1/144 RC U.S.S.Nimitz

Hi guys ! I'm new here and got registered just days ago. I have many similar interests as the rest of you, ie: Star Wars, Star Trek, All sci-fi really. Models, props, and of course movies. Inspired by the old movie The Final Countdown, I started a build of the nuclear aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz. It's been a constant project for the past 15+ years. She looks good and runs but I'm always trying to improve things. I was hoping someone here would be able to help with some thing I,ve wanted to do to it fora long, long time. I want to light the flight deck and the hanger deck along with the island. HoweverI havent because the most important part of that lighting, to me, is the landing strip chase lights. I need 16 lights to chase down the center and the only kits I can find offer ten light only. Any ideas or comments would be appreciated !!!!!

Welcome. That's a great job on that, is it scratch built? Great movie too

Fantastic work, Vetteboy! I loved the movie too which came just at the right time for a boy my age back then and really got me hooked into scale modeling. The light kit you mentioned, what does it do? Can't two of them be hooked up the make the long strip?

robn1 said:

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Welcome. That's a great job on that, is it scratch built? Great movie too

Thank-you ! It is indeed scratch built out of wood. It's 8 feet long and it takes 38 lbs of lead ballast to sink her up to the waterline. She would look real when she's in the water except nothing is moving and I suspect on a real carrier, somethings ALWAYS moving !

My Dad took me aboard the Nimitz when I was kid, and there is indeed a lot of activity even when she's docked. That was in '76, the planes look a bit different these days.

crackerjazz said:

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Fantastic work, Vetteboy! I loved the movie too which came just at the right time for a boy my age back then and really got me hooked into scale modeling. The light kit you mentioned, what does it do? Can't two of them be hooked up the make the long strip?

I'm not very good with electronics but two can't be, from what I'm told, be hooked togeather. It has to one unit programmed to sequencially chase the lights don the center of the landing strip continuously. I figured a way to manually do it with fiber optics but it would'nt be nearly bright enough once she got 20-30 feet away from you. Someone said I could get one made but it would cost $500.00. It's pretty hard to justify that kind of cash when the ship cost me nothing to begin with. The only expense was for the radio, the drive motors (4) , the props, and the biggest cost has been building allthe aircraft that make up the air wing. I love that movie and plan to build a few diorama's as well. Maybe the survivors being picked up with the Sea King, and of course....SPLASH the ZERO'S !

robn1 said:

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My Dad took me aboard the Nimitz when I was kid, and there is indeed a lot of activity even when she's docked. That was in '76, the planes look a bit different these days.

WOW Rob...I am envious. You got to see her when she was brand new ! I would LOVE to go on board. She just came out of drydock, a few weeks ago. The Nimitz was down for a whole year being upgraded in washington state. They have a facebook page that you can visit and they did a video series documenting all sorts of things. Pretty cool to see her out of the water ! She does look a bit different, and yes, they retired the tomcats and the intruders as the FA-18 takes on both roles now. I met a few sailors from her past on facebook and they were all kind enough to shoot me some pictures of when they were on board. The internet is really a facinating thing, connecting people from all over the world that would otherwise never ever meet in person....it's really quite amazing ! I hope to make some new friends here as well !

vetteboy1982 said:

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...SPLASH the ZERO'S !

I love that scene

You should contact Hyperdyne here on the RPF. His work is not cheap, but it is top-notch and works as advertised. He's the electronics guru and his work never fails to impress. He might let you pick his brain and offer some advice or might even give you a quote. There are other electronics whiz's here on the board, but I can't think of who they are at the moment.

Great job and good luck!

Thanks DS Operative....I'll look into that. I could use some help.

Yeah Rob, I love it too ! The DVD has some great interviews with the navy pilots talking about the movie shoot. I also aquired from ebay a cruisebook from the Nimitz the year that they filmed The Final countdown. It's even signed by the captain of the Nimitz at the time of the movie but was then promoted to rear admiral....pretty cool. There are about 6 full pages dedicated to the movie.You said your dad brought you on board in the 70's....how was that ? What was his job in the navy ?

vetteboy1982 said:

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...You said your dad brought you on board in the 70's....how was that ? What was his job in the navy ?

I'm not sure what his duties were, but some kind of administrative/office job. He did two cruises on the Nimitz about '76 to '78. He took my brother and me aboard before they shipped out the first time, I was 11.

Watching this thread with great interest.

My favorite Nimitz pic

My dad was on the Nimitz as a BTMC. Awesome looking build man!

Thanks everyone for your interest, help, and kind words. It is very appreciated. Rob...I have that pic as well and have always wanted to get it blown up.And MooCricket I have that pic too ! I only wish that someone made those other ships in 1/144 so my Nimitz would not be alone. All thats available is a WWII fletcher class destroyer.I have recently been working on the Sea Kings from Sweet Aviation. Very nice kits for $15.00 I modified one to have the doors open and cut actual windows in it so there could be a complete interior. Then I modified 2 to be in the folded positions. And finally, I modified on to be Marine-One, also with full interior(I dont know why,you cant see it !) I appologize for my crappy pictures....all I have is my phone

Those Sea Kings look great! I'd go cross eyed doing interiors at that scale.

Yeah Rob...they ARE small ! Sometimes my eyes start burning ! I had to get some reading glasses this past year as I cant see small stuff close in anymore. Like I said, you cant see them so I guess I just did it for my own satisfaction.

that is a great build, do you happen to have any video of the old lady in action on the water? btw, 38lbs of lead ballast wow. Love final countdown, well by today's standards eh but it is a classic, watched it on netflix not to long ago You should find a miniature 'collie' to put strategically on the ship for 'Charlie'

At the moment, I can't seem to find my pictures of her in the water, but she sure does look real when she's in there ! As for video, I want to make some,and have been thinking of a cool way to show a plane coming in and landing on the deck...hopefully that will work out on film. Charlie you say ? I have plans to do a few diorama's to go with the ship , one being the survivors being picked up by the sea king in the water. Of course Commander Owens would be holding Charlie comming out of the water with the Laurel and Senator Chapman already on board. I have to learn how to do realistic water. Heres a pic of the best looking water I've found but will need to find someone to give a propper tutorial.If I can master that, and it's not too expensive, I always wanted to have a ocean base that she would sit in when displayed, but just lifted out when needed. Actually, the most awesome display I thought up, but was told that unless my last name was Trump, no way possible, would be to make a clear Bottle with a blue accryllic water line that suspended the ship, get it? Ship in a bottle...however being that she is 97" long.....thats one huge ass bottle I'd need.

First off, amazing build, amazing patience and attention to detail!

As for the lights - a lot of PIC programmers use "flashing light sequences" as a basic introductory lesson. If you are willing to splash a little time and cash (I'm guess around $50 USD for a PICkit3 programming unit these days?) then you can make your own - the components themselves should be fairly cheap. You can tweak it to work however you like and It also leads to developing some useful electronics skills for modellers!

Oh, and as for the ship in a bottle - it might not be completely out of reach if you're happy to use a material other than glass...

Hey guys....I know it's been a while. I was working with Jim/aka HYPERDYNE on making a circuit to run the chase lights on the flight deck. after working two straight weekends in a row, all day every day....I finally got her good enough to show progress. It's not perfect, some lights went out already, and one is misplaced but you'll see the great work Jim did with my chase lights....THANKS JIM !!! For the rest of you...I welcome your comments and critisism . I made this crude video and uploaded it on my YouTube channel ...I hope you will all watch it, like it and comment on it on YouTube as well as here...Thanks C.V.N 68 U.S.S.Nimitz - YouTube

OOh, pretty lights! Looks great.