This is a quick rendition of my OOB review of build up of Tamiya's famous USS Enterprise Kit in 1/350 scale. It is a very well done kit with lots of excellent detail, but in order to get the full effect of the carrier you will want to consider the following:
- Get the USS Enterprise, CVN-65 Photo Etch Kit from either Gold Medal Models or White Ensign Models.
- You wil want to scratch build a hanger deck as the kit does not have one. I did.
- Consider putting in a lighting system for the hangar deck. I scratch built my own, but a good1/350 scale aircraft carrier lighting kit is available from Madman Lighting at Free-Time Hobbies.
- You will want to possibly update the airwing, depending on the era you want to build the model. I chose the most recent era and so did not use the A-7, F-4, or F-14 aircraft available with the model and instead purchased after market 1/350 scale aircraft from Trumpeter for F-18Cs, F-18Es, F-18Fs, SH-60B. and then used the E-2C, C-2, S-3, and HS-3 Sea King that came with the model.
- Get after market decal sets specifically for the USS Enterprise and for US Nimitz class Carriers in 1/350 scale. The model comes with pitiful few decals and you will either have to paint them on (which is very difficult for some of the very small decals and inscriptions) are use these after market decals which are very good. The best sets are provided by Gold Medal Models and Tom's Model Works.
The entire review of the kit out of the box and all of the build is given at the following site. Be warned, the site is pictorial intensive with about 200 high res pictures of the entire process.
Jeff Head's Review and Build of Tamiya's 1/350 scale USS Enterprise, CVN-65.
http://www.jeffhead.com/modelbuilds/US-CVN65.htm
Introduction to the Model (June 9, 2012)
This model is the very well known (dare I say famous?) Tamiya, 1/350 Scale USS Enterprise that has been on the market for well over 20 years. In fact I bought this model back in the later 1980s and have had it in storage ever since, it having made three moves (along with other models both built and unbuilt) in that time. I finally started building it in June 2012 as a part of my large 1/350 Scale Modern Navy Carrier Strike Groups Project.
It is a model of the first nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, CVN-65. She was commissioned in 1961 and was decommissioned in 2013 after over 52 years of service, having participated in every major US action from throughout the Cold War, through Vietnam, both Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, and countless exercises and other missions. She is called the "Big E"," and the "Old Lady of the Sea," because of her size and her longevity. She will be replaced by the first new Ford Class Carrier, America's latest super carrier design. When that vessel is launched in 2014 and commissioned by 2017.
This model has been built many times over and presented time and again. There are some absolutely phenominal builds. Here are a couple: HERE, and HERE, that I feel are excellent and very represetrnative of what is out there and can be done with the model, the aftermarket products available, and with scratch building.
For a great site talking about the actual building of this model, USE THIS ONEThere are many others, but this one is illustrative of the various processes one has to go through and which are good reference.
...and for probably the best site for any build of the USS Enterprise (this one was a full scratch build in 1/72 scale...meaning it is over 15 feet long and actually uses 1/72 model aircraft on its deck and in the hangar), GO TO THIS SITE. But beware, that site is a major time hog...it's addictive. Amazing what that guy did. Took him 19 years!
Though this model can be built in a very nice way straight out of the box, I would recommend getting either Gold Medal Models, or White Ensign Model's Photo Etch parts specifically for the aircraft carrier. They add significant detail and realism over what is included in the box. It will require, for example in the case of the safety netting around the deck, the removal of some of the plastic portions of the model to be replaced by these parts. Also, I would suggest getting some of Tamiya's and/or Trumpeter's additional aircraft sets and Gold medal Models and Tom's Models have several decal sets for the Enterprise (Starfighter Decals is one company providing them, among others) and for American nuclear aircraft carriers in general. The Tamiya model is sorely lacking in terms of decals.
I intended to build the model in the 2000s version, which means the airwing is substantially different, mainly F-18s, E2-Cs, C-2 Greyhounds, and EA-6B aircraft along with Seahawk helos. Also, numerous platfors, housing new sensors, and some substnitally modeifued platforms (like the automated landing system tower aft on the starboard side) have been added and will need to be scratch built. In addition, the RAM missiles will have to be either used from other kits or scratch built. Once again, the decals that come with the Tamiya model are very lacking as regards the deck specifically. You can either paint them (as they are shown on the deck with raised edges, or I would suggest getting those after-market sets as desribed above.
