1/700 Ladders & Accomodation Ladders
G M M Part # 700-28 1/700 Assorted Cable Reels
G M M Part # 700-33A 1/700 1/4 Airwing Details
Tom'sMW Part # 754 1/700 INCLINED LADDERS
Tom'sMW Part #752 1/700 US CARRIER FLOTATION BASKETS
Tom'sMW Part # 742 1/700 US CARRIER CATWALKS
Tom'sMW Part # 723 1/700 Photo Etch Deck Crew
Flagship Models Part # 1 1/700 PE Mod Navy Jets 1: Under-wing details for A-6s, F-4s, E-2s
WEM AS7016 1/700 Phantom F4B(3)
WEM AS7024 1/700 A4 Skyhawk (5)
WEM AS7026 1/700 A6 Intruder (3)
WEM AS7038 1/700 Skywarrior A-3 (3)
WEM AS7035 1/700 A5A Vigilante(3)
WEM AS7109 1/700 SH-2F Seasprite w/PE (5)
Skywave # S12 1/700 S' Series: F-14, F-18, A-4, A-6, A-7, EA-6, E-2, S-3, Hi-Vis
Skywave # DP1 1/700 Decals for Modern US Navy
Trumpeter# 03419 1/700 A-3B Skywarrior (4)
Trumpeter# 03421 1/700 A6 Intruder (4)
Trumpeter# 034210 1/700 RA-5C Vigilante (4)
Traded CliffyB for Mk 25 Missile Launchers

References
US Naval Institute Archive Photos of CVA(N)-65, USS Enterprise, and various CVW-9 aircraft, 1967, 1968, and 1969
Monogram; The Official Monogram U.S. Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Vol. 4, 1960 to 1993; John M. Elliott, Maj. USMC(Ret.)
Chartwell Books Inc., Aircraft Carriers, The Illustrated History; Richard Humble
The Military Press; The History of US Naval Air Power; Robert L. Lawson
CVA(N)-65, USS Enterprise, USN Booklet of General Plans, circa 1962, Floating Drydock
Detail & Scale, D&S Vol. 39; The USS Enterprise, CVAN-65 to CVN-65; Bert Kinzey
Various Photos from Internet Image Searches
GRS Videos, Naval Aviation Films, DVD, USS Enterprise CVAN-65 1968 Tonkin Gulf

First set of pictures below. More to come...

Just can't wait for the Dragon one, eh?

Bought this kit 10 years ago and have been collecting all the aftermarket stuff, not to mention all the 1/72 kits/stuff ever since.
Would be a shame not to build it now.

And from what I understand, the new Dragon will be very accurate....whats the fun in that!?!
It's the fixing up, scratchbuilding, and correcting that challenges and forces the learning of new skills / techniques.

But seriously, the Dragon will save modelers who want accuracy a lot of money...all that stuff to correct this thing wasn't cheap.

Speaking of corrections, below is opening 2 doors, the partial hangar deck, corrected crane area, and workshops/rooms on the starboard side.

Corrected the crane - (again canibilized the Independence crane for half of it )
Painted horizonal surfaces of the various sponsons/platforms and hangar deck

I've wanted to take the Toga and turn her into the Ranger. I'm taking LOTS of notes.

Mark, I checked out your page....wow nice job on those Vikings! Your skills look fine to me!

Up until mid last year I was exclusively a plane guy, 1/72 & 1/144. My last build was the 1/700 CV-8 Hornet and correspondingly Doolittle's B-25 in 1/72.
The Hornet was my first experience with photo etch. It was like I had never built a model before! But once I got the hang of it, I was hooked and decided to tackle this Big E kit which I'd had for some time.

I also have one of each of the aircraft in CVW-9 (on Enterprise in 1968) in 1/72. And I'm thinking what I'll do (once the ship is done) is build a 1/72 aircraft first, then with that as the example, try to replicate it as best I can in the 1/700/720 squadrons, then on to the next one, and so on. That way the whole project (1/720 ship w/aircaft and 1/72 aircraft) will finish up at the same time. (And there's an Airwing Forum on this site, so maybe I'll post progress on those there when the time comes)

I decided to take this approach after having done the 1/700 B-25s with the Hornet, then wishing I'd waited after I did the 1/72 B-25 and looked back at the 1/700s afterward. I would have done a few things different for better accuracy.

So given you've done the Vikings already, maybe you might want to keep going with the rest of that Ranger's air wing.

Anyway, below are pictures of the "stash" and my latest work to correct the fantail/aft.

