1/350 Trumpeter CVN-80 Enterprise

[Phil Smith]

Oy. So I started another project a little bit ago using the new Trumpeter 1/350 USS Ford kit, which is lovely. Instead of the Ford, I'll be building the Enterprise, which goes to sea in a few years. On the one hand, that means I have free reign. On the bad side, this means my model will be all kinds of wrong in terms of representing the real thing when she sets off on her first voyage. But who cares!

 

I've never built a model of a ship before, so there are a lot of unknowns to sift through. One icky bit is that ships go through overhauls and change constantly. In this case, it won't be much of a concern. I'm not entirely clear how airwings get assigned to ships or how this is reflected on aircraft markings, even though I understand these move as composite groups between ships. And like with German WWII paint jobs, there is quite a bit discussion regarding colors on modern US Navy ships. In sum, I'm not going to lose too much sleep over these issues and just have a ball. 

 

The kit, as I say, is lovely. Oddly, while the kit comes with the floor of the hangar deck, that is precisely all you get for the hangar. But that's okay because I love to scratchbuild. I started with that, using what scant info I could find on the USS Ford's hangar, filling in gaps with imagination. Of course, a bunch of aircraft and people and stuff will be in the hangar, so I also got a start on the airwing. The kit comes with a slew of F-18s, a handful of F-35Cs, a couple of E-2Ds, some helicopters, and a couple of MV-22s. These little planes are molded pretty well, but the canopies will need to be cast using clear resin, gear doors need to be scrathcbuilt, and so forth - all no big deal and add to the fun. Decals are iffy since they depict wings that are or will be on the Ford, not Enterprise. I guess I'll figure that out later. 

 

Anyway, in addition to a small aircraft manufacturing site in my basement, I now also have a dry dock.  The first photo shows the new kit next to the old Tamiya 1/350 CVN-65, which I started soem 25 years ago and may get to some day. The kit is a bear, while the new one is much more of a pleasure to build. I'm not entirely clear why. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2025 by Phil Smith

[LSP_K2]

Nice! The Ford is very attractive, aside from the island being so far aft. 

[LSP_Ron]

I think you meant the Trumpeter USS Ford not Tamiya?

[Phil Smith]

1 hour ago, LSP_Ron said:

I think you meant the Trumpeter USS Ford not Tamiya?

You are quite right   Thanks for correction

[The Madhatter]

Awesome start! I've really been enjoying making ship kits for a few years now and as much as id like a 350th GRF, I have no shelf space to display that behemoth. Ive settled for the 700 version. With PE. Yes, I  do hate myself.

 

PE can be an intense PITA to make and attach, especially the smaller bits, but very rewarding in terms if aesthetic detailing. 

 

Haze Grey/Gray (take your pick on spelling) is the general colour of USN ships, including carriers.  

 

If you want too jazz up the internal hanger bay, 3D Wild offer hangar kits from their resin release of the same ship a couple of years ago. Or, you could scratch build one, but good luck with that!

 

As for fit outs etc, just choose a year and go with it. It's highly unlikely that it will be viewed by a nerd with a calculator to count the rivets and angles of parts and then proclaim that your build is so wrong etc etc. 

 

For heaps of useful information about any ship, check out model warships.com. 

I'll be tuning into this build for sure

Keep us posted!

Simon 

[Phil Smith]

There appears to be no smallscaleplanes.com anywhere, so I'll post these here. This is an F-35C for the Enterprise. I spent entirely too much time on one of these little things, with 70+ to go (most will be F-18 variants, of course). Madness.

 

The aircraft is from the kit, with the canopy cut out and replaced with a resin cast (my first foray into resin casting using a mold, which worked marvelously). Obviously, I used a clear resin, but added a little yellow food coloring.

 

I also added external stores from l'Arsenal, which are excellent. I'm not terribly worried about accuracy in the sense that the F-35C configuration likely to be added to CVN-80 in the 2030s is up in the air at this point.

 

I added gear doors using thin sheet plastic. This is way better than using photoetch, in my opinion. 

 

Finally, I painted the aircraft using Vallejo Air colors, with Ocean Gray (71.273) as overall and Dark Ghost Gray (71.120) for details. Decals are from the kit and responded well to decal set.

 

Many, many more to go. I hope I don't burn out...

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2025 by Phil Smith

[LSP_Ray]

70? Insane!

 

Those will be impressive on the finished model!

[LSP_Ron]

The best way not to burn out on little planes is to realize there is a ship required before all those planes are needed.😃

[Phil Smith]

I've made a little bit of progress on the hangar bay, focusing on the walls and forward section specifically. Painting is challenging, as I knew it would be given the detailed relief on the walls and complex footprint on the deck floor. I also tend to paint full assemblies instead of individual elements before assembly, which also makes painting difficult. But, I think it pays off in the long run.

 

I also built plane #2, an EA-18G. Casting the canopies is not easy, mainly because I'm learning how to do this efficiently and without bubbles. These particular aircraft will be visible on the flight deck given the attention I've given them. My intention in building the aircraft destined for the hangar is that they will not receive the same level of care because it took each of these a good 5-6 hours of work. But I know myself well and when it comes to scale modeling I get carried away...

 

 

[Iain]

Wonderfully sharp work Phil!

 

Iain

[LSP_Ray]

Amazing detail, Phil! That F-18 is awesome, too!

[Javlin1]

Some Nice work going on here luv those hangers!

[Phil Smith]

Got these little guys from ION - "Modern US Navy Carrier Personnel & Pilots." These are great - 3D printed and...wait for it...they are 3D. Easy to paint. Not so easy to glue into place 😃

   

 

Edited November 25, 2025 by Phil Smith

[Zola25]

Really nice work

 

I am still hoping that Trumpeter will release a modern carrier in 1/200

[Alan P]

That's great work on the interior hangar bulkheads! It really amazes me how Trumpeter produce airplane kits with tons of completely unnecessary and mostly invisible interior detail which most modellers would throw out, but their aircraft carriers never include any hangar details which most modellers would like to use 🤔