1:96 USS Nimitz

Choppa Nutta
Wow ! . . what a project !
at 1/96 scale that puts the hull length at somewhere around 11.5 feet long !
but it says cancelled, tell me it aint so as this is definitely one to follow !

I have some questions if I may ...

1) will this be static display only or will you be going the full hog and making it RC to sail on the water ?

2) by the looks of things the "kit" doesn't come with a deck or a coning tower etc. will you be building these from plans then ?

3) will you be making this with working elevators and lights etc ?

4) how many years do you think it will take to complete this project ?

5) would it be impolite to ask how much you have invested in this project thus far ? 🙂

Wishing you the best of luck on this project and I look forward to seeing how you progress with it !! 🙂

Dick
Hi Choppa Nutta,

I'm sorry to tell you but I will not build it.. I cancelled it 🙁.
It's just a too big project, I will not have the time to ever finish it in my life (I think).

These hulls are often used for RC ship battlegroups. As these hulls need everything else to be scratchbuild, the many little projects are often divided by groups of people.
For example.. I've got almost a complete airwing in scale 1:100, that are 40+ kits to be build!
the complete lower deck and upper deck with equipment (elevators, island structure etc) need to be scratchbuilt and detailed.
This hull comes with detailed drawings for all this, but it's going to take a lot of time to finish this project.

Answers to your questions:
1- I would have built it for static display.. with all the fine details it would be too fragile for transport and RC stuff.
2- Indeed all the further details (deck etc) need to be built from plans that come with this kit.
3- I would have made it with lighting for sure, but working elevators.. no, not too much electrics for me.
4- I think way too many for 1 person. With a project like this you never stop detailing😉 .
5- I think the total worth with all the extra kits I collected and all the spare parts it's worth about $2000.
But it's for sale and sure for a reasonable and negotiable price😉

Anthony Flanagan
Wow!

Choppa Nutta
I'm sorry to hear that you've cancelled but I can't blame you, it is a huge project !!
I counted 45 aircraft in total going by your photos, even if you could build one a week that would be most of a year alone !!

I can see why projects like these tend to be team efforts, hugely ambitious to think about doing it on your own, I wonder at what point you realised you had bitten off more than you can chew ? 🙂

I wish you luck in selling it on.

I've considered building a Nimitz from scratch in 1/72 for the indoor RC models using correx plastic sheets with a flat bottom and wheels, I designed in such a way that it could be all folded up to make it easier to store at home as it would have been 15 feet long !
But the more drawings I did the more I realised just how big of project it really is !

Thanks for the reply though, I hope you at least build the 1/350th version though😉

Dick
I was planning to build it together with 2 friends of mine, but it just never worked out.. So like you, the more you're planning (and waiting), the more you start to realize the project is just too big.

In scale 1/72 it would be REALLY massive!! But much better to add details in that scale 🙂.. So you will also never build it like me?

I bought the 1:350 Trumpeter Nimitz kit as a scale-measure for the bigger parts. It's easier to have ready 3D parts , so you can enlarge them for scratchbuilding all the parts.
So I'm selling the Trumpeter kit with the 1/96 kit, it makes it all a little bit easier to start constructing.

Thanks for your comment, and if you should know a potential buyer, please let me know. I will add more information about everything that comes with the hull soon.

Choppa Nutta
I wasn't planning on making the 1/72 super detailed, just enough for a good stand off impression for the RC models to take off and land from .. and crash into no doubt 🙂
But yeah, it was all too ambitious !!

If I had the money and the time I would be sorely tempted by this but alas not possible for me but if anyone I know expresses an interest then I'll be sure to point them your way, best of luck 🙂

Marko
Thats a project. Watching.