1:144 aircraft carrier

[Hobbes]

Found this while on holiday in Denmark...

USS Roosevelt

[Nick]

I am totally impressed!

Nick B)  

[Jschmus]

During my recent vacation, I got a few opportunities to play tourist.  I work in the hotel business, so the tourist viewpoint is a little foreign to me.  That is, I didn't carry my camera with me everywhere.

By chance, I happened to visit the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, located in Old Towne near the bank of the Elizabeth River.  This is a small museum, but they are well-supplied and funded.  The museum has a number of artifacts covering nearly four hundred years of Virginia naval history, but the most impressive things they have are their ship models.  Most of these were built by the Navy, or by civilians at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (so named because at the time, there was already a Portsmouth Navy Yard in New Hampshire).  The scales vary from ship to ship; it's almost as though they were built in "fit-to-box" style.  If they were all in a common scale, they'd need a much larger museum.  There is a model of the USS Norfolk (DL 1) in 1/48.  Every detail is perfect.  There is a 1/96 model of USS Forrestal.  It's nearly 6 feet long.  The details are not as crisp as on the Norfolk, but they're still decent.  The air group is small, and an interesting combination: F-4, F-6 and F-8 fighters, A-1s, A-4s (both with and without IFR), A-3 and A-5.  There's also an E-1.  There's also a 1/48 model of the nuclear submarine Nautilus suspended in a scale working model of a drydock.  Most impressive!

Next time, I'll have to bring my camera.

[Gary]

The best I've seen personally was the 48th scale HMCS Bonnaventure at the Shearwater Aviation Museum. It's rather large.

[WeeJimmy]

Hey Captain C   with a chainsaw and some ingenuity we'd be able tae make some room fae one downstairs...  'fit yae dae'n tomorrow?

[Captain Canada]

Let's get chopin', Jimmy !

And that Roosevelt is surely sweet.........woah !

Awesome, awesome job on that one. Love all the subtle differences in the paint schemes of the airfleet. Why, one Hornet even looks Canadian !

And Gary, that's just the Patriotism talking.......I've seen it too. Great model, but the best part about it is the water ! It's got almost zero detail, like rails and hatches and such, and the airgroup is even worse !

The A-4 ? Well, sure the Skyhawk launched from the Bonnie during tests, but.......if I had my way, w'ed build a bunch of Trackers and Sea Kings and really do 'er up right.

Maybe next summer when I'm back...........and you finally invite me over for a beer and a tour of the newly completed modelling room !

[Gary]

Hey Capt.

Beer Yes

and I didn't mean the best I've ever seen in the sence of I've seen others. The Bonnie model is the only really big carrier model I've actually ever seen. I know the guy who did the renovation on the model and built the planes on the flight deck. I will reserve comment, cause I wanna be nice.

The model itself was built as a float to be pulled along during a Natal day parade. It was built up out of oil barrels and plywood so in so far as accuracy and detail, not much hope there. I don't think the museum has much of a budget to spend on a proper set of models to put on the flight deck and the A4 ia a stupid addition considering that it landed once. (the model guy is an A4 fan, can ya tell) Sea Furies, Trackers, Banshees, Helocopters... Jimminy cricket, anything but an A4

Any how, in the pics of the other carrier, much better model, especially considering the scale is 4 time smaller. (I think it works out to 4 times smaller)

[Captain Canada]

I don't think the museum has much of a budget to spend on a proper set of models to put on the flight deck

It's too bad your two museums out there couldn't merge........I know it would be tough to do, with the air force vs. navy scenerio, not to mention egos of the people who would feel left out if they moved to one location or another.......

And don't get me wrong about the model, I think it's beautiful, and as you said, it's the only one I've seen in real life ! It's just too bad, that at that size, you could super-detail the heck out of it !

We'll just have a building bonanza next summer, and get all hammed up one day, break in and cocer the Bonnie in proper a/c !

[Nick]

There are lots of model carriers at Yeovilton, even a life size section of one!
I'll put some pics on here somewhere.

Nick B)  

[Keith Diamond]

impressive, very impressive