1/350 Scale USS Enterprise CVN-80 Ford Class Carrier

This is my build of the 3rd Ford Class carrier, the USS Enterprise, CVN-80 whose first steel was cut in the summer of 2017.

Her sister, and 1st in class, the USS Gerald R. Ford, CVN-78, was commissioned this year. The second in class, USS John F. Kennedy, CVN-79 is well under construction to be launched in 2018 from Newport News and commissioned in 2020. The Enterprise will follow.

The USS Enterprise carrier name is the most famous carrier name in history. USS Enterprise, CV-6, served throughout World War II and earned more battle stars and battle awards than any ship, of any type in US History.

The USS Enterprise, CVN-65, was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and served on the seas of this earth for 52 years, from launching in 1960 to decommissioning in 2012.

The USS Enterprise will be, with the other Ford carriers and other ships (like the Zumwalt destroyers and another new classes, be capable of powering the new, high tech weaponry the US Navy will be introducing in the 2020s including laser defenses and railgun defenses in addition to her Phalanx, RAM< and ESSM defenses.

There is no model kit for this vessel yet so I am taking the Trumpeter 1/350 scale USS Nimitz class model and converting it into a Ford class carrier. There is a LOT of work to do in order to make that happen.

The entire stern must be rebuilt. the starboard elevator has to be removed and the structure there rebuilt. The island is completely different and must be rebuilt.

I also intend to put a futuristic airwing on the model consisting of F-35C strike aircraft, but well into their service. The Superhornets will be gone and replaced by two different versions of 6th generation fighter F/X-XX aircraft, one from Grumman and the other from Boeing. I will be using E-2D Super Hawkeyes and the new CV-22M COD aircraft.

I also intend to place both laser and railgun defense station on the vessel, as well as her other defenses. This will be the most heavily point defense vessel in US history as I am building her.

Here is the Nimitz class Island compared to the Ford island to show what needs to be done:



The Nimitz carrier Island


The Ford Class island

Pictures of the Ford Class:





This shows pretty well the areas of the vessel that need to be rebuilt.

I will continue with the thread. I am well into the construction, having completed the hangar and waiting on the Led lighting for it. I also have completed the stern, and have the island ready to place on the vessel and detail as you shall see.

I have also purchased and done the initial painting of the airwing, and have detailed the aircraft now in the hangar.

Here is the kit with a lot of the extras I purchased for it in terms of the phot etch railing and sensors. I will show other parts, several from suppliers at Shapeways 3D which is a company that specializes in small manufacturers doing 3-D painting and making their pieces available to the public. I have found several who are willing to make aircraft carrier parts in 1/350 scale like the internal panels for the hangar, the sponsons for the Ford class, etc.

Here is the airwing, most of it from Shapeways 3D manufacturers, but some from Trumpeter for 1/350 models of the Hawkeye, the CVM-22 COD aircraft, etc.

Here I am taking portions of the model away and rebuilding things to get ready for the Ford class changes needed to convert a Nimitz into a Ford class, including adding new parts and portions so as to remake the aft portion of the flight deck:

Here is the building of the large additions to the aft portion of the ship to get the large new sections housing more equipment, maintenance, and other room for working with the aircraft and other new equipment:




This is showing how the aft portion looks, like the actual Ford, with the large, wide, after section of the ship. Still lots of smoothing and sanding needed there...but it is coming together.

Now it was time to get the wiring into the ship for the eventual lighting of the hangar deck, as well as getting the main part of the deck onto the ship...I painted the hull while doing this as well:

I then added the first few sponsons for various weapons systems, including the forward port, the aft port and starboard, and the aft sponson for the Phalanx:

Time to paint more on the hull and to get the flight deck painted:



Also wanted to add the unfinished aircraft to see how they would fit on the deck alone:

More painting and sanding to get the hull and sponsons that are on their looking better, as well as touching up the aft end:

Now it was time to build out the side portion to starboard where the elevator was taken off of the Ford class. first a pic of how it looks now on the actual ship, and then my building of the new area:



She's looking pretty good there...still needs some touch-up paint and sanding...but that will come.