Finally, the model does not come with a hangar deck...which back when the model was released was not as big an issue as it is today...so most people (myself included) build scratch hangar decks from either extra, or stock purchased parts which are then detailed to whatever degree desired. As you can see by the links provided above, some of those details are so realistic you could believe you were in the hangar spaces yourself.
What's in the Box and add on, after market parts (June 10, 2012)
This model comes in a very large, well-built box, with a very nice picture of the Enterprise on the cover of the box. The pieces, the instructions and the decals are all safely located within and compartmentalized for the hull, the metal parts, and the other parts including the flight deck.
The Hull is in two pieces and together they measure over 3 ft long. There are several metal stiffener/strengthening brackets to be placed between the sides of the hull, and the front section is glued and screwed together with the larger aft section. Altogether there are 9 metal parts. Three stiffners, four screws and two nuts.
The deck comes in three large pieces that fit nicely to the hull in a dry fit, and have tabs to assist in their fit, as well as two screws that screw into the forward portion of the middile section down into one of the metal stiffners. The cat walks along the side of the main deck are molded directly into the deck with the stairs for the various levels included. The exterior is detailed and this is a nice feature.
The model comes with an additional eight sprus and a total of 604 parts. The pieces are well molded with very little or no flash. There are lots of finely detailed and small plastic parts for the sensors, weapons system, chaff/decoy systems, antennae, life rafts, and many other parts. The bridge windows are cut out nicely, but there are no clear plastic parts to fill in these holes so the builder is left to either leave them open, or device clear/tinted plastic pieces to fit.
As to the sprus themselves, they are arranged as follows:
- 1 spru for the various sponsons, screws, rudder. - 26 parts
- 1 spru for the elevator bay doors and fantail. - 68 parts
- 1 spru for the elevators and corresponding structure and detail. - 50 parts
- 1 spru for the island and its sensors. - 78 parts
- 2 sprus for life rafts, weaoons, sensors and misc parts - 308 parts
- 2 sprus for aircraft. - 54 parts
The aircaft included are:
2 - F-18 Hornets
2 - A-6 Intruders
2 - F-14 Tomocats
2 - A-7 Corsairs, and 2 - S-3 Vikings
This totals ten aircraft but is not nearly enough for a full airwing, and is certainly not enough for my purposes because I intend an airwing in the 2000s when the A-7s, F-14s, A-6s, and S-3s were already retired. So, I have purchased four Tamiya aircraft sets (2 each of set 1 and set 2) and three sets of Trumpeter aircraft.
The 1st Tamiya set is exctly the same as what came with the model. The second Tamiya set includes the following aircraft:
2 - E2C Hawkeyes
2 - EA-6B Prowlers
2 - SH-3H Sea King Helos
4 - F-4F Phantoms
I also purchased the following Trumpeter 1/350 scale models sets:
6 - F-18F Super Hornets
6 - C2 Greyhounds
6 - SH-60H Seahawks
When you add all of these up and take out the aircraft no longer in use. I will put together an airwing of the following:
6 - F/A-18D Hornets
6 - F/A-18F SuperHornets
4 - EA-6B Prowlers
4 - E2-D Hawkeyes
3 - C-2 Greyhounds 3 - SH-3H Sea Kings
4 - SH-60H Seahawks
That's 30 aircraft so, in order to get that airwing up to more realistic numbers, I will purchase and add a dozen more F/A-18 Super Hornets, some more E-2Cs, C-2s and EA-6Bs to make a complete airwing of 50 aircraft.
The decal sheet that comes with the model is lacking. There are no carrier deck markings, outside of a few innocuous loading markings. It seems you are intended to paint them all. That is why a 1/350 scale decal set from Starfighter, and othetrs available at Gold Metal Models or Tom's Models for the later model Enterprise sre important. Also decals sets for the airwing and the island specifically from Gold Medal Models also help out in this regard.
The model's instructions are very well done consisting of 29 pages. The first is a history of the vessel (but dated), and the next two pages are very good descriptions of the various equipment onboard the carrier. This is followed by 24 pages of very detailed instructions, many with pictures of the model as built to help you. Finally, the last four sheets are for painting of the model and are also done in very good detail.
The Build - The Island (July 15, 2012)
The Island of the USS Entrerprise is a very detailed portion of the model. In reality it is an almost 300 part model in and of itself. I am using the White Ensign USS Enterprise PE package, which contain many parts useful to the model as a whole, and particularly to various sensors and othe parts, including railing, for the island.
