1/350 USS Carl Vinson Project.

I will be following this project with extreme interest!

Bill Morrison

Looks like quite a project, I am ready to follow along as well. 

Here is the port aft sponson mounted and the starboard forward sponson mounted and roughed in (needs sanding and shaping)

what year are you building? because you are building platforms that where not present till late 90's. if you need a good reference google ray bean his photo Dvd's r fabilous. also use google or bing. as for the aircraft again it depends on what year. tomcats till 2005 also use f-18c they are the most correct in shape. Finally for hangar deck aircraft use tamiaya

armyrn

what year are you building? because you are building platforms that where not present till late 90's. if you need a good reference google ray bean his photo Dvd's r fabilous. also use google or bing. as for the aircraft again it depends on what year. tomcats till 2005 also use f-18c they are the most correct in shape. Finally for hangar deck aircraft use tamiaya

 

I am building as she was in 1983 during her first deployment. I was aboard the her for the world cruise. The platforms are the original platforms when she was built. They were then changed a few years later (and multiple times since) As for references I have a few pictures from the internet and many personal pictures of when I sailed on her.

This week I modified and detailed the fantail. The crane was scratchbuilt. You may have noticed the holes above and below the fantail. These are going to be needed for the fiber optics (working on them now) for the landing lights. The weathering of the hull will be done after all the modifications to the hull are completed.

No problems. You do nice work keep it up. I would also add a case to your list. One vendor is grandpa cabinets he does excellent work. He built one for my USS Lincoln CVN -72 2001-2003.

here is  the link to the build for additonal ideas. A friend of mine built it for me as my retirement gift from 32 years of service between the Navy and Army as gift from wife.

(Note this builder has built almost every ship in the class)

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=153354&start=40

Fantail Details

Here is the fantail with LED's and fiber optic lighting.

WOW ! ! !  T.B.

Cool job Wolfman, you are really moving on this project.  

Wow, excellent work on those lights

Jorge

Hangar Bay Details.

Port walls

Doorway details

Forward tunnel and GSE area lighted

Aft hangar bay walls

Port hangar walls

Looking aft from hangar bay 1

View from hangar bay 2 doorway

Hangar deck completed (weathered and painted deck)

Nice job on the hanger walls so far!

Bill

OY !

 You are going Gang Busters on her aren't you ? Looking good . Question ! When you get done , are you ever going to build a model again ? I mean , you are putting so much time and effort into this one .  T.B.

I am doing this with so much detail because I served aboard her.

It's going to be the centerpiece in my hobby room.

Once I finish this I have a Perry Class to build on commission then back to 1/48 aircraft.

Spent the morning making a decal set for the Nimitz class hangar bay signs. Have the air, power, AFFF, medical, and fire extinguisher stencils. If anyone wants a high resolution copy to make your own decals, just let me know. I can email them to you. (The Online  photo is at 72 dpi and the original is at 600 dpi) Still working on hangar bay 1 detail. Should have more pictures by Sunday.

Spectactular work you're doing here! A co-worker of mine served on the Carl Vinson from 93-95. I was wondering, other than personal pictures where do you get your documentation from?

I looked through your airplane pictures too. Again very nice work, what do you paint with? I'm amazed at how flat, or lack of gloss they have. Mine seem to come out with a bit of sheen trying different clear coats.

Kyle

Kyle Lord

Spectactular work you're doing here! A co-worker of mine served on the Carl Vinson from 93-95. I was wondering, other than personal pictures where do you get your documentation from?

I looked through your airplane pictures too. Again very nice work, what do you paint with? I'm amazed at how flat, or lack of gloss they have. Mine seem to come out with a bit of sheen trying different clear coats.

Kyle

 

I just searched images on google for USS Carl Vinson. The hard part is trying to figure out which pictures are from what years. Many are of the more recent version due to popularity of the internet and that the Vinson is in the news alot as it is on deployment.