And my Plastruc square rod just arrived so I'll be going back and adding supports and posts under the added decks and platforms soon. And I obviously still have to add ladders here and there.

Was distracted by a school project with the oldest, a scale Parthenon, for her social studies class.
Finally have the workshop back to myself.
Shots below - fixed the resting point for the crane and added supports to the platform aft.

I'm coming to the point where I'll have to bring the 3 horizontal sub-assembilies/sections together, the lower hull, upper hull and deck.
Luckily I realized I should address how the ship will be mounted now and prepare for that.
So I built up the hull in the 2 finiale attachment points with 3 layars of .6mm styrene sheet about a 1/2 inch square and super glue.
Dry fit the ship from deck down; placed on the oak base; line up the ship and marked the base.
Taped the bottom hull section to the base as marked
Drilled holes through the bottom hull section and into the display base simaltaneously
Cut doll rods to size and place finials over rods
Placed ship over finial tops
Now I can assemble the hull, and continue buiding from the hull up to completion; as well as sand and stain/varnish the base; then glue one to the other when the time comes.

More shots of dry fit ship on the finiales.
Dry fit the fantail
Used PE WWII bulkhead door openings as mooring line openings on port side bow
Marked out and started adding drain pipes on port bow; but thinking Ill attach and clean up lower hull first.

Progress over the weekend:
Cleaned up the rudder and prop shaft kit parts and dry fit. I'll use orig kit parts if possible, probably look better with scratch built metal, but we have to chooose our battles.
Scratch built the drain pipes on port side
Painted the lower hull, rudders and shafts
Painted the new platform on fantail; completed detail painting the aft/fantail and did final dry fit.
Added angled support beams starboard and port. Masked all decks and doorways starboard and port
Now on to carving the props out of the sprue ....Holy Excessive Flash, Batman!

Wow! Awesome detail for this scale. I'll be watching with extreme interest!

Denis

Looking very nice for this scale, indeed!

Keep it up!

Laci

Superb workmanship so far!



Bob Pink.

Wow is this nice!!!
Your fantail is pure art!
I don't know why I didn't get any of your updates, but I'm set for it now.
So far I've built a VF-2 Tomcat, VS-38 and VS-29 Vikings, and I have a VF-1 Tomcat in the hanger. All of them are 1/48, and I'm going to try and keep going with that scale. I have big plans for a cool shelf.
I'm looking for an A-6, an E-2, a C-2 and a SeaKing, all in 48.

Thanks all for the kudos. Just taking my time and doing the best I can.

Below is this evening's work...
Removed all the molded in hose reels (which will be replaced by PE)
Terrible fit on the kit blast shields so I made new ones from sheet styrene
They are NOT glued in. Will most likely pose at least one raised for a take off.
I think the deck is now ready for paint

She is looking good.

Today's progress:
Not quite time to paint the deck yet.....
Cleaned up the ejection pin marks on the underside of the flight deck and replaced the obliterated support struts with .5mm Plastruct square rod. Would anyone have noticed? Probably not. But I would have known, and it would have bugged me.
Also canabalized the fresnel lens platform from the Italeri CV-62, Independence kit. Removed the deck edge in the appropriate spot on the port side. And grafted the platform on.

The weekend update�
More fixing up around the crane � added 2 walkways.
I was disappointed with the kits crane mast � not thick enough and the upper portion of the mast is completely wrong as it is not even attached at deck level�. so more scratch building.
I found some good bits in the spares box.
I crafted the upper support structure out of sheet styrene and drilled a hole for the mast rod.
Lined up the support and marked it at the right depth and dry fit
I cut the top of the mast piece and flipped it to create the pulley at the top of the mast
Dry fit of the new mast and supporting structure surrounded by new walkways
Dry fit with the previously corrected crane
Finally ready for the flight deck paint. First I hit the edges and new decks and masked.
Based on research and photos, the flight deck is a dark asphalt grey.
Based on some reading, I combined the following. I started with a combo of the first 3 then added black to darken to my satisfaction.
40% Navy Gloss Gray FS 16081
35% Dark Sea Blue FS 15042
10% RAF Dark Green
15% Flat Black FS 37038
And lastly, while I let the flight deck dry/harden for a few days at least, I�m starting on the PE details around the upper hull.

Well, I went to start the PE railing and realized its time to put the fantail on�.so I did.
Then added railing �.got from the fantail around to the crane last night.

Dude this is crazy good!!!