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HMS Victorious (1961) in 1/200


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Hi David

 

For back filling skeletal frame voids I often use the blocks of cheap rigid polyurethane floral display foam as marketed by Oasis and sold in flower and crafts shops worldwide- it can be simply rough cut, pressed into a hole, shaped to form and hardened with cheap cyano. It is then dimensionally stable and avoids unwanted 'canning'. For preference, I use the larger hole grey 'sponge' and not the softer green variety.

 

Les

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On 11/06/2021 at 16:17, Dancona said:

1958 Jensen 541

What a beauty :clap2:

 

On 08/06/2021 at 13:40, Dancona said:

Mr Shanks, or can I call you Kev now

I would be grateful if you did.

 

Very good to see the progress you've been making. One suggestion. Cover your holes :analintruder: with masking tape. it will save much cleaning and bad language later.

 

keep up the wonderful scratch building

 

Kev

 

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This is really beginning to take shape and there is some super scratch building going on in there.  I love the boiler intakes.

 

I've got a couple of questions if I may.  What do you use to cut through 1 mm thick polystyrene.? I used it for the waterline base and frames of BULOLO and found it a really difficult substance to cut through, blunting (or breaking) so many X-Acto blades in the process.

 

Secondly, how are you going to mask all of those boat bays to spray the hull?

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Some superb craftsmanship going on here, whenever I visit BM now the first thing I look for is are there any updates to this thread 👍

 

There's something about Victorious that appeals to me, along with the couple of Airfix 1/600 kits I already have (one to be finished as she was when initially rebuilt and one to be converted to how she was just before the fire that terminated her career), I've now also just picked up a Heller 1/400 Illustrious/Victorious kit for a future project.

 

 

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Hi David,

 

that photo of the woman in the jumper (I'm sure my mum had the knitting pattern for that!) shows up some excellent details, ..... of the ship. :wicked: 

This crop shows the hinge detail for the antenna outriggers really well and I can use that detail for my Ark Royal build. :clap2:

spacer.png

 

Cheers.

Mike

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Hi Mike,

 

Glad to help, I must admit that I find myself spending more time squinting at backgrounds than looking at the main subject, spotted this one in the background of a family snap the other day, looks like a vertical racking system for drums in the corners of the aft lift, never noticed that before !!

 

linebook3

 

Cheers

 

David

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21 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I've got a couple of questions if I may.  What do you use to cut through 1 mm thick polystyrene.? I used it for the waterline base and frames of BULOLO and found it a really difficult substance to cut through, blunting (or breaking) so many X-Acto blades in the process.

To be honest, I just seem to get through a lot of blades, I'm still finding the the 1mm stuff a blessed relief after all the 3mm bits I had to cut and chamfer for the structure, my hands really suffered with that, though it does break well if you have cut to a decent depth., thankfully !!

22 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Secondly, how are you going to mask all of those boat bays to spray the hull?

:D carefully, no seriously I intend to make light card plugs (it will probably take weeks) which can be fitted and tacked in with a dab of Maskol before all the surfacing and sanding and painting of the hull, I guess they will probably be there for quite some time (like years) as there is a hell of a lot of detail stuff to go onto the hull after priming and before painting (hand rails on overhangs, gangways etc.) I just hope that it works !!!

 

Cheers

 

David

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2 hours ago, Dancona said:

To be honest, I just seem to get through a lot of blades

 

I've found in the past it's easier to use a stanley knife. You do get a bit of swarf pushed up either side of the cut but a quick sand will clean it up. For longer cuts I try and clamp a steel rule to the work.

 

HTH

 

Kev

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There's quite some variable behaviour in the various suppliers 'styrene card'- for examples my old stocks of Slaters of whatever thickness  always snap cleanly along a score line  but my latest supply of Evergreen 1mm delaminates and tears resulting in the need to cut all the way through.

 

Les

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20 hours ago, AntPhillips said:

Some superb craftsmanship going on here, whenever I visit BM now the first thing I look for is are there any updates to this thread 👍

Ant, you are very kind, and not grumpy at all !  I agree with you wholeheartedly about Victorious, I think that her single decker hanger arrangement (though less than ideal from an operational point of view) gives a long, lean and graceful look, plus I think the history, not many ships can claim to have been cutting edge technology twice in a lifetime !!

