Phil Reeder

Hi Paul. There is a drawing of her camo pattern in the WP RN camo book Vol 1.According to Alan Raven she recieved this pattern in "Late 1940",and was repainted again in March 1941 ,after her mauling at the hands of the Luftwaffe.I can only presume it was to disguise the amount of damage she suffered. Yup AP507A for the Dark Grey. Cheers Phil

At least I`ve made someone happy!! No she had a plain dark grey F/Deck ,with a yellow centreline . I think I might just paint it up as the Repulse!!! Cheers Phil

Hi Paul, I`m pretty sure she had a camo pattern of Lt Grey(AP507C),and Blue Grey (AP507B).I`ve found a photo of her taken from a Swordfish aircraft of No815 sqn ,and this clearly shows a camo pattern .I `ll post it ,when I can get it on Snailbucket.Anyway I`m doing the model in that scheme ,no doubt someone will complain! Just managed to get it on snailbucket,and I tried to enlarge it ,but it didn`t work(as usual): Cheers Phil

After building the marvellous Airfix Swordfish in the markings of No 815 sqn,I thought it would be fitting to do a model of the Illustrious to compliment the aircraft.If you want a larger scale model of an WW2 Illustrious class carrier ,the only ball-game in town is the inaccurate kit by Heller.I orginally built this kit back in 2007,as the Victorious ,and over the years its been knocked around a bit and the model ended up in my "cripples creek",and I was about to scrap it ,but I have been able to dismantle it ,and hopefully rebuild it to represent the Illustrious. When I first built it I had to modifiy all the annoying errors that Heller had put in,firstly the Island is totally wrong in plan shape ,instead of being of an aerofoil section it was tear-drop shaped,thankfully WEM came to the rescue with a correct shaped rear island .All the Pom-Pom ,director ,and searchlight platforms on the sides of the flight-deck,were moulded almost flush with it,instead of being lower down.these was quite easy to correct with the help of the AOTS book on the Victorious.I used the WEM PE set on the orginial build . I plan to do another Swordfish ,from No 819 sqn ,and a 72nd Fulmar to display with the completed shipmodel(fingers crossed) An open message to Trumpeter "PLEASE DO AN ILLUSTRIOUS WW2 CARRIER" in 350th ,it would be a best seller ,and one helluva impressive model!! Cheerio for now Phil The model as first completed as the Victorious Some of the books that I`m useing The model has had the parts removed ,and just the basic hull is left. The hull has been given a coat of Tamiya grey primer

I `m getting worried,I must be suffering a bad case of "Airfix Aircraft Addiction".After enjoying the Seafire so much,I decided to have a go at the Airfix Swordfish.Although I haven`t built a biplane for years ,the last was the Tamiya Stringbag when it first came out.The Airfix is every bit as good ,if not not better in some repects than the Tamiya offering.Again I thoroughly enjoyed the build ,it went together like a dream.The paints I used were: EDGS = Vallejo No 837,DGS=Vallejo No 922,Dk slate Grey = Xtracrylix Lt slate grey= Humbrol no 31.and for the black distemper undersides = Vallejo black/grey.Rigging was done with strecthed sprue ,and the wireless aerial was E-Z line. Well back to my usual comfort zone for my next build. See yer Phil

Skytrex do a range of British subs ,but I don`t know what scale they are: http://www.skytrex.com/533/royal-navy-submarines/ Phil

You`ll be pleased to know ,I found the parts and they now sit in the rear cockpit . No offence taken ,I realize it was a joke . Thanks again for pointing it out Best wishes Phil

I wonder how long it will take before someone does a model of the Hartford in that condition? Wouldn`t like the repair bill!! Regards Phil

Good luck with this one Chewitt,considering this kits age ,it not bad at all!! Cheers Phil

Thanks for pointing that out ,you`ll have to forgive me ,its me age you know !! Thanks Phil

Thanks I was pointed in the same direction from WNSF: It s a shame Airfix haven`t included it their otherwise great kit ,still it should be simple enough to make Thanks again Phil

Fantastic job as usual Remy! Cheers Phil

Has anybody got any photos/plans of the way the Long Range fuel tank was fitted in the rear cockpit of the Stringbag? Thanks in advance Regards Phil

It seems that the paint job on the fin is different on either side,heres a pic I took on Wednesday this week (sorry about the quality): Cheers Phil

A grand job ,Dave.Good model of a good looking ship. Cheers Phil

Pete Hall has posted an update on Steelnavy,I shall have to get saving !! http://members.boardhost.com/Warship/msg/1339795705.html Cheers Phil

I wasn`t satisified with the photos I orginally posted ,so I`ve changed them . That famous blue tablecloth is a much better background!! Many thanks for the comments . Still Happy ,Phil

As a change from the complexity of my usual Battleship builds ,I wanted a straight forward OOB build ,and I chose the Airfix Seafire XVII,and what a kit it is ! It was a joy to put together and for once I had no problems with the paintwork.I used Vallejo 867 blue/gray for the uppersurface EDSG,and I found an old jar of Polly S Sky.It took a week to build and during which time I only dropped one part ,which I soon found without having to grovel on my knees! Because I enjoyed doing this kit so much,today I went out and bought their Sea Vixen kit . Well done Airfix ! Happy Phil

Hi Mark, There are sets of plans in1/192scale of the Ark Royal V at various stages of her life,from a company called Jecobin.These are available from White Ensign Models ,Heres a link: https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/c/Warships/200/1/ Hope this helps Good luck Phil

Yep .thats the one that defected ,in Hunt for Red October. Phil

That is really stunning .I`ve got a Stringbag in the stash,and this has tempted me to have a go,but I doubt very much whether I`d build it to this impeccable standard. In Awe Phil

They are supposed to be doing the USS Oakland ,Atlanta class AA cruiser in 350th,its in their catalogue for 2012.Now that is another one I want,I like the Atlantas! Cheers Phil

It`s a great time to be a ship modeller ,what with Mr Halls forthcoming RN vessels,and all the new stuff from Trumpy,the only problem is finding the time to do them all!,A 350th Tennessee would go down a treat with me . Cheers Phil

Apparently Trumpeter are to release the Pearl Habor survivors ,US ships Tennessee,West Virginia ,Colorado,and Maryland in 700th.They will depict them as of 1943 after their reconstructions.I may be tempted by the Tennessee.Ive always liked that ship after her rebuild Cheers Phil

That is one cracking build Remy,I like the landing craft and the Nelson is Fab! Cheers Phil