AIRCRAFT CARRIER - BIG SCALE

It is rare for anyone to suggest that John Ruddle's 54mm Fleets were constructed on "too small a scale". The United States Navy (inevitably) may be one such, however:

The caption of this 1972 UPI press photo reads:

"St. Louis, MO - The "Enterprise Jr.", a 53 foot miniature 'aircraft carrier' used by the US Navy Recruiting Service, cruises the Mississippi River at St. Louis recently (April 18th). The miniature 'Flat top" - manned by five Navy recruiters - was seen berthed on Pusey Sound at Seattle, Washington, for the last five years. It is en route to Omaha, Nes., for use in Midwest Recruiting efforts. The craft left New Orleans May 5th and is due in Omaha about May 31st. Slowed by high water and a strong current, the 225 horsepower craft has been making about six miles per hour as it arrived in the St. Louis area."

In the "BIG Carrier Competition", the USN's "Enterprise Jr.", at 53 foot, seems about the same scale as the 1/15 model aircraft carriers used in Hollywood's 1970 epic "Tora, Tora, Tora":

For some info on the 1/15 USS Nevada from "Tora, Tora, Tora" (and the teeny-tiny VBCW aircraft carrier built by LAF Akula), see HERE