1/350 HMS Ark Royal III

[PeterMachin]

I have not really made much more progress yet, but I am looking to tackle the raised pom-pom platform at the rear of the island next. It is clear that the version supplied by Merit does not seem to bare much resemblance to the real thing, and the Tetra additions don’t improve it much.

 

 

 

 

The plans in the John Roberts book show the general arrangement at the flight deck and A deck, but the profile view seems to show that there are a number of different levels and a complex support frame.

 

Flight Deck

 

 

A Deck

 

 

Starboard Profile

 

 

Does anybody have any good information about this area as the plans, and the few pictures I have, are not very clear?

 

Cheers

Peter

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Reference photos of detail are extremely hard to find, though occasionally you find gold dust in the background of shots of people / other things.  Even so, these are the (not very good) best I can find:

1. From the Norway campaign;

 

2. Date unknown;

Also keep in mind that the inner (flight deck) face of this area changed during her life;

 

3. As built:

 

4. As she was by 1941;

 

[Last photo IWM, fairly obviously; the other 3 photographer unknown]

[S-boat 55]

The basic shape of the platform doesn't seem too far off but the support does look lacking as you say, 

 

The more I see of yours and the other thread from Ex-FAAFAFU, the more I'm struggling to see where Trumpeter (I love kit, Merit or any other name they want to use) can justify to cost of it really, it's very simple compared to their Essex class which is usually a chunk cheaper, 

 

Your tip re the side cutters is very useful, it looks easier doing that than adding photo etch in some ways 

Edited January 3 by S-boat 55

[PeterMachin]

On 02/01/2024 at 09:37, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Reference photos of detail are extremely hard to find, though occasionally you find gold dust in the background of shots of people / other things.  Even so, these are the (not very good) best I can find:

1. From the Norway campaign;

 

2. Date unknown;

Also keep in mind that the inner (flight deck) face of this area changed during her life;

 

3. As built:

 

4. As she was by 1941;

 

[Last photo IWM, fairly obviously; the other 3 photographer unknown]

Hi Crisp. Thanks for sharing those pictures, I have seen numbers 2 and 3 your Flickr album, but must have missed the first one. I also found this picture in your album which gives a slightly better angle and shows a height change on the port side of the platform.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/146063632@N05/50959360083/in/album-72157709128091737/

 

I have used those photos and the plans to roughly sketch out what I believe the configuration of the platform may have been before I commit to building it. This is extremely rough and it is almost certainly mostly incorrect. It also doesn't include the support structure yet.

 

 

 

 

 

If there is anything here that doesn't make sense, or contradicts photos or the plans, let me know.

 

Cheers

Peter

[S-boat 55]

I see more clearly now what you were saying about the platform inaccuracies, very handy seeing it in 3D I was struggling to follow the 2D drawings, - probably good i changed direction from Architecture when i was at uni...

[iang]

Peter, the sketches look good, but perhaps it is a little too elongated in plan view?

 

 

[mick]

great work

[robgizlu]

7 hours ago, mick said:

great work

Ditto

Rob

[PeterMachin]

On 03/01/2024 at 22:48, iang said:

Peter, the sketches look good, but perhaps it is a little too elongated in plan view?

 

 

It is pretty close to the plans, I think it is just the perspective, and the lack of the support structure which makes it look longer and thinner than it should be

 

 

 

I think it is a bit taller than it should be though, which won't help with how it looks.

 

This gives me enough to make a start though, I can always modify it later if more information comes to light.

 

I think I need to start with the inverted truncated cone which supports the pom pom, if anybody has any ideas how to do this, let me know.

 

Cheers

Peter

[foeth]

31 minutes ago, PeterMachin said:

I think I need to start with the inverted truncated cone which supports the pom pom, if anybody has any ideas how to do this, let me know.

If it needs to be hollow, vacuum forming might be quite easy?  You need to make a plug from a few discs and fill with some two-component molding material, e.g. magic sculpt (also when it needs to be solid only)

 

(e.g. magic sculpt used Top left part of image, brilliant material to work with)

[PeterMachin]

3 hours ago, foeth said:

If it needs to be hollow, vacuum forming might be quite easy?  You need to make a plug from a few discs and fill with some two-component molding material, e.g. magic sculpt (also when it needs to be solid only)

 

(e.g. magic sculpt used Top left part of image, brilliant material to work with)

Thanks for the idea, I was thinking about how to bend some sheet into a cone.

