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1:350 USS Carl Vinson Project


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UPDATE: Was informed that the radar tower behind the island is in the wrong position. After some quick research, I have confirmed that Trumpeter has the radar tower in the wrong spot. The tower should be located at the very edge of the flight deck. This is for all Nimitz class carriers. The Nimitz 1975 cruise book clearly shows the tower at the edge.

I have relocated the tower.

BEFORE:

 

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AFTER:

 

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There is light at the end of the flight deck! The ship is basically done. The only two things left to do is to add the screw (props) once it is mounted on the display base and put the flag on it. I did not like how the flat decal flag looked. I do have some ideas on how to make the flag look more realistic. If you have any tips or tricks on making 1/350 scale flags look realistic, please let me know.

For now I will be working on the rest of the aircraft for the flight  deck, the deck tractors, and the Tilly crane. I purchased the Tilly from BaconFist at Shapeways and am working on detailing it now. The last two pictures are the boxes of aircraft left to build and the Tilly crane without detailing.

I am not the best photographer and due to the lighting it is difficult getting a good picture with the compact digital camera. I do plan on having professional pictures taken once it is complete.

 

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Special Update! Since the ship is done I now need to work on the filling the flight deck. With all the detail I added to the ship, it only makes sense to continue with details.

I ordered the Tilly crane from BaconFist on Shapeways (3D printed accessoriesfor Nimitz Class carriers)

This is how it arrived:

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And here it is after 9.5 hours of detailing.

 

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Now to start work on to the deck tractors.....

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Working on filling the flight deck continues. Here are the deck tractors for the flight deck. These are the Black Dog deck tractor set. The only assembly was the wheels. The decals are from Star Fighter. Next up is to start working on the many aircraft for the flight deck.

 

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Work is progressing on filling the flight deck. The EA-6B's and the SH-3's are done. So there are only 48 more aircraft to do. I also received the brass plaque which will be mounted on the base of the display case. The final position of the aircraft will be done after all of them are built. Here are the latest pictures:

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Isn't it amazing how far along  1/350 aircraft have come along since the old school Tamiya jets? I refer to the Sea King with an open door - something you never saw in early kits in this scale

I have been meaning to buy some of those Black Dog  tow tractors for my Big E but just never have yet. One day

I must have missed it, but how on earth did you light up the landing guide on the left hand side? I know they are tiny so am interested to know for my own build

The landing strip lighting looks particularly awesome

It's a great build all round!!

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9 hours ago, The Madhatter said:

Isn't it amazing how far along  1/350 aircraft have come along since the old school Tamiya jets? I refer to the Sea King with an open door - something you never saw in early kits in this scale

I have been meaning to buy some of those Black Dog  tow tractors for my Big E but just never have yet. One day

I must have missed it, but how on earth did you light up the landing guide on the left hand side? I know they are tiny so am interested to know for my own build

The landing strip lighting looks particularly awesome

It's a great build all round!!

I had to cut the door open on the Sea King.

The Fresnel landing lights were built from scratch. It took me 5 tries before I was able to get everything to fit in such a small piece.

I used a piece of styrene and cut the shape added a second layer around the middle and installed a yellow pico size LED from https://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html

Then I used .5mm fiber optic lines and hooked the 4 red lines to a red LED and the rest to a blue LED inside the hull.

 

 

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Here is the picture I used for reference.

 

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2 hours ago, Hajo L. said:

Very nice! The antennas are up - so no flight operations currently?

 

 

HAJO

I am building it as the it was on March 1, 1983 as it was pulling out of Norfolk Virginia to start the world cruise. So no flight Ops. The aircraft will be parked in display formation on the flight deck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Little late on latest update. Between Christmas and a minor health issue I am hoping to get back to the rest of the aircraft. Here are the E-2C's from VAW-114 on the flight deck. I will be starting on the A-6E's next after I set up my new work bench that my awesome loving Wife got me for Christmas. (Picks will be posted later) Noe on to the pictures:

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As promised, Here are pictures of the new work bench.

I had a small wooden drafting/hobby desk. Worked great for about 10 years. For Christmas my Wife bought me a new one. It's 35% larger surface area and steel supports so it is very stable. Used it the first time last night working on 1/350 A-6E's for my Vinson project.

 

Here is what I used for 10+ years:

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Here are pictures of my new one. I like the tray in front. Very handy.

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Here is one of the new large Xacto self-healing mats:

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And here is it in use:

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Now plenty of room to build:

 

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The A-6E's are completed and now on the flight deck. Starting the A-7E's. Just have 16 of the A-7E's and 16 of the F-14's left to do. I was hoping to finish by today but doing 1/350 scale aircraft is a longer process than I estimated. Just hit 712 hours into this project and estimate about 40 more hours to go to complete. Here are the pictures of the A-6E's on deck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

I have completed the F-14’s and mounted the aircraft to the flight deck. The model is complete.

I am waiting for the display case to arrive. I will then attach the screws (propellers for the non-nautical folks) when I attach the model to the display case base and run the wiring.  This project has been a challenge but a fun build.

I would like to thank all those that followed this build over the past 9 months and all the comments, and critiques you have provided. Build time for this has been 777 hours. Started it on April 23, 2017 and finished January 21, 2018.

The display case is on its way and should be here this week.  I will post final pictures next weekend.

I hope you all have enjoyed this build.

 

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Here are the final pictures. I want to make a special note to Ron at http://www.grandpascabinets.com/model-display-kits/

His display case is awesome. The fit and finish are first class.

If you ever need a display case I highly recommend him.

Thanks again for following me through this project. I hope it has inspired others to not be afraid to take on a large project.

 

 

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