Tamiya Big-E - USS Enterprise 1/350

Good morning. A lot of work at my job. I think I won't work on Big E next two weeks.

Hi guys. Still not new yet.

Well friends, continuing to the bottom of the hull, I noticed they were missing the holes to fit the two side rudders. Too late. The solution I found was to cut the pins of the rudders. I do not advise because it greatly decreases the mechanical strength of the piece.

I took the time to adjust the rear of the flight deck. In the kit it comes round, but in the photos, you realize that it is straight, with two levels, a well-inclined at the extreme rear and another bigger.

Where are the holes for the side rudders??

Oops, had to be done before gluing the deck!

Well, the solution was to cut the pins of the rudders

Done

Lots and lots of tape and super glue

But the important thing is the result

The extreme rear of the deck: the kit is rounded, but should be straight

In this case it is better to scrape than to sand

All straight, two levels

The monster of housecleaning, ate another piece 

I know this is too late to help you but this could help you if you do this kit again and may help someone in the same predicament.

There was actually a solution to that rudder dilema without having to resort to cutting pins. Take the ship I am assuming the lower hull wasn't painted right? And go to a darkened room after getting a flashlight or a penlight first. Take the penlight and separate a portion of the flight deck (Stern end is best) from the hull and turn on the flashlight. Take the lighted flashlight and place the lighted end in the space made when you separated the flightdeck and hull and turn off the room light. Now dark the flashlight will light the interior the thick areas of the hull will show some light but not a whole lot but the thinner sections where areas will need to be opened up will show as bright spots on the hull. The bright spots on the hull will need to be marked so that once the flashlight is off and removed and the flight deck reglued into place you will know exactly where to use your pin vise to drill a pilot hole for use of a exacto knife to bore out the hole later on. to mark the spot use a regular small tip sharpie marker or whatever comparable permanent ink marker is available where you live and place your mark dead center of the light spot that way when you drill out the pilot hole dead center you can go back after painting and open it up and install the rudders later. Now if you painted the rudders prior to installing them all that would need to be done is touch up painting. BTW doing it this way would actually ensure you don't accidentally break the rudders off during painting or handling prior to display.

A.M.Jorge,

I like your reshaping the after end of the flight deck.  However, shouldn't the rudders be vertical instead of angled?

Bill

warshipguy

A.M.Jorge,

I like your reshaping the after end of the flight deck.  However, shouldn't the rudders be vertical instead of angled?

Bill

I do believe they are supposed to be where they are because the propellers provide all the necessary "airflow" over the rudders thus allowing the ship to turn faster.

The Rudders actually use the propeller cavitation to turn the ship by directing it.

I'll be d****d! I just came across some drydock pictures of the Enterprise showing the rudder configuration.  The photos clearly show that the after rudders are vertical while the forward ones are indeed angled outboard.  It goes to show that one is never too old to learn something new!

Bill

We're almost at the point of painting. But before I decided to paste a few EPs that are the same color as the hull and that due to the location and form, shall be protected against any accident. As I was riding, came a doubt. The stairs descending from the flight deck give in "nowhere." I imagine that there should be at least a small platform with proper protection for anyone falling into the sea.



First we need nine small stairs.




Before folding.



It took nine "standard" doors. "Quick Action" doors will be used on the bridge.



Look there the first ladder and door PE. Look that the sailor that goes straight down the ladder into the sea. Need a platform protection.



Two more ladders and two doors.

One more.

Yeah, the outer set of rudders are angled ... something I picked up on late and had to go back in fix in my Big E build as well. She is definitely one of a kind.

Looking very nice! Can't wait to see more!

warshipguy

A.M.Jorge,

I like your reshaping the after end of the flight deck.  However, shouldn't the rudders be vertical instead of angled?

Bill

Hi, my rudder and screws reference (not the best picture but very useful):

Dear friends,

Right now I am adding as much detail which will be the color of the hull and at the same time, be relatively protected from handling. In the previous post I had pasted the ladders and doors in PE. Later we found out he was a little weird, lacked a platform at the base of the stairs.

So, I created nine small platforms. My idea was already surround them with the fence standing, but I remembered it will not be enought to all the platforms. So I did just the platform itself.

Also, I mounted "accomodation stairs". It was pretty cool, but gave looooooooooooooooooooooot of work. A stepladder to bend, sprue to stretch, fold it and paste it was took me about forty minutes. The pieces are very small, light and almost without resistance and the "physical" must be a little different from regular pieces.

There is a missing a platform here.
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I made nine mini platforms.
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Now yes, the stairs ends at platforms that provide access to hatches.

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I remade the part of the cleaning monster ate.
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I decided to make the first of "accomodation ladder". Besides the part in PE, you have to stretch the sprue to simulate the cables.

