1/350 HMS Ark Royal, 1987 - sailing back from the Shelf of Doom

[Brandy]

It looks as though this is about to turn into one of those "it was a pain, but I'm glad it broke" moments!

Nice metal work Crisp!

 

Ian

[FIGHTS ON]

probably the most informed build of one of these Airfix kits I can find. Like you, "one day" I am going to have to build one, but, like some other commentators have suggested, it needs to be "as I remember her".........  so from what I can see, neither kit gets even close to an INVINCIBLE post 1989 refit,I reckon I will need both kits )or 'Lusty, but with some frames from the (Mighty) Invincible kit. Even after INVINCIBLE's 1998 refit (sea Dart removal, deck closed over) she never received the mast configuration that this Lusty kit provides. And of course the cat walks never got modified.

 

I want (?) to do an "ORIENT92/ADRIATC" version (needs SEA DART & open foc's'le) or do the 1999 Ops over IRAQ/KOSOVO version with extended flight deck. Having thoroughly scrolled thru' your build, it will clearly have to be both kits  but at least I don't have to worry about the underside of the ramp issues that you had. 

 

Again, very, very grateful to you for taking time to post the level of detail that you have.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

If you want to build Invincible or Ark (or Lusty in a pre-refit configuration), then the WEM set is essential; it sorts out the whole catwalks thing for you (which would be the toughest bit to scratch build).  Atlantic Models do a Sea Dart back-dating set (launcher, blast shield & 2 x 909 dome).  So that leaves the mast configuration to scratch build…. 
 

You know you want to!

[chrisr57]

WOW so Informative guys  Brilliant  Loving every minute of this 

Question any of you FAA guys on  or around R05  in 82  now that would be nice, never have too much INFO  Thank you  for the information and detail of the build  dont know how you guys  do it in such a fine scale it  is a real credit to you  

chris

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

On 3/3/2024 at 9:55 AM, chrisr57 said:

WOW so Informative guys  Brilliant  Loving every minute of this 

Question any of you FAA guys on  or around R05  in 82  now that would be nice, never have too much INFO  Thank you  for the information and detail of the build  dont know how you guys  do it in such a fine scale it  is a real credit to you  

chris

I was around in 82 (sprog bridge watchkeeper & flight deck dogsbody in Fearless), but nowhere near a carrier; I didn’t start my flying training until 84.  
 

Thank you for your kind words!

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Now working on the inside face of the “Garden Wall” - specifically the supports.  There have been a couple of false starts & a lot of measure-cut-sand-swear-remeasure-cut-rinse-repeat…. but it’s getting there.  The side cutters might serve as a reminder of how small this stuff is!

More soon

 

Crisp

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Bit more progress today:

 

And if you’re wondering where this is going:

 

[hendie]

Nice work Crisp.  It's not the easiest part to replicate but you're doing a fine job

 

 

[chrisr57]

Brilliant absolute Brilliant I have a hard enough job getting it looking good at my scale .

and still loads to put on this just to detail it and you do it in your scale 

take my hat of to you lads 

brilliant

[chrisr57]

just a little bit of my vince  why put  blurred things on when you can make them move  

it is a 1/72 scale revell sea king 

cheers chris

[Chewbacca]

Really pleased this has climbed down from the shelf of doom Crisp and great work going on.

 

I have had one of these in my stash for ages with the intent of converting to the earliest iteration of ARK V when she first sailed from the Tyne in November 1984 under the Red Ensign fir Contractor's Sea Trials...with the RNHF Swordfish embarked.  I was OOW1 (and am on the bridge in the photo below), my last watchkeeping job before I started flying training in Feb 85.  I must read this whole thread to properly get my head around the differences between the kit and early ARK

 

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

I was OOW1 (and am on the bridge in the photo below)

 

You could at least have given us a wave Ralph! 

 

T.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

27 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

You could at least have given us a wave Ralph! 

He didn't need to. He's instantly recognizable, the guy you see that's ruggedly masculine yet suavely debonair, with the aura of being totally in control of his situation and surroundings. 👍

 

 

Or was that the guy next to him? 😁       I'll get my coat. 🙂       Regards, Jeff.

 

P.S. -But seriously, anybody who achieves that level of responsibility has my admiration.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

3 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Really pleased this has climbed down from the shelf of doom Crisp and great work going on.

 

I have had one of these in my stash for ages with the intent of converting to the earliest iteration of ARK V when she first sailed from the Tyne in November 1984 under the Red Ensign fir Contractor's Sea Trials...with the RNHF Swordfish embarked.  I was OOW1 (and am on the bridge in the photo below), my last watchkeeping job before I started flying training in Feb 85.  I must read this whole thread to properly get my head around the differences between the kit and early ARK

 

I joined Ark (well, 820 embarked in Ark) in late-86, so I’ll be surprised if there were any significant differences between your version and mine - no CIWS yet & maybe the odd Golly aerial or similar missing from your CST version, but otherwise nothing much.