 

So I gave vacuum forming a go, just making a plug from a few layers of styrene with some brass tube through the center. I put this in my drill and used used blades and files to get it to the correct shape.

 

 

Using the brass tube, I mounted it vertically in a small vice I have. I then used a small heat gun to soften some 0.5mm styrene and quickly pulled it over the plug by hand and held it for a few seconds to harden. After some trimming and smoothing, this is the result.

 

 

 

It did take quite a few attempts, but I have managed to get one which looks like it will do the job, and it was actually pretty straight forward.

 

Cheers

Peter

 

[robgizlu]

Rob

[PeterMachin]

I have continued with the pom-pom platform.

 

I first built some walls for the “balloon filling station”, which is attached to the rear of the funnel.

 

 

To this I added a raised platform and the previously made truncated cone, which I mounted on a piece of tube.

 

 

This then formed the base to which I added further detail

 

 

 

 

 

I will come back to the support structure underneath the platform, along with all of the smaller details, once I have completed the main structural work on the island.

 

Cheers

Peter

Edited January 12 by PeterMachin

[bismarck builder]

oh thats brill that is so logical to build it in steps like that 

[robgizlu]

Take a bow that Man  

Lovely!

Rob

[PeterMachin]

On 13/01/2024 at 14:25, bismarck builder said:

oh thats brill that is so logical to build it in steps like that 

Thanks, I hope it makes it a little bit clearer what I am doing, not just showing a completed part. 

 

On 13/01/2024 at 19:00, robgizlu said:

Take a bow that Man  

Lovely!

Rob

Thank you. It actually ended up being a bit more straight forward than I thought it would be. I think sketching it out first definitely helped. 

[PeterMachin]

Progress has been quite slow over the last few weeks. My work space is currently in my garage and it becomes impossible to heat if the temperature outside is too cold.

 

I am of course still working on the island. To start with I have finished off a few minor things.

 

I added some internal structure to the island so you won’t be able to see straight through the doors I have opened up.

 

 

I have also added more detail to the wind deflector…

 

 

…and added some treads to the Pom-Pom platform.

 

 

Next up are the three rear Pom-Pom director stations. The kit parts are pretty poor, and the Tetra replacements are more detailed, but do not seem to be correct.

 

 

 

 

The plans show all three to be complete, round tubs with ladders for access. The lower one is depicted as being U shaped, and is too small.

 

 

And the upper ones are about the correct size, but have an opening in the back.

 

 

I also noticed on the plans that there is a flange around the base of the funnel (orange arrows) which angles up to the level of the director stations at the purple arrow. Merit incorrectly identified this diagonal line as a staircase in the kit.

 

 

This is shown on the plan views by the blue line around the funnel.

 

 

On the next level up, you can see that there is some additional structure at the rear of the funnel which also extends up to the director stations, which is shown by the green arrow.

 

 

It is just about visible in this photo from @Ex-FAAWAFU, by the purple arrow.

 

 

The kit parts have a straight transition between the lower island structure and the funnel.

 

 

I have tried to correct this and also add in the flange, although I think it is a bit oversize.

 

 

The port side has a steeper slope.

 

 

Once that was in place, the director stations were fairly straight forward and were built from styrene sheet and brass tube, along with the Tetra supports and “Affirmative Signal” panel.

 

 

 

Cheers

Peter

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Good stuff; great spot on that flange thing around the funnel - I’d missed that.  You wait til you get to structure around the forward end of the funnel….   Merit stop the tripod legs of the mainmast a deck too high, for a start.  

[iang]

5 hours ago, PeterMachin said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also noticed on the plans that there is a flange around the base of the funnel (orange arrows) which angles up to the level of the director stations at the purple arrow. Merit incorrectly identified this diagonal line as a staircase in the ki

 

 

 

I have tried to correct this and also add in the flange, although I think it is a bit oversize.

 

 

The port side has a steeper slope.

 

 

 

Peter, some lovely work going on in this part of the model. I've tried to find a photograph that shows this area and the best I can do is from a fly past from a Swordfish, that I've scanned at high res and cropped. I'm struggling to see clear evidence of the flange. Maybe there is something there, but it's just not clear because the image is not sharp enough?

 

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Peter, that's superb work and great attention to detail. Regards, Jeff.

[robgizlu]

Peter - can't imagine there'll be any new photos but I notice this has just been published...

