Aircraft Carrier Group Build (July 07 to July 2010)

I have a Revell Germany Kit that I can make one of the Midway carriers (U.S.S. Enterprise, U.S.S. Hornet, or U.S.S Yorktown), but November 11th? Speed it up some.

One minor inconvenience, I have never built a ship model before so, could someone kinda walk me through?

sturmgeschutz,

I went with the November 11 date as I am in a couple of group builds right now, and I will be living at work from September 15 until around November 1.  November 11 is also that date that my second ship (USS Abraham Lincoln CVN-72) was commissioned, and I am a plank owner on her.  I could move up the start date, but as I can not finish a carrier by September 15, and would not touch it much until November, I thought that I would just start then.  Anyway, that was my thought process.

I have built a few aircraft carriers over the years, so I will be more than willing to share some tips that have greatly helped me, I even took a first place award a couple of years ago for my model of the Abraham Lincoln.  Just let me know what kind of questions you have, and I will be glad to steer you in the right direction, or at least one that has worked for me.

Chester,

The Kiev will be just fine.  I built the Moscow a few years ago, and it was an enjoyable build.  I thought that the deck markings were a bit heavy, but once painted, it does not look too bad.  I will keep a look out for any new additions to our group, as I would like to see some more interest before we really make this a "go".

Well, I know that you are out there thinking about joining this group build, why not just go ahead and do it?  I won't bite, really.   I would like to know if moving up the start date to July 27 would draw additional interest, as perhaps November is a little too far away.  Let me know your thoughts on this, and feel free to join the group!

For general information, I plan on constructing Trumpeter's 1/700 USS Saratoga CV-3 with a pre-WWII airwing for this build. 

Id love to join if the date was July 27, but I have three that are a little over half way done already, and I hope to have them done by November. Could I enter one of these if it did start this month??

I take that back. One I have has been fitfully off and on for 3 years. She probly wont be done by November, and My kitty hawk is down to painting and detailing.

The Ronald Reagan is about halfway point, still fitting the hull. 

Deathrattler and kustommodeler 1,

Welcome to the group! 

Just let me know what kit you are entering, and I will start a listing for everyone.  It appears that there are now five of us in the group, and that is good enough for me to start things rolling.  As two of you have mentioned that an earlier start date would be preferable, I will go with July 27. 

My next question for the group is what would you like to see as an end date?  Most builds that I have been involved with use a one year deadline, but I have been in one with a six month cutoff.  I planned initially on going for a year, so unless I hear otherwise, that is what the duration will be.

Finally, if anyone has some good computer skills, or knows someone who does, it would be nice to have a group badge.  Any and all submissions towards a badge will be appreciated.  

More Power Scotty wrote:

Deathrattler and kustommodeler 1,     As two of you have mentioned that an earlier start date would be preferable, I will go with July 27.

July 27 will be fine as a start date. I'll have all the colors ordered and delivered by then. 

Well, I'll probly be in with the CVN-76 Ronald Reagan by Revell Germany. Not much done yet, but fitting out on the hull. That'll give me a chance to finish my one-man GB called "Paint Brush Challenge". 2 if ollie lets me know which he wants to try. I'm not closing it down though, anyone will still be welcome, there's no end date, but not much interest in it I guess. So, I'll migrate over here after I do one more after that, then I'll be ready to take on the Reagan. 

Count me in with a Revell Germany 1:542 USS Enterprise.

A year would be good, seeing as I'm in other builds and Im not shure how long this kit will take.

sound interesting to me since i have few carriers that need to be build. 

Ill be doing USS Hornet from Doolittle Toyko Raid with 1/72 B25 bomber from monogram revell. 

if i got the time prolly will do USS Yorktown from battle of midway or pre-war (Monogram Revell) and USS Enterprise from battle of midway (Revell)

silentmodeler wrote:

Ill be doing USS Hornet from Doolittle Toyko Raid with 1/72 B25 bomber from monogram revell.

Pardon me, I'm tired. Does this read to say you are building a 1/72 scale Hornet? And 16 B-25s?

Or a regular size carrier with one 1/72 scale plane? 

deathrattler32,

If you want to go with 1/350 scale and Vietnam war era, I would suggest the Tamiya USS Enterprise kit.  Trumpeter is making some very nice 1/350 scale aircraft kits, so you could backdate the air wing to fit that era.  Sturmgeschutz is building the 1/542 scale Enterprise, and perhaps he could let you/us know what kind of aircraft are included in the kit.  Depending on when you are talking about during the war, you could use A-6 Intruders, A-4 Skyhawks, F-8 Crusaders, F-4 Phantoms, RA-5 Vigilantes, and even the AD-5 "Spads".  If you want to work in 1/700 scale, you should be able to find older carriers with planes from that era in the kit. 

All,

I have gone in and edited the Subject line for post #1 and made this a group build with dates of July this year to November of next year.  Although I do not plan on dragging out my Saratoga build for that long, I have spent considerable time building carriers in the past (a little over two years on my 1/800 USS Abraham Lincoln).  I also added all of your names and what you plan on building, including scales, at the end of post #1, so let me know if I made any mistakes, or if your project changes.  I will probably wait to actually start my build on the 27th, but please feel free to commence your construction at any time.

Before I forget, welcome to the group silentmodeler , how many groups does this make that you have been in with me? 

Finally, Please let me know if any of you have any questions along the way, as I have built a few carriers in the past, and I do know some "tricks" to make life easier during construction and here are a few that might help.  1) Build the island as a separate entity and put it on towards the end of construction.  2) Decide early whether you will be displaying anything within the hangar bay, as you want that stuff in place before affixing the flightdeck.  This will also determine whether you will need to paint anything in the hangar bay, or if you want to just leave the doors closed.  3) Use dry transfers for the safety lines on the flight deck, if it requires two colors, I apply the white or yellow as a dry transfer, and then use a drafting pen and ruler to fill in the red areas.

