discussion Scratch-built 1/350 HMS Prince of Wales (R09) - Build Notes

[davecov]

This build thread describes the construction of a 1/350 scale model of HMS Prince of Wales (R09) which was displayed by Airfix at SMW 2019, Telford where I am shown with Darrell Burge, Hornby Brand Manager:


Background to this build
In April 2014, the Royal Navy contacted Airfix to commission a model of HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) that was under construction in Rosyth Dockyard. Airfix asked me to scratch-build a 1/350 modelwhich was subsequently displayed at the naming ceremony of HMS Queen Elizabeth in Rosyth on 4th July 2019. Thereafter it’s permanent home was the Wardroom of HMS Queen Elizabeth:
Pic 001:


In April 2019, I was again commissioned by Airfix, this time to scratch-build a 1/350 model of HMS Prince of Wales, the second of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. It would be shown at SMW 2019, Telford and thereafter it’s permanent home would be the Hornby Hobbies Visitor Centre in Margate.

I hope that you enjoy following this build which may seem a bit unconventional in some parts. There were some problems to overcome but the worst difficulty was having to cope with severe concussion that I suffered five weeks before Telford. It was touch and go as to whether I would complete it in time but I only managed it by leaving off photo-etch and some other small details.

To use an old Chinese proverb “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”. This is the first of many sheets of plastic card used in the build:
Pic 002:


Although this build would be constructed mainly of plastic card, I would be using a Tamiya 1/350 USS Enterprise hull to give it some inner strength. The hull was shortened in length, all sponsons removed and keel removed and openings blanked off with plastic card. Plastic card was used to fill in the missing parts of the sides and clamped. Note that I have used the cut out section of hull to brace the new join of the midships and aft sections of hull:
Pic 003:


Forward section (bow excluded) glued in place:
Pic 004:


Putting aside the hull to dry, I cut out the Flight Deck. Being 80cm long, it would be a right handful in the confines of my modelling den:
Pic 005:


This situation was made worse by the fact that I was building two at once (a waterline version for myself)
Pic 006:


Once the hull had dried, I drilled four holes which were fitted with four 80mm M6 bolts epoxied in place. The model was then secured to a temporary chipboard base that would be used until the final day of the build (the Flight Deck hasn’t been glued in place yet):
Pic 007:


The most complicated part of this build is the construction of the Forward (Ship Control) and Aft (Flyco) Islands. Because of this, I decided to build the islands for both ships at the same time. Here are the Aft Islands:
Pic 008:


The plastic card is rather thin (0.20mm) and requires plenty of framing to prevent "dishing" of the panels:
Pic 009:


Pic 010:


Here the two islands have been placed on the Flight Decks of the two builds. You can see the full-hull version to the rear:
Pic 011:


Bit more work:
Pic 012:


I do like using lots of filler:
Pic 013:


Sanding of filler was completed and then I moved onto the assembly of the Flying Control Rooms:
Pic 014:


I did consider having acetate glazing but after some experimentation I decided that it would not be easy to do a good job:
Pic 015:


Another view showing the multiple facets of the Aft Island:
Pic 016:


View from ahead:
Pic 017:


That's all for now

Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

PHWOAR!!!
Scratchtastic or what!
I really enjoyed the TV documentary series' about her , and I am going to enjoy this just as much ,Dave, thanks for posting it

 

[davecov]

Hope you do enjoy it Neil.

Having applied filler to the Aft Islands again, I started construction of the Forward Islands (Ship Control):
Pic 018:


I just can’t leave the Aft Islands alone. The filler around the Flying Control Rooms (FCRs) has been sanded and I have been adding some of the many platforms:
Pic 019:


Filler applied and sanded again. You can see that I have also added window wiper boxes above where the FCR windows will go:
Pic 020:


I then cut some "T" section plastic strip to go around plastic card discs to represent the platform for the Type 997 Artisan 3D Radar. Hopefully, when painted the ends of the "T" will look like thin rods like on the original:
Pic 021:


They were then glued in place and I started on the platform on the starboard side of the Aft Island:
Pic 022:


Once the platform had been sanded I started on the overhang of the Bridge on the starboard side. As you can see, I have glued strips of plastic card to the bulkhead first and built the overhang around them:
Pic 023:


One of the islands once the overhang has been completed:
Pic 024:


Green blobs on the Aft Island denote the locations of watertight doors:
Pic 025:


WEM watertight doors have been glued in place on the Aft and Forward Islands. Note that the watertight doors do not sit flush with the bottom of the bulkheads but are raised slightly:
Pic 026:


Taking a break from the island activity, I turned to the stern. The transoms for both versions were fabricated and the various openings cut and drilled:
Pic 027:


