Jump to content

1:350 USS Carl Vinson Project


Wolfman63

Recommended Posts

I am starting a 1/350 scale of the USS Carl Vinson as it was during the 1983 World Cruise. I will be detailing the hanger bay, all 86 aircraft, modifying the island and hull to match the timeline and ship. It will also include illuminating many areas like flight deck, Island, hanger, and catwalks. It will be using 14 LED's and over 400 feet of fiber optics. Goal is to have it completed by December. The first challenge is to add the "as-built" sponsons. She only had the original sponsons for a short time. While there is limited photos (online and personal) for these I have been able to replicate them. I have the port forward and starboard aft sponsons mounted and am working on the port aft double-decker sponson.

18010445_10208964528537904_3884915042040

 

Here are the aft sponsons roughed in

 

18194197_10209022816515067_1220604903512

 

Front port sponson

 

18194571_10209014247980859_5898676566173

 

Front starboard sponson

 

18157422_10209022816395064_4069717132923

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hangar Bay Details.

Port walls

19437304_10209479388329077_7768764344667

 

Doorway details

 

19420865_10209479388129072_1333211547173

 

Forward tunnel and GSE area lighted

 

19598697_10209533955813230_3361306472015

 

Aft hangar bay walls

 

19554060_10209533955693227_4179340854101

 

Port hangar walls

 

19437373_10209533955653226_7207405726289

 

Looking aft from hangar bay 1

 

19554121_10209533955613225_9763126794330

 

View from hangar bay 2 doorway

 

19601196_10209533956453246_6071064715214

 

Hangar deck completed (weathered and painted deck)

 

19510300_10209533957053261_8165262677726

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! I've always seen these super detailed large carriers at shows. It feels great to finally watch one of them actually in progress. This is all magnificently masterful work! I'm watching this very closely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW! AMS clobbers another modeler. So sad to see what can happen to an otherwise sane modeler. The only prescription for recovery is to work your way through the entire episode until you feel the AMS fading away. Then you will be done with the model!

 

Ed, fellow victim of AMS

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CVN-70 Project - After 5 attempts I finally figured out how to do the landing light "meatball"

It's difficult to get a good picture due to the brightness but it does look cool.

19642573_10209568497596753_1375401843839

 

19702101_10209568499236794_7714142751325

19875223_10209568499196793_3671837782215

d

Edited by Wolfman63
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great looking boat. You've got me thinking about getting back to my project that's been on hiatus.

 

Love the lighting and all of the hangar deck details. Keep up the great work.

 

 

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CVN-70 Project - After I cut off all the catwalks (have PE version) I put flight deck together and made sure it fit the hull. I then started the long process of drilling and routing the fiber optic deck lights. I have the rear approach line done and am working on the foul line. The approach line will use a white LED and the foul line will use a blue LED. I drilled the holes at an angle so the optic lines will lay flat. I also mount them sticking up. Once the deck is painted and detailed I will trim the optic lines flush. They will be nearly invisible until the lights are on. Once all the lines are installed I will make them look like overhead pipes then prime and paint. The hangar bay LED's will be mounted after painting. I will need to do the island before I install deck to hull so I can run the wires for the island lights.


19665393_10209621109392015_6208648762088
19905008_10209621108872002_7418933699725
19875638_10209621107391965_2307731819619
19884012_10209621107471967_4155169048026
19875585_10209621109152009_7729482612468
19961606_10209621108671997_6114049734367
19884248_10209621107311963_6047631226178
Link to comment
Share on other sites

CVN-70 Project - I finished the runway optic lines and halfway done with the foul line. Have about 28 more lines to run. I have quite the bundle. It's going to be a while to get them lines up and laying flat.
Here is a preview of the lights (just used a table lamp to see how the pattern looks)

 

19961158_10209665817469689_3609618180289

 

19961276_10209665817349686_3202853413416

Edited by Wolfman63
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Madman!

 

Is there going to be enough room to hide those bundles under the deck and through the hangar deck? Or is there clearance along the sides between the hull and walls.

 

Just wondering how you are handling that situation.

 

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 2mm of clearance and if I lay them all flat, the thickest fiber is .75mm. The plan is to lay them flat like overhead pipes and cables. I also have 7 LED'S per bay to install. It's going to be tight but I believe I can fit them without too many problems.

Edited by Wolfman63
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

CVN-70 Project - All the fiber optic lines have been laid out. Starting to glue them down so I can route them. It's slow going. Have to do it in sections.

20245893_10209745536662619_2261790970568

20229354_10209745536982627_8895900934012

 

20228752_10209745536742621_7373418439822

 

20140085_10209745536782622_5678429181124

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So the runway and foul line optics have been laid and glued. Looks like I can light them with just 5 LED's. Runway in white and foul line in blue. Tonight I will run the bow lights then I need to route all the fiber optic lines so they are flat and aligned evenly. Hoping to have pictures of the deck lit up with LED's by weekend.

 

20374642_10209789738727643_3950566919916

 

20294290_10209789738847646_1105230567526

 

20258424_10209789738927648_5025493377643

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

CVN-70 Project - All the fiber optic lines have been run and the LED's have been installed as the source. The pictures are the result. Note that I have not trimmed the fibers down yet since I need to paint and weather the deck before I can trim them flush. They do look very bright in the photo's due to the way the camera sees the light. Once trimmed the brightness will not be as bright.

20294469_10209802410964441_3370809099743

20375934_10209802411084444_6637424232385

 

Coming in for a landing view:

 

20292827_10209802411204447_7447416234894

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Been a busy two weeks with taking care of other things so model time has been limited. I was able to get the hangar bay GSE tractors, Captains boat, and liberty launch together. Just need to do a little bit more detailing and decals. Next week I will be starting on the island.

20882996_10209951993223904_7144196802916

20882608_10209951993383908_4799882848738

 

20915416_10209951993103901_8081964508410

 

20842217_10209951993143902_1476601799027

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...