The Ship Model Forum

A new kit on the workbench.

New? Not really... I’d started it back in September 2024... but quickly put it aside because the photo-etched parts I’d found were for the Kitty Hawk version...

I thought they’d work, but the differences are actually quite significant (the fuselages, a completely different tail section...)

Anyway, we’re bringing it back out



































That’s where I left off.

and resumed yesterday with the castle :

look at Sheet 3 - Outboard Profile Stbd of the plans & compare it to the height of the model's funnel.
CV-67 USS John F Kennedy Booklet of General Plans https://archive.org/details/cv67bogp2011
https://www.navsource.net/archives/02/67.htm

I see what U mean, it should rise more, as on this pic :


But the trumpeter kit depicts it during Desert Stom in 1991, and on the other pics I found the island seems to have raised and joined the funnel :

Before gluing the deck in place, we need to fill this hangar a bit; as you’ll see, the planes will be painted, but I’ll skip the decals for now – those will be applied to the planes on the deck

S-3 Viking



E-2 Hawkeye


But... are the wings folded up in the hangar? Is it difficult? Not at all! With the ultra_sonic cutter, it’s a piece of cake...







F-14 Tomcat





F/A-18 Hornet




The ultrasonic cutter is absolutely brilliant for neatly separating these tiny parts and performing microsurgery!

the plans I linked shows the top of the funnel about level with the top of the guard rail & 1991 according to the dates on the plans.

I will check if I can move the funnel

I forgot to mention in my original post that the livery will be the 1991 Desert Storm scheme, so the air wing will be CW-3

There will therefore be significant changes, and the aircraft set provided by Trumpeter is rather paradoxical...
the decals feature the VF-84 Jolly Rogers, which did indeed operate from the Kennedy, but only until the late 1980s, AND F/A-18 Hornets, which didn’t operate from the Kennedy until around 1994–95...

We’re tackling the railings on the island – a bit of a challenge because, as I mentioned, there isn’t a dedicated PE set for this model, so mine is designed for a Kitty Hawk...
It looks similar, but the differences are huge, especially on this part...

And I’m still struggling with the curves...

The chimney, which was a bit low, has been raised slightly...





















My nightmare... the AN/SPS-49 surveillance radar in PE... can't find it in 3D...

And there you have it – the island is finished...

All that’s left to do is paint it!

Nice SPS-49. Not the easiest radar to build.

Thanks Pieter,

I must admit I whished a 3D version existed

Which PE set are you using for JFK? I've got it in the stash and all I have are the generic stuff from GMM.

Hi, I found no dedicated set for JFK, I'm using sets from Artist Hobby dedicated to Kitty Hawk...
As JFK is sometimes considered as a subclass of Kitty Hawk I tought it could match... in fact, not really...

The reference is :
USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 basic set (For Trumpeter)
Item No.#: AH270024

Haven't made much progress lately; I'm waiting for my aircraft fleet

But we do manage to get a few things done now and then

Like these hangar spaces, and still with that generic, rather lacklustre PE...

Yuth,

how much backdating are you doing to get her 91' appearance? I'm still doing work to get the kitty hawk detail set to augment my GMM modern CV set.

it's quite complicated, the trumpeter kit is a kind of mix of all periods...

I try to find what to upgrade and/or change with pictures but I already know that the ship will be some far from reality, for the CVW-3 however, it should be much more accurate