Aircraft Carrier Group Build (July 07 to July 2010)

JMart,

I fully understand.  The power plant that I work at shut down last week for a refueling outage and I am working six thirteen hour nights each week.  I also unfortunately had to attend the funerals of two of my relatives last month.  Life happens sometimes, so I fully understand what you are talking about.

So how is life as a college professor?  When I finally went after my Bachelor's degree a few years ago, I started to think about changing professions to become a professor myself.  I recently took the position of Lead Electrical Instructor in our Training Department, so I am happy with where I am, I just need to find a better outage job.

Dougums - Look forward to your build!

More Power Scotty - Yes, I am still "awake" but barely... life/work, family medical issues and my own meager skills have pushed back my model-build schedule by months. Once the semester ends in May and students stop pestering me about getting their grades back on time (Im a college prof) I can then really start building again in earnest.

Cheers all!

Dougums,

Thanks for chiming in, and just let me know if you decide on a different ship.  I think that you will find carriers rather unique, especially when you add the air wing.  I look forward to hearing and seeing your progress.

Hello

I have not seen any activity amongst the group for a while so I thought that I had better see if anyone is still awake out there.  Don't be afraid to let me and the rest of the group know about your progress, with or without photos.  I look forward to hearing from YOU.

James,

It goes to reason that it would be a simple task to complete.  I tried all kinds of tricks on this before and finally gave up.  I guess that I should do what I talk about in my classes by asking for help when I do not know how to do something.  Thanks!

Do not fret about getting started immediately or about your skills.  The Saratoga is by far the best build I have completed of an aircraft carrier to date, and is the fourth carrier that I have built as an adult.  I do not think that I have the time to build my 1/700 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower by the proposed end date as it is the Trumpeter 1/700 release, and it has a lot of parts.  Ike was the first ship that I served aboard, and although I have built a model of it, I want to do a build at my present ability level.  I may add the Japanese submarine I-400 as a second kit for this build, but I have a few other projects that need my attention first. 

Please keep the group posted as you do progress on your ship as I do look forward to seeing what the rest of the group does. 

More Power Scotty - The "pic/info" on the left hand side is the avatar, let me check

yep, go to your account/profile, underneath the signature blurb is AVATAR, click the ENABLE radio button and choose a pic file. The location/posts info is also enabled via radio buttons.

My meager carrier is still sitting in the queue, will be awhile till I get to it not much to look at, very basic/rookie build but will post for sure!

Cheers, James

Anyone,

This may be a silly question, but how do you add a photo/image to the left side of these pages where our names, locations, and number of posts are?  I have tried a couple of times in the past to add a photo with no success.  I figured out how to add the items on the signature line early on, but the side stuff is eluding me for some reason.  Any help will be appreciated.

All,

It has been a busy week for me once again, so I have not touched the Saratoga in almost two weeks now.  I have quite a bit going on this weekend as well, but if time permits, I will see what I can do about adding the figures.  Please keep the group and myself posted on your progress as I look forward to seeing more carriers here.

More Power Scotty - Again, very nice job on the ship & planes! Shame, I remember reading many MANY years ago about *someone* saving the planks of many ww2 carriers... cannot recollect any details :(

silentmodeler - I recently dloaded and tried GIMP 2. Its open source code (free), very functional, somewhat of a learning curve. I used it to "merge" the GB badge and the pic of my P51D you see in my sig. You can also create animations (GIF) files, if you want to "cycle" your GB badges.

silentmodeler,

Your comments are always appreciated!  The thirty-three planes all came with the kit.  I probably would not have made this purchase without them as the thought of building a pre-WWII carrier with planes of the 1930's was too much to pass up.  I also like the appearance of the yellow-wing planes, and I do have at least four or five other planes that I will eventually build that way.  As I mentioned in some earlier posts, the items that I added were photoetch stairs and rails, and the steel mesh used for the safety nets on the deck edges.  Aside from that, I thought that the kit was more than adequate.

As far as your question about the signature line gif program for badges is concerned, I was fortunate enough to get help creating mine from an individual in another group build.  I wish that I could be of further assistance on this one, but unfortunately can not.

ps1scw,

Thanks for the compliment!  As I already double-dipped on the nine F3F's by getting credit in the Grumman group build (my main entry will be an F9F-5 Panther), I would feel a little greedy asking for more credit.  Besides, I built a pre-war SB2U-1 Vindicator for credit in the Yellow Wing group a few months ago.  I think that I brought up this project, and the leader of that build was not big on the idea of the small scale planes.  No hard feelings though as they were meant for this project in the first place.

hey gangs

Im looking for a software that can create a gif or anime on the signture of gb badges.  the one i have now was create from someone in the gb.  Im wondering if theres a software that is cheaper than photoshop? let me know  thanks!

More Power Scotty wrote:

A portion of the airwing (the pencil is there to give you an idea of the size of these planes)...

These would be great for the "yellow wing"  GB.  They look great.

