ManCave Modeler Presents...

U.S.S. Saratoga, CV-60    
1/144 Scale

The Ship:

The Forrestal Class Aircraft Carrier were the first class of supercarriers, combining high tonnage, deck-edge elevators and and full integration of the angled deck. This new class os ships had a substantionally larger air wing of 80–100 jet aircraft, compared to their predecessors (50–75 for the Midway and Essex classes)

Ordered as a "Large Aircraft Carrier", hull number CVB-60, Saratoga was reclassified as an "Attack Aircraft Carrier" (CVA-60), 1 Oct 1952. Laid down 16 Dec 1952, launched 8 Oct 1955, commissioned 14 Apr 1956.
Saratoga was again reclassified as a "Multi-purpose Aircraft Carrier" (CV-60), 30 Jun 1972 Originally laid down as axial deck carrier Saratoga was converted to an angled deck ship while under construction.
Commissioned in 1956, she spent most of her career in the Mediterranean, but also participated during the Vietnam War, receiving one battle star for her service.
One of her last operational duties was to participate in Operation Desert Storm.

Saratoga was decommissioned in 1994,

Type:Forrestal class Aircraft Carrier
Displacement:81,00 tons
Length:1063 ft
Beam at waterline:130 ft Beam at flight deck:252 ft
Draft:37 ft
Speed:35 knots
Complement:552 officers, 4988 men
 
Armament:
8 × 5"/54 caliber Mk 42 guns
    (removed)
NATO Sea Sparrow
Phalanx CIWS
Aircraft carried:70-90


The Build:

Since there are no aftermarket parts for this, it's strictly an out of box build.
There are relatively few parts hence not a lot of fine details. The hull is split down the middle and the inside is scored for cutting at the waterline, with a plate that fits in for structural strength. the elevators are also deeply scored allowing for flexability in location should the modeler choose to display these in a lowered position

The kit comes with many of aircraft types that served aboard. I kept it minimal, F-14's of VF-103 "Sluggers" in the older Light Gull Gray over white Camo and F/A 18's from VFA81 "Sunliners" in the newer Ghost Grey Camo. I believe both these groups served aboard the Saratoga during the Gulf War.
There are radio whip antenna on both sides of the flight deck. The ones in the kit would be roughly the diameter of two telephone poles in real ife so I didn't use them. I cut them off at the base and used stretched sprue instead.

It's unfortunate there are no aftermarket sets available for this scale kit (at least not the I was able to find)
I tried some 1/700 railings but they were way oversized, even with the third rail removed.

A few build Photos


 


Final Thoughts...

This is one of six kits Italeri puts out in the 720 scale, and the only Forrestal Class carrier on the market that I'm aware of. A decent kit for short money . It comes with enough different types of aircraft for most of it's service life, from F-4 Phantoms through the F/A 18 Hornets. The kit went together quickly with minimal flash on the parts.
The relatively low price and ease of assembly make this a nice kit for a newer modeler


My two cents worth


Colors list
Topside 36270 Haze Gray
Flight Deck 37031 Dk Gray
Hull bottom 10076 Oxide Red
Boottop, Masts 37038 Black

Aircraft
F-14 Tomcat
A-7 Corsairs
36440 Lt Gull Gray
37875 White
F-18 Hornet 36320 Dk Ghost Gray

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Last Updated August 2 2018