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HMS Ark Royal IV - Scratchbuild 1:350


bootneck

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Hello all,

This is will be my attempt at a scratchbuilding a model of HMS Ark Royal IV to 1:350 scale.  The period I have chosen is her second commission (7th actual 1974-76) since receiving the full angled-deck conversion.  The carrier had a fair few visual changes occur during her subsequent career, mostly helo-spot relocations and the Phantoms being upgraded with tail ECM pods etc.  As such, I have chosen the period that I have most references for.

 

Herewith the obligatory image of the tools and kit parts :giggle:

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Let the cutting commence!

 

Mike

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Sorry about that,  I did try to find a 'Royalty Free' image which I could post but I was unsuccessful.  I do have plenty of images, I just cannot attribute owners therefore cannot ask for permission to use them.

 

Hopefully more to follow soon.

 

Mike

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think I have enough details together to make a start now.  This will be a waterline model and, hopefully, I will be able to put it onto a sea base setting.

 

First off,  the base sheet and waterline decks are marked out and cut from plastic sheet.  At 1:350 scale, the model will be too long to get single pieces from my A3 sheets, so I have marked them into sections, with a dotted line across to show where to cut and join the two halves.

 

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I have also made a profile section, shown as the top two sections in the image below, which will be used as a central upright spine running the full length of the model. 

This should help to prevent the bow or stern from curling up, a problem that can be common in waterline builds.

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The deck at waterline level (Deck 7) will sit upon the base plate and this will be the datum point for the subsequent construction of the other decks.

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I need to mark out the Forward Perpendicular (FP) and Aft Perpendicular (AP) on the base plate.  These will be the constant reference points for adding additional decks as I work upwards.

The FP is situated at the very front at waterline level and the AP is located above the rudder stock.  As this is waterline then there isn't a rudder to work to, so I have marked the location and drilled reference holes into the baseplate.

I have used small steel tubes, found with Revell's Contacta glue, and placed them vertically for reference as seen below.

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Another method I use to help prevent upward warping of the plastic at the ends is to glue a piece of brass rod to the base.  The rod is secured inside lengths of square plastic tubing. I do this to prevent the brass from detaching from the base and ending up rattling around inside.  That has happened to some of my builds in the past! :unsure:

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Not much to see yet, however I have got the basic stuff out of the way and now I can concentrate on producing hopefully recognisable sections from here on.

 

cheers,


Mike

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Following this build with great interest, firstly because Ark in the '70's showed that the RN could still make carriers that actually looked attractive, and second, just as you get close to finishing, Airfix are bound to announce that they will be making one in 1/350, so complete novices like me can do one.

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1 hour ago, CliffB said:

You mention Phantom details in your opening post - is this a hint of what's to come?

Hi Cliff,

scratchbuilding aircraft isn't as easy as building ships for me.  There are too many contours and rounded edges, however I am going to make some attempt at Ark's air wing.

Here is a view of my Sea Vixen, for a separate project, plus a Buccaneer in the background. 

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I think I shall have to resort to the Tamiya 1/350 aircraft set for the Phantom and Sea King plus L'Arsenal's or WEM's Wessex.

cheers,

Mike

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1 hour ago, bootneck said:

Hi Cliff,

scratchbuilding aircraft isn't as easy as building ships for me.  There are too many contours and rounded edges, however I am going to make some attempt at Ark's air wing.

Here is a view of my Sea Vixen, for a separate project, plus a Buccaneer in the background. 

 

That Sea Vixen (in particular), looks fantastic Mike.

 

Cheers

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Thanks Cliff. 

This weekend I am concentrating on getting the other decks sized and cut out.  Decks 4, 5 and 6 have been marked out and cut.  The model is longer than the A3 sheets of plastic that I have, so each deck needs to be produced in two part then joined together. 

 

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Once all the decks have been made, I shall then work on the different deck heights; in order to make the correct sized builkheads etc.

 

Mike

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9 hours ago, Davek72 said:

Somewhat in awe Mike.   Will follow with interest.  
 

Dave

Hi Mike,

 

More like totally Gobsmacked in my case - to build the Ark at that scale from scratch is way beyond my capabilities.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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16 hours ago, bootneck said:

Hi Cliff,

scratchbuilding aircraft isn't as easy as building ships for me.  There are too many contours and rounded edges, however I am going to make some attempt at Ark's air wing.

Here is a view of my Sea Vixen, for a separate project, plus a Buccaneer in the background. 

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I think I shall have to resort to the Tamiya 1/350 aircraft set for the Phantom and Sea King plus L'Arsenal's or WEM's Wessex.

cheers,

Mike

 

These are scratch built???

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Fantastic, inspiring project, following with great interest. I'm extremely impressed with the aircraft - are you planning on casting from those or scratch building individually? I wondered also where you got the plans and how you transferred them onto the plastic sheet?

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Thanks everyone,

 

The problem is,  everytime I look at that Sea Vixen I keep wanting to build a pre-mod Ark.

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or Centaur

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or Victorious

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or even another Hermes, without the ski jump!

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Mike

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The next lot of decks, - 3, 2 and 1, have been produced and these take the levels up to the flight deck; with just the island decks to construct next.  Note the components for a Gannet COD on deck 3, just one more in the construction pile.

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On 03/03/2020 at 07:23, Midland1965 said:

Fantastic, inspiring project, following with great interest. I'm extremely impressed with the aircraft - are you planning on casting from those or scratch building individually? I wondered also where you got the plans and how you transferred them onto the plastic sheet?

I shall be scratchbuilding the aircraft, possibly 9 Buccs;  4 Gannet AEW and 1 Gannet COD, that is unless I crack up and lock myself in a darkened room! :fool:

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I was loaned some partial plans of the Ark a few years ago and I took some basic copies.  Because they were incomplete, with large sections missing, I am having to use photo-interpretation to determine some of the areas; especially external details.

 

With regard to how I transferred the plans onto the plastic sheet;  first, I needed to draw as many of the lines that I could find on the original copies into drawing software.  Then I used a cutting machine, similar to the Silhouette, Cricut or Silver Bullet, to cut the pieces from plastic sheet.  The view below is just a demo, the pieces would be cut through completely during the cutting process. The aircraft in the above view were also produced from the cutter.

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Depending on the size of cutter, some pieces may need to be cut in sections and then joined.  My cutter is A3 size but it is still too small for a 1:350 scale carrier.

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Mike

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Very interesting. I didn't realise cutting machines that can cut through plastic sheet existed - at least not home, desktop ones. Not cheap but it does open up possibilities that would be difficult and a lot less accurate a neat by hand. Does the cutter leave an angle around the edge or does it somehow cut through clean at 90 degrees?

 

I'd be rather daunted by the prospect of scratch building 14 tiny aircraft like that - hats off to you.

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