Airfix 1/600 HMS Ark Royal + PE + crew - Finished

[AdrianMF]

1 hour ago, marvinneko said:

Have you got a magnifying visor? Might help. 

I have two! And I was using the table mounted one, which I think is as good as my optivisor.

 

I need to find some youtube tutorials!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[AlxBNE]

5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I gave you a smiley because there isn't a scream emoticon there 😬.

 

I have achieved my goal of getting out of my comfort zone, at least!

🫣 😱 

Adrian

 

 

Glad to see the leader of this group build boldly going out of his comfort zone.

 

I must admit the smiley was a welcome sight because when I saw your battle with the PE I screamed on your behalf.

 

Will we be having a de-brief and support group for survivors of this group build?

[The Spadgent]

Strangely I like building PE stuff but sometimes it just doesn’t suit as the bits look a little flat. I think you did a great job there @AdrianMF 👏👏👏 looks like she’s going to be a big un. 😀

 

 Johnny

[AdrianMF]

Well, Plan A (photo etch brass octuple pom-poms) wasn't going to work, and using the kit parts would be a complete humiliating climb down, so Plan 9 from Outer Space was hatched. I couldn't find any wrestlers, washed up horror movie stars or dentists, so I recruited some plastic card and brass rod. Here's the scene of the crime, showing a selection of optical aids (ironically, I start a modelling session by taking my spectacles off):

 

I had done some measuring and scaling from photos and specifications and drawn up a plan for a part. I was going to use 0.3mm brass rod for the barrels, and add a piece of plastic card to act as the breech assembly of all four guns on a tier, together with the magazines either side. Then I would just chop off sets of quadruple guns:

Several problems:

* couldn't get the brass rods lined up with the slots.

* superglue is weaker than double sided sticky tape.
* brass rod is far too hard to cut with a scalpel and wire cutters break it all apart.

 

So, plan C was born. This used 0.3mm stretched sprue for the guns instead of brass wire, and the barrels were all pre-cut to 4.5mm before gluing them on to the plastic strips:

I had already scribed the indentations for the guns into a strip of card. I made and used another little scrap of card as a jig so I could cut lots of 4.5mm lengths of sprue and 1mm slices of the grooved card without having to measure every time.

 

I then had another jig (on masking tape this time!) that allowed me to position the inner guns against a stop and the outer guns up to a line. So all i had to do was drop a small blob of Contacta onto the part and add the four barrels. It was easy to peel off the tape, and I'd cut a recess so the jig wouldn't get glue on it.

 

So here are the twelve I need to make six installations, with some spares:

 

An interesting diversion. The Airfix guns are a really good attempt for injection moulding. The WEM pieces have some exquisite detail but they too have a lot of compromises, so I hope that I can use a combination of scratch plus some WEM parts for the guns.

 

I feel like a bit of FROG Spitfire building now...

 

[Alex Gordon]

20 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I gave you a smiley because there isn't a scream emoticon there 😬.

There's a reason for that.This

 

 

takes up too much bandwidth.

 

Looking good so far old chum,along with some superb solutions which I will shamelessly half inch somewhere along the line .

Edited April 23 by Alex Gordon
Inadvertant double post.

[TonyW]

Multiple scratch built 1.600 scale pom poms!

 

Slowly walks off into a setting sun, shaking head as I go...

 

What have we unleashed here? A Tamiya kit will never be the same again.

 

Tony.

[The Spadgent]

4 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

 

Amazing!!! Now forgive my ignorance. Pom poms. I’m guessing they’re guns? Those up there are super neat! 🙌 Bravo.

 

 Johnny

[AdrianMF]

9 minutes ago, The Spadgent said:

I’m guessing they’re guns?

Indeed so. The Quick Firing 2 pounder naval gun, named after the sound it made when firing. It's a 40mm Maxim/Vickers type machine gun, and served from WWI through to post WWII. Apparently there was a lot of left over ammunition available for it, so that was a factor in its longevity.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[marvinneko]

3 hours ago, TonyW said:

Multiple scratch built 1.600 scale pom poms!

 

While also shepherding along the GB with encouraging and constructive comments, no less!

[ArnoldAmbrose]

13 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

So here are the twelve I need to make six installations, with some spares:

Gidday Adrian, I don't do PE and the Airfix octuple pompoms for my Airfix 1941 HMS Hood were rather average (and one mount short) so I made my own too. To get the spacings between the barrels I used a strip of V-groove styrene for the magazine boxes, and made my gun assemblies in two layers also.

How I made mine is in the Tools and Tips/Scratchbuilding section, I can post a link if you wish. I can also show a photo or two here if you wish, but this is your thread, not mine.

Yours are turning out very well and I am looking forward to seeing the final result.

Regards, Jeff.

[AdrianMF]

1 minute ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

How I made mine is in the Tools and Tips/Scratchbuilding section, I can post a link if you wish.

