[BigGiraffe]

Good Evening,

I picked up this kit on ebay for a very good price a couple years ago. It's quite large and I've been putting it off. Now, I am ready to start on it.

This kit has an insert from Paper Model Company which gives instructions in English, saving me some translation time. They recommend pinning the hull to a 48 inch board during construction to prevent warping. Years ago, I made an N scale model railroad based on a book that suggested using foam core (seems to be called "foam board" these days?) for the base. It worked great, and I've used the concept for other things I've made, including a display stand for a very long plastic model. So I'll be using a foam board base for the Forrestal for both construction and as a permanent display stand.

It seemed anticlimactic to build a huge ship and then spend a long time doing airplanes for it, so I'm making the airplanes first. There are 8 different types, plus tractors and a crane. It appears you could buy a sheet of airplanes, once upon a time, from Paper Model Company. Since I could not find those, I have been scanning the airplane sheet and working to print the patterns in similar color and exact same size. To me, the aircraft carrier needs at least two of each airplane for overall appearance. More would be better, but the limiting factor on this is going to be endurance because these little airplanes have an amazing number of parts. I have a few of the airplanes built and will post them later.

Take care,
Kurt