aircraft carrier deck 1:144

[hugogo]

thanks Ian!

this week I got the 11-member carrier deck crew delivered, in 4 different scales. the largest is printed in Nylon, the rest in transparent resin. The detailing of the figure in 1:144 is the same as the one in 1:32!

I modelled them with a piece of tube on 1 of the shoes so that they are easier to paint. This will be a big convenience since each figure is just 12 mm's tall!

the next step is to clean them in IPA and to give them a basecoat of paint. This will also make the details stand out more than when looking at the transparent resin.

I now also have the tie downs for the elevator deck so I can finish the glueing work on the deck section soon and start scribing the catapult and other features.

[hugogo]

finally a new update after a few days of working on a different project: I managed to get my F/A-18 with carrier deck in 1:72 scale to the Euro Scale Modelling convention 2 weeks ago. The paint was barely dry when I took it to the competition but still managed to get the gold medal!

Basically this project was for me the reason to start exploring the possibilities of 3d printing.For those interrested: more pictures are on

http://ipms.freeforums.org/f-a-18c-hasegawa-restauratie-het-begon-zo-simpel-t2667.html

Now, on with my carrier diorama! I managed to put the tie down points on the elevator deck, sand the whose surface slightlyto remove the excess glue and put some paint on:

after painting I had to drill out a few tie downs because the sanding damaged the starts in the process, but I had enough tie downs to glue back in.

then I started to scribe all the panel lines, elevator deck and catapult features in this stuff is going so much quicker in 1:144 than in 1:32 scale!

next step is to order the 2 deck hatches that I designed and glue those in:

courtesy US navy

[perdu]

Congratulations on your well deserved Gold award

And I expect to be congratulating you often for the Carrier deck too

Wonderful introduction to 3D printing for me thanks

b

[hugogo]

thanks Perdu. I did not expect to win anything with my previous carrier deck and I am building the 1:144 and 1:32 diorama mostly to discover for myself, and anyone else who is interrested, what can be done with 3D printing. So who knows how this will turn out.

On the ESM conference i managed to find a double kit of EA-6B's from Dragon, both flying from the USS Eisenhower. Luckily I also found a hawkeye and decals for 2 F/A-18F's from the same carrier. How difficult it is to find kits of different aircraft but from the same carrier, same cruise!

BTW the super hornets are offered by Revell as Growlers, but if you look closely at the plastic then you will see it is by no means a Growler. So no conversions needed to make them into F's.

I am planning to design the wing fold mechanisms of super hornets and prowlers, propellors for Hawkeye, boarding ladders, wheel chocks and towbars and more stuff all in CAD and to have them 3D printed. Might aswell add a fire truck too. this is going to me a multi month project...

checked their dimensions on the deck. There will be 2 prowlers next to each other and also a 2nd super hornet in que behind the JBD.

[Dazzio]

Still loving the work here hugogo. The deck looks amazing, think I will have to invest in some bits at a later date.

I do know that you can buy wing fold options from Retro-kit (I love Domi's stuff but I don't get any royalties) for the Hawkeye, F-18C and the Intruder. I imagine that the one for the Intruder will be able to be used on the Prowler, if I get the time tonight I will check. I can confirm that the Growler kit is the same as the F-18E kit just with an extra seat and the sprue's for the pods. You can get some Dragon F-18E's/F's that have the wing fold option already "built" in. I think you might wanna look at the cockpit for the Prowler before you look at the wings. They will make you cringe... trying to get decals for 1/144th... bane of my life Oh hope you put some nose weight into the E-2, that will be a tail sitter!

Looking forward to seeing more.

Kind Regards,

Dazz

[phildagreek]

Brilliant stuff. Congratulations on the medal!

This is really good, once the upcoming house move is complete, I think I'll be heading over to shapeways. You obviously have some real skill with the designing side of this.

[kev67]

Very creative, I like the 3D created men, what software do you use

[Giorgio N]

Don't know how I missed this thread before, there's a lot of very interesting things here ! Will keep looking

And of course, congratulations for your award, well deserved, the F/A-18 diorama is great

[James G]

Stunning work!

