Photo-Etch scale comparisons..

Kid Schelin

I recently purchased a 1/500 scale U.S.S. Nimitz Model by Trumpeter,,,I cannot find any Photo-Etch parts for it anywhere.....Question....?.. What scale model of Photo-Etch is closest to 1/500 for enhancement that will closely match,if any...( or did I not choose wisely.?...Have not done any modeling for 25yrs and am looking forward to getting back into it for a past time hobby....I need all the help I can get..

 

You did not choose wisely.

There are no dedicated Nimitz, nor CVN, photoetch sets in 1:500 scale.  You will find some generic railing sets and commercial sets available in that scale

1:350 scale is 30% larger than 1:500 scale ((500 - 350)/500) := 0.3.   _{(math, no one told me I would have to do math!)}

Railings which should come up to the waist will appear shoulder high.

As a personal preference I do not mix scale differences in excess of 10%   The appearance is too visually jarring.

Kid,

Here is a link of the review.

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/cv/cvn-70/500-trump/trump-cvn-70.html

It looks like for someone who hasn't built a kit in 25 years this may be good to practice on however, after that, if you still want a modern carrier, I would sugess a 1/700 kit. You can find all kinds of PE, aftermarket and air wings. There are a few nice kits on the market.

Or if you are really ready for something that will take half your space, you can go 1/350.

The rule of thumb would be to choose the next smaller size in scale down. So in your case the 1/600 sets designed for the Airfix kits would be a solution. Tom's Modelworks generic 3 rail sets in 1/600 would look fine once installed IMHO. Yes, slightly underscale, but on the finished model sitting on your shelf, looking fine. And, you would have fun and learn much, which is what getting back into the game is all about.            

Politely, I disagree. That's a 20% reduction, and like Ed, I try to stay within 10%, hopefully less.

There is some PE available for the Revell 1/540 Forrestals, but I wouldn't consider it worth the money.

Do consider 1/700. It's a great scale and you'll be able to display many other ships next to it. Here's my Bogue CVE. At 1/700 it's still over 8 inches long.

Loren Perry does do a 1/500 fret that could work. GMM set 500-5. His 'Naval Ship set" You could use the railings, ladders etc. That way you could build the kit you have. Then decide on a more standard scale for the next one, i.e. 1/350 or 1/700   

http://www.goldmm.com/ships/gms500-5.htm

modelcrazy

Kid,

Here is a link of the review.

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/cv/cvn-70/500-trump/trump-cvn-70.html

 

If you have not built a model in a long time, I would not start learning photo-etch work on a model as complex as a carrier.  I would start with a larger scale simple project, and practice and learn working with PE.  I know several modelers who have given up on PE and will not use it anymore.  I do not agree with that myself- I figure practice makes perfect.  But anyone disturbed by foul language should not be around me when I am working with the stuff.

Hi Don,

Your advice is sound and noted,,I retired at 64 and was going to start out then but as always something comes up,and it did,but 7yrs later I am now free of the Burdens of Bills and everything is paid off...I have been buying all the tools I believe I will need plus paints & glues and model putty etc..gets expensive quickly....purchased a real nice compressor w/1gal airtank,regulator and water filter fot the air brush..also several airbrushs....Youtube is a great source for knowledge on how to do some things..have downloaded a lot of video's....I believe in going slow and not be in a hurry with anything,,Photo-Etch is not that hard as it just takes patience,,,and yes I too sometimes start swearing at myself for some stupid A$$ move,but I learn from it..again thank you for the advice...Doug..

But not this kit.

The best ship model to get back into fine scale modeling with PE is the Trumpeter USS England, the DE.

It comes with PE, it's not expensive, and 1/350 is a good scale.

Your Nimitz kit is not good, it's a bad one.

Spending more money on it is a bad idea.

Use it as a hulk for painting skills, or give it away.

GMorrison

 

 

modelcrazy

Kid,

Here is a link of the review.

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/cv/cvn-70/500-trump/trump-cvn-70.html

 

 

Ouch!

Indeed, not even "faint praise."

Don Stauffer

If you have not built a model in a long time, I would not start learning photo-etch work on a model as complex as a carrier.  I would start with a larger scale simple project, and practice and learn working with PE.  I know several modelers who have given up on PE and will not use it anymore.  I do not agree with that myself- I figure practice makes perfect.  But anyone disturbed by foul language should not be around me when I am working with the stuff.

 

 

Amen to that.....I sound like a 30 year Master Chief when I'm doing PE.  Fitting as the current project is a sub.

 Kid, I looked at the 1/500 Nimitz & decided to get the 1/600 Enterprise by Academy & it was a beautiful kit. One of the nicest I have built & I have built a lot. I also built 2 of the 3 Midway kits & have a third to do. They are 1.485 scale & a very nice size to work with. I don;t much like to work with PE anymore because I will be 89 next monthe & have been building since I was 10.

 My carriers were built mostly out of the box but the 2 WW2 carriers I had some leftover PE I used, even tho it was alittle large. Here is the Revell Hornetin 1/485 & it is just a fair kit but builds into a fairly nice model.

Here is the Academy 1/600 Enterprise out of the box. It is close to 24" long. A nice size.

The Academy kit is a beautiful kit & easy to build because everything fits. I would go ahead & build the Nimitz kit with just the railings & things you can get in 1/500. It will get you back in the building feel.  I have the 3 Midway kits in 1/700 & they are beautiful kits , but they are jut too small for my old fingers. I like bigger kits. I will sell the 3 kits & stay away from 1/700.   Gene

Gene,

Really nice work,,where do you get the deck vehicles/equipment in scale.....?

I am still selecting paints and have a few different glues to purchase..just a few misc hobby tools to get and I will be ready begin,,slowly I might add.....

I have purchased a variety of model kits over the yrs leading up to my retirement of which I was going to start building, I did retire but then something came up as always and I had to put it on hold for 8yrs...... One of the kits I am looking forward to building is the " Star Trek 1/350 Enterprise "..The model is over 36in long..and I bought a lighting kit for it, but I will not start it until sometime next year..guesstimating it will take up to a year to build....

But I would also like to build about a 22 to 28 inch U.S.S. Hornet.

Wow..." 89 " ..You go boy......Happy Birthday early....

I turned " 72  " this July...

Kid...

Hi.

One thing that you can do with generic photo-etch (like railing) is potentially take 4 bar or three bar railing from one scale and cut it down to 3 bar, or 2 bar railing for a smaller scale.  The actual rail posts may end up looking a little further apart than typical, but hopefully that won't be too noticeable.

For example, a 4-bar railing is probably meant to be about 42 scale inches tall, which works out to about 3mm @ 1/350 scale.  At 1/500 scale 3mm equals about 60 scale inches, but if you cut off the bottom of the railing up to the next bar that would put you at about 40 scale inches, which is pretty close to a reasonable height.

Looking at an image of a generic 4-bar railing on the internet it looks like the rail posts are about 8 scale feet apart (about 7mm).  If you were to cut down the height of this photo-etch and use it as 3 bar 1/500 scale railing this would equate to about 11.4 ft between posts.

Pat

Kid, everthing on the model came with the kit , planes, deck jeeps , & all . I use all Tamiya acrylic & mix my own. It doesn't peel when masked. I have used it for years with no trouble. I had a lot of trouble with MM. They do have nice colors tho.