CVN-65 Enterprise

Steven Van Dyck Auteur
I found this old seventies Otaki CVN-65 Enterprise kit, but to upgrade it to modern standards there are some challenges. It didn't have the airwing but I found somebody willing to part with a dedicated Arii set for it. I will be receiving it in march 2023. There is also no PE for this kit, so at first I was happy to encounter an interesting eBay bid and mail the 1/350 basic GMM Taniya set for only 18 euros. Sadly this is made for a post-overhaul Enterprise with the new island design, so it's not very useful for my kit. Then I contacted Revell Germany and they were willing to sell me the 1/400 PE set designed for the Aurora Enterprise they reboxed with it as a premium kit. Though not completely fitting, this will very much improve the model. Another coincidence is the 2022 edition of new L'Arsenal F-14 fighters on many scales, and they had 1/400. So I ordered 10 of these and made a Scalemates product page for this, somebody else is going to have to add the other scales... Things to look out for are crewmembers and maybe some decals, because in the kit these are just stickers.

Steven Van Dyck Auteur
Many other types of airplanes were added today. It was also announced that some decal sets would be produced by L'Arsenal later this year.shipmodels.info/mws_..hp?f=16&t=377091

Steven Van Dyck Auteur
I added the helicopters, fire trucks and the Navy personnel. Thanks to L'Arsenal to send me an extra pack of regular positioned personnel x80!

Steven Van Dyck Auteur
An order is placed with L'Arsenal to print the 1/350 Enterprise resin hangar parts for Tamiya in 1/400. These should fit with some adaptations in the Otaki hull. The main problem is that Tamiya made their model as a box with both front starboard elevators in line. My model should be better with a curve in the hull and an angle in the elevators. They would also provide decals in 1/400 but I will have to scratch the PE parts.