Aircraft Carrier?

[Jschmus]

A couple of years ago, my ex sent me a handful of these little wooden model kits she got through one of her craft catalogs.  They're crude little things, but they include approximations of an F-14, an F-15, an AH-1 and a little aircraft carrier.  The other day I dug the carrier out of the stash with the idea of building it up as a DDH or something.

Here's the little thing mocked up in all its crude glory.


One can clearly see the Forrestal-inspired lines, with more deck space aft of the island than before.  After some examination, I decided the kit-supplied flight deck was too crooked to use.  So I used it as a template and cut a copy from sheet styrene.


Here it is.  Posed next to it is the hull of the 1/700 JMSDF Shirayuki.  This is when I realized the futility of the project.  The little Shirayuki is only 130m, and the 1/700 kit is a little under five inches long.  A Spruance in the same scale is closer to ten inches.  This thing just isn't big enough to work as a carrier of any sort.  I'd still like to do something with it.  I've got lots of 1/700 bits, extras from various kits, enough to supply superstructure, antennae and weapons of all sorts.  Here's the hull, stripped clean:



Any ideas?

[dragon]

Do you remember what the Anime guys have done with Aircraft Carriers, namely Space Cruiser Yamato, Robotech (Macross), etc?  Just a thought.

[Jschmus]

That's something I didn't think of.  That would definitely lend me more to cover the hull, too.  I could work in a nice mixture of ship, aircraft and maybe even armor bits.  I shall return.

[Sauragnmon]

I'm not so sure you couldn't pull it off as a smaller, through-deck DDH JS.  The biggest catch is her beam, really, as that and the height are what'd give you hangar space enough to make it worth while.  Of course, you could also convert her into a DDG if you worked at it, as she is seemingly quite close to the length of other DD's. 

[cthulhu77]

How about steampunking it?  paddlewheels and lots of metal fittings...and some oversized cannons, of course.

[jcf]

I agree with Greg, also the US operated two small side-wheeler training carriers during WWII.
The USS Wolverine and USS Sable were converted from Great Lakes passenger steamers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wolverine_(IX-64)
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/46/46064.htm




Do it up as a straight-deck side-wheeler with ginormous down-angled side exhausts ala the Japanese carriers. 

As, to size the Imperial Japanese Army carrier (yes, IJA not IJN) Akitsu Maru was only 471.5 feet (143.7 meters) long.
The IJA carriers were landing support vessels, and could operate light aircraft and auto-gyros.

Jon

[Captain Canada]

Any carrier, big or small, is cool in my books ! If the deck is to small, just use SHARs and choppers !

[Jschmus]

I looked the thing over yesterday morning after work.  In reality, the little kit is closer to seven inches long, as is the Shirayuki.  Additionally, I sifted through an old copy of Jane's Warship Identification Guide, looking for the dimensions of various aircraft carriers and amphibious ships.  130 meters is a little short for a carrier, but it's very close to the Italian San Giorgio-class LPD.  I had the opportunity to tour the San Giusto when she visited Norfolk years ago, and I took the opportunity to pick the brain of one of the officers, after he mentioned serving aboard the Garibaldi.  I asked if it was possible for the ship to embark Harriers.  He said that the ship had been designed from the get-go for helicopters, and the ship would need a ski-jump to support Harrier takeoffs, but it was theoretically doable.

[Mossie]

Any carrier, big or small, is cool in my books ! If the deck is to small, just use SHARs and choppers !

I was thinking along similar lines, seems just the right size for an LHD type assault carrier.