My problem is I was only looking for pictures from the 1983 to 1985 years only. There are very few of them on the internet. Many of my personal ones are of the aircraft so I have to look at the background of pictures and piece together the details and occasionally the background isn't very sharp since the aircraft was the subject. (many photo's I have were taken with a mid 1970's 35mm camera and I was by no means a pro at shooting photo's back then. LOL) I also use recent pictures and see what details are the same or very close to the same as mine and kind of guess the sections are different or missing. One example that ended up being a "guess" was the starboard wall of hangar bay #1 from the doors forward. For some reason there are only distant shots of this section from any Nimitz class carrier. The only ones I have are mostly blocked by the saucer of the E-2C's because on the cruise this is where they parked them on the hangar bay to perform maintenance. All I can find in my pictures is the placement of the conflag station and the raised sponson and a few of the pipes.

For my aircraft I use testors Model Master Lusterless Flat spray can. Typically I paint with flat paints and use Microset to place the decals. Once the decals have set for a few minutes, I coat them with Microsol. and let then sit. Then spray a thin coat of the MM lusterless, let dry for about 30 minutes then another thin coat.

CVN-70 Project. Mounted the fiber optic lights for the GSE area and tunnel. (They will be trimmed flush after painting) Detailed the starboard wall of hangar bay 1 and added more details to the port wall. Need to finish detailing the port wall. Also made the first hangar bay fire doors.

Wow, your work is outstanding at this scale. I love specially the fantail lights.

Jorge

that is some beautiful work !!

CVN-70 Project - I have completed the port side wall of hangar bay 2 and the hangar bay fire doors. The Unrep tower motors have been made and will be rigged to the towers when I do the starboard side. Starting on the bay 3 port side and aft wall now.

CVN-70 Project - Hangar bay walls are all detailed. Now ready for paint, highlighting, and decals. Need to still make the hangar bay external doors. Then paint, decals and weathering of the hangar bay deck.

CVN-70 Project - Added some more decals to the decal sheet. Warning stripes that can be cut to proper widths as needed, the ship and air wing logo's, and the Naval Aviation logo's.
If anyone needs a copy, message me your email address. Also if you want, tell me the ship and airwing and I will replace the Vinson ones with your choice. (These are 1/350 scale)

I just found out that depending on the ship and the year, The AFFF signs can be either blue or green. If you want them in green or both, let me know.

Hey Wolfman,

First off thank you on the tip for model masters flat clear. It is my favorite flat clear, and believe me I've tried about 6. I decanted straight into my airbrush cup, let sit for about an hour then airbrushed.

Secondly, I'd like to issue a formal request :D. I'll get back to you for airwing, I have the yearbook for 2003 I believe.

Also, apologies if you said this already but where do you get the larger 70 that goes on the deck or on the island? I thought I saw gmm was discontinued for those decals but was was wondering if there's another source.

Keep up the killer scratching!

Kyle

I was able to get a GMM set on Ebay. There was one for sale on Ebay and the  seller was actually local to me. I emailed him if he would end auction and sell it to me (for the average price they go for on Ebay) and he said he doesn't want to stop the auction but he had a second set that was missing the CIWS circles. I bought that set from him for a very good price. I wasn't concerned about the CIWS circles. I already made my own decals for them.

GMM has stated they will not re-issue them but Boatswain is suppose to re-issue their set sometime this summer. http://www.boatswainmodel.com/products.html

If you cannot locate your cruise book, This website has them online:

http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/index.html

Kind of a slow week as I was busy with some other things this week. I was able to get the starboard walls and doorways mounted and detailed. The aft walls are detailed but still need to be mounted. Will be starting to paint and decal the long port walls and to detail the GSE bay tonight.

The hangar bay deck is finished. All walls mounted, deck markings and painting done, weathered/stained deck, and GSE area lighting done. I even added toolboxes and benches to the back wall of the GSE area. Here are numerous pictures. Will be starting the flight deck next. (Hangar bays to be filled with aircraft and GSE equipment later)

Close up of GSE area with toolboxes and benches.

CVN-70 Project - After 5 attempts I finally figured out how to do the landing light "meatball" It's difficult to get a good picture due to the brightness but it does look cool.

