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

[themongoose]

Time to get this party started! This thread will be for Trumpy’s 1/350 USS KITTYHAWK CV-63.I’ll be throwing everything at it and hoping to have it ready for IPMS Nationals in July, in case you happen to make it there she’ll be on display 👍 
Here’s the usual adders from White Ensign, eduard, and L’arsenal




a full 3D printed airwing with tanks and accessories 




3D Wild’s hangar bay, i’m stoked about opening this one!




And to make all that pop the incredible Dave Kopielski from David’s Scale Models made up a whole Kitty Hawk set for their last cruise just for this build, plus you can buy it yourself on his website now



and a very unconventional set of linear motors, a timer and a switch… I feel like when I was eight and my buddies and I were blowing up model cars with firecrackers



When it’s all done the flight deck will rise 4” so you can see the hangar bay clearly. And if I can get it right, the timer will open and close it every couple minutes. Cool huh 😎

Now I’m off to read everyone else’s threads I see started in here! Way to go Perry, sweet turnout!

[keavdog]

Wow what a project! Can't wait to see the deck go up and down. Doing anything with the elevators?

[tcoat]

That kit is awesome OOB and you are upping it 1000%

Need to post an up and down video when done!!!!!

[themongoose]

Jan 4, 2024 19:06:58 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Wow what a project! Can't wait to see the deck go up and down. Doing anything with the elevators?

Think I’m going to leave them all up or all down. The key focus will be keeping the deck from binding up against anything else that it has to fit around. The experimenting i did around the sponsons showed multiple interference points. Plus the hull isn’t straight down either side just due to the nature of thin plastic. I found that while to the naked eye it looked straight when you had to fit 4 things that are on opposite sides inside the elevator cutouts there were definitely interferences 👍

[themongoose]

Jan 4, 2024 19:41:51 GMT -5 tcoat said:

That kit is awesome OOB and you are upping it 1000%

Need to post an up and down video when done!!!!!

That’s just asking for a teaser 🤩

Trying to add video…

[keavdog]

clicking on the broken image link works - those are awesome and the smooth slow extension will be great.

[deafpanzer]

I am looking forward to see this in Madison!

[armornutii]

   I'm pretty sure after all that " rocket science" you did on the shuttle a couple of teeny tiny actuators shouldn't pose much of a threat. Welcome aboard again Chris, bookmarked

[kyledehart5]

Oh wow! I am all in on watching this one!

[Joe Rix]

Epic. Simply epic. Sooo looking forward to watching you bring this bad kitty to fruition Chris.

[chromdome35]

WOW, can't wait to see this one completed. I have never seen a model with a moving flight deck.

[stikpusher]

I had a friend who was on the Vinson... Pretty Kitty was not the name she had with other flat tops in the fleet...

[Tojo72]

A very ambitious build,looking forward to watching this one.

[handiabled]

Looking forward to this one coming together

[rondriaan]

Lots off goodies

[themongoose]

I got a bit of a start on the hanger bay. I need to figure out where the 3-D hanger bay walls land so that I can put in the linear motor to lift the flight deck. So this is all alignment, but check out how nice the Small Designer, hanger bay walls are, printed by 3-D wild.

[kyledehart5]

That’s some very cool stuff!!

[406 Silverado]

Good GRIEF man!! Now that is some impressive detail going into the walls of that hangar bay Chris! I've gotta hand it to you man.....you've got an eye for the details. 

[themongoose]

Jan 19, 2024 5:13:17 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Good GRIEF man!! Now that is some impressive detail going into the walls of that hangar bay Chris! I've gotta hand it to you man.....you've got an eye for the details. 

Credit to the Small Designer on this one. I scratched the hangar bay of the Enterprise and when i saw the price was so good on this set i grabbed it as that was probably the most work of all i did on the Enterprise. For sure I’d never make NATS this year if i had to do the bay myself…of course I was already looking to add a few things but we’ll see if i can contain myself 🤣

[deafpanzer]

WOW!!! I had no idea they are offering 3D printed sets for interior now. Now I have to get them when I am ready to build one of the carriers in my stash. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!!

