Trumpeter 1/350 USS Gerald R. Ford: Who's buying/building one?

Modeling Subjects Ships
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As much as I wish I could afford the new Trumpeter 1/350 scale USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier model, I have to say that I’m going to have to pass on it. I just can’t afford the $400+ cost. :cry:

So who else is planning to get this beast? Or is anybody currently building it right now? What do you think of it? The good, the bad, and the ugly?

Squadron did an unboxing of the kit weeks ago.

If anybody is looking for good reference photos of the carrier to use when building and painting, this link has some really great pics.

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I’m not much of a ship guy - built the USS Lexington CV-2 and USS Texas BB-35. They take up a lot of space when going with 350th scale. Having said that, I’d build this beast if I had $400 burning a hole in my pocket and the space to display it.

Or I’d get a USS Harry S Truman just for the chance to model this shot:

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:rofl:

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Too big,too expensive,especially if you add the AM to make it right.

I did IJN Akagi for $225.00 dont want to almost double that.

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Hard pass, at the very least if I want to build a Ford class ill wait until Enterprise is online.

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I love building ship models but I’d pass on this one. Too expensive and too modern. Sailing and WWII are my two favorite times. I’ll wait for the 1/200 Fletcher Class destroyers to get restocked.

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Aggieman, it is USS Lexington CV-2 not CVN-2 as not nuclear powered as CVN-65 USS Enterprise was the 1st nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the world.

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I used to build aircraft carriers as a kid. I glued them together with the sloppy glue. I never painted them. Then I flew the tiny aircraft around.

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@ffg7 Well I did say I’m not really a ship guy😀

Thanks for the clarification.

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I got mine from Squadron at $350ish and now they’re up over $500 even before tariffs, so I count myself lucky. I’ve got a hangar deck on order from 3D-Wild but it will be awhile before glue meets styrene.

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I wished I had the room for something like that as it would be a definite yes.

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Built it earlier this year. Very nice kit, a lot more detailed than Tamiya’s old Enterprise. One piece deck. Added 3D Wild’s aircraft.

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Nicely done and welcome to the forums. I would like to build this, but would have to add an extra room onto my house to make room for it!

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I was looking at it at a hobby shop today and almost bought it right then and there. Only the fact it wouldn’t fit I’m my suitcase saved the day (I’m traveling right now). I’ll likely build this one day. I’m a jet aircraft (mostly USMC and USN) kinda guy and have never built a ship like this but… It’s an aircraft carrier, with a bunch of jets, so it is officially in my genre!

The cost doesn’t bother me, as I would expect this to take me a solid year and 100s of hours of fun to build, so that is cheep in the long run.