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The "spiritual" moment of the assembly: heat the sprue with a candle to stretch it.
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Unlit candle and stretched sprue. 
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The first part with the stretched sprue.
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All the parts, stairs and "cables". The surface of contact between these parts are so small that "the physics of the glue" seems to work in a different way.

Dear friends, good morning.

I finished gluing the accommodation stairs. It's easier to glue the part in PE and then paste the parts of stretched sprue. If you try to assembly the set then paste in the hull, it will be almost impossible, because the contact between the parties is very small.

I took one of these stairs that came over and I will use as a ladder to access the rear docking platform that opens on the far back of the ship.

Accomodation stairs.

 Today I made three pieces missing, one aft.
  

One has already folded.
 

 Already in place, missing pieces of stretched sprue.

 Details of the doors up and stairs down.
 

After the paint I will fix this one as a back stairs, as the the Cruise Book photo.

Cruise Book pics of docking platform and stairs.

your fine details are starting to bring it alive now

Let's move on.

 I'll begin to paint the hull. Because of the details, I will do the opposite of what I'm used to, usually using lighter colors first and then the darker ones. This time, I paint from the bottom until you reach the top. The reason is that with these PE stairs I'm out of space to use the tape on the gray.

 Material.
 

 This could even be a Ferrari ...
 

 A hull later ...

I've got the kit, too, and thuogh it is currently packed away, when I get the opportunity (?) it will have to go into 'dry dock'  for an extensive overhaul/SLEP and repairs! 

Dear friends, good morning.

Continuing to paint, I did the waterline. I am using bright colors, but then matte varnish will be applied. I used tape to mark the line. Then just cover the red color with magazines. Save a tape and avoids contact adhesive.

The first step, and also the most time consuming, is to mark the line with tape.

Then cover everything with magazine pages. In this case, the newspaper leaves dirt stains black ink. Always use magazines pages.

I also did the pre shading of some areas.

The black line, with only tape on the bottom. The top will be set by the next step of painting.

Details of the pre shading.

Already without the tape.

Looking very nice, glad to see some paint on it. One step closer!

I concur, the paint looks great, and the detail work is outstanding (damn photo etch driving us to a new level of advanced modelers syndrome).  I have a 1/350 Hornet waiting for me, kudos for tackling such an advanced peice of plastic.  Look forward to more

Just so you know; There are no "stairs" on a ship. They are ladders.

subfixer

Just so you know; There are no "stairs" on a ship. They are ladders.

Also there are no doors walls and floors on a ship either just bulkheads hatches and decking.

Hatches are supposed to be (on real ships) 6" to 8" from the deck as a measure to prevent flooding and are what are called knee knockers. You can replicate it on a model just by making sure there is a gap between the deck and the hatch.

No ceilings, either...Just the overhead...

All the best

Ray

Ray Marotta

No ceilings, either...Just the overhead...

All the best

Ray

Except if your topside. then you might be sluffing off your duties then or your an officer.

There are doors on ships. Doors provide access through bulkheads. Hatches provide access through decks.

The next step would be to paint the light gray parts in the hull. However, as we have the grilles of the elevators and they are pierced, I thought it is better to paint the flight deck first so that the ink does not pass through the holes and mess the hull.

The first step is to define the top of the waterline with the tape, protecting all the painting below this point. Then, there was no secret, ,mix the paint and paint the flight deck.

I had a question regarding the color: I found the grey is very bluish, it should be more "black."


First, we must protect the work already done.

You see the water line is well defined by the tape.

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The color of the flight deck.

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As I found the color bluish and a bit clear, I did a test with the other gray.

On the right the last color, slightly lighter. It is best to use the XF-63, slightly darker.

Now back to the color originally planned. I'm still thinking it is very blue and could be darker.

Detail of a six segments jet deflector of a catapult.

Final result.
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" style="background-color:#fff;">Guys, sorry about my english. It's not so good and sometimes I use Google translator.

A.M.Jorge,

I LOVE the appearance of the deck!  It is seemless and the elevators give it a unique look.  I am following your work very closely!

Bill Morrison

Masking ...

WOW! Looks like it'll turn out great!

Looks like you might have a little notch on the '5', though.

Hi. I'm sorry about delay.

White is usually a color that requires some care not to to stay with colors of the base on which is painted. At the most, just use the airbrush. I made a mistake that will cost me more time: I forgot to cover the deck area which was splattered with white. It's almost imperceptible, but it gets ugly.


Material.

The airstrip.

"65."

The spray of white on the deck gray. I'll have to retouch.

Next week, we will complete one year of posting CVN-65. Happy birthday !