[hugogo]

Still loving the work here hugogo. The deck looks amazing, think I will have to invest in some bits at a later date.

I do know that you can buy wing fold options from Retro-kit (I love Domi's stuff but I don't get any royalties) for the Hawkeye, F-18C and the Intruder. I imagine that the one for the Intruder will be able to be used on the Prowler, if I get the time tonight I will check. I can confirm that the Growler kit is the same as the F-18E kit just with an extra seat and the sprue's for the pods. You can get some Dragon F-18E's/F's that have the wing fold option already "built" in. I think you might wanna look at the cockpit for the Prowler before you look at the wings. They will make you cringe... trying to get decals for 1/144th... bane of my life Oh hope you put some nose weight into the E-2, that will be a tail sitter!

Looking forward to seeing more.

Kind Regards,

Dazz

Hi Dazzio,

thanks for your input, indeed I have seen these resin sets before. Though not expensive, I have given myself motivation to design more detail into the wing folds etc than the commercially available things. First of all because it is possible from the technology of 3D printing point of view, but also because I find it an interresting challenge (and time is not a critical factor here).

I have also been looking at the Dragon super hornets, but overall I cam to the conclusion that the Revell one is a more accurate model (and the wing fold was going to be made by me anyway).

I found a free program called 3D catch from Autodesk (to Kev: all CAD programs I use are freely available from Autodesk: 123D design, mesh mixer, 3D catch), which enables you to make 3d models out of a bunch of photo's that you take. I think I will try to use this on an intruder seat in 1:48 that I have: photograph it from all sides, have a 3D model made of it, scale it down and have it 3D printed. I will let the readers know what the result is from that.

And indeed I crammed as much lead shot into the forward crew compartment as I could to make the Hawkeye no tail sitter!

In the mean time I have started to work on the 8 bladed prop of the Hawkeye, pictures will follow soon!

[Dazzio]

Hi Dazzio,

thanks for your input, indeed I have seen these resin sets before. Though not expensive, I have given myself motivation to design more detail into the wing folds etc than the commercially available things. First of all because it is possible from the technology of 3D printing point of view, but also because I find it an interresting challenge (and time is not a critical factor here).

I have also been looking at the Dragon super hornets, but overall I cam to the conclusion that the Revell one is a more accurate model (and the wing fold was going to be made by me anyway).

I found a free program called 3D catch from Autodesk (to Kev: all CAD programs I use are freely available from Autodesk: 123D design, mesh mixer, 3D catch), which enables you to make 3d models out of a bunch of photo's that you take. I think I will try to use this on an intruder seat in 1:48 that I have: photograph it from all sides, have a 3D model made of it, scale it down and have it 3D printed. I will let the readers know what the result is from that.

And indeed I crammed as much lead shot into the forward crew compartment as I could to make the Hawkeye no tail sitter!

In the mean time I have started to work on the 8 bladed prop of the Hawkeye, pictures will follow soon!

You're welcome for the input/help. Us /144'ers need to stick together I do respect what you are trying to do with 3d modelling thinks. A mate of mine used 123D Catch to try and get a 3d model of his real life wheels on his car to sent that to Shapeways. Trying to get the picture all around a wheel is the hard bit for him at least. The Dragon F-18's are nice, but I do feel like their panel lines are way too deep, probably scale out to be a foot in real life. The Revell kit is really nice, glad I have a few.

Glad to hear about the lead shot

Looking forward to seeing the Hawkeye props.

Kind Regards,

Dazz

[Radleigh]

I really need to try and have a go at this 3D design thingy... I have so much I want to get printed and will save a fortune no doubt designing it myself.... Kevs 3D printed stuff at Telford was really good, the mesh grills for the VC-10 were very detailed!

Keep up the good work too, really excited to see this complete after seeing the F-18... Congrats on the gold!

[hugogo]

hey Radleigh, James, Riorgio, kev67,

thanks for that! The encouragement made me spend another hour or so at the computer and look what that produced: An NP2000 propellor!

with this free software it is simply impossible to get any double curvature on the propellor blades, but I think it is good enough for 1:144 scale. Some tweaking to so still but still not bad for an hours work. And that's the wonderful thing about CAD: design 1, get 7 blades and 2 props for free.

