Aircraft Carrier Group Build (July 07 to July 2010)

very well done Scott.  I am not a nexpert by any means; my only feedback would be maybe to add some weathering/subtle washes to enhance details. But maybe is the pics, as i said, Im not an expert! :)

Hangar bay looks real neat; some nice detailing.

All right folks, here are the photos of my completed submarine aircraft carrier, the Japanese I-400.  I will fully admit that I have done a horible job keeping up with the Group Build forum as a whole, but between work and cycling season, there just do not seem to be enough hours in the day.  Anyway, take a look, and feel free to provide your feedback.  Thanks for your time and patience.

A couple of interior shots of the hangar bay, as it is invisible once the halves are joined.

hey gangs

i research and found what i was looking for and got the idea of what aircraft line up might look like.  so no worries   so im all done now but didnt take picture of it.   need to find my camera then will take picture of it and post it up.  boy hate to glue the aircraft to flight deck cuz it didnt really stick well.   any suggest for the future project   let me know thanks smiles

Nice job on the Big E Raider.

Im still working on my Regean.  I didnt have the time before but now i do.  still working on the jets and helios too.  and i need some feedback

as for the cranes and "tow car"  which color normally is on them?  the towcar is yellow or orange? and the cranes is yellow?  

second,  how do i set up the jets/heilos and cranes on the deck?  is there any good websites thats show many dfferent  line ups/set ups when they are taking off.  so i can place them correctly   thanks

let me know  thx, once im done with it i will post it up

Hey folks!

Just checking back in after the completion of our latest refueling outage and a little down time to regroup.  I just finished off a review kit, so with space available on my bench once again, I am actively working towards completing my I-400 kits in 1/700 and 1/350 scales.  I did quite a bit on the small scale boat last evening, and am hoping to have everything wrapped up in the next few weeks for both.  I will post some photos when I get an opportunity.

Manstein's revenge

Could, what did u use to achieve the realistic water effects?

Oh Manny Manny... the special water effects technique was not available in  the Eastern front, which explains why you never saw it.

if you REALLY are curious about large scale water effects, look here:

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=1582

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=42

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=1880

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=1538

http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=42

Could, what did u use to achieve the realistic water effects?

adding the airwing and other things this weekend.                                                         

late,but moving along.

thanks, more photos this Monday.

very nice job! 

thank you both. here a little something that's going on. both are 1/350 F-8E Crusaders resins. I have 8 all together and 12 AH-1 Skyraiders resins as well.  some photos.                                                                                 

Raider- hall – Your work is always topnotch; always follows your WIPs. Great pics from the E; look forward to the rest.

Scott -  At least it was a learning experience : )  Over at ModelShipWrights we have a WWII Flattops GB, and I will try and build the Dragon 1:700 Essex and not screw up as much lol

I have used sharpie in the past for details, windows, rigging… first time it “runs” with Future. My guess is that I did not wait long enough for it to “dry” before Future application. Great tip on the dry transfers… funny, my (not so local) LHS has basically transformed into a train/RC shop. Maybe I should give them a visit to look for the transfers.

Again, thanks for the patience and hosting the GB; FSM is in sore need of more ship GBs!

cheers

PS - Since this GB runs until July, I may post some WIP pics of the Essex once I start it, if that is ok.

Hi Scotty, she is the same size as the Tamiya BigE. I build her as a step by step process. sort of like they build real carriers now. gonna add whip att and other things today some p.e was added yesterday.              Happy Modeling.                                                                                                                                                                     

raider-hall,

Fantastic work once again!   My Father-in-Law served aboard Big E shortly after commissioning as part of the airwing. 

That water display is very impressive.  What kind of dimensions does it have, and can you let the group know how you constructed it?

JMart,

Don't beat yourself up too badly.  If nothing else, you finished the build! I would have suggested a dull coat of some type over the marker ink to seal it, but I am surprised that the Future would cause it to run as it did.  For deck lines in the past, I have used dry transfer stripes to good effect.  I have found them in the past in the Railroad section, and they are made in red, white, and yellow as needed on flight decks.  I will lay down either the white or yellow lines, and then I have either used a ruler and a red drafting pen (.5 mm) or a paintbrush (if the line markings are molded into the deck).  My Saratoga was the first time that I have used decals, and they turned out OK, on the Hornet I thought that they were a little offset even though I measured twice before laying each section.

