USS Nimitz Build and conversion to Radio Control

[Mcgowan1]

Nimitz conversion.

Hello shipmates, just advising that I have converted Nimitz to the twin Vector drive system. I have yet to put her into the water for testing but OK in the bath tub. I had to reduce battery power to 7.2v but might have to drop her down to 6v if she moves too quickly as throttle does not permit slow. I will post pictures soon.

Hello Shipmates, I thought I might make a start re the Nimitz and her build. If I am in the wrong section of the forum perhaps the moderators will fix it up and position it correctly.
Lets start with a History of Nimitz so we know what is happening and a few pictures of the actual carrier.
USS Nimitz (CVN-68)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

USS Nimitz (CVN-68) at sea near San Diego, CA Name: USS Nimitz Namesake: Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Ordered: 31 March 1967 Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Laid down: 22 June 1968 Launched: 13 May 1972 Commissioned: 3 May 1975 Reclassified: CVN-68 Homeport: Naval Station Everett Motto: Teamwork, a Tradition Nickname: "Old Salt" Status: In active service as of 2012 Badge: Class & type: Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Displacement: 100,020 tonnes (110,250 short tons)[1] Length: Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m) Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m) Beam: Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m) Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m) Draft: Maximum navigational: 37 ft (11.3 m) Limit: 41 ft (12.5 m) Propulsion: 2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors 4 × steam turbines 4 × shafts 260,000 shp (194 MW) Speed: 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h)[2] Range: Unlimited distance; 20-25 years Complement: Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480 Sensors and processing systems: AN/SPS-48E 3-D air search radar AN/SPS-49(V)5 2-D air search radar AN/SPQ-9B target acquisition radar AN/SPN-46 air traffic control radars AN/SPN-43C air traffic control radar AN/SPN-41 landing aid radars 4 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems 4 × Mk 95 radars Electronic warfare & decoys: SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures suite SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures Armament: 2 × 21 cell Sea RAM 2 × Mk 29 Sea Sparrow Armor: Classified Aircraft carried: 90 fixed wing and helicopters

LUSS Nimitz (CVN-68) is a supercarrier of the United States Navy, and is the lead ship of her class. She is one of the largest warships in the world. She was laid down, launched and commissioned as CVAN-68 but was redesignated CVN 68 (nuclear-powered multimission aircraft carrier) on 30 June 1975 as part of the fleet realignment of that year.
The ship was named for World War II Pacific fleet commander Chester W. Nimitz, who was the navy’s third fleet admiral. Unlike all subsequent Nimitz class aircraft carriers, Nimitz only uses her namesake's surname as is common for military officers. She is also the first carrier of her class and the most recent supercarrier in service not to be named for someone who held elected office in the United States.
Nimitz was homeported at Naval Station Norfolk until 1987, when she was relocated to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Following her Refueling and Complex Overhaul in 2001, her homeport was changed to NAS North Island in San Diego, California. Nimitz home port was again changed toEverett, Washington in 2012. This move is expected to save the navy $100 million.^[3]

Contents [hide] 1 Construction 2 Nimitz Carrier Strike Group 2.1 Ships of DESRON-23 2.2 Squadrons of CVW-11 3 Service history 3.1 1970s 3.2 1980s 3.3 1990s 3.4 2000s 3.5 2010s 3.6 Eventual Replacement 4 In popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

I have been working away at Nimitz for a while now. As I live in Outback Queensland my closes town with any sort of decent Hobby shop is approx 500 kilometres away from me so using the auctions I have to wait at least 2 - 3 weeks for orders for things such as paint and other modelling implements. This causes delays in the build and also drives me insane haha.
Anyhow I will post some earlier pictures of Nimitz from the start of her build.
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These pictures were the start of the Carrier. You will note the F14's sitting on the rear of the Flight deck. I have modelled Nimitz going through a transitional phase of her career and she is not the version that Trumpeter released as standard but I have upgraded the Aircraft keeping up to date with the 90's onwards.
I will leave it at that for the moment and start to take pictures of how she is now progressing since these photographs were taken. - Thank you - Armo

[Mcgowan1]

