MyAlbum

Treehugger
The extra set of photo etch is an ok fit, but doesn't perfectly fit the model. I try to compare a length of photo etch to the model, to try evaulate if a piece of photo etch has to be bent in a certain way, or if I should cut a longer PE into smaller pieces, and then if I should shorten the ends of the PE to make it fit better. So far I've been able to add the photo etch without the PE bulging out from the plastic, and instead I've managed to keep the PE flush with the hull. This way, it is much safer to go over with a sanding stick and try clean up some of the excess cyanoacrylate that I wasn't able to wipe off with my finger tip.

Tyson Tu
Not sure if this is what you're referring to in the pic re:"huge metal grill" but per Quora, the large array below the fantail opening is a stern dock that can be used while not underway
commons.m.wikimedia...83380ad5e98622a.jpeg

Zach Wilson
great work so far

Guy Rump
Following. 👍

gorby
Looking very good so far.

Treehugger
Thank you.
I like how I am much more comfortable using cyanoacrylate now using a glue loop. The trick is to avoid filling the whole glue loop, to avoid excessive glue. Better to just add a little on the metal edge of the glue loop and move it over to an edge/seam, leading to a much more cleaner result.

I bought a glassfiber pen to remove dried cyanoacrylate glue, but that doesn't work on plastic, the plastic becomes easily scratched. So I won't be using that fiberglass pen again I think.

I also bought some new glue loop'ish tools, but they don't seem to even work, so badly designed I think.

Alex
The "ladder" on picture 15 is actually part of the optical guiding system. If the pilot flies correctly, the "ladder" is aligned with the center line. If not, the line formed by the center line and that "ladder" has an angle.

alamy.com/stock-phot..rrier-173997309.html

Alex
Another nice shot of it: flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/190535778

Tyson Tu
Looking amazing so far! Are you planning any lights for the interior?

Treehugger
A big nope. Would be fun to try out LED lighting some time later. I have a few WIPs around so I should try finish them without overcomplicating things. My focus is trying to come up with a clean build.

Tyson Tu
You've definitely met that goal so far - looking forward to see what you do with the air wing 😃

Treehugger
So I am not sure how to best work with the few air assets included:
2 x Hawkeye
4 x Seaking helicopter
4 x Vigilante
2 x Sky Warrior
4 x Intruder
4 x Phantom II
6 x Corsair II

I guess the Phantom would go on the forward part of the deck.

Three of four elevators will be at the top, and then the forward most elevator will be lowered.
Three of the jet blast deflectors will be raised while the fourth and smallest one will be lowered.

I can saw the wings halfway through and bend them, making the wings look folded. There are some deck equipment also, but I am not that happy with the plastic recovery vehicle, which has a solid structure for the big beam, probably an idea to get that one in photo etch, would look a lot nicer.

I am surprised that the huge "68" decal at the top carrier deck at the front covering the catapult tracks, but at least one photo show this with the ship at dock somewhere. Other photos show a smaller "68" number at the top front side of the carrier deck, not covering the catapult tracks.

Alex
I bought a few additional planes from trumpeter, the choice included is a bit strange. Have a look on my progress page.

Roy McKay
Looks great, some work you're doing there.
a few useful points; If you are going with Phantoms the big 68 on the deck is correct. The smaller 68 came when the Tomcats were on second cruise (78/79 I think). I would try to get some more Phantoms, Corsairs and Intruders, also a couple of Prowlers.
Don't worry about the "ceiling" of the hangar deck, will be very hard to see anything when the model is finished unless you add lighting.
Watch the old movie "the final countdown", it stars Nimitz as she was in 1979/80, very similar to how she looked in 75/76.
If there is a plane launching off cat1, chances are the elevator 1 will be fully up.

following this with great interest.

Tyson Tu
I bought a number of additional types (F-18s and H-60s, mainly) to fill in the decks of my Stennis - if you go that way, you may also need to get a replacement decal set to get full air wings. Alternately, hide the aircraft with the generic markings (that come with the Trumpeter add ons) far below decks (which is what I did) 😉
Agree with you on the recovery vehicle - I only had the LHD-type crane in PE so I ended up drilling out the crane structure and adding cables and a hook (see photo 4 in my Stennis album). It helped a lot, but still not quite up to a PE replacement.
If you do get decals, don't forget the deck crew!

Treehugger
@Roy McKay, any idea what angle those jet blast deflector would be when fully raised?
It sort of looks like maybe 60 degrees, but the aftermarket photo etch makes the jet deflectors seem even steeper, so I think I must file the arms shorter to get a 60 deg angle.

Treehugger
Hrm. I got the color wrong for the ship hull. I thought I had that right. It can't be just Vallejo Air 71. 046 Pale Blue Gray, it is too dark. 🙁

I'll try mixing some lighter gray with the pale blue gray.

50% Vallejo Air 71.046 Pale Blue Gray
50% Vallejo Air 71.276 USAF Light Gray

Treehugger
Nope, A 50/50 mix doesn't look right either.

Edit:
A mix of 20% Pale Blue Gray and 80% USAF Light Gray seems more like it.
Or a 1:4 ratio. Uuh, one drop of the darker one and four drops of the lighter one.

Roy McKay
For years on my 1/720 Italeri carriers i went with good old humbrol 64 light grey. Over time I tried alternatives, Colourcoats USN haze grey (too brown tinted and a bit dark); various brands of neutral grey (the actual colour the real ships are supposedly painted) all were way too dark; light ghost grey- way too blue. I went back to Hu 64. It just looks right to my eye, compared to colour photos from the 70s, 80s and 90s at least.

Remember, they are supposed to be painted neutral grey, which as the name suggests is a 50/50 mix of black and white. This looks way too dark on a 1/700 model. Maybe it's the scale effect we hear of certainly looking at photos of the ships the Hull always looks a lighter grey than the aircraft, even those in light ghost grey.

CaptGPF
Stalking this thread - really love the careful work you put into it so far!

Treehugger
Thank you. It IS fun working with projects slowly, when everything one do, is at least something one can build upon.
I lost my mojo over a tiny thing re. the propeller shaft, trivial stuff, but it is a little tedious, yet trivial, I'll certainly do it a little later.

Adding the photo etch is rewarding. Not perfect, but still ok I think.

Project was initially very annoying, as the two large hull pieces did not glue together well, and cracked up after I had airbrushed on the primer and made everything smooth, that happened at least two times.

Might be the last time I try to fiddle with nameplates of this sort, just dumb design, poor molding and super inconvenient to make it look nice. All they had to do, was add a nameplate in photo etch, and with raised lettering. Then I can just sand the metal off and leave a shiny finish on all the letters. This doesn't work with plastic, too soft and prone to error when I tried, the molding too shallow and the plastic letters too soft being plastic.