Jmart,

The pulling from beneath worked for the forward most four or five wires, the ones further aft were blocked as there is a small section of deck in between the flight deck and hull on this kit.  If only I had thought of adding this detail sooner in my build.  Actually, I just tacked down the planes with a drop of CA on each wheel and the tail.  With them installed, the slack is much less noticeable.  When I was "rigging" the island, I drilled small holes on the deck below to try this same approach.  I worked to a point, but I could have left the lines a bit longer intially, which ended up making this more of a challenge.

As far as a piece of the real deck is concerned, the USS Saratoga CV-3 is presently at the bottom of the Bikini atoll where she was sank in the atomic bomb test there in 1946.  I have a local woodworking shop that carries many exotic types of lumber (and much of it is in convenient small boards for people like me), unfortunately, they do not have any Douglas Fir.  One of the workers told me that it would be similar to Cypress (which they do stock), but a little more yellow.  As I am going to cover it with a Mahogany stain anyway (just like the real flightdeck, and just what I did to my kit's flightdeck), I could go that route in a pinch. 

I did finish the "sea" display last weekend, and it was easier than I had anticipated.  I still need to place the crew on the ship, and I may start on that this weekend.  I want to have everything completely finished before I set up for another photo session, but I will get the pictures posted here as soon as I do.

could you "pull" the arresting wires from below deck (assuming you have some slack beyond the attachment point, and assuming the deck is not yet attached to the hull....)?

maybe you can use the point of a drill bit to "wrap" the end of the wires, giving it a "turn", tightening the slack?

Sorry if the ideas are silly just trying to contribute something  :)

And I love the idea of using a "deck" of the flying deck... imagine if you could get a slab of the real thing! :)

scorpr2, JMart, and chester,

Thanks for your comments.  I have taken this week off to start work on a couple of other projects, but I may finish Sara this weekend.  I am thinking of tacking down the arresting wires in the middle of each run with a drop of CA.  The wires do not look as sloppy in real life as they do in the photo, but I think that I can improve them.  I will have to see if I can finish off the display base as well, but I have not glued the bottom of the ship in place so that I can swap over to the full hull at some time if I wish.  At some point in time, I would like to make a wooden base out of Douglas Fir as that was what the flight deck was made of.  Until that day comes, I think that the sea base will be a nice addition to my carrier collection.

AJB93,

Thanks for the comment!

Concerning the new entries, are they all 1/700 scale (as I am assuming), and are they in addition to, or instead of your original 1/700 Essex-class ship?  Let me know, and I will update post #1.

Excellent Saratoga, well done!

I have three new entries: USS Hancock 1944, USS America 1968 and USS John F Kennedy TBD. Kits are Dragon, Italeri and Converted Italeri.

speaking of the BIG E, this mouthwatering History Chanel special series was announced, check out the intro promo:

http://www.history.com/minisites/battle_360

All right folks, enough talk, here are some photos of my progress.  Please feel free to provide any comments you care to make.  I still need to do some work on the ocean display base and I have not added all of the final details on the ship (no flag, and I need to touch up some small spots).  The planes are done done as I painted the propeller tips with blue and red stripes (I left out the yellow as it was hard enough to get blue and red lines thin enough and at 700 feet, yellow does not really stand out as a 3/700 inch stripe (the real stripes on the real plane propellers were each 3 inches wide).

View of the starboard side...

View of the port side showing the flight deck...

Another port side shot...

The aft end of the flight deck (note the arresting wires that I added)...

A portion of the airwing (the pencil is there to give you an idea of the size of these planes)...

Size/cost is an issue. A reservist in my unit is also a NY Firefighter, we were talking about the Intrepid (NYC) refit. Problem is, once you "dock" a ship and convert it into a museum (stricken from the list), it becomes a "building" in terms of fire codes, etc. (so yes, still have not set foot in a carrier, technically ;)  You have to then make the "building" accesible, fire exits, all sorts of "stuff". With a small sub (like the pampanito in SD or nautilus in Groton), you can simple open part of the sub to the public in a way you cant get "lost" in the "building". Whole different story with the Intrepid, with its large spaces and area. Not to mention heating the beast in the winter time. Anyways, my rambling was just to highlight some of the unique challanges with the "big"ships in turning them into "buildings" (museums).

My own particular pseudo-political mini rant is simply to state that of ALL the pork that senators/reps include into their budgets, why cant some of them include the funds to maintain our ships and make them accesible to the public?? Oh I know, no one cant give you a kickback that way ;) 

on a final note, IF the big E (or kitty hawk or any of the carriers being decom next few years) becomes a museum... could the "owners/curators" populate the deck with aircraft, a-la Intrepid? I hope some Tomcats and Prowlers are left around for that purpose...

it would be very nice to put the Big E in museum,  of course depend on the space  and size since im pretty sure its bigger than the Mighty Mo in pearl harbor, but  is it possbile to put the big E on shore of ford island since im sure it has space for the Big E or its depend on the military or goverment people to deicded where to put her?

Finally just finished my Pearl Harbor gb which is over two month due oopies  blame on my work schudule lol  but need to finish up other gbs  but i can get start on the carrier soon.