Hello Shipmates, I thought I might make a start re the Nimitz and her build. If I am in the wrong section of the forum perhaps the moderators will fix it up and position it correctly.
Lets start with a History of Nimitz so we know what is happening and a few pictures of the actual carrier.
USS Nimitz (CVN-68)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

USS Nimitz (CVN-68) at sea near San Diego, CA Name: USS Nimitz Namesake: Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Ordered: 31 March 1967 Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Laid down: 22 June 1968 Launched: 13 May 1972 Commissioned: 3 May 1975 Reclassified: CVN-68 Homeport: Naval Station Everett Motto: Teamwork, a Tradition Nickname: "Old Salt" Status: In active service as of 2012 Badge: Class & type: Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Displacement: 100,020 tonnes (110,250 short tons)[1] Length: Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m) Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m) Beam: Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m) Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m) Draft: Maximum navigational: 37 ft (11.3 m) Limit: 41 ft (12.5 m) Propulsion: 2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors 4 × steam turbines 4 × shafts 260,000 shp (194 MW) Speed: 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h)[2] Range: Unlimited distance; 20-25 years Complement: Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480 Sensors and processing systems: AN/SPS-48E 3-D air search radar AN/SPS-49(V)5 2-D air search radar AN/SPQ-9B target acquisition radar AN/SPN-46 air traffic control radars AN/SPN-43C air traffic control radar AN/SPN-41 landing aid radars 4 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems 4 × Mk 95 radars Electronic warfare & decoys: SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures suite SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures Armament: 2 × 21 cell Sea RAM 2 × Mk 29 Sea Sparrow Armor: Classified Aircraft carried: 90 fixed wing and helicopters

USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is a supercarrier of the United States Navy, and is the lead ship of her class. She is one of the largest warships in the world. She was laid down, launched and commissioned as CVAN-68 but was redesignated CVN 68 (nuclear-powered multimission aircraft carrier) on 30 June 1975 as part of the fleet realignment of that year.
The ship was named for World War II Pacific fleet commander Chester W. Nimitz, who was the navy’s third fleet admiral. Unlike all subsequent Nimitz class aircraft carriers, Nimitz only uses her namesake's surname as is common for military officers. She is also the first carrier of her class and the most recent supercarrier in service not to be named for someone who held elected office in the United States.
Nimitz was homeported at Naval Station Norfolk until 1987, when she was relocated to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Following her Refueling and Complex Overhaul in 2001, her homeport was changed to NAS North Island in San Diego, California. Nimitz home port was again changed toEverett, Washington in 2012. This move is expected to save the navy $100 million.^[3]

Contents [hide] 1 Construction 2 Nimitz Carrier Strike Group 2.1 Ships of DESRON-23 2.2 Squadrons of CVW-11 3 Service history 3.1 1970s 3.2 1980s 3.3 1990s 3.4 2000s 3.5 2010s 3.6 Eventual Replacement 4 In popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

I have been working away at Nimitz for a while now. As I live in Outback Queensland my closes town with any sort of decent Hobby shop is approx 500 kilometres away from me so using the auctions I have to wait at least 2 - 3 weeks for orders for things such as paint and other modelling implements. This causes delays in the build and also drives me insane haha.
Anyhow I will post some earlier pictures of Nimitz from the start of her build.


These pictures were the start of the Carrier. You will note the F14's sitting on the rear of the Flight deck. I have modelled Nimitz going through a transitional phase of her career and she is not the version that Trumpeter released as standard but I have upgraded the Aircraft keeping up to date with the 90's onwards.
I will leave it at that for the moment and start to take pictures of how she is now progressing since these photographs were taken. - Thank you - Armo

[herrmill]

Probably 2014 at this point but it does sound like its a go if dealers are already talking pre-order.

No, but check out the link I just posted under the old 1/144 Arizona thread. Looks like you'd best clear some shelf space since you'll be busy far into your retirement!

[Slats]

BTW, Trumpeter appears to be working on a 1:200 Hornet, Doolittle Raid version which would look nice alongside their Arizona.

Oh gawd - when? Got any sneak pics Chuck? Any other drugs in the works I should know about?

J

[herrmill]

Here's a great site for any CV fan. The forum is currently down but you'll want to bookmark for reference; many excellent builds to be seen there.

http://www.carrierbuilders.net

BTW, Trumpeter appears to be working on a 1:200 Hornet, Doolittle Raid version which would look nice alongside their Arizona.