 

7 hours ago, gunzo said:

old stocks of Slaters of whatever thickness  always snap cleanly along a score line  but my latest supply of Evergreen 1mm delaminates and tears resulting in the need to cut all the way through.

Funny you should say that Les, I've got some older stuff that seems to behave like cardboard !  I bought a few big sheets ( 1 meter square ) of various thicknesses from a big hardware shop in the centre of Barcelona which seems to behave very well, it has a softer consistency than some, though snaps cleanly and glues well, it does seem strange that there is such variation in what should be a relatively straightforward material.

 

Cheers gents

 

David

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One possible factor in the variation of the behaviour of polystyrene card may be the fact that this substance is photosensitively unstable. Polystyrene unprotected against sunlight will change its chemical structure gradually. This initially manifests itself visually as chalking - the surface becomes more and more matte. Further exposure to sunlight re-arranges the internal polycarbon structure so that it loses its integrity and become crumbly. The rate at which this occurs is not completely predictable but it usually is a result of both the amount and intensity of exposure to sunlight and the specific manufacturing formulation. I have some polystyrene sheet (of a very odd thickness) that I bought at least 40 years ago that has been kept in a paper envelope and is still perfect, while I have some other material that I bought less than 5 years ago and was careless about its storage that seems to crack almost as soon as I look at it.

 

Maurice

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3 hours ago, mdesaxe said:

One possible factor in the variation of the behaviour of polystyrene card may be the fact that this substance is photosensitively unstable. Polystyrene unprotected against sunlight will change its chemical structure gradually. This initially manifests itself visually as chalking - the surface becomes more and more matte. Further exposure to sunlight re-arranges the internal polycarbon structure so that it loses its integrity and become crumbly. The rate at which this occurs is not completely predictable but it usually is a result of both the amount and intensity of exposure to sunlight and the specific manufacturing formulation. I have some polystyrene sheet (of a very odd thickness) that I bought at least 40 years ago that has been kept in a paper envelope and is still perfect, while I have some other material that I bought less than 5 years ago and was careless about its storage that seems to crack almost as soon as I look at it.

 

Maurice

Thank you Maurice, I've just ordered a bunch and now know I need to move it from the Sun's unrelenting rays of doom (it's boiling today). You've saved me a fair bit of money, ta, not sure why GCSE chemistry didn't teach me something this useful (and actually obvious come to think it).

 

David

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This photosensitivity is why it is important to make sure that you apply a coating over anything made from polystyrene. Almost any pigmented coating is effective in protecting the polystyrene against the sun's ultraviolet emissions. Unfortunately, a large percentage of clear coatings provide no such protection so, if you want to preserve a model without painting it, you need to check whether or not the clear coating you want to use is ultraviolet resistant. Unfortunately, most manufacturers of finishes for model makers do not make this easily apparent (they do not think it purchasers will consider it important, unlike manufacturers of clear finishes for boats or furniture, for example), but it is worth doing the work to check if you do not want to use a paint finish on your polystyrene model.

 

Maurice

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Thank you Maurice, I think that you are spot on, also a good reason to get some paint on, even if its only primer, particularly on a build projected to last for years (note to self) !!

 

cheers

 

David

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK time for a bit of an update, the port side is starting to take shape and (thankfully) its starting to look like Victorious !

 

hull 26 (2)

 

I've managed to get all of the hull apertures in, though after I've managed to surface the hull all when its all blocked in, I can put all of the beading around everything with 0.5 mm evergreen rod, not a job I am looking forward to !

 

hull 10 (2)

 

The waterline is actually the level above the baseline, I wanted to allow a bit of leeway with the seascape, so we may get a naughty glimpse of some antifouling paint later !!

 

hull 9 (2)

 

hull 15 (2)

 

Stern openings starting to look about right, at least you can see something of the quarterdeck inside.........

 

hull 3 (2)

 

....unlike the cable deck which as I suspected, one can see b*gger all of !!!!!

