So? The art department fell off the wagon again and mislabeled the title shot 1:350 scale. The title may say 1:350 scale but it really is not. No, Byoung Dae Lee built a 1:700 scale Trumpeter Nimitz and with his skill added incredible detail to the smaller kit look like a far larger model. Now, let's hear from Mr. Lee.

This is Trumpeter 1/700  scale USS Nimitz. When I heard of the production of this Nimitz kit from Trumpeter, the first idea I thought was the realization of the movie ‘The Final Count Down’. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t realize this idea because I couldn’t find the decals for ‘Nimitz Air Wing’ at that time. But now, I can finally realize the idea. Why? Because of Starfighter Decals. Anyway, I used decals of ‘Carrier Air Wing 8 USS Nimitz 1979-80’ from Starfighter Decals for my Nimitz Air wing.

For detail I used Gold Medal Models Nimitz and Air Wing photo-etch sets and for deck markings, kit decal and GMM supercarrier decals were used. Except using these detail sets, it is almost straight-building. Deck crews are colored-crew set from Eduard. Most aircraft included in kit can be used for my work and additionally I bought Tomcats, Prowlers, Vikings, Corsairs and Greyhounds. Aircraft kits are molded in clear plastic and so dark-colored base painting will be helpful for better results. For canopy masking, I used masking sol from Gunze, but I need more practice. The edge is not clear.

Hull and superstructure are painted with Model Master Acryl ‘Dark Ghost Gray’ and flight deck is with mixture of Tamiya Acryl ‘Dark gray and Black’. Aircraft were painted with Model Master Acryl. After painting, Future was used for coating the surface. Washing and weathering were done with oil paints and finally it was coated with semi-gross clear. My Nimitz was built as the FCD version, but actually I’m not sure if it well represents its appearance in those days.

Byong Dae Lee

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