Good day Wolfman, 

Happy Independence day!  I am glad I stumbled across your build as I am doing the same exact version of the Carl Vinson. My Nimitz model is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.  I will be using the hangar bay details released just last week on Shapeways.  I am Very interested in your decal set graphics.  Are you planning to do a CVW-15 airwing set?  I have searched hi and low, but no one seems to do this wing yet?  Your build is looking great!  

-Woog

Thanks! I just sent you the Hangar bay decal sheet picture.

As for air wing from 1983, Starfighter decals has VAQ-134's decals but all others are not available.

However, when I get to the aircraft I will be making my own sheets for each squadron.

I already built a plane from each squadron in 1/48 scale (see http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/165305.aspx ) so getting pictures will be easy. Just need to scale them from 1/48 to 1/350.

CVN-70 Project - I finished the runway optic lines and halfway done with the foul line. Have about 28 more lines to run. I have quite the bundle. It's going to be a while to get them lines up and laying flat.
Here is a preview of the lights (just used a table lamp to see how the pattern looks)

CVN-70 Project - All the fiber optic lines have been laid out. Starting to glue them down so I can route them. It's slow going. Have to do it in sections.

So the runway and foul line optics have been laid and glued. Looks like I can light them with just 5 LED's. Runway in white and foul line in blue. Tonight I will run the bow lights then I need to route all the fiber optic lines so they are flat and aligned evenly. Hoping to have pictures of the deck lit up with LED's by weekend.

CVN-70 Project - All the fiber optic lines have been run and the LED's have been installed as the source. The pictures are the result. Note that I have not trimmed the fibers down yet since I need to paint and weather the deck before I can trim them flush. They do look very bright in the photo's due to the way the camera sees the light. Once trimmed the brightness will not be as bright.

Coming in for a landing view:

CVN-70 Project - Spent the day setting up the hangar bay lighting. I just taped everything to see if I had the placement right. Here is a trial fit test.

CVN-70 Project - The flight deck has been painted and fiber optic lines trimmed flush. Still need to add decals and weathering.

The hanger deck pics are very impressive.  

CVN-70 Project - Starting on the island Drilling lots of holes to light up the numbers and adding LED's for the island rooms. The lighted 70 looks funky because the fibers still need trimming after I paint the walls. Over 50' of fiber optic just to light the numbers on one side of the island. Working on the other side next.

This week I started working on the island. I ran all the fiber optic lines to light up the ship numbers and the yellow flood lights that light up the flight deck. Surprisingly I was able to get the lines routed with room to spare. I also modified the level for the Mk 95 NSSM director bays and added the LED light.

The lower section of the island is now done. I trimmed the fiber optics and applied the decals.

The upper levels of the island are together. Need to start building the 19 aircraft that will be placed in the hangar bay so I can assemble and wire up the ship.

Here is the first proof sheet of the decals for the aircraft. I will be doing all 86 aircraft that was aboard when the ship pulled out of Norfolk Virginia in March of 1983. Still need to do the decals for the A-6's as well as all the numbers for all the aircraft.

Wolfman_63

Here is the first proof sheet of the decals for the aircraft. I will be doing all 86 aircraft that was aboard when the ship pulled out of Norfolk Virginia in March of 1983. Still need to do the decals for the A-6's as well as all the numbers for all the aircraft.

 

 

Sincerely, Preston

Actually when we pulled out of port they were all the hi-vis scheme. About halfway thru the cruise they started painting them lo-vis. When we pulled into San Francisco half of the planes were hi and half were lo-vis. I can email you a high resolution proof and you can print your own. Never thought of contacting a company to buy my designs.

I actually have been hoping these guys would put together a CVW-15 airwing set for a long time.  They have some good stuff.  http://www.starfighter-decals.com/1350-de.html

-Preston

I know. I bought the VAQ-134 and deck tractor decals from them for this project.

 Here is the rest of the decals. The A-6 squadron and the various numbers and letters for the aircraft. Starting to build aircraft tomorrow.

