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Hello all, I thought I would show my HMS Duke of York. I did a build log over at Modelshipworld but, for some reason, the images seem to have been moved and are now more or less inaccessible to search engines. This is a pity because, during the research for this project, I discovered a number of small features in her fitting-out that are often overlooked - and also some errors in kits and sources. Anyone working on a similar project might at least want to weigh up the evidence and see if they agree. It was a complex project but there are still some very good source pics at the Imperial War Museum site and elsewhere to help. This model is fully rc with smoking funnels, moving guns, working lights and four motors. I'll put up a film when she has had her maiden voyage. So here she is, photographed against a sheet of mirror plastic reflecting a real overcast sky. Something she spent a lot of her time underneath. Hope you like her. Hull: Tamiya 1/350 Prince of Wales Equipment: Pontos, Infini models, L'Arsenal, Tetra Model works, NorthStar, Mk1 Designs - plus a fair amount of scratch building. Thing to notice here are the two oerlikons just abaft 'B' turret. Not mentioned on the pontos plans but they were there at the end of 1943. I cut out the windows and replaced with clear sheet on both the compass platform and the admirals's bridge. Also notice the quite prominent aerials either side of the bridges.In the picture foreground, on the hull, is a sort of pump/vent/sluice cover thing. There are parts for this in the pontos set but they are the slighly shorter length found on the KGV so I made my own from brass The navlights were much more prominant in real-life than those molded on the kit. This is because they had seperate full strength and dimmed lamps vertically above each other. The radio shack - the small cabin that sits between the forward mast tripod legs - is much more complex than the plans suggest and sits on (and below) braces that hold the tripod together. The Pontos pompoms are much too high so I used the brilliant, but very fiddly, Tetra version. I also added scratch built shielding that DoY had on hers. The oerlikon mounts had arcs of steel bar welded to the tubs to stop over enthusiastic gunners training them on anything important - like each other or the superstructure. All five of these tubs were washed overboard during a storm in the Arctic in December '43. Contra the intructions, each funnel searchlight has its own derrick. Note the spare 'kedge' anchor stowed against the aft superfiring 5.25 innch turret base. I hollowed out the Northstar searchlights and gave them silver insides and stuck a piece of clear plastic over. Just visible by the Walrus port wing is the catapult launch station with a vent on each side. This has to be scratch built. Also there is a large vent each side of the hangar, visible in the picture just abaft the forward, stbd, superfiring 5.25 inch gun turret. This also has to be scratch built Also, just beside the aft funnel, you can see my scratchbuilt approximation of the extra oerlikon platforms placed on the engine vents sometime in '43. Most models miss these but they were unquestionably there. The ladders to reach them rise up between the platforms and funnel. Also note the steel plate bolted to the funnels behind the searchlight postions. These can be found on both funnels. Their purpose is uncertain (to me anyway!). Also note the two extra whalers kept on the catapult deck. Just before the Scharnhorst was engaged, the Duke of York had an addtional Type 285 radar fitted to the aft gun director. Also note the two oerlikons each side, just forward of 'x' turret and the addtional two on the boat deck. The bridge of the HMS Prince of Wales is not the same as the Duke of York. As it happens the Tamiya KGV has the right bridge layout (but the wrong boat deck). I adjusted mine to match. Also note the oerlikon layout on the fwd superstructure. Where the anchor chain goes through the deck to the chain locker there were special covers to keep (most of) the water out. Mine were made of lead foil. You can see a smaller version of the real thing on HMS Belfast. The catheads were also more sturdy that the pontos versions. I made my own. There has been an ongoing debate about the painted decks but what I have noticed from the pictures is that heavy seas - and use - quickly wore the paint away so I washed my pontos deck with diute grey stain to try and match that effect. As well as needeing way more carley floats than the kit supplies, there were also a great many 'flota nets' hanging off the sides or left in the floats. I made mine out of bundles of stretched sprue. I used the Trumpeter replacement brass screws intended for the Hood. These were, in reality, almost exactly the same size - and are better suited for rc purposes. You will need extra sets of 20mm oerlikons, watertight doors of various types - but pay attention the types used and places they appear do not follow the Pontos plans - and extra ladders. Finally the ladders to the mast head platforms do not attach to the outboard ends at the crazy angle shown, but were bolted firmly to the mast all the way up and access to the platform was through a small hatch. Build log here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/21989-battleship-hms-duke-of-york-by-gonzo-finished-late-1943/?tab=comments#comment-642806