Adm Lord De Univers

Interesting idea and I do rather like this class so I'll be following along. You may find the following article insightful (particularly the Titanic's rather fetching pinkish hue for antifouling): http://www.titanic-cad-plans.com/color-guide/ David

I personally aim to cut them off as much as possible and stick to some double sided tape, sometimes blu tack, and do in one go with the rest of the build (hull built up as much as possible etc). Also depends on if you need to paint both sides, e.g. floats, lifeboats etc. But to each their own, it's really whatever works for you, although I would say keep in mind how you will be able to get to areas to paint and if stuff will be in the way esp if fragile, needing different colours and minimising masking, and conversely needing to tidy up glue post painting (which I aim to keep to a minimum). Here's the parts to go onto my 1/700 Fletcher, ready for airbrushing (mast ladder needs installing first still) and then installing once that's all done (railing etc is kept on the etch with as much 'sprue' removed as possible): Not a great example as the camo limits how much I can safely put on whilst avoiding my hands of doom rearranging the upperworks. I also try to limit painting sessions and do as much of one thing in one go, but that's also to minimise fumes. David

Depends on what you mean by historically significant, the Royal Navy goes back a fair ways, so the limiting factor is probably going to be your choice of scale and whether you want to do ships in the age of sail, pre-dreadnoughts etc. In terms of battle honours, there is a link on this page: http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/Battle_hons.htm. These transfer so whilst Warspite has a metric ton, its the WW1-2 variant that is the most decorated individual ship. If we're going by famous, Victory, Mary Rose, Warrior are likely in contention due to their museum status as well as actual careers (esp the former) or technological development (esp the latter). But you could make an argument for the Mora (William the Conqueror's flagship, so not RN but still). If you want just powerful brute force, something like the Rodney might be included, any ship that laid waste to the Bismarck is a good contender and is quite unusual looking (and has some quite nice camo). During the period of 'Pax Britannica', there is a whole roster of significant ships that never really saw much action, but are fundamental to development of modern warships, HMS Devastation (first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first whose entire main armament was mounted on top of the hull rather than inside it - wiki) springs to mind. Cool name too. The Nemesis 1839 is another, but I don't think you could really, strictly say RN and good luck finding a model of her, and you may not be content building something so heavily involved in the Opium Wars. If this is what you mean by significant I recommend a trawl through wikipedia and scalemates to find the one(s) you're most interested in. Wiki will detail how the classes lead from one to the other, but be warned you'll be spending more time researching than modelling... Vanguard as the last RN battleship would be another contender and is a looker, Iron Duke as Jellicoe's flagship, the WW1 battlecruisers ofc... and we havent even gotten to non-capital ships. Prince of Wales for the dubious honour of being a modern capital ship sunk whilst underway in open water? Err, Dreadnought as the UK's first SSN, Thomas, Sovereign of the Seas, Henry Grace A'Dieu, Prince, Golden Hind, Revenge, if you want sails...the list goes on and on. So unless you want an armada, you may want to put in some constraints on how big a fleet you want. In terms of single most historical ship, well imo there's only really one contender and she's my profile pic. A grand old lady who despises the knocks of war. David Ps, my profile pic is ofc THE Warspite.

Now that'll brighten up anyone's grey ship collection! Extremely good little dio you've got there. David

I knew you wouldn't be able to resist this beauty of a ship and kit. Poor Belfast, but I think she'd understand the 'ood should always be prioritised. Also, poor your eyes! Sending you beery good luck (beer not included)... David

Well, I guess a shipbuilder prioritising a ship over a plane isn't the most surprising thing ever. So, I'm almost ready to call this one done, depending on time with a Fletcher build more shrapnel than ship. I'm not particularly happy with how it turned out, but it remains fixable at some point down the line, although I need time to get the Fletcher built, so chances are this will be my gallery submission. How would I fix it? Remove that paint (maybe try wire (wool) brushing it and doing a beat up version?), properly repair the tail, etc. I really liked the camo scheme, but not my choice nor application of colours, and I somehow had a bit of a moment with varnish and weathering ordering. Trying further layers of wash or glaze I don't think will blend it to something I prefer, when I tried it, it didn't work well and was largely removed. I've left a 'dirty' layer on, unvarnished. Still, I really enjoyed the kit and if you can find one - it goes together nicely, if you don't mind some understandable (minor) inaccuracies. The rough shape however, well it's unmistakably The Night Hawk, and boy, she looks good, even in armadillo vomit orange! David