This all might very well be the coolest thing I've ever seen in modeling....I'm VERY impressed....that hangar bay lighting looks quite realistic.  

F-8fanatic

This all might very well be the coolest thing I've ever seen in modeling....I'm VERY impressed....that hangar bay lighting looks quite realistic.  

 

Thanks! Yes the hangar bay does. Not a lot of folks have seen a carrier hangar bay at night while at sea.

Started building and detailing the aircraft for the hangar bay. Adding the photoetched parts on a 1:350 aircraft takes some time. Planning on 28 aircraft staged on the hangar deck. So far eight of the A-7's are built. Plan is to build all, then paint all, and finally decal all.

man that's a project on it's own , nice work so far too .

 Started painting the planes and decided to scratch-build a scaffold for the cockpit. This plane will have it's cockpit open and the scaffold next to it on the hangar deck.

I am just about done with the A-7's for the hangar deck. So in terms of time it takes about 3 hours per aircraft to build, detail, paint and decal. I sealed the decals and just need to install the canopies. Then start the F-14's. Here is a picture of the A-7's having decals put on.

The A-7's are complete and staged in hangar bay 2. The hangar bay is now done. Now on to the F-14's of hangar bay 3.

Your build is looking more and more awesome!  That hanger looks amazing.

Wolfman_63

The A-7's are complete and staged in hangar bay 2. The hangar bay is now done. Now on to the F-14's of hangar bay 3.

 

 

    Wolfman_63,

      You can let out a Howl of Success over this Build. To top it off your Lighting is fantastic. Great job with the Fiber layout.

     By the way, If you crop the Hanger Pic to just the deck and Hanger opening, it looks almost Real!   No complaint but a little more depth of field will make the picture really pop.  And that is as negative as I could ever get on this WIP. Wonderful Job and glad you are letting us watch.

     Nino

this really is an amazing build , not really into this sort of ship , but your build is outstanding .

steve5

 Working on the F-14's for hangar bay # 3. I have the placement and all the planes detailed with the PE parts. Next up is to paint and decal them. Four will be VF-51 and four will be VF-111.

Wolfman_63

 Working on the F-14's for hangar bay # 3. I have the placement and all the planes detailed with the PE parts. Next up is to paint and decal them. Four will be VF-51 and four will be VF-111.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  They look so real you'd think they were asleep.

    Nino

The F-14's for hangar bay 3 are now complete. Here are some pictures of Bay 3 as well as close-ups of the F-14's. Starting on hangar bay 1 next.

Not sure what is going on but it appears some of my pictures from the begining are disappearing. On my phone it shows a gray square and says "URL signature expired"

Not sure what that means. The few other forums I posted photos on still show the photo's.

If you are following and are looking for some of the earlier photo's, I set up an album of the build on Flickr. The album link is: https://www.flickr.com/photos/128642409@N05/albums/72157687002588814

Thanks to all for your interest in my project.

Those are some nice looking aircraft.

 Working on the two SH-3 helicopters for hangar bay 1. This one modified to have the sliding door open and rotors folded. Second one will have rotors and tail folded. Had to scratch build the struts. Will post pictures of both in hangar bay once the second is done.

Your work with Fiberoptics is enlightening. ( No pun intended).

 Some questions..

   Did the Helos come with Open doors or did you have to drill'em out?

What do you use to cut the fibers to length (without frayed ends or a Cut finger...)?

 Beautiful and Exacting work. Wish I could...

     Nino

I had to drill/cut out the doors on the Helo's.

I used a sprue cutter to trim the fiber optics. Gives a nice even cut.

Thanks!

Here are the rest of the pictures of the SH-3H helicopters and the start of the S-3A showing the PE details.

The two S-3A's from VS-29 for hangar bay 1 are now complete. Next up us the two EA-6B's.Then I just have the A-6E's and E-2C's to complete.

this much more than a single kit , more like about 50 kits , what a great project , your doing such a great job too .

steve5

Thanks! I will be making all 86 aircraft so it's like doing 87 kits. 