Yes please, Jeff - a link and a photo or two would be great. It wouldn't prove I'm not crazy, but it would at least show I'm not alone

 

Regards,

Adrian

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, below are the three I made for HMS Hood, plus a trial, and also guns supplied with the kit (right) and those supplied with the Belfast kit (left) :-

 

 The link to how I make them:-

Good luck with yours. Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

19 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

It wouldn't prove I'm not crazy, but it would at least show I'm not alone

We're all a bit crazy or we wouldn't be here. 😁     Regards, Jeff.

[Ray S]

Adrian, this is a cracking piece of NMCZ-ness, one to be proud of as our Great Leader. The way you have tackled the pom-poms is amazing, and Jeff has had some fabulous ideas too.

 

All the best with this,

 

Ray

[81-er]

Amazing work there Adrian! 

 

James

[AlxBNE]

3 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

It wouldn't prove I'm not crazy, but it would at least show I'm not alone.

This entire group build in a single sentence.

[AlxBNE]

17 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

So, plan C was born.

There isn't a "genius" emoji.

There should be for plan C.

[Mr T]

I like the thinking outside the box there Adrian, and they do look good. Makes me realise why I stick to 1/72nd scale aircraft, as I can see what I am doing. My one life advantage associated with my rubbish eyesight (very shortsighted and astigmatic), is the ability to keep on with my chosen scale, when a lot of contemporaries have had to move up a scale or two. Either that or I was a clean living young person 😉 😂🍺🎉🕺💃

[PattheCat]

I'd really like to build a battleship but those numerous tiny parts make it lightyears away from my comfort zone.

And you, you scratchbuild 1/600 pom-poms!

 

Nothing left to do but to keep  and to 🫡.

[AdrianMF]

Sorry for the lack of progress but I was AWOL this weekend on the Blitzbuild. Turns out that some camouflage schemes (like this one) are not appropriate if you want a quick build. Still, we live and learn

 

Regards,

Adrian

[81-er]

The camo might have been a challenge, but it looks great  I bet you're glad to be getting back to the ship after that  

 

James

[AdrianMF]

Well, I've just finished my FROG Spitfire XIV, and I've managed to resist starting a KP DH9A, so I'm back to this! To be honest, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of the build (and some IRL stuff) at the moment, so this afternoon I've been trying to set out what I'm trying to achieve.

 

So, what do I want? Realistically. In the timescale.

 

Research. First up, I haven't up to now appreciated the complexity of naval ship builds. Having dipped into @Ex-FAAWAFU's thread on building the Ark Royal as she was on 26th May 1941 and seen the discussions about what time of day it was and dimensions of less than a mm in 1/600, I am humbled by the effort and in-depth scholarship on show. So this will be a model of Ark Royal late in her career, and it will contain discrepancies and inaccuracies. I will be referring to the excellent drawings that were produced in the thread and other material available on the web, but I won't be buying books or doing any serious research.

 

Colour. Under marital law, I can paint indoors if I brush water-based acrylics. Sadly that excludes Colourcoats paints, so I will have to choose water-based acrylic greys that look about right for 507C and the deck and go with them. I will be looking at Jamie's charts though. Suggestions welcome!

 

PE. I don't have the ability or the time available to use all the PE on my White Ensign fret. I'm already taking a different approach for the pom-poms and possibly other bits, but I do want to maximise the practical benefit of the PE by using it for cranes, aerials, railings and walkways. So I'm expecting to use around half of it.

 

Stuff. I want to drill out the portholes/scuttles and want to populate it with the crew. And I want to have a go at a sea base because that sounds like fun!

 

Sorry to drone on but I feel better for thinking it through. What you really wanted to know is whether any plastic got bothered this afternoon! I thought it would be an interesting experiment to tidy up the kit cranes and see what they look like just to build up some faith in PE. 
 

The mould is 1966 and this boxing is 1994 (it has the Airfix website URL on so it can't be much earlier!). I don't know how much the moulds had deteriorated but the plastic on the sprues looks pretty ropey:

I cleaned up the plastic as best I could with a fresh scalpel blade, doused it in Tamiya extra thin to get rid of the rough edges and assembled it, along with the island (not fully stuck together because there's some etch to go on):

 

Scope for improvement on the crane, I would say...

[AdrianMF]

I say, I think there may be something in this PE lark after all:

[ArnoldAmbrose]

7 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I will be referring to the excellent drawings that were produced in the thread and other material available on the web, but I won't be buying books or doing any serious research.

Gidday Adrian, the hobby is meant to be enjoyable so the time to stop research is before it becomes a bore or chore. That point of course is different for all of us. Only you know when to stop turning pages and start cutting plastic.

7 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

and want to populate it with the crew.

They'll be about 3mm tall in 1/600 scale.

 

7 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

and it will contain discrepancies and inaccuracies.

I think most of our builds do. Mine certainly.

 

That crane boom in the previous post looks very good. I've scratch built some, and while they can look better than some of the chunky Airfix offerings they can't compete with your PE boom.

 

Research while you feel like it, stop when you don't, and enjoy the outcome, ie your build. I'm looking forward to seeing it come together. Regards, Jeff.

[Old Man]

Late kudos on the pom-poms, Adrian!

 

A tip for getting little assembled bits off double-face tape. CA accelerator destroys the tack. Put a drop or two on the little piece, and it will come off like it was on wet paper.