Hellenic modellers official website / HEL.MO. - 1/350 Tamiya Enterprise by Brian Waldorf

1/350 Tamiya Enterprise by Brian Waldorf

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Brisn Waldorf joins Hel.Mo. with a stunning Enterprise!!! Amazing detail and weathering, plus a full airwing...what else to ask for???

(Comments by Thanos Mentzelopoulos)

1/350 Tamiya CVN-65 Enterprise

by "Brian Waldorf"

LINE RED

HISTORY

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth US naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed the "Big E." At 1,123 ft (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel in the world, though her 93,500 ton (95,000 tonne) displacement places her as the eleventh heaviest supercarrier, surpassed by the 10 carriers of the Nimitz-class. Enterprise is a single-ship class, and is the second oldest vessel still in commission in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate USS Constitution. As the oldest carrier in the fleet, she was originally scheduled for decommissioning some time in 2014-2015 depending on the life of her current reactors and completion of her replacement, the USS Gerald R. Ford. However, with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, Enterprise is now set to retire in 2013 with 51 years of continuous service, the longest for any aircraft carrier in the history of the United States Navy.Enterprise was meant to be the first of a class of six, but construction costs ballooned and the remaining vessels were never laid down, resulting in her being the only ship of her class. Because of the huge cost of her construction, Enterprise was launched and commissioned without the planned Terrier missile launchers. These were never installed and the ship's self-defense suite instead consisted of three shorter ranged RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) launchers. Later upgrades added two NATO Sea Sparrow (NSSM) and three Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS gun mounts. One CIWS mount was later removed and two 21 cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers were added.

Enterprise is also the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors. Her eight-reactor propulsion design was rather conservative, with each A2W reactor taking the place of one of the conventional boilers in earlier designs. She is the only carrier to be fitted with four rudders compared to two for the other classes, and features a more cruiser-like hull. In addition to having the innovation of nuclear power, Enterprise also featured a phased array radar system designed to provide improved tracking of multiple airborne targets relative to conventional rotating antenna radars. Her early phased arrays are responsible for the distinctive square-looking island, up until their replacement circa 1980.

Source: Wikipedia

KIT

CONSTRUCTION

Hello everyone. Here's my version of Tamiya's Enterprise aircraft carrier. I started this back in May of 2009 and finished it by placing the airwing aboard the first week in December 2009. I added GMM photoetched set, the GMM elevator set, GMM USN modern navy decal set, and GMM Low Vis aircraft decal set depicting the west coast airwing. The airwing is mostly CVW-11 with a couple of CVW-14 markings in the mix. The period modeled is late 80's. In Detail and Scale Enterprise book was used for my main reference.

I scratchbuilt a generic hanger deck just to fill the empty hull. Minor scratchbuilding was done throughout the model just to improve certain areas. I just recently added four more tomcats and a C-2 Greyhound, (COD) to the airwing. Everything was painted with MM acrylic paints. The stand was built from pine and the acrylic cover was built locally here in Denver. The stand is also portable. Just lift off the model and base, which make's the top, and the rest folds up flat so it could be moved if need be. I've wanted to build this model for years and finally decided to attack it. It was alot of work but very enjoyable but I don't want to start another carrier for awhile. Enjoy the pics!!!