 

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/ShipCraft-32-British-Aircraft-Carriers/p/24375

 

And ongoing great work BTW

Rob

[PeterMachin]

On 09/02/2024 at 18:00, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Good stuff; great spot on that flange thing around the funnel - I’d missed that.  You wait til you get to structure around the forward end of the funnel….   Merit stop the tripod legs of the mainmast a deck too high, for a start.  

 

Thanks. The flange is pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, and I do worry that I am focussing on all the wrong things 🤷‍♂️. I have been worrying about how to do those legs though, how to get the holes in the correct place on D deck...

 

On 09/02/2024 at 23:15, iang said:

 

 

Peter, some lovely work going on in this part of the model. I've tried to find a photograph that shows this area and the best I can do is from a fly past from a Swordfish, that I've scanned at high res and cropped. I'm struggling to see clear evidence of the flange. Maybe there is something there, but it's just not clear because the image is not sharp enough?

 

 

thank you for your comments and for your efforts to find photos, the best I could find is the photo that I posted. The flange does seem to be a common feature on on many RN ships, with most of the plans in the John Roberts book showing some variation of it.

 

On 10/02/2024 at 12:14, robgizlu said:

Peter - can't imagine there'll be any new photos but I notice this has just been published...

 

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/ShipCraft-32-British-Aircraft-Carriers/p/24375

 

And ongoing great work BTW

Rob

 

Thanks for the heads-up. Out of curiosity, I have bought the ebook version just to have a look. There are five photos of the Ark Royal, of which only two don't seem to be readily available online. One of the starboard bow, and one of the port side rear of the island. Both of these views have been seen before, but these photos are fairly high resolution, so could be useful.

 

[PeterMachin]

On the subject of references, I did come across this 3D model of the Ark Royal on the Sketchup 3D Warehouse:

 

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/460c401e-9057-4445-851c-7b8cdc4920c4/HMS-Ark-Royal-91

 

I believe it is copied from the game World of Warships and shows her as she was at the end of her life, with the bridge extension and shielding.

 

Comparing the model to the plans and photos, it does seem to be very accurate so could be a very useful secondary reference, and certainly fills in some gaps.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

10 hours ago, PeterMachin said:

 

I have been worrying about how to do those legs though, how to get the holes in the correct place on D deck...

 

I have decided not to extend the legs, as such, for precisely the reason you say.  Instead, when I get to that part of the build I plan to add short sections of rod of the same diameter as the legs, fitting them in deck below so that they give the appearance / illusion that they are extensions of the leg.  Sounds OK in theory, of course, but I am yet to actually try it!

[PeterMachin]

The lower of the rear pom-pom director stations is now complete, though currently unattached to the rest of the island. As mentioned previously, both the kit part and Tetra replacement are somewhat lacking, so I scratch built a replacement based on the plans.

 

 

Moving back round to the front of the island, the plans show that the layout of the plotting office structure on B deck is completely wrong. This is the Merit part for the plotting offices on B and C decks with the admiral’s bridge removed. They clearly just carried on the correct shape from C deck down to B deck.

 

 

And these are the plans for B deck with the layout highlighted which show some stairs coming up from the deck below and a curved protective wall in front of them.

 

 

And C deck which is correct

 

 

I moved the front wall of B deck back and added the correct walls and the stairs to the compass platform

 

 

 

As @Ex-FAAWAFU pointed out, the mast support legs finish a deck too high, so I need to fix that.

 

The plastic kit parts for the mast have been replaced with brass tube, starting with the mast itself which is embedded into the plotting offices with an additional support added at the base.

 

 

 

To get the alignment of the mast supports correct, I have added oversized holes through the Tetra PE D deck.

 

 

Styrene sheet was then added on top of this to neaten up the holes.

 

As I have moved the plotting offices forward to create a gap between them and the funnel, there is now also a gap between the Tetra D deck and the funnel. This styrene sheet also fills in this gap.

 

 

The forward pom-pom director stations were also remade as the kit part was a bit crude. There are supposed to be two searchlights mounted on the top platform, but the kit parts would not allow this due to the thickness and height of the walls.

 

 

The rounded front of D deck has also been given the correct smaller radius, which then blends in with the curve behind it.

 

 

And finally all the major parts in place.

 

 

 

Most of these parts are not yet glued as I still need to work out how I am going to paint it.

 

Cheers

Peter