First of all I painted and built the basic island structure itself, carefully using my xacto knife and sand paper it ensure a good fit and trim away any extra material left over from cutting the parts off of the spru. I added a couple of the spotlight platforms with their PE railing as well, placing the PE railing before painting and then painting afterwards. I am continuing the painting scheme of Model Master Neutral Gray for all horizontal services, and Model Master Flight Deck Stain for all of the walking surfaces for the crew, outside of the flight deck itself, which is Model Master Flight Deck. The flight Deck Grey is that darker flight deck grey we are looking for, while flight deck stain is several shades lighter and also includes a blue tint in it as called out for in the instructions and when compared to pictures of the vessel.
Once the intial island structure is built, less the very top roof, you notice that a significant area is included on the upper operations deck within the windowed area that is very suited for detailing for operations on that level. So, I decided to add some work surfaces, internal doors, and quitre a few crewman since I would be enclosing this area. Once the crew were included and placed, and before the upper roof was placed, this is how that looked. Note particluarly the operations area on the uppoer, windowed deck:
Then, I added the roof for the Island and some other sensors, which covered over the operations area I had just detailed, but which can still be seen inside with either a flash light or natural lighting. I was going to use some tiny LED lighting in there like I plan for the hangar deck (that's coming next) but decided against it in the interest of moving along. So with the roof on, the island then looked like this:
At this point I cut out and assembled the various PE parts for the major sensors, like the AN/SPS-48 and AND/SPS-49 radars which look much, much better when you utilize the photo etched parts from an after market accessory kit like White Ensign, Gold Medal Models, or Tom's Models. Here they are on the table top as I was constructing them, which involves either cutting off the plastic supplied parts, or simply replacing them in the building process with the sensors you cut out, fold, glue and create from the accessory PE kit spru. Note: I use some quick acting glue for the PE parts, which is very thin (the kind of stuff that will glue your fingers together if you touch some of the glue and then touch two fingers) and then I thicken it up a little with a slight mixture of normal model glue. This has worked well for me in getting the PE parts to dry somewhat quicker and have a more defined base.
Finally, it was time, once all of those parts had properly set, and been painted, to add them all together and get all of the masts, other platforms, sensors, etc. onto the island. I must say she is looking pretty squared away. I do have a few more sensors, personnel, and then particularly the final PE railing to install before it is finished, but it is looking pretty good now.
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The Build - Hangar Deck Lighting System Built (October 24, 2012)
Once the hangar deck had been completed in terms of the structure, the tie downs, the aircraft, and the details, it was time to put together the hangar deck lighting system I had envisioned. Basically I was going to use miniature LED lights that would burn in a flourescent color, powerd by 9 V DC source, and wired together with 22 and 18 guage electrical wire such that the wiring ultimately comes out of the carrier on the bottom with a flush plugin that would then connect to a switch located in the stand to turn on and off the hangar deck lights.
I purchased the LEDs and the solderless connections and 9 V DC connectiors from Modeler's Brand (www.modelersbrand.com), an online source that makes miniture LED tape in several densities (in terms of lights per inch). I bought the regular-double density tape and then bought five solderless connections to it along with five 9 V DC connections. I had 22 and 18 guage wire, wire connectors (butt connectors as well as various plug ins), tie downs, and 9 V DC batteries. I used my own wire dikes, wire strippers, cutters, etc. I planned for three LEDs in each of three bays within the hanger deck. Each group of three leds pulled 20 mA, so I would be pulling a total of a 60 mA load on my battery which was quite acceptable. Here are pictures of the Modeler's Brand material and the roof sections onto which I placed the LEDs and wired them up.
Once I had the roof sections wired up, it was time to attach them to the hangar and wire them all together and then run the wire to the forward end of the carrier, forward of the hangar deck so I could then have it exit the hull around the first starboard side elevator underneath the carrier.
As I was doing this, I used the 9 V DC battery to test the lighting after each section was wired together to ensure it all worlked as I put it together. I did three individual tests on the individual sections, and then a total of three more tests as I put it together to make sure it all worked right through the completion of the wiring so I would know where the error came in if one appeared.