[Slats]

Thank you John for your kind welcome and much appreciated. Yes I was in fast electrics until someone knocked on my door thanking me for helping him in getting his boat to go much faster. He handed me the Trumpeter model of the Nimitz and from then on I was hooked so to say. So much detail that I enjoy it very much. I just have to get the hang of these ETCH parts I am having trouble with deck railings etc but I will plod on. I do like the conversions and although not the best modeller in the world, they all look and perform great on the water which is their environment after all. Paintwork all done by hand some might be a bit rough but not too bad. I might invest in an airbrush setup this year later on. I currently have 4 ships which still need final finishing with upgrade parts if I can get the hang of it, and still 2 to build and convert being the USS Missouri and the CV-10 Carrier Yorktown. I will be taking pictures of Nimitz this weekend not finished as I am waiting for one of those headset magnifiers for the decals on some of the aircraft which are beyond my normal sight even with glasses haha. I joined the forum to learn and enjoy the Submarine side of things but did not realize the cost of some of the items. I will do the Skipjack or the Gato but being a pensioner will have to save my pennies each fortnight and do it bit by bit.
I will purchase the Kit via internet and then save for the other equipment plus postage to purchase from Caswell. I really look forward to becoming part of the forum and I am sure I can offer some help re Warships and obtain information re Submarines from all the Submariners out there. Ok that's about it, Nickname is Armo so thanks again John and look forward to your help and advice throught my association with the Forum.
Armo

All abilities are welcome here mate.

Yep hobby is costly, but I can attest to the fact that the sub parts here are soooo worth it. You get payback in terms of reliability, customer service, and product support.
I have had all sorts of "home brew" water tight cylinders, in the long run these don't save you money compared with the reliability, longevity and enjoyment you will get from the SD range...Anyway didn't want that to sound like an ad for Mike, - but its true.

Mike also stocks the 1/144 Model ship kits, - had a couple of these myself - beautiful. I like these kits as you get a large scale subject in a manageable size.
Am eyeing off the Trumpter 1/200 Bismark. Works out at under $300 landed in Australia from Hong Kong.

Best

John

[Mcgowan1]

Thank you John for your kind welcome and much appreciated. Yes I was in fast electrics until someone knocked on my door thanking me for helping him in getting his boat to go much faster. He handed me the Trumpeter model of the Nimitz and from then on I was hooked so to say. So much detail that I enjoy it very much. I just have to get the hang of these ETCH parts I am having trouble with deck railings etc but I will plod on. I do like the conversions and although not the best modeller in the world, they all look and perform great on the water which is their environment after all. Paintwork all done by hand some might be a bit rough but not too bad. I might invest in an airbrush setup this year later on. I currently have 4 ships which still need final finishing with upgrade parts if I can get the hang of it, and still 2 to build and convert being the USS Missouri and the CV-10 Carrier Yorktown. I will be taking pictures of Nimitz this weekend not finished as I am waiting for one of those headset magnifiers for the decals on some of the aircraft which are beyond my normal sight even with glasses haha. I joined the forum to learn and enjoy the Submarine side of things but did not realize the cost of some of the items. I will do the Skipjack or the Gato but being a pensioner will have to save my pennies each fortnight and do it bit by bit.
I will purchase the Kit via internet and then save for the other equipment plus postage to purchase from Caswell. I really look forward to becoming part of the forum and I am sure I can offer some help re Warships and obtain information re Submarines from all the Submariners out there. Ok that's about it, Nickname is Armo so thanks again John and look forward to your help and advice throught my association with the Forum.
Armo

[Slats]

Welcome,

you'll find that Subdriver's accommodates a lot of target construction, looks from your post that you like RC plastic kit conversion too.

Enjoy.

John

[Mcgowan1]

Hello fellow shipmates. My first posting today and I will soon be posting pictures of the USS Nimitz the Trumpeter kit. I am nearly finished the Carrier but not the conversion so when I post the build it will be pictures of how she is looking at this time.
I will purchase new batteries for the camera and will get started probably on Sunday, so hope you enjoy.
These are pictures of the Trumpeter Admiral Kutsenov.