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Sink the Bismarck! HMS Ark Royal, 26 May 1941


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I have to say the whole ‘hooker-on’ business with one of the back-seaters perching precariously on the upper wing fills me with horror; imagine doing that in any kind of seaway, with a propellor whirling away not very far from your head.  My Dad (who only ever did it during training, in a Walrus rather than a Swordfish) said that at the time he didn’t really think about it much, but looking back on it terrified him!

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1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I have to say the whole ‘hooker-on’ business with one of the back-seaters perching precariously on the upper wing fills me with horror; imagine doing that in any kind of seaway, with a propellor whirling away not very far from your head.  My Dad (who only ever did it during training, in a Walrus rather than a Swordfish) said that at the time he didn’t really think about it much, but looking back on it terrified him!

Dare I suggest a practice from "different times" in the era before hi-vis.

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Yes the photos are from the Warship quarterly. Someone in my modeling club was selling them off years and I bought some of the issues that had interesting articles. It was a minor miracle that I was going through books and rediscovered the photos before the build instead of after I built it. There are some nice photos in  there

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Me too, Tom.

 

The briefest of updates this evening, featuring that moment when you realise that the jig you’ve spent a good 30 minutes measuring and aligning precisely, ready to solder the mast tripod together...

49802717046_cf6dc86d7c_b.jpg


...ends up with the crucial parts not quite touching!

49802716956_cd7146ab7c_b.jpg

 

I know how to fix it, but didn't have time this evening.  Ah well.  The Met platform is fixed in position, anyway.

 

More soon

 

Crisp

 

 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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I thought the set of tweezers that Crisp uses to get his results included a magic wand as well.

My set arrived today, but disappointed to find it doesn't have one...

 

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They look really good and will help a lot with rigging the ship model on my bench at the moment.

 

Pat

 

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1 hour ago, patmaquette said:

I thought the set of tweezers that Crisp uses to get his results included a magic wand as well.

My set arrived today, but disappointed to find it doesn't have one...

It isn't a magic wand, it's a miniaturisation ray.

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13 hours ago, Richard E said:

It isn't a magic wand, it's a miniaturisation ray.

Well, whichever it is, it was missing from my set too and I bought the most expensive set!

 

Disappointed of Mars 👽

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1 hour ago, Modelholic said:

It's just that he's a Sh_t Hot modeller!

It's the Naval Aircrew thing I reckon ............. I'm sure they can even walk on water 😉

 

Terry

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It took three attempts, but eventually.. 

 

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The upper platform (“Yardarm Platform”) is not yet fixed in position because there are still ladders to fit to the mast itself, so don’t panic that it looks a little skew-iff.

 

Happy boy; this has been hard but it’s a really important part of the build!

 

More soon

 

Crisp

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3 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

It took three attempts, but eventually.. 

At first I thought you meant the walking on water bit! Nice work Crisp.

 

Martian 👽

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Good job on the tripod, I've been working on mine on and off and finally realized that Very Fire didn't do a very good job on the shape of the Met platform. I will have to redo the rear part of it to get it all to line up correctly. I'm seeing more things in the Tetra detail set that the Very Fire set doesn't have but also the reverse is true.  The rear supports do go through the compass platform deck down to the base of the funnel. Also, the two lower tripod platforms railings were covered with canvas. When I started my model I was willing to go with what came with the kit but I find myself going down the rabbit hole more and correcting things that I should have done much earlier in the build. 

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The two lower platforms didn’t always have the canvas dodgers, but they did both before & after the time I’m modelling, so I think it’s reasonable to assume they were there for the Bismarck action.  Mine will be receiving lead foil dodgers soon.

 

And yes, the tripod legs need to go another deck down - I discussed that a few pages ago when I worked out that Merit’s tripod is too narrow.  There was absolutely no way I was going down the route of drilling through brass decks, however; my lower tripod sections will be separate pieces of brass (& only be fitted permanently once the Admiral’s Bridge section is glued in place).

 

I have managed to acquire a set of Very Fire instructions (though not the actual set), so I see what you mean about each set containing things the other one missed.  On balance I think Tetra wins by some distance, but then I would think that because that’s the set I know best.  
 

There are some odd things that have been missed; the “typhoon whistle” and prominent box structure (nav light, I think) on the bow, for instance - sticks out like the proverbial dog’s danglers in numerous photos, but not in either set (Very Fire do at least attempt the siren bit, but theirs looks much too small judging from the instructions).  Easy enough to scratch build, though. 

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9 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

The two lower platforms didn’t always have the canvas dodgers,

Dodgers! Mmmm. 🤤

 

Martian 👽

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Dodger time.  Usually I measure the circumference using a piece of paper, but on this occasion I have the PE runner so it was simple.  Cut a length of lead sheet.  CA in position roughly in the middle and allow to cure fully:

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Gradually bend it round, gluing lightly as you go:

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Et voilà:

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The great thing about using lead is that once it’s all set you can use a cocktail stick to “dent” it so the guardrails show through, as on the real thing.

 

I’ve done the Met platform too, but no photos of that.

 

C

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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