Sure enough, as I was wiring the last section together, the lighting in the other two stopped working and I had to correct an impropoer connection to get them all to work. Here are pictures of the three bays put together and wired up, with two pictures of the whole thing together.
Finally it was time to light it up and take a few pictures. The first two are with a flash, so the lighting system does not appear as bright. The last one is with a auto time lapse where the lighting appears more brightly to the eye. This has turned out pretty well and I would recommend this method of putting your lighting system together. Altogether, I spent aboout $30 for all of the material I used. I have also purchased a more ready made, out of the box system for 1/350 scale Carrier by Madman Lighting Systems at Freetime Hobbies - Pacific Front Models (www.freetimehobbies.com). It cost about $45.00 that I will use on my USS Iwo Jima LHD-7 1/350 Scale Model by Gallery models when the time comes and advise how it goes.
Pretty nice if I do say so myself. Next I will be working on the main flight deck, getting all of the tie downs there drilled and then placing the flight deck on the hull and covering over the hangar deck. At that time I will also put the Island and the decals on the main deck before going into the long process of building all of the air wing for the flight deck.
The Build - Building the 36 aircraft carrier deck airwing (November 22, 2012)
The last nine days have seen me building my entire flight deck contingent of aircraft in the evenings. These included all of the aircraft named above, at the end of the last section.
The first job was to gather them all together and then put the initial coat of Model Master's Standard Navy Gray paint on each. I am using Standard Navy Gray for the upper portion of the aircraft and using Model Master's Light Gray for the bottoms of the aircraft.
The above pictures are of the entire group of aircraft, still on their sprues and painted the intial gray. Specifically showing the C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft and the F/A-18C Hornets.
The pictures above show the initial coat of paint on the EA-6B Prowlers, the S-3 Vikings, and the F/A-18F Super Hornets, all still on their sprues.
The above pictures are of the SH-60 Sea Hawk helos, the E-2C Hawkeys and the S-3 Sea King helos, and then the initial building of an F/A-18C. After the aircraft were all painted their initial coats of Model Master Standard Navy Gray for the upper surfaces, Model Master Light Gray for the lower Surfaces, Floquil Weathered Black for the canopies/windows and tires and Model Master Steel for the landing gear and jet exhausts, it was time to take the aircraft off of their sprues and one by one build them. This took quite a bit of time as each is a miniature model with as many as 14 parts...times thirty-six.
Once the aircraft were completly built, I then went back and touched-up each aircraft, using the same paints mentioned above to fix/correct any areas necessary where the building process had marred the original paint. The results were the following pictures:
Those above pictures show the entire carrier deck airwing, a close up of the six F/A-18F Super Hornets, and two EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft (which I created from two F/A-18 Super Hornets, by adding the electronic countermeasure pods from a couple of EA-6B aircraft models).
The above pictures are of the four EA-6B Prowler electronic aircraft, the two E-2C Hawkey Early Warning (AEW) aircraft, and the two C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft.
The last three pictures are of the thirteen F/A-18C Hornets, the three S-3 Vikings, and the two SH-60 and two S-3 Anti-submarine (ASW) / Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters.
This completes the building and painting of all of the deck aircraft...adding the 12 I have in the hangar bay my entire airwing totals 48 aircraft. This is a light load for the Enterprise which normally carries 55 or 60 aircraft lately, but is capable of carrying up to 90! (Which she regularly did during the Vietnam war days and during the height of the cold war)
Now I will next add the decals for all of these aircraft, which will also be a long process as they are very small and have to be handled very carefully and delicately. This will involve an initial coat of clear gloss coat and then adding the 4-6 decals for each aircraft (using a decal set for any areas requiring it to help the decal adhere and meld into the paint), and then a coat of clear dull coat after the decals dry. (Both clear coats are , again, Model Masters from Testors.) I find that this porocess is best for helping the decal edge lines disappear into the aircraft paint scheme, thereby making the decal itself standout as if though painted on directly.
Once that is done I will place tall of aircraft on the flight deck.
I intend to have a busy flight deck, with a rather larger strike package forming up, using three of the catapaults. An E-2S AEW, an S-3 for refueling and two two EA-6B EW aircraft from the port side forward catapault, two EA-18G Growler EW aircraft and four F/A-18F Super Hornets from the outside catapault on the portside amidships, and six F/A-18C Hornets from the inside catapault on the port side amidships. I will also have two helos, one S-3 Sea King and one SH-60 Sea Hawk shown ready for launch, one amid ships near the island, and one toward the stern on the starboard side. This will be a total of eighteen aircraft, or half those built, forming up for launch. The other eighteen aircraft will be positioned around the deck with wings and rotors folded, several F/A-18C Hornets forward on the bow, others around the Island, and others along the port side, with a couple of aircraft on the elevators.