JMart and AJB93,

Great comments on the possibility of making a museum out of the Enterprise, as well as the status of some of the conventional super-carriers.  I have not kept up with what has been happening to them since their retirements.  I actually got to work on the Kitty Hawk, America, and Kennedy in 1991 after I finished my time in the Navy and worked for a government contractor.  It was interesting to see some similarities between them and the Eisenhower and Lincoln that I served aboard.

As they made the submarine USS Nautilus a museum, I think that they have the technology to get rid of what needs to go in order to make the ship "safe" for visitors.  Of course with that Yucca mountain fiasco still dragging on, it may be difficult to store the high level rad waste that would be present.  I guess time will tell, but I would certainly like to see her preserved somewhere.

All,

No photos yet (go figure), but lots of progress this past weekend and yesterday.  The ship itself is nearly complete as I added arresting wires, finished installing all of the small boats, and placed the funnel in its final position.  The flagpole up front, with a flag of course, should just about finish her off.  Well, maybe I will add some figures too.  I want to add some sea blue paint to the underside of the water display base that came with the ship, in order to show it at sea, and that will also mean touching the wave crests with white.  

Keep on modeling and keep the group posted on your progress. 

More Power Scotty wrote:

As the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, I would hope to see it made into a floating museum somewhere.  The issue is that carriers are rather large and one must really think ahead on where to display such an item.  The Enterprise is indeed an impressive engineering feat.  Part of the downside to the ship, aside from its age, is the complexity of using multiple reactors to run the main engines and generators.  With the Nimitz class, there are only two reactors, which simplifies refuelings quite a bit.  Of course as a former carrier sailor, I am rather partial to the Nimitz-class ships.

The odds of Enterprise being preserved rest heavily on what happens to Kitty Hawk. Some people want Kitty Hawk preserved in Wilmington next to North Carolina. India is also interested in her (according to Wikipedia that is). If she is preserved, then she will likely be the third supercarrier on the East coast. Saratoga has all the funds available and is in the middle of conducting an enviromental study-the last step before compiling and submitting an application for donation. She will likely be donated by the beginning of next year. John F Kennedy has a very strong effort to save her underway in Florida. For political reasons, she will likely get alot of government loans and support and be saved there. So it is really a toss up between Kitty and Big E. As much as I am attached to Kitty Hawk, I think Enterprise is the better candidate as she is more historically significant. Of course, there are many hurdles to overcome and the worst thing that could happen is that two orginizations try to save both of them and both are lost.

Anyways, my Essex is still awaiting 20mm guns and her airwing. I will try to get her finished this weekend. I am also going to be building an America or JFK in 1/720 so maybe I'll enter that too.

Durr - I am still pinching myself and getting my voice back, miracles DO happen! I am driving my family nuts, everytime I scream EEEE--liii  someone has to answer MANNING :)  Cheers!

silentmodeler - Not sure what will happen with the E, but again, I am several months behind on my Navy News and Proceedings, so...   will post if I know anything. I remember reading a long time ago, that it would be harder to re"fit" a nuke carrier for museum purposes (as the Intrepid here in NYC), due to size and security factors. I do hope it ends up somewhere, such as san Diego.

More Power Scotty - Good news on your progress! So many new nice carrier kits out there.. I need to have patience and re-learn my skills with the simple monogram Nimitz. A review of the recently released Dragon Premium edition HMS Invincible:

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2969

Hope to get something done on my simple build soon, once I finish few things... and post some pics if I can pry the cam away from my kid! :) Cheers, James

JMart,

Thanks for those links!

Silentmodeler,

As the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, I would hope to see it made into a floating museum somewhere.  The issue is that carriers are rather large and one must really think ahead on where to display such an item.  The Enterprise is indeed an impressive engineering feat.  Part of the downside to the ship, aside from its age, is the complexity of using multiple reactors to run the main engines and generators.  With the Nimitz class, there are only two reactors, which simplifies refuelings quite a bit.  Of course as a former carrier sailor, I am rather partial to the Nimitz-class ships.

All,

I FINALLY finished the thirty-three planes of my air wing this weekend!  There are probably a couple of items on one or two of the planes that I could tweak, like the broken propeller blade on one plane, but that plane may just wind up in the maintenance area, where the flaw would be less visible.  I will eventually get around to taking some photos now that I have made some good progress.  I have also finished the small boats, and have installed about half of them.

I managed to get out this past Saturday (there was a break from the snow) to pick up a copy of Great Scale Modeling 2008.  There is a nice two-page spread of a 1/350 USS Lexington that is nicely built.  I made a couple of changes on my ship based upon how that kit was built, but I am still looking for detail photos of a few items that I have not found in my reference photos (such as hand rails on the decks where the small boats were stored).  I could be getting close to finishing this before my refueling outage next month, as long as I avoid a bad case of AMS (Advanced Modeler Syndrome).

It continues to be good to see more folks checking in, so please do not hesitate to do so yourself!