 The two EA-6B's from VAQ-134 for hangar bay 1 are done. Next are the A-6E's from VA-52 then on to the E-2C's. The decals for these are from Star Fighter. I just added the "NL" and the ship/CVW decals. I really wish Trumpeter would make all their planes the same way. These had the canopy molded into the plane. Makes it difficult to decal and seal.

Wolfman_63

 The two EA-6B's from VAQ-134 for hangar bay 1 are done. Next are the A-6E's from VA-52 then on to the E-2C's. The decals for these are from Star Fighter. I just added the "NL" and the ship/CVW decals. I really wish Trumpeter would make all their planes the same way. These had the canopy molded into the plane. Makes it difficult to decal and seal.

 

 That's 1/350?  I'd be lucky to get a 1/72 to look as realistic and then only if I had help on the decals.

Wolfman_63 you have outdone yourself.   I can't wait to see you light it up. Your pictures on the other Hosting sites are fantastic too.

 You should display it in a Library or Museum and give Tours (paid) every Saturday.

No Kidding, fantastic detailing. Thank you for making me salivate.

    Nino.

Had a nice quiet Friday off of work so I spent the day doing the A-6E's from VA-52 for hangar bay 1. The tail and lance decals came out great. All that is left to do is two E-2C's then I can start assembling and detailing the ship.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. The E-2C's from VAW-114 are done. This completes all the aircraft for the hangar bays. Now I can start running the wires for the LED's and assembling the ship. Once I get the main sections together I can start detailing the outside of the ship. Then back to building 62 more aircraft. Anyhow, here are the pictures of the E-2C's. (It helps that I built 1/48 scale models of all the aircraft)

 Last post I said I could see light at the end of the tunnel. Well tonight I wired everything up and did a light check before gluing down the flight deck. Right at 245 hours so far into this build.What you see lit up is 40 LED's and 500' of fiber optic lines. Here is the light check pictures:

Wow, beyond wow. That's manufactured perfection. maybe the Navy could display it at the academy......

what gobears01 said , that is so cool .

Wow. you have a cool plane man, I can't do like you, I just do this, easier and bi glue nor solder required, tab and holes design

This is about the coolest thing that I've seen in a while.

Back to detailing the ship. Working on the catwalks, CIWS, and safety nets. I really like the Veteran Models CIWS parts. They are very detailed and easy to assemble. The photoetch catwalks and safety nets are nice looking. Here are some pictures of the details. Still need paint and add other details to catwalks (hoses and reels, storage boxes, etc.)

Excellent work on those railings.  You are going to have to be careful you don't effect your deck work when painting them.  I paint mind before installing them and then just do the touch up as needed.

Glad to see you adjusted the steps on the stairs to horizontal.  It can be a real pain to do at this scale.

This is stunning work!! You have the patience of Job and a whole heap of modeling talent.

Thanks for all the compliments! Spent some time last night and this morning adding more catwalks. Slow but steady process getting things lined up. Looks like I should be able to start the island detailing next weekend. Still have bow and elevators to do. Here are some pictures of the starboard side.

Finished all the catwalks, safety nets, and CIWS's around the ship. Starting to tape the edges and flight deck so I can paint them. Will be detailing the elevators then on to detailing the island. Still on schedule to complete this project by the end of December.

Here is a walk around of the catwalks, safety nets, and CWIS.

She is really looking mighty fine. 

Very nice work there!

Mike

Painting all weekend. All the catwalks and safety nets painted. In process of painting all the flight deck details. (no decals used yet, all you see is painted) I must really compliment Tamiya. Their 6mm masking tape is awesome. It allows you to mask off even the smallest areas and gives you a clean edge when removing. Completed the starboard side, now working on the port side of the flight deck. I still have some detailing to do for the arresting cables. Now onto the pictures.

Pretty incredible, sir. I hope you get a case and display this model.

Yes, It will be in a very nice case.

GMorrison

Pretty incredible, sir. I hope you get a case and display this model.

