Need a source for CVN-65 deck number decals

I finally got to the point where I could apply the flight deck decals which I purchased directly from Mark T at Starfighter Decals - starfighterace@yahoo.com.

All I can say is, Wow!   Everything fit. Everything went down without a problem. All of the colors looked good. None of the decals tore, even the large landing stripes and the thin warning and elevator stripes.

The placement diagram was very helpful, since I had sanded the deck smooth to remove the raised decal placement lines. All that's left to do is a coat of Future over them and then the dull coat. Needless to say, I am very pleased, especially since Mark agreed to custom-make the 1/720-scale white outline "65" flight deck numbers for the Enterprise as she appears today, which are much narrower. He tells me that he does custom work all the time, including the elusive white, and I highly recommend him. 

 

 

I received the decal sheets from Starfighter Decals yesterday and at first glance it looks good - every deck stripe and outline you could possibly want for the Enterprise is there. The only problem is the outline flight deck numbers, they STILL look too large, based on recent photos of the BigE ... but I'm tired of messing with it and am going to use these as they are smaller than the massive ones supplied with the Revell kit.

On a brighter note, rumor has it that Loren Perry at Gold Medal Models will be issuing a 1/720 set of his excellent supercarrier decal sheet, sometime this year. If only I could wait that long ...

 

Good thought, jtilley, but I don't have the dexterity to try using thin white decal material. I posted a query on the new www.carrierbuilders.net message board and received a lead to this guy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Decal-sheet-Revell-CVN-65-1-720-Deck-Markings-70s-era_W0QQitemZ6051330549QQcategoryZ2590QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I think I'm going to give him a try, as that would save the agony of masking and painting the flight deck landing stripes as well. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

My bad - I don't know how the Enterprise would look like these days, and your friend aboard could probably be more precise than the stuff you find on the web. But Tilley is right, she did carry solid numbers at some point of her career:

This is how she looked in the middle of the 90s:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/026546.jpg

...but now she seems to be carrying outlined numbers indeed:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/026563.jpg

As for the island numbers, this is how she looked like in 1994 (note the shaded numbers on the island)


This more recent pic shows her in the Atlantic Ocean, November 3rd, 2005, still with shaded numbers
http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/026570.jpg

I know, I know, msfob only needed replacement decals for the flight deck. I would suggest to look for custom decals if making them yourself is too much trouble - there are lots of companies who do that for a reasonable price...

Good luck anyways, and try to post some pictures when your model is finished!

Regarding my earlier suggestion to make up the outlined letters out of white decal stripes - by my count, to outline the 6 and the 5 would require about 45 individual sections of stripe.  I do occasionally have good ideas, but I'm inclined to think this wasn't one of them.

One other thought.  Some years back I did some careful looking at photos of the Nimitz and discovered that the style of the flight deck numerals had changed several times - apparently at fairly short intervals.  Some photos showed the numbers outlined; others showed them in solid white.  If the Enterprise had solid white numbers at any time that fits the configuration your model represents, you might be able to get away with using the white letters in the GMM set.  Maybe.  Also - have you ruled out the possibility that the numbers changed in size at some point, so the Revell decals might be right for one period and wrong for another?  I have no idea whether that might have been the case, but it seems conceivable.  My impression is that the flight decks of carriers get repainted fairly frequently, and I imagine the numbers get redone every time.

Imperator-Rex wrote:

Oh, I'm pretty much sure someone makes the decals you need. In fact, I just did a quick search and found out that L'Arsenal produces the white numbers you're interested in (1/700): http://www.larsenal.com/GB/catalogue/Arsenal/decalques.php <<SNIP>> Gold Medal Models also manufacture such decals (and yes, it's 1/700 scale): http://goldmm.com/ships/gmsdnavs.htm <<SNIP>> As well as Skywave... I'm sure other manufacturers produce those decals as well, if you have the necessary amount of patience you could probably find them as well. Hope this helps!!

Rex, your Majesty.

The decals which MFSOB is looking are 1:700 scale versions of these ...

... 1:350 scale decals made by GMM for use on his updated 1:720 scale Revell CVN-65 Enterprise.

http://www.steelnavy.com/GMMdecalsCVN.htm

The solid white number decals provided by L'Arsenal, PitRoad, Midship and others would be a appropriate for a WWII era ship.    The shaded numerals are appropriate for post-war ships, although CV/CVNs do not carry shaded numbers on their islands.