More Power Scotty wrote:

All, I have gone in and edited the Subject line for post #1 and made this a group build with dates of July this year to November of next year.

I thought it had dissapeared. Had to use the search fuction to find it.

Here's what I've done to the Reagan so far. Just fitting the bottom to the old Italeri hull. I was going to do waterline, but that would hide one of Reagan's two most distinguishing features, the new bow bulb. I hear it's such a succsess at reducing drag that it will be retrofit to other Nimitz class carriers during dockyard periods.

As you can see, a little putty is required.Click the pics they get bigger.

Sturmgeschutz,

That is why it is always good to verify ones information.  I have made the correction to post #1.  I guess that is one down side of using ship names over, and over, and sometimes over again (I think that CVN-65 is actually the 6th "USS Enterprise").  Anyway, thanks for the correction.

Darrin,

The Reagan is looking good so far!   I was wondering if there might be some difficulty with folks finding the group when I changed the subject line, and I hope that the others find it as well.  Since we have progressed from the conceptual stage to the "official" group build stage, it seemed more appropriate to have a new line entry. 

I did not know that they had altered the sonar dome on the Reagan, but it does appear to be a bit larger than the ones on my ships (Eisenhower and Lincoln).  Being assigned to the Abraham Lincoln while it was still under construction, I was able to do a lot of exploring around the ship when there were still several empty spaces, and one trip was into an empty sonar dome.  I also recall getting to see the dome from the outside when we were in the drydock during some of the early construction days.

Hi to all,

Is the Kuzenetsov(350th) OK? It has been an off and on again project for a while. A terrible fit with the hull and fright deck!!! I am currently waiting for the photo-etch to arrive, just to dress it up a bit!!!! I will need as much time as possible to finish it, a year would be great!!!

heya all

havent been online for long time since i was on my vacation.  I prolly wont get start on my Hornet for couple of months since i have other gbs to finish. 

im wondering since hornet is from monogram   does it need to be rescribe?  since im not very familar with it and wasnt sure how to do it.  since mostly of modelers says that revell monogram need to be rescribe because of raised panel line.   Im not model master yet so bear with me

More Power Scotty wrote:

Before I forget, welcome to the group silentmodeler , how many groups does this make that you have been in with me?

Scotty~ yeah seems like we been in alot of group build.  Guess we have same interest lol.  and check ur pm

Greetings to all!

The build is now "officially" on!  I would first like to welcome traveller to our group and there is certainly plenty of time for others to jump in as well.  Who produced your 1/350 Russian carrier?  I am guessing Trumpeter, but the dry-fits that I have done on some of their parts in my choice for this build all seem pretty tight.  Good luck, and do not worry about time on this build as I usually spend a lot of time building my carriers.

Silentmodeler, I would not mess around with trying to re-scribe lines on a ship model, unless you really feel the urge to do so.  I would also think that rescribing a flightdeck could possibly lead to complete insanity with a person, so please be careful.   To date, the most elaborate flight decks that I have seen were at an IPMS Nationals show where someone had actually glued wooden strips onto the decks of their ships (there were either two or three entries by that person).  The effect was fantastic, but I am sure that it involved more work than I would want to get into with a build personally.

I am going to attempt to start my build this weekend as I am just about to finish up a Vindicator that I am using for another group build.  As the Tour de france is going to wrap up tomorrow, I should have a little more time to check on the group as we progress.  Have fun with your subject, and please let me know if you have any questions along the way.  Let the build begin!

More Power Scotty wrote:

Well, I know that you are out there thinking about joining this group build, why not just go ahead and do it?

 Damn, this is scary, are you sure you're no alien or something ???

Why not go ahead ?  My first reaction was : another GB I'de like to jump in, but I have so many other projects to finish.... on the other hand... November 2008 is still a long way ahead...

Ok, you've got me hooked on this one, I don't know what carrier as for yet.  I'll let you know the subject after I've gone to the DHS (Distant Hobby Shop) which for some reason is always a better shop than the LHS

Dany... 

PS : who's looking for a gb badge ? 

Hey guys,

I've been out of the hobby for a while but I'm finally getting me shop set up to build again.  And as an ol flat top sailor this sounds like it's the best place for me to start again.  I haven't built a ship in a loooonnngg time.  So sign me up for the U.S.S. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CV-42)!  She's a MIDWAY class carrier.  I think she'll be a good start for me so when I'm done I can do justice to the 2 ships I served on, the MIDWAY (CV-41) and the SARATOGA (CV-60).  Thanks, Bill

More Power Scotty wrote:

Silentmodeler, I would not mess around with trying to re-scribe lines on a ship model, unless you really feel the urge to do so.  I would also think that rescribing a flightdeck could possibly lead to complete insanity with a person, so please be careful.   To date, the most elaborate flight decks that I have seen were at an IPMS Nationals show where someone had actually glued wooden strips onto the decks of their ships (there were either two or three entries by that person).  The effect was fantastic, but I am sure that it involved more work than I would want to get into with a build personally.

Scotty

I have see some modelers using woods on ships and umm  exactly what kind of wood to use? and how to use the wood on the flight deck?  do i have to recreate the flight deck by using woods or cut piece by piece to put it on the plastic flight deck?  I know that carriers from world war 2 use  long steel tie down between the woods.  let me know  

ill try to research on that one if its too hard for me then ill leave the way it came from the kit.