 

More work on the flight deck. Yes I colored the padeyes. They came out very good. Took me a while to figure out how to do them. Also put on the few decals that I needed and started to do the elevators. Next comes the hose reels and weathering of the flight deck.

On to the pictures!

Kind of a slow modeling week as other things had to get taken care of. Was able to get the hose reels built, landing cables, and flight deck weathering done. Now working on the island details now.

I have had a few folks ask how I weathered the deck so here is how I did it.

Island work continuing. The main mast is just about done. Need to tweek some of it to get everything lined up and some paint touch up. Next do all the rigging and build the radar tower that stands behind the island. On to the pictures:

Very nice.  What is that pole sticking out for?  Is it some type of antenna?

It's a radio antenna.

Completed all the rigging on the island. I used EZ Line thin. It works great! Also start the radar tower. This is all photoetch (from White Ensign)  Just need to build the antenna and then mount it to the deck.

The radar tower is done, The raft canisters, whip antenna's and starboard forward tower (scratch built) are done. Just need to add the whip antenna's and raft canisters to the port side and the anchors. This will basically complete the ship (screws will be put on after the ship is mounted to the display base). All that is left is 56 aircraft, deck tractors, Tilly crane, and the display case.

UPDATE: Was informed that the radar tower behind the island is in the wrong position. After some quick research, I have confirmed that Trumpeter has the radar tower in the wrong spot. The tower should be located at the very edge of the flight deck. This is for all Nimitz class carriers. The Nimitz 1975 cruise book clearly shows the tower at the edge.

I have relocated the tower.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

OOPS;

   I served more than one enlistment in the Navy .You have to do something about the bright white lights in the Island areas .The ship would NEVER have white lights in those spaces after dark !

 Other than that . I do have to say , you are as much of a glutton for hard work as I am . The flight deck weathering and scuffing is spot on !

 Are you going to present it to the Naval Academy ?

Tanker - Builder

OOPS;

   I served more than one enlistment in the Navy .You have to do something about the bright white lights in the Island areas .The ship would NEVER have white lights in those spaces after dark !

 Other than that . I do have to say , you are as much of a glutton for hard work as I am . The flight deck weathering and scuffing is spot on !

 Are you going to present it to the Naval Academy ?

 

Yes, I know the island utilizes red lighting for at night. And typically the numbers are not lit at sea. I did this with the white lights to highlight the island. I do not plan on presenting this to anyone. It will be the centerpiece of my model collection.

Wolfman_63

 

Yes, I know the island utilizes red lighting for at night. And typically the numbers are not lit at sea. I did this with the white lights to highlight the island. I do not plan on presenting this to anyone. It will be the centerpiece of my model collection.

 

       Well, TB has it right again, in that you have a beautiful REPLICA. Your attention to detail has been noteworthy throughout your build. You may not want to donate it but I hope other folks other than just Viewers of this forum will get a chance to Look, Enjoy, and Contemplate your tribute to The United States Navy...

     You have done superb work.  Please let us know if you every have an open house. I want to come over and flip the light switch!  And have you got a copy of Victory at Sea?  Good music to go with your USN Ship models. Especially since  "It will be the centerpiece of my model collection".

     I showed some of your Pictures to one of my grandsons. He said it would make a "fantastic nite lite".  He then asked if I could build him one.  Uh-Oh.

     Nino

I do plan on showing the completed model at shows and events. The IPMS club I am with has various shows each year that we attend and there is a couple of Maritime Museums in the midwest that have annual events.

There is light at the end of the flight deck! The ship is basically done. The only two things left to do is to add the screw (props) once it is mounted on the display base and put the flag on it. I did not like how the flat decal flag looked. I do have some ideas on how to make the flag look more realistic. If you have any tips or tricks on making 1/350 scale flags look realistic, please let me know.

For now I will be working on the rest of the aircraft for the flight  deck, the deck tractors, and the Tilly crane. I purchased the Tilly from BaconFist at Shapeways and am working on detailing it now. The last two pictures are the boxes of aircraft left to build and the Tilly crane without detailing.