The Build - Detailing/Decaling the airwing and placing it on deck (December 2, 2012)
Detailing the aircraft with some final additions and then touch up, and then placing all of the decals on the aircraft is a time consuming effort, particularly when you are talking about 36 aircraft at a time.
I used the decals that came with the Trumpeter and Tamiya 1/350 scale aircraft kits to add the decals. In most cases I used the Trupmeter decals to augment the Tamiya decals because the Tamiya decals are very basic. Basically the "Navy" decals and the star insignia. The Trumpeter decalss come with unit numbers, unit logos, air intake decals, squadron numbers, etc. in addition to the same decals that Tamiya provides. Since I was not using complete sets of all the Trumpeter models, I was able to raid the Trumpeter decal sets to round things out. This of course is at the expense of future aircraft, for which on future builds I will have to buy more decals.
Once the final pinting and details were done (and this could include anything from open cockpits to more detailed weapons) in my case it involved some touch up and addition to the folded wing areas, and to the intakes and tires, I sprayed all of the aircraft with a Gloss Coat enamel from Model Master. This allows the aircraft gloss to help hide the line along the edge of the decal. Here's how that looks going from the finished painting to the first set of decals. I would usually put the insignia on the wing, the intake danger warning and the aircraft number on each time, followed by the vertical stabilzer logo, and the "Navy" decal on the body of the aircraft between the back edge of the wing and the start of the horizontal stabilizer on each side.
Each aircraft had between eight and twelve decals...so an average of ten, times 36. This is 360 decals, many of which are extremely tiny, and also very fragile. If one does not make sure thay the decals get wet enough...they will easily pull apart. At the same time, if you allow them to get too wet, it is easy for them to slide right off the backing when you are placing the decal sheet to carefully transfer them from the sheet to the model.
Generally, while the decals are softening and coming loose, I clean the surface of the model where the decals will go using very mild detergent water and a paint brush I use just for this purpose. I then dry it quickly and add some clean mostiure on the surface. Then, I work with the edge of the table for horizontal and vertical stabilizers or wings and carefully use another paint brush to move the decal to the side of the sheet, and then using either my tweezers or a small pick I carefully move the decal onto the model surface, holding the model in place with one hand while the decal sets on the edge of the table, and using the other hand to carefull move the decal onto the model surface. I do this for a few decals, usually three, on each side of the aircraft. Genrally for aircraft, most of the decals are placed on both sides (ie. logos, unit numbers, aircraft numbers, jet intakes, insignia, the Navy marking, etc.)
I do not worry too much about getting the individual decals perfectly positioned at first...just move onto the next aircraft with the decals in the same position. I will do four aircraft at a time this way, coming back after the fourth is applied and then working the decal into exactly the right position and then ensuring that there are no bubbles or wrinkles under the decal before gently drying it off just a bit ...not completely, because it is best to let the air do that, just enough so there is no noticable moisture sitting on the decal. I then move forward to the next decal for those four aircaft and will generally do three decals at a time before coming back and doing the other side of the aircraft for the same decals. This way I can move through four aircraft at a time fairly quickly.
But "fairly" is a relative term. To completely decal up thirty-six aircraft with all of their markings can take me 10 days to two weeks. They are very intricate and minute and one has to work carefully and slowly...that's why I saw "firly fast" is a very relative term here.
Anyhow, here's how the aircraft looked after carefully gluing them to the deck (using a small pick or tweezers to add small drops of glue right to the aircraft wheels) in their various positions:
And here are three pictures of more of the overall layout of the aircraft. I am using three catapaults on deck to launch a fairly large package of AEW and tanker aircraft off the port bow catapault followed by several F/A-18C aircraft. From the two waist catapaults, I am launching some EA-18G Growler EW aircraft followed by F/A-18E and F/A-18F strike and air dominance aircraft. Eighteen aircraft are being launched in all, with the other eighteen on deck and spott3ed around the deck, with several on the elevators:
That is looking very nice now...like the real thing.
