Here Pretty Kitty! Guess who's got 9 lives!

[reserve]

Holy complexity Batman

[armornutii]

Jan 22, 2024 20:11:33 GMT -5 cbaltrin said:

I love it. Wish I had the time to build something like that.  I'll let you display it at my house when you are done if you like? 

  Ya think that is impresdive? Ask Chris about the Soace Shuttle project he's working on

[themongoose]

Here’s an example of one of the smart things I did… Rather than just a random width i picked the width of a sanding stick for the supports under the flight deck

[themongoose]

Jan 22, 2024 20:18:03 GMT -5 armornutii said:

Jan 22, 2024 20:11:33 GMT -5 cbaltrin said:

I love it. Wish I had the time to build something like that.  I'll let you display it at my house when you are done if you like? 

  Ya think that is impresdive? Ask Chris about the Space Shuttle project he's working on

My buddy Christopher Bowling is doing most of the work. I’m the engineer on the project, which you can find here…Space Shuttle Atlantis

[themongoose]

More boring stuff going on but let’s get an update on the board.
The underside of the flight deck is prepped and ready for paint. I added a 3/16” square steel bar to keep everything flat. And flat it is! Well except for the designed in bow in the middle as the top of the hull actually isn’t flat lol glad i did some test fitting to verify this 👍





All the open sponsons are now filled and i’m working on final finishing to make sure the surface is glass smooth. Filling some pinholes before applying the sandable primer. Football all afternoon so won’t finish this till later in the week 🍻



One sponson needs some rework. This one was the weakest and apparently it sagged when i did assembly. I had to break it loose and lift it so the deck sits flush on it. Was about 3mm shy of the deck at the outer edge so it had to be fixed. Fortunately it went ok.

[lyle]

Wow. Just wow. I thought I did good not falling over putting my undies on this morning.

[themongoose]

Big progress today…at least in terms of this build 😂 I have committed to holes in the deck and hull…fortunately no sinking feelings here!
1st tho let’s start with one of those “i just can’t stop myself” moments. We should have a hi-lift for the docks! There’s a couple in the pics i have so i went ahead and scratched a few up 🤣 the trumpeter set i have for deck equipment had a few cabs and i added some plastrut to them!



So here’s the 3/16” bar i put under the flight deck. JB Weld to set the mounts for the linear motors. In a genius moment i cut 2 of the mounts too short! And JBWeld sags until it dries after a few hours so i had to make supports to keep everything lined up … oh god wait till you see this jury rigged setup 😂😂


Funny right!

So here’s how it will fit up



And after a bunch of work to line things up i cut the cord and drilled holes in the hangar bay deck and then the hull AND THEN marked the base for the linear motor holes 🍻









BGSB kicker here! How many of you have chain drilled with an 1/8” drill bit 🤣 i have now!



Then let’s finish this out with another crazy add … i’ve started a foc’sle because the whole bow will be open and it was just going to be too barren 🤪 just in-process but i think it’s looking good so far

[handiabled]

Wow! You are definitely not afraid to cut and grind things to get where you need to be. Your modification abilities are match by your detailing skills

[406 Silverado]

Jan 30, 2024 6:00:34 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Wow! You are definitely not afraid to cut and grind things to get where you need to be. Your modification abilities are match by your detailing skills

 Yeah he's really on a roll with this thing. Good grief man this is mind boggling. 

[Leon]

That is some very impressive work!

[kyledehart5]

Man you are really taking this to the next level. I’m speechless every time I open this thread. And I really like your jury rig. It works. lol. 

[brandonk]

[themongoose]

Going to be a big weekend hopefully…I’m at the stage where she’s going up on stilts! Doing initial test fits tonight and deciding how to set the motors inplace and shim them to the starting height. I was super happy to find that my jury rigged setup for the mounting points worked out and the bolts slid right through 🥳  The flight deck sits pretty darn flush all things considered. Here’s a few pics of the setup and if i can make it work, a video of the very 1st lift!