 

Off the top of my head, the things you need to change to convert Airfix Lusty into Ark are:

 

- different, more streamlined profile underneath the ramp

- port quarter CIWS platform (again, more streamlined - see early stages of this build for details)

- reinstate the forecastle & Sea Dart launcher

- ditto 909s

- back end of the island needs major rework

- mainmast different (UAA1, 992 etc)

- revert the bridge / Flyco area to original config (single row of windows)

- shorten port midships chaff / 20mm sponson

 

There will be others that come to mind as I think.  I’ll add them here.

 

C

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Work has been carrying on slowly in the margins; in particular, the “Garden Wall” (this is Mk.2, because it’s not been simple) is now close to being done:

 

So that’s all good.  But…

 

Picking up the hull to measure something for the 5 millionth time, there was a distinct rattle.  Rattles are never good with a fuselage or hull that’s been closed up, and sure enough closer inspection revealed that one of the boat bays had broken loose; spot the gaping hole…

 

What to do?  The answer is somewhat daunting, but I think the only way to fix it.  First, cut out the area around the vagrant boat bay:

Then find the wandering bit - not small, as you can see:

Then thank your lucky stars that you have access to a second set of hull parts - I bought them from my neighbour today!  Mark & cut out the same section of hull (deliberately leaving it a bit too big in each direction):

 

I have chain drilled the Olympus plenum chamber grille (to be replaced by PE) & filled the two prominent slots, which are for a platform which Lusty had but 1988 Ark did not.

 

A lot of work, but pleased with progress & I hope to be able to fit the new section tomorrow.

 

More soon

 

Crisp

[giemme]

This is not for the faint hearted!

 

Top job, Crisp!

 

Ciao

[Terry1954]

Nice save, well done!

 

T.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Good progress on two fronts today.  Firstly, the loose boat bay.

 

1. Re-attached:

 

2. This DSPIAE tool is often a bit OTT, but when it really matters to get precise sanding angles, it’s fantastic:

 

3.  Now fitted and the gaps filled with Mr Dissolved Putty:

Happy with that - the only irreversible casualty of the effort to fix this is the raised lip round all the bays.  I can live with that.

 

The other sub-assembly now complete is the “garden wall” on the fo’c’s’le - this includes the real “squeaky bum time”, namely drilling & carefully filling into shape the two drainage slots at the rear (to allow free surface water to escape) - you can’t really do these until the supports are all in place, so there’s always the risk that you’ll stuff it up & have to start again (the joys of scratch building!).

 

Seen from inboard (roughly taped in place; the visible gaps at the bottom centre right aren’t there when it’s fully fitted, but I only have 2 hands!):

Seen from outboard:

 

The next stage is to paint the deck & the inner face of the wall (this saving an awful lot of intricate masking).

 

More soon

 

Crisp

[giemme]

This is a rather amazing bit of scratch building, Crisp   

Ciao

[Terry1954]

2 hours ago, giemme said:

This is a rather amazing bit of scratch building, Crisp   

Ciao

 

I completely agree.

 

21 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

2. This DSPIAE tool is often a bit OTT, but when it really matters to get precise sanding angles, it’s fantastic:

 

.... and that looks like a tool I should have!

 

T.

[chrisr57]

THIS  is EPIC  and I mean Epic  this is modelling as it should be, sheer skill !!!!  take my hat of to you, don't think I can put compliments' on skill and modelling into words . but 

thank you for this incredible and fantastic build .

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

I haven't disappeared or given up - just been head down in Fusion 360, designing the roller fairlead to fit by one of those two holes above.

 

Here's what a real one looks like (taken from the fo'c's'le of a County Class DLG, because it's easier to see than on a CVS):

 

Here was version 1 over the weekend - abandoned because it wasn't looking right... before I found some much better measurements.

 

And here are two views of version 2, which is now complete and has been exported to .stl ready to see how well it will print - bearing in mind that the whole things is about 5 mm across.

 

More soon

 

Crisp

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

I have also moved on in other areas today, namely painting the deck (Tamiya Lacquer LP-15 IJN Grey Yokosuka Arsenal, which is a pretty decent match for RN dark deck grey).  There’s a little more work required towards the bottom of the photo, but this shows you where I’m going with this; the inboard face of Garden Wall will also be painted before fitting, which should deliver a level of accurate painting that is very hard to achieve with masking in this scale.