The last models I built were quite massive, when I was into Radio Controlled Model Ships. This was over 20 years ago now. I built a few warship models around that period, but my best was a model of the Aircraft carrier Victorious in 1/96 scale. She was one of four Illustrious Class Carriers built in 1941. The model was all scratch built except for the open top moulded fibre glass hull, which had to have a fair bit of work done to it, by cutting out all the deck openings below the flight deck, along both sides and arround the stern. The flight deck itself was made from an 8 feet x 2 feet sheet of 1/16th inch marine ply, cut to a total width of 10.5 inches, with a central lift out section and the bow and stern parts of the deck, moulded into place using two part epoxy car body filler and smoothing to shape.
The length of the ship was just a tad over eight feet long, at 8ft 3.5 ins to be precise. It took me just over two years to build it and it could just about fit inside my car, with the front passenger seat folded forward and the rear seats laid flat, (a Vauxhaull Astra at that time). It was a beautiful model complete with thirty corsair model aircraft parked on the flight deck ( these were 1/100 scale metal models, I manged to find on ebay in a job lot for £50). These were just slightly under scale, but which were just the right size for the model. I added wheels to each plane, made from axles and wheels from matchbox toy cars. One plane was attached to the rear of the flight deck on a piece of piano wire about three inches above and two inches away, which gave it the appearance of coming into land. (this just clipped in place when the model was being used. It was a very heavy model and had to be lifted in the water before inserting the lead ballast and 12 volt car battery which powered it. This was done by removing the flight deck, once in the water, placing the battery in situ, just forward of midships, together with 12 lbs of lead in the bow and stern for ballast. It could sail for at least four hours, at a speed of 25 scale knots, without any noticeable drain on the battery.
The cost of the hull was just over £85 which was built to the scale of 1/96. I built the rest of the model from actual Admiralty plans, which cost me £65 from the Maritime Museum. The rest of the build was scratch built using various kinds of wood, aluminium strip, plastic sheet and strip, brass wire, and many other bits and pieces I could utilise etc. It had three 1.5 hp motors and three bronze propellers (centre shaft having five bladed with the two outer being three bladed as the original ship and twin rudders all controlled from four internal servos) It was built as it appeared during the second world war, spending its last war years on loan to the American Navy in the Pacific under the name of USS Robin, before being returned to the RN, after the war with Japan was over. It was converted to an angle deck carrier, during the early sixties, and was scrapped after a serious fire in one of the engine rooms in 1966, deemed it too costly to repair, so after 27 years service, she was finally scrapped in 1968.
I had the model for over five years, before deciding to sell it, because it was taking to much room up in my workshop, and was not used for a couple of years. I sold it for £450 to a guy from Southampton, who came to collect it. It was too big and heavy to post it. Somewhere I have some photos of it, but gawd knows where they are at the moment, probably somewhere up the loft, together with many other long lost items that have found there way up there over the years.
Do I miss it, well I did after I sold it, but I don't now as it was so long ago. But I had hours and hours of pleasure just building it, let alone sailing it and it always attracted lots of attention when on the water, at the model boating lake, not far from where I live. It didn't owe me anything, as I got more for it than it cost to build (not counting time, as you can't measure that when building such a large model). But at the time it had to go I'm afraid. Now I have retired, I'm sticking to car modelling for a change and hope to at least keep these to build up a decent collection, before I pop my clogs. They will then end up gawd knows where after I am gone, but at least I will have had the pleasure of building them into my old age.
It is sad to part with models, when you have spent so much time building them, but there comes a time when you have to part with them I'm afraid, for one reason or another.
Geoff
Face the fact we are more critical than the Public believe me.
.................Jim
