Great work Rory! And she’s really big - quite a challenge I would imagine to get such a huge deck or surface in general evenly painted. The mottling makes it a bit more lively indeed!
Cheers
Jan
Well my grand plan to get the decals down on the deck this weekend were derailed somewhat. I had exactly enough to do what I needed so I of course immediately screwed up on the very first one.
This led me to deciding to mask and spray. Several hours later I had this:
A few minutes later I ended up with this:
Got to be honest, as annoying as it was, it looks really good. Only minor damage to the safety nets from catching on the tape. Will fix that later. 
Going to gloss coat and let dry and then move onto the next set of markings.
12 Likes
Great save and the sprayed deck markings are going to look so much better anyway…lovely work 
Very nice paint work, I am sure it was worth the effort. Mark 
Painted on markings trump decals every time! They are the “bomb”
If you can do the rest of the main deck markings by painting them on, you’ll lift your build to the next level, Rory 
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I plan to go as many as I can though the main ones are done.
Went back and added the center line today. Need to redo the catapult runs on the angled deck. In reference photos they are shown going over the stripes.
Deck is really started to look interesting Which is good because I am officially tired of painting it. Looking forward to moving on though still a bunch left to do paint and decal wise but I am getting there.
8 Likes
It will be worth the effort Rory 
2 Likes
I’m with the other guys, your painted deck looks like it was better than decals.
Primary masking is complete, thank god. From here on out I am switching to decals.
Last bit of masking.
This turned into this:
And finally, the whole deck.
I have decided I wont follow the instructions and won’t the tiedowns in white. They are only visible like that in earlier photos.
I have also decided that I am naming this model “The Spirit of Enterprise” since I have a configuration and deck markings that seem to span many years. My airwing, as stated above, will be extremely unhistorical. But I guarantee when you look at her when she’s done, you will immediately recognize her
14 Likes
That looks superb Rory
Rory,
your deck with the markings looks excellent! Crisp and sharp!
And those tiedowns - well, granted, this is not Enterprise but JFK in 2001 - were grey. Just as you have them right now.
I really do love the concept “The Spirit of Enterprise” - a very cool idea and a nice way to do this iconic ship justice.
Cheers
Jan
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“The Spirit of Enterprise” is a great idea!. Ships are constantly changing and with aircraft carriers you also have air wing changes, so modeling them “accurately” becomes a challenge of picking a “snap shot” out of a portfolio. That’s especially true for a ship with as long and storied career as Enterprise. Love it!!
Decaling is done and the flight deck markings are completed.
I was a bit disappointed in the decal set as many of the decals were undersized. The decals around the Jet blast deflectors were a case in point. I had to cut them up to get them to fit since they were all one size and the JDB’s on the ship are all different sizes.
You will also see it on the elevators. Some of the lines fit perfectly, and some were too short. Oh well, I plan to cover a lot of flaws with aircraft.
Elevators with unrep markings
The Hormuz patrol visible
She has her number now!
Slightly irritated. The port JBD outline decal drifted a bit after I put on the MicroSol which I didnt catch. Will cover with a parked aircraft.
And finally the whole deck!
Last we shall be seeing of the hull for a while. Its currently put away. Will be working on various hull gubbins like the CIWS, reels etc. Then onto the bridge.
16 Likes
That looks the dogs b*****s Rory… You have smashed the deck and hull out the park buddy
I only know about the elevator markings because you mentioned it… To the unknowns we would of been blissfully ignorant of it… And they still look brilliant…
She looks lovely with the big 65 on show now… I hope they do another Enterprise carrier in the near future… It just seems wrong not to have one …
Fantastic job so far mate
I have good news. USS Enterprise CVN-80 was laid down last year
Will allegedly be in service in 2028.
2 Likes
Excellent
Nice work! Those neatly laid out markings really bring the flight deck to life, and with the aircraft aboard she’s gonna look awesome!
1 Like
That would be cool lol
Rory,
great work on the flight deck, all your masking effort clearly was worth it. It will be a fantastic representation with aircrafts in place!
Cheers
Jan