A point to note, the day before I was finishing this, on December 1st, the USS Enterprise, CVN-65, was decommissioned after almost 52 years of service. To the last she carried out her duty as a mainstay of US power projection and foreign policy. Of GREAT NEWS was the announcement that day by the Secretary of the Navy, that the third Ford Class Carrier...the first of which, CVN-78, USS Gerald R. Ford will be launched in 2013...the third, CVN-80, will now be officially named the USS Enterprise! That is excellent and outstanding news. When a 1/350 scale model of her comes out, I will immediately buy and build her. This is what she what will look like once it comes out and I finish her:
At this point, within the next two weeks, I will build the deck equipment, paint it, and place those tugs, fire trucks, cranes, etc. on deck. Also, I will add the props and screws and rudders and then build the stand and add the switch for the hangar bay lights I installed in the carrier. At that point, she will be finished for now...coming back a few months from now to add about 150 painted, 1/350 scale deck personnel to the vessel.
The Build - Building, detailing and placing the deck equipment. (December 16, 2012)
I had a large crane, a fork lift, two fire trucks, five tugs and two fueling trucks to build and p[lace on deck. Putting these together and painting them properly adds significant realism to the carrier deck and its air operations.
I painted a lot of the parts on the sprues in the various colors. A lot of yellow, but alos various grays, orange, black, and some metal/steel.
Once the parts had been painted and dried, I then carefully cut them loose and glued them together. Then touch up paint work was in order, as well as detailing with various additional parts, like the twine for the cable on the crain, small taanks for the fire trucks, and the extended attachement for the aircraft foir the tugs, and the folded versions for those tugs not actively working with aircraft. I decided to hae one of the tugs pulling an S-3 off of the port, aft elevator, and another positioning the E-2C next to the island.
These pictures show the completed equipment in place on deck. The crain is large and located next to the starboard, aft elevator. Several pieces of equipment around the idans, and other parked in convienent locations around the deck.
Here are a few more:
Now, here are a few pictures of the carrier deck, showing some close ups, and then showing the overall carrier, port, starboard and from the fron and aft.
And with that, the carrier is very close to being complete. I have all of the antennae painted and ready to place, but did not want to do that before I placed it on its stand and away from the work surface. Also have to quickly add the rudders, props, and screws, which are also all painted, and then finally wire the stand with the switch for the hangar lighting system and place the carrier on its stand.
The Build - Deck Edge Webbing, Antennae, Rudders, Props and Screws, Stand w/Hangar Light Switch & Fully Complete (December 27, 2012)
With the flight deck equipment complete and added to the flight deck, it was time to finish the few remaining items in order to fully complete the model.
First this involved adding the Photo Etched (PE) webbing around the deck edges. Particulalry on the bow and waist launch points, and along the aft edge of the flight deck and along each elevator. I did this by painting them first and then adding them to each location. Note: Once again, I use quick acting glue for the PE parts, which is very thin (the kind of stuff that will glue your fingers together if you touch some of the glue and then touch two fingers) and then I thicken it up a little with a slight mixture of normal model glue. This has worked well for me in getting the PE parts to dry somewhat quicker and have a more defined base.
These all looked very good as shown below
Then I put together the stand, with the wiring and switch for the hangar bay. As it turned out, the thickness of the 9 vdc batter was a little greater than the height of the stand, so I had to scratch build a holder and then some flat surfaces for the stand at that level so it would all look nice and stand there. I decided to just glue the stand to the bottom of the carrier. At first I was going to wire in some connectors so I could detach the carrier from the stand, but decided this was not needed, so I just glued the stand to the carrier and routed the wire out of the bottom of the carrier, through the stand to a terminal block, and then from that terminal block to the switch and to the battery.
I build a slide in, slide out holder for the battery and use sprue parts (as before) to shore it up and provide additional support for the nex structure.
Here is that assembly:
...and finally, here are several pictures of the finished vessel:
I am building several modern Carrier Strike Groups for the modern major naval Sea Powers. The US around the Enterprise, the Chinese around their new Liaoning, the French around their Charles de Gaulle CVN, the Russians around the Kusnetsov, the British around HMS Illustrious, the Japanese around the JMSDF Hyuga...all in 1/350 scale and all including their escorts.
You can track my progress on this ambitious, years long project at the following site:
Jeff Head's 1/350 Scale Carrier Strike group Site
http://www.jeffhead.com/modelbuilds/