 

hull 14 (2)

 

Bow shape getting there, but still requires a lot of work, at least with the 1mm skin I have a bit of material to deal with, though I have incorporated a brass strip, to ensure I don't lose the line with the next bit, the sharp line above the concavity probably being the most important line on the hull.

 

hull 12 (2)

 

And finally I could not resist a gratuitous lighter shot :D (twas the IPA that made me do it your honour)

 

 

 

 

hull 27 (2)

 

 

Cheers and thanks for looking, .....the big Vic rumbles on (and on, and on .....................)

 

David

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As always amazing work I do like the IPA weights I bet they were not left alone there for long in the sunshine.  :drink:

 

Stay Safe

beefy

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1 hour ago, beefy66 said:

As always amazing work I do like the IPA weights

 

I thought that and the mug were a twin island and that David had decided to make HMS QE or POW!

 

Seriously though David, brilliant work so far. She is going to kook amazing when done.

 

Terry

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David - the lighter really does throw the whole project into focus in terms of it's scale.  Thrice Wow!

I imagine weekly roses to your significant other are a requisite :winkgrin:

Rob

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On 05/07/2021 at 21:36, beefy66 said:

I do like the IPA weights I bet they were not left alone there for long in the sunshine.

Thanks beefy, as for the beer, I take it you are referring to evaporation :beer::D

On 05/07/2021 at 23:23, longshanks said:

Congratulations David :clap2: Looking brilliant.

Definitely see the shape of a submarine Aircraft Carrier coming to light 😉

Thank you, you silver tonged devil Kev, though I must confess (reluctantly) that you do have a point, I should really do something for the superstructure, but then of course it might look even more like a submarine ....Arggggggh

On 05/07/2021 at 23:25, Terry1954 said:

I thought that and the mug were a twin island and that David had decided to make HMS QE or POW!

Terry, I must admit that it hadn't occurred to me until you pointed it out, though I think that one of those in 1/200 would be a bit too big even for me, although having said that it would be only a tad over 200mm longer than Vic, though a heck of a lot wider.............I think I will leave that project to someone else though 😅

 

On 06/07/2021 at 08:20, Steve D said:

Lots of subtle shaping here David, excellent stuff

Thank you maestro, though I suspect I will have to sit down in a dark room for a while to compose myself after I get some primer on it, it all looked so straightforward and simple in the beginning but in reality it is all surprisingly complex, I just know it is going to take a lot of fiddling and fettling to get it right in the end, thank god I'm not doing it in metal like wot you do :worthy:

 

On 06/07/2021 at 10:18, robgizlu said:

I imagine weekly roses to your significant other are a requisite :winkgrin:

Hi Rob, she is very understanding, though has pointed out that her continued support is purely dependent on a continuous supply of white wine, so as you can imagine a weekly tanker delivery was quickly secured !!!!!🙃

Seriously though, she is very good to me, she even lets me keep it at the end of the dining table !!!!

 

On 06/07/2021 at 12:09, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Stunning work

Thank you Crispin, talking about stunning work though, how are you and when are you coming home (with your Ark) ? we miss you !!

 

Thank you fellow sufferers all, for your support and kind words

 

Cheers

 

David

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2 hours ago, Dancona said:

Hi Rob, she is very understanding, though has pointed out that her continued support is purely dependent on a continuous supply of white wine, so as you can imagine a weekly tanker delivery was quickly secured !!!!!🙃

Seriously though, she is very good to me, she even lets me keep it at the end of the dining table !!!!

Gidday David, a true angel. I have one of those too, and mine doesn't drink. Saves me a fortune in tanker delivery. 🙂 I try to make up for it with red. 🍷

     And your model is looking better and better. It's a shame the detail on the foc'sle deck can't be seen. Regards, Jeff.

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Gidday Jeff,

Yes it certainly helps having someone that just raises her eyes heavenward but really doesn't mind too much !!

Yes its a pity about the cable deck, but to be honest I knew it was going to be pretty well hidden, but you know the problem, even if you cant see it, its still there !!!

 

Cheers

 

David

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