This is going to make the hangar bay so visible!! I maybe could have gone 3” rather than the 4” lift i got buy hey, go big or go home 🤣

[handiabled]

Looks like it worked perfectly! You should have it play Also Sprach Zarathustra the 2001 Space Odyssey opening theme when it goes up

[reserve]

Somehow I missed your intent to display the flight deck raised, now all them extra bits and pieces make sense. Quite the project this

[406 Silverado]

Good LORD man!! This really is next level stuff here Chris.

Cool factor=10!!!!! 

[themongoose]

Feb 1, 2024 3:14:33 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Looks like it worked perfectly! You should have it play Also Sprach Zarathustra the 2001 Space Odyssey opening theme when it goes up

hmmmmmm, HAL likes that idea!

[tcoat]

[armornutii]

   Now I have to get to Madison, I wanna see this in real time. BTW Imperial March from Star Wars...." The power of this carrier will be the dominate force in the oceans". Just curious, what did you come up with on those yellow bottles on the pier?

[brandonk]

Okay, now I see where you are going with this. I am floored with this idea and its implementation. Gonna be COOL!

[lyle]

I don't think I've ever seen a build done in this manner. Wow and way to go.

[kyledehart5]

That’s incredible. What a fantastic idea. Going to be able to pack the details in there!

[bradley25mm]

Jan 31, 2024 21:32:44 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Going to be a big weekend hopefully…I’m at the stage where she’s going up on stilts! Doing initial test fits tonight and deciding how to set the motors inplace and shim them to the starting height. I was super happy to find that my jury rigged setup for the mounting points worked out and the bolts slid right through 🥳  The flight deck sits pretty darn flush all things considered. Here’s a few pics of the setup and if i can make it work, a video of the very 1st lift!











This is going to make the hangar bay so visible!! I maybe could have gone 3” rather than the 4” lift i got buy hey, go big or go home 🤣

you sir, are a genius!!!!

[lyle]

[Tobi]

When you think that has to be it, he puts it to the next level.

[themongoose]

Working away at some small stuff while the big stuff sets up…in this case the big stuff is all the bathroom trim i have taking up space in my workroom lol
So i roughed out some improvements for the foc’sle and cut some styrene.



A little mr surfacer, then add the capstans, final paint and ladders to the lower deck and it’ll be ready for anchors and chain once the hull is done!

[406 Silverado]

Feb 7, 2024 21:56:35 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Working away at some small stuff while the big stuff sets up…in this case the big stuff is all the bathroom trim i have taking up space in my workroom lol
So i roughed out some improvements for the foc’sle and cut some styrene.



A little mr surfacer, then add the capstans, final paint and ladders to the lower deck and it’ll be ready for anchors and chain once the hull is done!

   The level of details in this build is just un...ending!! I would've never thought this idea up with raising the flight deck to reveal the innards of this beast. Great ideas in motion and terrific detailing Chris. 

[themongoose]

Decision making time…thanks to the F-team at Trumpy near as I can tell 🤬 an epic failure on their part.
I’ve read a couple of the build threads on the Kitty Hawk on a variety of forums and no one has ever mentioned this. I went to set up the elevators since I’m getting close to done with the hall and I’m fitting everything together. If you want them on the flight deck, everything looks great



If you want them at the hanger deck, then all your aircraft are going to go nose down in the gap!





I have reread the instructions multiple times, looked at the pictures upside down, I tried swapping the elevator ratcheting arms around to different sides with no solution in sight. Decided to glue them all in the up position. No one will notice then. Plus i think the elevators are generally up when entering port so i think it’ll be ok. Harder to see in the hangar bay that way tho

Has anybody else encountered this or maybe seen a solution that I wasn’t able to figure out? Would love to hear about it if you have.

And finally just a quick pic of the hull. Should be the last major coat of hi-build primer now. 24hrs to dry, sand and do some touchups is all it needs.

[armornutii]

   Well that is a terribke blow to such an epic build Chris. You can take comfort in being correct that all elevators are up while entering port. It is clear when you see sailors " Manning the Rails" as a salute to the port.
    Being an integeral part of the flight deck those elevators provide parking and space to move aircraft. When they do raise or lower them it is a process, I can't say for sure however I think that evolution goes as far as making sure the ship is balanced so it does not tip over when 100klbs of aircraft are moved on and off at the hanger level.

[brandonk]

Yikes, that elevator is off a bit, mind the gap.