I am not the best photographer and due to the lighting it is difficult getting a good picture with the compact digital camera. I do plan on having professional pictures taken once it is complete.

I am enjoying watching this build progress.  The model all lighted up in the dark brings back memories.  

I put the flag decal on aluminum foil, fold it over and glue the foil together and trim the edges.  I touch up the edges with red / blue marker pens and bend the flag into whatever shape I need.

Great looking model, amazing effort you put into it.  It was a most interesting build to follow.

Special Update! Since the ship is done I now need to work on the filling the flight deck. With all the detail I added to the ship, it only makes sense to continue with details.

I ordered the Tilly crane from BaconFist on Shapeways (3D printed accessoriesfor Nimitz Class carriers)

This is how it arrived:

And here it is after 9.5 hours of detailing.

Now to start work on to the deck tractors.....

Working on filling the flight deck continues. Here are the deck tractors for the flight deck. These are the Black Dog deck tractor set. The only assembly was the wheels. The decals are from Star Fighter. Next up is to start working on the many aircraft for the flight deck.

I would say you have done a superb job on this model carrier. I can't imagine how much repetitive work went into creating the deck tractors and how much more you have to do putting together the aircraft ... it's an astonishing feat.

I've not seen such work since Jorge's Nimitz .. BTW, I hope he posts more on his build soon. Are you familiar with his work? Here's the link:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/156642.aspx?page=8

Work is progressing on filling the flight deck. The EA-6B's and the SH-3's are done. So there are only 48 more aircraft to do. I also received the brass plaque which will be mounted on the base of the display case. The final position of the aircraft will be done after all of them are built. Here are the latest pictures:

The S-3A's for the flight deck are now complete. Working on the E-2C's now. They are built just need to paint and decal them this weekend.

Geez Louise !!

   Now that's a Boid farm . My daughter was Aircraft Cdr. on an A-6-E on the Nimitz .

 Me ? Well , ten Yrs got my Chiefs hat in the Zumwalt fastrak program .Then they did away with my M.O.S. Went over to the Corps and did enough to get early payout as a Gunny .Where ? Last duty station ? U.S.S. Midway .

  I didn't specifically like carriers till the Enterprise .Then I began to appreciate them to a big degree . After the Midway and some other large ships I really appreciated them more .

 Besides where else can you watch planes and be at sea too ? You have certainly done her proud . P.S. Did any ships come alongside for fuel having items like my Avatar ?     T.B. 

Wow friend, this ship is amazing. I love the way you use the optic fyber, specially in drop lights and the ball. You have got a very nice effect. Congratulations.

Jorge

Little late on latest update. Between Christmas and a minor health issue I am hoping to get back to the rest of the aircraft. Here are the E-2C's from VAW-114 on the flight deck. I will be starting on the A-6E's next after I set up my new work bench that my awesome loving Wife got me for Christmas. (Pictures will be posted later) Now on to the E-2C  pictures:

It belongs in National Museum of the United States Navy! What superb work

As promised, Here is the new hobby desk.

I had a small wooden drafting/hobby desk. Worked great for about 10 years. For Christmas my Wife bought me a new one. It's 35% larger surface area and steel supports so it is very stable. Used it the first time last night working on 1/350 A-6E's for my Vinson project.

Here is what I used for 10+ years:

Here are pictures of my new one. I like the tray in front. Very handy.

Here is one of the new large Xacto self-healing mats:

And here is it in use:

Now plenty of room to build:

Looking at your build makes me feel like I am just coming off liberty and need to ask permission to come abaord.  It really gives the feeling of a working carrier.  

Scott

The A-6E's are completed and now on the flight deck. Starting the A-7E's. Just have 16 of the A-7E's and 16 of the F-14's left to do. I was hoping to finish by today but doing 1/350 scale aircraft is a longer process than I estimated. Just hit 712 hours into this project and estimate about 40 more hours to go to complete. Here are the pictures of the A-6E's on deck.

I can't say enough to compliment you on this Replica. You know that.