Thanks Tim, I'm pretty pleased with them too, although I think there's a good dose of just how good they were to use (modelmaker). The sheer volume means I'll never have any excuses for poor decaling again. David

PK-122 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon / Viper, Turkish NATO Tiger Meet 2015: David

Listen to the howlin' roar... I think I'm calling this one finished, there's more I could do, sure, but I'm really hesitant about detracting from those stripes or (more likely) somehow conspiring to ruin them altogether. So, for now at least, she can go up on the shelf. I have the honour to be, Your obedient Servant, Flying Admiral Lord D'Univers* (*fake titles may be self-bestowed)

Is it just me as a newbie flying-ship modeller or do you all start hearing Kenny Loggins as you approach the finish line? Probably just me... Anyway, revvin' up the engines: Yeah, so I chickened out of painting the nose cone grey. I'm telling myself I prefer it this way, plus I didn't damage those decals... David

Guten tag Baron, I'd always suggest giving scalemates.com a browse, theres reviews on there and links below to matching aftermarket sets, but if 1/700 I'd recommend looking at flyhawk offerings, I have a 1/350 Bismarck by revell that's quite good (although I have started it yet it looks quite amazing). David

Stunning. David

Hiyo Jon, doubt it (you'd prob have to cut out extra deck fittings even if it did largely align), but flyhawk produce the wood deck themselves (FH710124 - which is what I think @ERK used for their build) or you could go for the shipyard works (700118) version which I think also comes with masks. Flyhawk also sell masks separately. David

Very interesting topic Jeff, I think I'll follow along! David

Simply amazing. David

Not sure what I can add to what others haven't already stated, she's an imposing and graceful ship, one of my favourites too, and boy have you done her proud. David

The forecastle (fo'c'sle)? Either way, looking mighty impressive here Steve! David

That they did Jeff, and a 'swimming' pool (it was quite small, more like a plunge pool for post sauna), and gym. I've even heard of aviaries and video arcade/cinema. I believe these areas were initially used for storage, so it is likely they weren't in use at the beginning of journeys. I'm unsure but seem to recall the sauna was heated via one of the reactors. There's a YouTube video walkthrough of one of these somewhere, quite fascinating. David

Unbelievable. That really is a masterpiece. As @coneheadff says, that water looks completely real, the only downside is that you didn't do a build log of it. The Burke though, oh my. I've been zooming in on this beast and if you can get a shot without the table or something in the background, looks like a photo of the real thing. My favourite part though? It's the foredeck capstan (I know, I'm sorry, and yes I did see the mast, rigging/aerials etc), but the weathering on such a small piece is just so lifelike that it underscores just how good this build is. Third ship in? Hopefully you've got another one in the works. David

A fantastic little diorama there Chewie, it has come out particularly well. The (Type 965?) radar is a thing of beauty, but it's difficult to pick out only standout thing due to how much is going on and the quality of all the work. Really impressive build, if you're entering a competition, send the judges my way if you dont somehow win everything in sight! David

Another great build here as well Dave, if I recall correctly one of the main drawbacks of the class was the lack of space or top weight for enough directors of their excessive armament - always struck me as a uniquely American situation - and this shows off that 'problem' well, she looks armed to the teeth. David

Excellent little ship Dave, and really crisp paint job to boot! David

Much better, pics now appear for me and that island is looking mighty impressive! David

They also seem to periodically alter the shapes and tones (although that could be my memory or weather/light levels), sometimes slightly, sometimes not so slightly. I'll ask when I get there and send them Jamie's way to correct. Imagine those sales though! I'm sure the rest of us would never see NARN 21, 22, 23, 33, 34, RN24, CO2, nor CO3 again! And not sure how even my Iwata would hold up painting a 1:1 ship. David

Ditto, more photos if you please! David