Turning to the hull briefly, I screwed hardwood dowelling inside the hull to give it some rigidity, a necessity as the plastic card is more flexible than the original dark grey plastic. The silver fitting at the stern is only temporary and supports the stern ensuring that the top of the hull remains horizontal. It will be removed once the ship is bolted to a temporary base:
Pic 028:


The full-hull version will be permanently mounted on a base 800mm long and here I am drilling the locating holes for the 80mm M6 bolts. The base won’t be fitted until the very end of the build:
Pic 029:


I have started to apply mahogany stain. So far I have applied three coats but I will need another two coats. Once finished the base was stored safely until needed:
Pic 030:
View attachment 365898

Now the base has been fitted I turned my attention to the Flight Deck and here I have marked the outline of the hull:
Pic 031:


I glued pieces of plastic card to the underside of the Flight Deck which ensure that the hull will be correctly aligned:
Pic 032:


First piece of Flight Deck glued in place. Note the plastic card "tab" glued to the front of the Flight Deck that will support the midships section of Flight Deck:
Pic 033:


The midships piece of Flight Deck glued to the hull and clamped. I couldn't resist putting the Islands on:
Pic 034:


Bow section of the Flight Deck has been glued in place:
Pic 035:


That's all for now

Dave

 

[scottie3158]

Dave,
Stunning work.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
Saw this at Telford. A huge project. So interesting to follow.
Jim

 

[adt70hk]

Hi Dave

Very, very impressive indeed. Wouldn't know where to start.

ATB

Andrew

 

[davecov]

Thanks lads.

Andrew, luckily this time round I had the experience of a previous build behind me so things were a lot easier to manage.

Leaving the hull to dry, I turned to the hull openings in the sponsons for the ship's boats. There are five openings, two smaller ones for Pacific 24 Mark 4 Ribs and three larger ones for Wave Transfer Personnel Transfer Boats. There is one Rib inside each sponson but the PTBs are all stowed inside the port sponson. When I built the QE I omitted these due to time constraints but this time round I am fitting the openings. Here I have cut out panels which will be used to make five boxes:
Pic 036:
View attachment 365774

Here I have assembled the boxes, bracing the corners with some angled Evergreen. They have been built higher than necessary to allow them to be trimmed down to the correct level. The largest bulkheads have not been glued in place yet as I need to detail the openings. In retrospect this was a huge waste of time and effort and there was an easier way. Live and learn….:
Pic 037:
View attachment 365775

Here I have marked the locations of the WTBs (Water Tight Bulkheads) as shown on my plans. These marks are solely to help with the correct positioning of the various components such as lifts, sponsons, openings for boats etc. Unfortunately, in subsequent days, I discovered an error on the plans which showed the WTBs in a slightly different position in profile view to that in the plan view. Consequently, there is a difference of about 6mm which meant I have had to re-jig things slightly.
Pic 038:
View attachment 365776

To ensure that the measurements are uniform across both builds, I have taken all measurements from the stern and worked forward and will "lose" the extra 6mm ahead of the sponsons. Here I have cut out and glued supports for the rear section of sponson. This sponson has a raised section at the aft end and has different size supports to the rest:
Pic 039:
View attachment 365777

Before I can glue the rest of the sponson supports, I had to mark the locations of the openings for the boats and lifts:
Pic 040:
View attachment 365778

Supports have been glued in place on the Port side, double-checking that they didn't interfere with the openings:
Pic 041:
View attachment 365779

View of the Starboard side:
Pic 042:
View attachment 365780

Plating in of the sponsons has started:
Pic 043:
View attachment 365781

View of the Starboard side:
Pic 044:
View attachment 365782

Right way up:
Pic 045:
View attachment 365783

Port side:
Pic 046:
View attachment 365784

Latest update on possible shortages of the world's supplies of plastic card....

I turned my attention to the hull where I needed to reduce the depth of the hull so that it would meet the transom. After removing the original hull section I glued some plastic card framing to support the new section:
Pic 047:
View attachment 365785

The hull is too narrow at the stern and will need to be built out to meet the sponson supports:
Pic 048:
View attachment 365786

I have cut out a bulkhead to the outline of the transom and glued that in place. The transom will be glued to this bulkhead later on:
Pic 049:
View attachment 365787

Here are the transoms for both versions undergoing more work:
Pic 050:
View attachment 365788

Checking the transom for fit. It was necessary to cut a slot into the bulkhead behind so that the lower "box" did not stop the transom sitting snugly:
Pic 051:
View attachment 365789

The transom was then glued in place and the hull covered in plastic card. Eventually it will be filled and sanded:
Pic 052:
View attachment 365790

That's all for now

Dave

 

[davecov]

Progress has been steady with a lot of time being spent on the sponsons:
Pic 053:


Although it looks like there are raised lifts, these sections will be cut out and new lifts cut from plastic card. This will allow me to add the underside detail to the lifts much more easily. It also allows the option of lowered lifts. Apertures for the hangar doors still need to be cut out:
Pic 054:


I have plated in the underside of the flight deck at the bow and am now working on the shape of the bow itself. The plastic card hasn't been glued yet:
Pic 055:


Leaving the bow section to dry, I turned my attention to the hangar openings and doors. The top edges of the outboard openings will need to be trimmed down by the thickness of the flight deck. This differs between the two builds as the flight decks are constructed from different thicknesses of plastic card:
Pic 056:


Plastic card has been glued to the rear of the outboard openings. The inner faces will be trimmed and detailed they are glued in place:
Pic 057:


Doors have been cut out and will be scribed and glued in place later:
Pic 058:


Plastic card has been removed for one of the lifts and the area to be cut out for the associated hangar opening but I won't be cutting the opening just yet. Eventually, the hangar opening sub-assemblies "should" slide into the holes and the edges of the gaps will be overlapped by the edges of the outer opening:
Pic 059:


Sections of the Enterprise bow have been glued to the underside of the flight deck. This has been done mainly for strength as the bow section will get a pounding when it gets shaped:
Pic 060:


Today I managed to get some sanding done on the hulls of both builds. Here is the aft section of the full-hull build. Once all sanded, filled and sanded again, I will make and fit the keel. Rudders, props, bilge keel and stabilisers will be made and fitted towards the end of the build:
Pic 061:


When I made the HMS Queen Elizabeth, I fitted the bulbous bow before I had shaped the stem and had problems getting it to the correct slim profile. As a result it ended up with a stem that was too rounded. This time I will be shaping the stem first and fitting the bulbous bow afterwards:
Pic 062:


I can't do too much each day due to the effect the vibration from the sanders has on my hands so the sanding will take many sessions. Here are both builds after the first sanding session. The progress on the full-hull build is more advanced than the waterline version with the latter having a lot of plastic still standing proud of the hull where the cutaway begins:
Pic 063:


I had another long sanding session today and apart from the bow of the full-hull version, it is almost ready for filling over a large proportion of the hull. Here is the aft section which will probably be filled first so that I can complete construction of the sponsons, insert the hangar openings and clean up the of the flight deck in readiness for the walkways:
Pic 064:


Last night I managed to get most of 05 Deck installed on the Forward islands of each build. The front bulkheads haven't been fitted yet as they are not straightforward (not that anything seems to be straightforward with these islands):
Pic 065:


I have done a little more sanding on the hulls but I am not happy with the waterline version. I have ringed a problem area where the cutaway is too angular on both sides. I will need to get the razor saw and cut a chunk out and construct a more rounded profile. I am much happier with the full-hull version though:
Pic 066:


That's all for now

Dave

 

[boatman]

HI Dave well my hat is well an truly doffed to you an I like the way you opened up the transom area by forcein the enterprice hull out to the width of the Q/E as I know how it curves in quite a bit as when I built my USS NIMITZ in 1/144 scale it was a bit of a struggle to get the hull to curve inwards so for you it must have been a struggle to get it to curve outwards without crackin the hull.So we have both built the oppistie on the models an yes I know what goes into these builds as my carrier took 7 yrs to build how long did it take you on this model from start to finish ?
chris ps lookin forward to more an pics im really enjoyin this thread crackin build but my heart goes out for poor ole enterprise an must admit Dave if it was me i could not bring myself to cut up the hull youre a more guttisie man than me

 

[davecov]

Hi Chris,

I didn't stretch out the Enterprise hull at all actually but because of that, I had to use a lot of plastic card to build the hull out to the correct width.

I started the build in April of this year when I got the call from Airfix and completed four weeks ago in November, making seven months in all. When I made the QE I made that in three months, less than half the time and twice the stress level!

As for cutting up the Enterprise, it wasn't my money that paid for it so it felt painless!

Dave

 

[boatman]

Hi Chris,

I started the build in April of this year when I got the call from Airfix and completed four weeks ago in November, making six months in all. When I made the QE I made that in three months, half the time and twice the stress level!

As for cutting up the Enterprise, it wasn't my money that paid for it so it felt painless!

Dave

HI again Dave that's funny you startin the builds in april as that's when I started my tiger build on april the 5th as I always write a start date on my plans as the time goes so quick when im building so it seems we both started togeather that's a twist of fate eh an as for enterprise I still could not have done it a these carriers are my fave ships an it would have broke my heart but at least you have turned it into a work of art Dave so she was not wasted oh bless her
chris

 

[flyjoe180]

Hi Dave. Fantastic work, interesting to see the build up of these.

 

[Ian M]

A very interesting read that. Look forward to the next bit!
Glad that you didn't have to cough up for the doner kits! (and the plastic card I am guessing).

 

[tr1ckey66]

Stunning work Dave and a very interesting insight as to how it was done.
Cheers
Paul

 

[davecov]

I had intended to wait a couple of weeks before my next posts but I won't have much time then so here you are.