The white lines, and red & yellow lines on the 1:700 scale GMM decal image you linked may have some applicability on a carrier.   The T-lines, other deck marks and VERTREP boxes are more suitable for other surface ships than CV/CVNs.

Loren Perry of GMM put his set into production around the time that the Trump 1:350 Nimitz was released.  He has so far resisted the urgings from many on SteelNavy and other boards to redo the set in the smaller scale.   It may be a market issue for him.   With a release on the horizon of some new mold 1:700 scale Nimitz carriers by the PitRoad/Trump consortium he may change his mind.

???

Those Arsenal and GMM sheets contain lots of hull numbers, but none of the big, elongated ones for flight decks.  I think GMM does make a 1/700 sheet with World War II flight deck numbers on it, but I don't think they'd work either; none of them is in the form of a white outline.

I wonder how difficult it would be to make outlined white numbers from thin white decal stripes.  All the lines are straight (no curves); it would take quite a few individual pieces of decal, but it seems like it could be done in an hour or two.  Microscale and several of the railroad decal companies make white stripes in various widths.  You could mark the outline in pencil on the deck first. 

Another approach would be to use dry-transfer stripes (Letraset and Woodland Scenics make them; I'm sure other companies do too.)  You could either apply the stripes directly to the deck, or maybe apply them to a sheet of clear decal paper.  (It probably would be easier to draw the shapes of the numbers on decal paper.  For that matter, you might be able to draw the shapes on another sheet of paper and lay the decal paper on top of it; if the decal paper's thin enough you could see through it.)

Neither of those approaches really sounds attractive, but that's the best I can think of at the moment.

Oh, I'm pretty much sure someone makes the decals you need.

In fact, I just did a quick search and found out that L'Arsenal produces the white numbers you're interested in (1/700):
http://www.larsenal.com/GB/catalogue/Arsenal/decalques.php


Gold Medal Models also manufacture such decals (and yes, it's 1/700 scale): http://goldmm.com/ships/gmsdnavs.htm


As well as Skywave...

I'm sure other manufacturers produce those decals as well, if you have the necessary amount of patience you could probably find them as well.

Hope this helps!!

mfsob wrote:

Unfortunately, the excellent GMM decal set is for the 1/350 supercarriers And stenciling these numbers is out of the question for me - they are very thin outlines to begin with. If I was building this model for someone who didn't know the difference I'd use the kit decals, but since it is for a woman who is currently serving on the Big E, I'd like to try and get it as close as my abilities allow. Surely someone out there makes the modern carrier deck numbers in the correct size?

You may be forced to go the frisket route.   Order a download of the TLAI flight deck numerals and create your own frisket masks.

http://tlai.com/med_des/mdusncdn.html

Print a bunch of 65s to the desired size and load a sheet of frisket into the xerox (I do mine at work).  Use a couple of new #11 blades taped together with an appropriate sized thickeness spacer.   Cut out the outline, but don't cut all the way -- leave a few corners to hold everyting together.  Cut the whole number block out of the frisket and apply.   Go back & cut the corners you left -- then weed out the thin number outline.  Be sure to burnish everything down well and mask outside edges as required.  Then dust light airbrush sprays of white/light gray over the number block.   Use low pressure to not blow the paint under the mask edges.  Remove the frisket soon as the paint tacks

PitRoad does list a new product (release date is TBA) of a couple of 1:700 scale Nimitz carriers (Nimitz & Lincoln) which they have developed in team with Trumpeter.   Their release may spur Loren Perry of GMM to downscale his carrier decal set to 1:700.  That is something which has been requested for a long time but seems to have been resisted for perceived lack of a market. 

 

Unfortunately, the excellent GMM decal set is for the 1/350 supercarriers And stenciling these numbers is out of the question for me - they are very thin outlines to begin with. If I was building this model for someone who didn't know the difference I'd use the kit decals, but since it is for a woman who is currently serving on the Big E, I'd like to try and get it as close as my abilities allow. Surely someone out there makes the modern carrier deck numbers in the correct size?

I think Gold Medal Models offers some decal sheets with carrier flight deck numbers on them.  I know they cover the WWII period; I'm not sure about more modern ships.  An easy way to find out is through the Steel Navy website, www.steelnavy.com .  Click on the Gold Medal Models icon on the home page.

You could print the numbers of frisket paper, and use that as a mask to paint the numbers on the deck.  Or you could cut the numbers from white contact paper (or other vinyl like material), and apply them to the deck.