Edited November 20, 2015 by hugogo

[phildagreek]

Hugogo, I am mighty impressed with your efforts to date, I don't have a clue about what you're talking about most of the time, but the results are great!

[GMK]

This looks great!

Love those figures.

[hugogo]

thanks Phildagreek and GMK, in the meantime I managed to get some wheel chocks modelled too.

to which the next step is easy to take: Add a carrier deck figure and pose him carrying a wheel chock like over here:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/US_Navy_061030-N-1205S-048_Aviation_Boatswain%5Ersquo%2Cs_Mate_%28Handling%29_Airman_Dustin_Savoie_removes_the_chocks_from_an_aircraft_during_flight_operations_aboard_the_nuclear-powered_aircraft_carrier_USS_Nimitz_%28CVN_68%29.jpg

The propellers, hatches and wheel chocks (in 1:144 and 1:72) are now being printed, hope to see them next week! Depending on how they turn out I will publish them on the Shapeways shop for anyone interrested.

I think for a next print that I will order, I will print the wheel chocks in 1:48 and1:32 where I will ty to make one of the wheel blocks moveable, just like the real thing.

More photo's when they have arrived.

[hugogo]

today the postman delivered a package from shapeways...couldn't wait to open it!

here is what was is the box:

6 wheel chocks in 1:144

4 propellers for my hawkeyes

2 more propellers in case that the assembled prop would not print right. But it did so now I can also make a feathered prop!

2 sets of deck hatches:

wheel chocks in 1:72:

then a dip of all parts in isopropyl alcohol;

let them dry...

and then the texture is much better visible, here again in 1:72:

now the whole lot is dry:

and then the proof of the pudding! fits like a glove

looks like the right size...

compated to this:

next project: tow bar!

[perdu]

Wow

just wow

or maybe even WOW Awesome

Love those prop blades

[solowing666]

All those 3D prints are awesome, as well as the one behind the design!

I too have some 3D files I want to 3D print, still working on it.

By the way would it be rude if I ask about how/where do you get the deck layout so accurately (catapult size, tie-down placements, etc)?

I myself am planning a 1:72 one, 20 x 20 inches of the deck section around arresting gear.

I want to depict an aircraft on landing just before the hook strikes the cable.

Cheers!

[Ian Shumsky]

The prints have come out quite nicely!

[Ace From Outer Space]

This is awe inspiring work Hugogo!

[hugogo]

All those 3D prints are awesome, as well as the one behind the design!

I too have some 3D files I want to 3D print, still working on it.

By the way would it be rude if I ask about how/where do you get the deck layout so accurately (catapult size, tie-down placements, etc)?

I myself am planning a 1:72 one, 20 x 20 inches of the deck section around arresting gear.

I want to depict an aircraft on landing just before the hook strikes the cable.

Cheers!

Hi solowing666,

it took me a few hundred photo's from the internet over the last years to figure out most dimensions. What really helps is that the tie-down pattern in the deck is spaced very regularly. Knowing that they are spaced 8ft length wise and 10 ft across the deck, you can figure out where many features are. Btw the deck plates are also 10ft wide, so that will make it helpful to interpret photo's like these:

(courtesy US navy)

so from many pictures I figured out the layout, starting with a large grid of circles in CAD and counting my way in all directions. The area around cat 3 and 4 is easiest because this is best visible from the island of the ship. Reconstructing the features and lines I made 2 drawings. please send me a PM and I will send the PDF to you by mail.

So good luck with your own project and you can contact me for specifics on photos and of course on those 3D printed tie-down points for your diorama!

Edited December 17, 2015 by hugogo

[xffw45343tg]

Love the little message on the edge of the deck!!

[At Sea]

Wow.

[helios16v]

I'll be watching this. I plan on trying to put together a pseudo-diorama of CVW-11 aircraft (1:72) reminiscent of the mid-90s era over the next few years.

Very cool work.