[themongoose]

Jan 19, 2024 13:19:59 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

WOW!!! I had no idea they are offering 3D printed sets for interior now. Now I have to get them when I am ready to build one of the carriers in my stash. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!!

Be careful...if you go to the 3D wild website you'll probably spend a fortune!! I have the USS Gerald Ford in the queue and I'm working really hard not to pull the trigger and hit buy it now. They have just launched it as a fully 3D printed 1/350 model. The only thing holding me back is it's pretty much the same size as the Enterprise so I just can't see it being more impressive in the case, other than having F35's on it 

[deafpanzer]

Jan 19, 2024 13:33:14 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Jan 19, 2024 13:19:59 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

WOW!!! I had no idea they are offering 3D printed sets for interior now. Now I have to get them when I am ready to build one of the carriers in my stash. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!!

Be careful...if you go to the 3D wild website you'll probably spend a fortune!! I have the USS Gerald Ford in the queue and I'm working really hard not to pull the trigger and hit buy it now. They have just launched it as a fully 3D printed 1/350 model. The only thing holding me back is it's pretty much the same size as the Enterprise so I just can't see it being more impressive in the case, other than having F35's on it 

Who said our hobby isn't cheap?

[brandonk]

Holy cow!! This is ambitious. I thought my plans to do the Big E with all the advanced PE from Pontos was a big project. It ain't got nothin' on this.

[themongoose]

A couple miscellaneous things in progress tonight. Everything right now is aimed at getting the linear motors installed, and the deck aligned correctly. At the same time I am looking at what to do with the hollow sponson‘s all around the hull. Since I have to lift the flight deck, there’s gonna be way too many ejector pin marks and glue joints visible that just won’t look right without something to cover them.
Here’s the sequence of events for the sponsons.

1st making supports and putting in a false floor


Then bondo over that to fill it



Then bondo spot and glazing putty for a smooth surface



Wet Sand it all up to 600 grit



Then some high-build sandable primer for a finished look. Tomorrow when this is good and dry I will wet sand it and add a 2nd coat.



The flight deck approach is now on final 🍻
The plastic i-beam idea isn’t strong enough. I’m leaving the outer beams as they will simulate some of the lattice up there. The main spar is now a piece of 3/16” steel bar. The deck won’t sag now 😆 the final call here was after i looked at What it was going to take to keep the linear motor shaft out of the hanger bay. Now I can have one at the stern and one in the #BAL outside of those beautiful 3-D printed hangar bay walls. Moore on this as I get things mounted. But for now here’s what the underside of the flight deck looks like with a high build primer on it. Just the 1st coat so lots of sanding to do yet

[kyledehart5]

Absolutely incredible work!!

[Green KreationZ]

Man this is next level. You are extremely talented!!

[themongoose]

Jan 19, 2024 15:40:55 GMT -5 brandonk said:

Holy cow!! This is ambitious. I thought my plans to do the Big E with all the advanced PE from Pontos was a big project. It ain't got nothin' on this.

Touch base with me when you get started! I loved that build. Took me 5 months during covid. Worked on it every day!
I just wrote 2 articles for the IPMS Journal on how to do LED and FiberOptic lighting for carriers. Expanding on what some greats before me have done!

[Tobi]

What will you tell them if you need therapy after this? Sorry, but I got a little obsessed?

This is gonna to be gorgeous.

[themongoose]

Just a quick update…more of the same going on. I’m doing finish work on the underside of the flight deck. I’ve filled in the sink marks from all the giant 1/2” diameter sink marks and started wet sanding with 600 grit paper. The ejector pins between the ribbing will be my nemesis this week for sure!!



Started on the largest section of the hull needing to be filled so it looks right when the deck is up. More to come on this…

[cbaltrin]

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?