1/700 and me

Nuthin' to it tanker.

When thinking small, really you need to think, "BIG."  What that means is every little seam misalignment, etc., that would almost go unnoticed in a larger scale is magnified in 1/700.  Test fit everything.  

Any weathering you do will need to be more subtle.  

Perhaps a finer tipped set of tweezers would be a good investment.

Don't sneeze.

If you don't do something like this now, 1/700 is a good scale to come up with some small part holders.  Small bottle caps, anything like that helps.  Small parts can get swept off the workbench and you may not even notice they're gone.  Move the model off your work area often and sweep up debris.  It can help you see a missing small part if there's not a lot of small scraps around.

Use glues and cements in smaller amounts perhaps than you are used to.

Plan on some kind of display case when you are finished.

Have fun!

The main thing with me is, things seem to take longer, which is counterintuitive because what you're working on is smaller - but for some reason it takes longer to fold, test fit and install a section of 1/700 railing.

And Mike F6F is right - sneezing, coughing or any sudden moves are not your friends!

On the up side, ONE stick of pastel weathering chalk will last you a lifetime.

if you ever do 1/72nd tanks    then you can do this  it is that easy  

We need to be careful in generalizing about whether working in any scale is "easy."  As I get older, and my vision deteriorates, and my muscles get more arthritic, I become more and more aware that things I found easy thirty years ago just aren't any more. 

Some people, for reasons beyond their control, find it difficult - or even impossible - to work with tiny parts.  And - just as important for those of us to whom this is a hobby - if it becomes physically difficult it just isn't much fun.  I can do most of the stuff I could do thirty years ago, I guess, but I have to work harder at it.  Thirty years ago I could handle just about any modeling problem without resorting to magnification.  (People at the museum where I used to work made a joke of it:  "Tilley must be getting serious - he's taking off his glasses.")  Without glasses I couldn't recognize people from across a room, but I could do just about any modeling job I tried.  Nowadays I have to use some sort of magnifier - and point bright lights at the workpiece.  I find myself getting headaches after a few hours - largely because, with magnifying lenses in front of my old eyeballs, I can't focus on objects that are a few feet away.

That said, I remain a big fan of 1/700 ships.  I have two major reasons.  One - they don't take up much space.  (My wife is wonderful about the sailing ship models that occupy lots of space in our den, but she just can't get enthused about big, grey, floating steel objects that massacre people.)  Two - I can afford them.  The prices of larger-scale warship kits have simply gotten beyond my reach - especially when the various aftermarket parts are thrown in.  (I'm sure the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi is a first-rate kit, but if you buy the kit itself and the all the aftermarket sets Hasegawa markets for it, you'll spend $600 or $700.  I just can't justify that.

Bottom line regarding any scale or genre of model building:  try it (if you can afford it), give it a fair chance, and see if you like it.  If you don't, try something else.

I just got my first and only 1:700 scale ship kit: Trumpeter 5753, USS Dwight D Eisenhower CVN-69. It will build up to a good sized 17" model. It is sort of expensive, but the availability of an excellent PE (#70033) from Gold Medal Model at low cost partially makes up the pain. No sure how difficult the handling of the small parts is, I looked for "built" article for this or similar kit and foudn none. A few gallery type posts, but no build detail report.

I looked for reference materials and found few useful for modelers. The book by Frederick Zimmerman is a complete waste of money and a rip-off. The Signal Squadron On-deck book on Nimitz is better, but nothing near the type of information like their "Walk-around" series. A few of the Super Carrier tour web site have more airplane pictures than the ship itself. I have yet to find a close up picture of the radar tower yet.

Information on the Trumpeter 1:350 scale Nimitz is a little easier to get. But they may not be applicable to the kit I have. Any suggestion on 1:700 skill or on the Trumpeter kit is appreciated.

Keilau,

Check the news.navy.mil website for more photos than you'll need for the Ike.

Remember that the Eisenhower recently completed its mid-life refueling and overhaul and looks considerably different than it did prior to it.  Both main mast and radar tower are very different.  Off the top of my head I believe the kit reflects the ship in an earlier configuration so current photos won't do you much good.

If that is the case, check photos of the T. Roosevelt or the Lincoln.  Their radar towers are like the Ike's was originally.

Make sure you study the flight deck in any photos you do.  In my opinion, many modern carrier models suffer because the modeler paints the deck a single color.  They may weather it some, but no CVN flight deck is ever the same shade of gray.  Even when new or freshly redone, the nonskid isn't put down over the ship at the same time.  The stuff fades quickly in the sunlight and shows up as several different shades of gray often ending in sharply defined lines.  Gunship gray is and excellent color to use for the deck, but it should be lightened with a light gray mix, at least twice, for a more realistic look.  Don't worry about the decals over the different colors.  Often you'll see nice freshly painted markings crossing over various shades of the nonskid.

Have fun.

Here's a few shots of a 1/720 Italeri CVN I did as the George Washington several years ago.  They show how I did the flight deck shades.

Mike, nice built.

One of the major problem is to decide what to put on the flight deck to be consistent. While the information may be out there, but it would be nice to find it in a single book or web site.

The only reference that I have now is the instruction sheet that comes with the GMM PE set, which is not ship specific.

Thank you for taking the time to write and post.

Here's a couple of tips you might find useful for working with 1/700:  at the drugstore pick up a couple of those cheap plastic see through weekly pill boxes with the snap caps, they are great for storing completed sub assemblies like AA guns, aircraft, funnels and all kinds of other stuff like that.  Secondly superglue pieces of soft rubber pads like the ones used to open jars to the inside of the jaws of set of tweezers, that will cut down on the amount of time spent on the floor looking for tiny parts that have windged off the workbench when you carelessly grabbed them with your regular tweezers.   WS

Hi,it,s me again.Well, I started the MONSEN. Oh my those parts are tiny!! I do believe I might like this scale! The little parts are prone to fly,true,But I use a jewelers trick now.I put an apron on and attach the other end to the bench!! This has already helped me find an errant small gun.Did I say small! I compared it to 1/400, 1/350, and 1/200 and small isn,t the word!! I will NOT use pacific fleet blue though! I still can,t get used to the 1/400 U.S.S. WARD in pacific blue. Well, I will keep you all posted and here goes, P.E.!!   tankerbuilder