But, your new Work table with the wide drawer, is the "Bomb".  I gotta get one.  I drop so much stuff I started putting a towel on my lap to catch the errant part. With a drawer like that I could just leave it open a bit to catch the stuff that falls overboard.  That way I don't have to reduce speed or, usually in my case, come to a complete stop.

    Thanks again from a Patron follower.  Lead the way!  

        And Happy New Year.

           Nino

P.S. I too have a small fan. Great for getting glues to set a bit faster and dispersing the fumes.

Nino

I can't say enough to compliment you on this Replica. You know that.

But, your new Work table with the wide drawer, is the "Bomb".  I gotta get one.  I drop so much stuff I started putting a towel on my lap to catch the errant part. With a drawer like that I could just leave it open a bit to catch the stuff that falls overboard.  That way I don't have to reduce speed or, usually in my case, come to a complete stop.

    Thanks again from a Patron follower.  Lead the way!  

        And Happy New Year.

           Nino

 

P.S. I too have a small fan. Great for getting glues to set a bit faster and dispersing the fumes.

 

It's not a drawer it's a pencil tray. Finding this VERY useful. Catches the small parts and is easy to clean out. The actual bench is on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EO93X52/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

As I head down the final stretch of this long detailed build, The A-7E's from VA-105 and VA-37 are done and sitting on the bow. All that is left to do is the F-14's from VF-51 and VF-111. Here are the pictures:

Stunning! Beautiful work! I was a plank owner on the Abraham Lincoln so I saw the Vinson several times. Brings back a lot of memories. Really nice job. I hope to achieve your level of skill some day.

Increadible!  

I'm looking forward to seeing it stocked with Tomcats.  

you should be a proud man wolfman . should look incredible in the case .

Here are the final pictures. I want to make a special note to Ron at http://www.grandpascabinets.com/model-display-kits/

His display case is awesome. The fit and finish are first class.

If you ever need a display case I highly recommend him.

Thanks again for following me through this project. I hope it has inspired others to not be afraid to take on a large project.

I had a friend who owns his own photography business stop by and take some hi-res professional shots. (he took over 200!)

All these photo's are from Andy Schneider Photography. (click on picture to zoom in)

For those interested in lighting their ship models, I wrote a "How To" article for Flagship Models.

Coming very soon from Flagship Models Inc. is our latest "How To" ship modeling CD. With so many model ships showing up here and at shows with LED lighting installed, we have been getting lots of requests for a new CD to explain how it's done. Dave Kopielski just completed one the most extensively lit carrier models yet and is the subject of our next how to CD. Check out our web site for the latest details at: www.flagshipmodels.com

Wolfman_63

For those interested in lighting their ship models, I wrote a "How To" article for Flagship Models.

 

Dave,

     After the CD/book is released, will there be a follow-on Movie?

Titles:

Charge of the Fiber-optic Light Brigade.

Well-lit Hanger-18.

The Cold Light of Dave.

     Or maybe a simple Light Comedy?

     Fantastic Work. I am a follower on Flickr.

     Great Folks at Flagship.  Good luck to you with your new endeavor.

       Nino.

Nino

 

 

Wolfman_63

For those interested in lighting their ship models, I wrote a "How To" article for Flagship Models.

 

 

 

Dave,

     After the CD/book is released, will there be a follow-on Movie?

Titles:

Charge of the Fiber-optic Light Brigade.

Well-lit Hanger-18.

The Cold Light of Dave.

     Or maybe a simple Light Comedy?

 

     Fantastic Work. I am a follower on Flickr.

     Great Folks at Flagship.  Good luck to you with your new endeavor.

   

       Nino.

 

 

No movie or book yet. How about a magazine?

If you are an IPMS member, You can now read about all the work it took to create my USS Carl Vinson Project. You can see all the build photo's at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-carl-vinson/  and all the completed photo's at https://davidsscalemodels.com/gallery/uss-carl-vinson-project/

Correcting the links

You can see all the build photo's at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-carl-vinson/  

and all the completed photo's at https://davidsscalemodels.com/gallery/uss-carl-vinson-project/

Congratulations