Rob 1

Lovely job on this Anson (one of my favorite utility aircraft).

This is incredible work in 1:35 - well done indeed.

That's an excellent finish!

That's an exceptional build, great detail and finishing. the end product looks superb.

I built the aircraft up after pre drilling the holes in the lower half of the top wing, but omitted the upper half of the top wing. I threaded each line through those tiny holes, pulled them tight one by one, put a dab of standard polysterene cement over each hole/threaded end, turned the aircraft up-side-down and clipped a mini clothes peg to each dangling line end to keep them all taught while the glue set overnight. The upper half of the top wing then nicely covered all the glued ends. First time I've done it this way but works well. May do some WWI planes in the future using this method. This is the drill set I use for all modelling work (available at Hobbycraft stores), as the thicker shaft doesn't need a driller, all holes can be done by rotating between finger and thumb. The smallest drill is good for rigging lines.

Looks good, and looks a real mean machine with all that armament. It must look pretty impressive in the flesh at that size (1:24).

Thanks all for your comments. The rigging is E Z Line (fine), as it has elasticity it can be fitted with just a small amount of tension and they stay taught, and survive any amount of being caught or knocked. It was fitted by drilling fine holes in the wings and fuselage, and glued on the inside faces. I would warn anyone using this that spraying Halfords primer after completing the rigging was a big mistake, lesson learned: better to prime the parts first before assembly with the rigging.

I haven't built an airplane for while, so to add to a few trainer types I already have, had a go at this new Revell 1:48 'Stearman' kit, which is an interesting (and colorful) subject of a classic primary trainer of it's time, and is such a good basic aircraft that they've been in fairly widespread civilian use ever since. There's some nice HD videos on You Tube of this type being flown.

Planning to move on to Vietnam conflict modelling, so this certainly could be one for the future.

That's super, I love it.

That is a really nicely laid out and well finished diorama, one of the best finished of these big old Airfix kits. The armour and figures are really good too, the whole thing would work well for a high quality wargame skirmish.

That's a good thought provoking build - I recall this event back then, and remember the scurge of the Exocets which we seemed poorly prepared for at the time. I believe all the fleet ships were fitted with Corvus chaff dispensers then, which was used successfully in the conflict; could this have been the what AB Jillings fired off? which could result in partly pulling the missile up/away from the waterline as described. Post edit - just found the link below to be of interest: https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1982/1982 - 1960.PDF

Just catching on this build - wow! it has come on really well, looking impressive now.

It's a shame there's very little available in 1:350 for late R.N. 6" cruisers (apart from Belfast), but this scratch build is an excellent remedy, and a real top class build so far. Also the finish and weathering look top rate too, well done!

Just to close this one out, some finished photos on the link below. However the photos are poor despite various attempts to get some decent ones. I have a good camera and lens, but think I need to improve the lighting to get some better (sharper) photos in the future. http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/cv/cv-09/Essex-350-rs/index.htm

That looks good, and nice idea to get one of the earlier 'Towns' which adds a lot of interest to the build.

Excellent work, looks stunning.

Wow, that is superb, all round - the water, the ships, the finishing and detailing, and the composition are all top rate!

That is just . . . wonderful - she looks superb.

That looks great, nice to see a classic British cruiser built to this standard.

That's great. I built the Missouri but would much rather have an Iowa, so well done on taking the leap in doing this conversion.

Great finishing, this is turning into an excellent build.

Excellent project, very intriguing viewing .

Well, I received my WWS static grass micro applicator, with a selection of grasses and some of their layering adhesive. I would say their service was excellent, ordering was easy on-line, very prompt and well packaged delivery, the product is very nice - it all looks good quality. I have done a test piece on some card, and the result really is excellent (even the Mrs was impressed!), the grass really does stand up well, and layering up to build up denser patches worked well too. I'll need to experiment with different bases, grass lengths and colours, and with dusting over the finished article with the airbrush, but so far so good, I think I'm going enjoy using it, and should get some good results

This is a superb build of a beautiful great ship, the finishing is top notch.