Paul Bradley Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Bonjour, mes amis! For this, my first ever BM GB, I'll be attempting to complete the venerable Heller 1/400 Jeanne d'Arc, the post-war helicopter carrier/training ship. 003 by Paul Bradley The Heller kit was first released in 1967; my boxing is the 2012 upgrade, which contains some really nice resin parts and a medium sized PE fret. I bought the kit some years ago, and since then have accumulated a number of extras from the L'Arsenal range, including some nice resin Exocets, and PE doors and extra railings. 002 by Paul Bradley 001 by Paul Bradley Being a kit of a helicopter carrier, the box includes four Super Frelon, plus the addition for this boxing of a resin Super Puma and two tiny resin Gazelles. Not sure which I'll use - if there's a way I can use all of them then I shall! Photos of the ship carrying all those types together would be welcome! As I'm committed to another GB on another forum until the end of February, I shan't be starting this until the beginning of March, but given the relatively simple nature of the ship, and hence the kit, I expect I'll have plenty of time to complete it. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Blooming Nora its a boat ! Congratulations Paul its so great to see something without wings in a GB ! Best of luck with this one cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 This is something different! I like it, bit like HMS fearless? Or am I confusing myself? Anyway, I’m looking forward to it! Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Cheers, guys - yes, Pat - an actual boat in a navy GB! The novelty! Rob - yes, a similar idea to the Fearless, but no loading dock. She had accommodations for a Marine battalion and originally carried 4 LCVPs on her sides but those were removed in the nineties I think. Her main use was as an officer training ship. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Great to see this in the mix Paul. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 10 hours ago, Paul Bradley said: Cheers, guys - yes, Pat - an actual boat in a navy GB! The novelty! Rob - yes, a similar idea to the Fearless, but no loading dock. She had accommodations for a Marine battalion and originally carried 4 LCVPs on her sides but those were removed in the nineties I think. Her main use was as an officer training ship. Good to see, another floaty thing with a deck to land flying things on it If I get my USS Ranger build finished and don't get distracted with a build that has wings, I am thinking about attempting my 1/350 USS New York LHA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Lots going on in this kit, should be one to watch. Cheers, Mark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 I made a start last night. As I want to display this on a sea base, I cut the hull halves down to just below waterline, then glued them together: 001 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr A quick trial fit of the three deck parts - perfect! 003 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 (edited) Things have been 'interesting' these past few weeks..... Nevertheless, I've been able to make some progress. After painting the hull with a light blue-grey, I added some Dark Sea Grey stripes to the galleries along each side of the hull - these access the trainee officers' cabins: The cable deck had it's fixtures added: The main superstructure parts are not a particularly good fit, but some sanding and filling yielded pretty good results. The hangar deck area needs to be built up and looks pretty good. The aft lift is shown with it's decal added - this fits into the recess in the hangar deck. Some of the extra resin parts that Heller include with this boxing need to go in this area, too: This afternoon, I glued the cable deck in place: I'm enjoying this! Edited March 21, 2020 by Paul Bradley 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Cool - I have this kit too (buried in my storage back home so it'll be a while before I get to try it). This is one that's rarely seen - looking forward to yours. I quite like this ship - it'd be cool to see it with all the different choppers aboard as you suggest! This photo shows how much space those Super Frelons really need though. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 I'm thinking that I'll put two Super Frelon on deck, plus a Gazelle and the Puma. The other SFs will go inside the hangar, while the other Gazelle will be on the lift. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Womby Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 This looks like it's progressing well, Paul. A rather attractive looking ship, wasn't she? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 Indeed, she was. A bit of Gallic flair for sure! Progress is being made, slowly - mainly parts painting so not worth the photos - but the weekend is finally here and I can start some airbrushing and construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now