In conclusion, the badge is yours, and thanks for taking part in the build!

been sick for awhile,but back on the job. I'll make the deadline this time. this is John Leyland's 1/720 BigE

 my hope is that my build will look like this.         This a photo of BigE when she was first born.              photos of the build as of now.

really nice work.. I am enbarrased to show mine, but here it is:

Been awhile… I did “finish” this one couple months ago. The build started as a nostalgia build of an old kit… but this kit is a PITA and ended up being a bed for trying out techniques. Here is the finished product; not sure if I earned the badge but here it is. For sure, this is a six footer (you need to look at it from VERY far away lol)

One of the techniques I tried was using a black sharpie to “paint” the waterline. It works, as long as you leave enough time for it to dry. I put a Future coat all over (to practice weathering in the future, no pun intended), and some of the sharpie ink bleed down.:

Yellow deck lines..some I masked and painted (enamel, brush), some I free-hand brush painted. Little difference, amount same amount of time, same mediocre result. I had no guide, so I had to guess how large/long the lines are..ended up way over-scale. Worth to invest in a good yellow marker instead of spending hours masking.

Tried to dry-brush the catapult lines, results speak for themselves:

One of the (many many) problems with this kit is the massive amount of raised details, especially on deck.

The decals, of course, disintegrated upon contact with water… I tried stencil and free hand (the two ID numbers):

At this scale, I rather paint the numbers or have good quality decals that really settle down.

The base “nameplate” decal also disintegrated. I did not even try the superstructure numbers:

So… I will call her DONE and leave it up to you if I earned the badge : )

Cheers

raider-hall,

Sounds good to me.  I enjoy seeing your new projects.

All,

I have finally started my Japanese I-400 submarine in ernest.  I will post some pictures as I get things assembled and painted.  The 1/350 scale planes are much easier to work with than the 1/700 scale I typically deal with for aircraft carriers.

Also, I went ahead and extended the due date.  I plan on this being the final extension.  If folks are interested at the end of this, I would be willing to consider starting another group build at that time.

sorry guys,had a lot going on lately . Scotty I will have photos of work I've done on BigE Monday.

silentmodeler,

Your Reagan is looking good!  Does your kit include decals for the airwing?  Just be patient if it does, as they can be a little frustrating being so small.

hey gangs

here is my compete USS Ronald Reagan but havent start on my planes/helios/cranes.  will post up when its compete.

here is the island

heres back of the ship

feel free with comment or feedback.

Silentmodeler,

Thanks for the comments.  I am not sure what part of the paint job your question is regarding.  Basically, what I did was to use a copier to enlarge the paint scheme in the instructions to images that were the size of the model.  I then used frisket film and Tamiya tape to lay out the patterns.  I applied the lightest gray first then went to the darker colors.  The island was painted by hand after the light gray was airbrushed, where the rest of the ship was airbrushed only, other than some touch-up in tight areas.

Your carrier deck is coming along just fine, and I am looking forward to seeing the finished product.

As far as the other folks are concerned, please feel free to update the group as you finish your projects.  We have run a little long on the original date anyway, so I am fine with you continuing to update.  As winter is arriving in my area, I will try to start getting back on line a bit more often.

okay here is it.  the flight deck is completed  its long and hard work to do.

heres other one  

i did the lines on the landing area my airbrush and rest of the lines was decals   too difficult for me to do.  at least its fine looking ship.   will post more up soon

heya

just let ya know i might finish the Regean soon and the Esienhower will be later.  Didnt realize how hard it can be when doing two ships at same time.  

so far the flight deck of Regean is almost complete.  I didnt notice i might made a mistake on the flight deck (will post it u soon)  since there was two different darkness of the same color (gunship gray)  since I was fixing the mistake i make when doing the lines (light gray) on landing area since i could see some light grays dots on the gunship gray which i forgot to add more tapes so i end up airbrush gunship gray again but you can see two different gunship gray  argh  at least im learning my mistakes. it looks good when looking at it but when close up u might see the difference.  still looking good so far.

Happy Thanksgiving

Nice Hornet u got scotty.  how did u do the paint job on the upper hull with island? 

i might not finish the two carrier on time but when its done ill post it up okay?  so far the regean carrier is almost done,  i had to do paint/airbrush the flight deck lines  (landing areas) since the decals was shorter but it looks great!  the yellow color might be too bright since i never knew the real color on the flight deck of todays carrier  overall its look good.  I have to fix some mistakes on the Eisenhowers flight deck since i can see spots of paint so have to fix that up.

like i said ill post it up when im done with it  maybe sometimes in dec or who knows before the end of nov.

raider-hall,

I will look forward to seeing your progress.  I believe that my father-in-law served on the Hancock at one point during his career, so I can not wait to see it.