Kit bashing warships at 1/600

[Aayin1941]

Thx Jeff. Toothless terror? Given a few more years, that could be me 🤭 Just ordered what maybe the last Belfast in my area, seems it’s getting a bit hard to find anything not essential locally. I only had 2 4” turrets left, so happy I found an excuse to buy another Belfast, maybe another cruiser bash coming soon 🪚 Happy camper me thou, the weather here is perfectso my dogs are happy, and modelling on hold till the rains come back.

cheers,

Rob

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Rob, It looks a beautiful place. I sometimes feel guilty staying inside doing models in weather like that, but only for a short time. The guilt usually goes away in about three minutes. 😁

     If memory serves (and that's questionable) the term 'Toothless Terror' was originally a derogatory term for them initially from the Germans. They were Dido class cruisers but were fitted with four twin 4.5-inch guns in shields rather than the intended five twin 5.25-inch turrets. I believe there was a shortage of turrets when they were being built and the KGV class battleships had priority. As a result many of the class were fitted with only four turrets to start with. These two ships were re-designed as convoy escort group flagships and had extra superstructure added to them. The fitting of twin 4.5 mountings instead of twin 5.25-inch turrets offset the extra weight. I believe the Luftwaffe came to respect their AA firepower.

     That's as I understand the reasoning behind them. I'm willing to be corrected by those more knowledgeable if I'm wrong. 🙂 Regards, Jeff.

[Aayin1941]

slight update: hull together, bow & stern mods done. Final cuts & lots of filler next up b4 starting paint. Glad I left extra centreline midship openings till later as they were very helpful ensuring flighdeck lined up strait as hull cut was just slightly off. 

I have to create an air wing & have no RF antenna so DIY in future limelight lol.
IDK if the bulge @ centre hull is anywhere near authentic but it is what it is 👀

[Aayin1941]

Once again Jeff, thx for all the great input. I must say with the cruiser classes & subclasses made by the RN one sure has many options if scratch building or with kit crashes. For me thou spring time is just too nice to not spend some time seeking a road less travelled.

TBS kinda addicted when it comes to fresh air, big dogs and mountain bikes.

Talk soon & hope things are well with everyone.

Cheers,

Rob

Edited May 27, 2021 by Aayin1941
Typo etc

[Aayin1941]

Protruding bridge support 

[Aayin1941]

Every picture tells a story, don’t it?

[Aayin1941]

Cranes being offset on Unicorn a distinguishing feature yet flash on new ArkRoyal kit unusable unless a lot more patient than me 🙃  Edit: got extra cranes 🏗 

Anywho, flight deck details ruffed in, bow needs a AA platform on both port & starboard & likely do bridge structure next, before painting...

Hope y’all doing well.

cheers,

Rob

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by Aayin1941
NA

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Rob, if you've got extra cranes then you're OK, otherwise have you thought about making them? Regards, Jeff.

[Chewbacca]

I would never have thought that there was any similarity between ARK and UNICORN but you're absolutely right there is a good degree of commonality there.  It's amazing what you can do with those old Airfix 1/600s with a bit of effort and you're making great progress.  Been too busy in past month or so to spend any time on BM so only just caught up with this but now following this with interest.

[Aayin1941]

On 04/06/2021 at 18:44, ArnoldAmbrose said:

…otherwise have you thought about making them? Regards, Jeff.

Hi Jeff. Honestly I am glad I have extra cranes so no problem. I lost a crane on my Repulse yet somehow had 1 spare very similar from a POW kit of some forgotten company out of business many years ago, lucky me on that. Not so lucky is I also lost a crane on my KGV, no spare so you never know. Sure wish Airfix would release KGV again, such a great ship & a decent model.
My big step in DIY: a few Hellcats or some other aircraft(whatever is easiest & period correct) & the supports for cranes, which are huge & very noteworthy on Unicorn.

I hate to say it but the numbness in my hands is getting worse. It is a bad time to have any medical condition that ain’t life threatening but I knew someone with a similar condition who went under the knife, not a good result for her so kinda trying to just live with it. All I can promise is I will finish this to the best of my ability. 

Hope things are well down there, seems Australia doing better than most.

cheers,

Rob

[Aayin1941]

3 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I would never have thought that there was any similarity between ARK and UNICORN but you're absolutely right there is a good degree of commonality there. 

Thx for the kind words, I see we have the same interests: RN & Fleet air arm 👍

Recently I have a lot more respect for the Swordfish, I left a link above to an amazingly detailed video documentary on the raid at Taranto. Unreal how only 12 Swordfish could cripple the Italian navy so well. I was thinking about making one more 1/72 aircraft, likely a Lancaster but after aforementioned video, a Swordfish maybe in the works. Likely depends on what’s available as I’ve noted the Airfix wholesaler here in western Canada is not restocking much lately. Seems strange to me as plastic modelling has made a bit of a come back with the lockdowns & international shipping certainly is improving. So funny how I got hooked on Airfix in the 60s cause they were mostly way more detailed than other brands & had a wide variety of RN warships. Today it’s a whole new world of super detailed 1/700 or 1/350. Very tempted with a newer Japanese version of Illustrious, decked out for Taranto raid, but kinda stuck on 1/600 💕⚓️🇬🇧
Take good care of you & yours!

cheers,

Rob

[Aayin1941]

PS. I don’t usually pitch anything but I am so taken back by 3 Utube channels produced by 3 British chaps(so absolutely lots of RN content) I have to say, if you like Navy, give these guys a look: Drachinifel , Armoured Carriers & Dr Alexander Clarke. The last guy I contacted & he was kind enough to allow me to create & post stills from his videos. Hence:HMS Illustrious.

Take care y’all 😎

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Rob, I'm sorry to hear about your hands, I'd probably be reluctant to go under the knife also. Only you can decide that one.

     Regarding 1/700 scale, I did a few last year, small destroyers, USS The Sullivans, USS England and IJN Yukikaze. Yes the detail is very good, usually, and the range available is much more extensive than 1/600. But with full use of my hands I still had trouble with the small size of them. I did IJN Yamato and Kumano decades ago, still have them, but can't remember what it was like to work on them. I have quite a few 1/700s in the stash but like you I still wish to stay in 1/600 scale as long as I can.

     Do you need a crane for an Airfix KGV? If so, do you need the booms, motor body, drum platform or all of them?        Regards, Jeff.

[Aayin1941]

Unicorn’s new bridge(minus upper radar platforms) & funnel comparison to original, quite taller than ArkRoyal. Jeff, I dropped in KGV at bottom of pic, no crane at all 😞 Note rebuilt rear funnel grille as original gone, will do something similar on Unicorn. 

[Aayin1941]

A few more details topside 

[Aayin1941]

very rough first coat of paint. Truth be, I was finishing off an old can of paint. Also rear AA platforms need redoing, same with main mast. Only posting this to show I’m still alive & well. Hope y’all doing fine, summer here makes it hard to stay inside much, but that may change as our air quality is getting worse with all the forest fires.