As I have said previously, I have been building both at the same time as it is easier to manufacture some parts if done in unison, especially the islands. However, the waterline version will have some slippage as eventually I will be concentrating on the full-hull version. After a break away from the modelling bench for a few days, I got back to work yesterday. The whole session was spent working on the Forward islands and I am pulling my hair out as I construct the funnel and S1850M Radar tower:
Pic 067:
View attachment 365899

Another view. As you can see, just like the Aft Island there are angles everywhere:
Pic 068:
View attachment 365900

As with the rest of the island’s construction, the funnels are not straightforward. At the foot of the Radar Towers you can see where I have had to glue lots of small bits of plastic card. This is because I hadn't made the correct profile and have had to pack out the bulkheads:
Pic 069:
View attachment 365901

The extra plastic card bits have been trimmed back and the tops of both structures have been covered:
Pic 070:
View attachment 365902

I can't proceed with the various platforms without getting some filling and sanding done first. So, out with the filler:
Pic 071:
View attachment 365903

It was a long sanding session last night:
Pic 072:
View attachment 365904

Still a long way to go and the next step will be to add the various platforms and Bridge wings.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to work on the two islands due to a holiday in the Inner Hebrides and then the passing of my father. Although I haven't seen him for decades, it still came as bit of a shock and I wasn't able to concentrate on modelling for a few weeks. I did try to get some work done on the islands but to be honest I didn't have any mojo for them. I did get back to work on both builds eventually as I continued building up the hull forms and next Monday I hope to start the filling and sanding of the hulls in earnest.

To lighten the mood, I have decided to spend a little time on the air wings of both builds:
Pic 073:
View attachment 365905

The aircraft shown are 12 x F-35B Lightning IIs, 2 x CH47 Chinooks, 2 x AH-64D Apache Longbows (all from Shapeways), 3 x MV22 Ospreys (Trumpeter) and 4 x Merlins (Airfix). They will be split between the two builds. Obviously, some of them are not standard complement of the class but will be seen operating from both carriers during their lifetimes. I have also got a Swordfish that will be used on my waterline version as a tribute to the FAA crews of the past.
My modelling mojo has been restored - at least for the time being and the past 24 hours have been very productive. Problems with my arthritic hands means that the sanding sessions of the hulls has to be limited to about half an hour for each hull. It is a long old slog but at least the profile is beginning to show:
Pic 074:
View attachment 365906

All four hangar openings have been cut:
Pic 075:
View attachment 365907

Close-up of one of the openings. Once all of the excess plastic has been removed, the hangar door opening should cover any blemishes:
Pic 076:
View attachment 365908

All four hangar opening assemblies are dry-fitted. As you can see, I will need to fill the gaps at the edges with plastic card and then I can start filling the hull:
Pic 077:
View attachment 365909

It was then time to work on the air groups. Painting is underway. Here are the Merlins, F-35Bs and two Chinooks
Pic 078:
View attachment 365910

Ospreys, Apaches and Swordfish plus lots of rotors:
Pic 079:
View attachment 365911

Another long sanding session today. The sanding was followed by a liberal coating of Isopon38 filler on the full-hull version:
Pic 080:
View attachment 365912

Having put a lot of filler over the builds, it was time to get sanding. My arthritic hands means that I have to limit the sanding to about 60-90 minutes per day. Here is the bow of the full-hull version after the first sanding session. The different colour of the filler is very helpful in getting the bow profile right:
Pic 081:
View attachment 365913

Midships:
Pic 082:
View attachment 365914

The stern:
Pic 083:
View attachment 365915

Transom:
Pic 084:
View attachment 365916

That's all for now

Dave

 

[davecov]

Yesterday I did the second second sanding session. Most of it was concentrated on the bows and the profile of the waterline version is nearly done. The full-hull bow needs a lot more work though:
Pic 085:
View attachment 365917

Returning to my modelling den, I got some more work done on the air wings. Here the Swordfish for the waterline-version has been painted and is almost ready for final assembly and decalling:
Pic 086:
View attachment 365918

Swordfish decalled and top wing fitted. I still need to paint the cowling ring and the blade tips and then varnish the whole thing:
Pic 087:
View attachment 365919

Cockpit canopies and windows of the F-35Bs and Merlins painted:
Pic 088:
View attachment 365920

The air wings so far. The camera flash has washed out the colours a bit in this picture. Apaches and one Merlin were decalled and just need a coat of varnish to finish them. The F-35Bs were also given a single roundel. I have since painted the undercarriage legs of the F-35Bs white. Detailing of the Ospreys started although I am not happy with the colour scheme of those and may repaint them:
Pic 089:
View attachment 365921

Just about finished with the painting of the air wings with a little touching up required. Some of the helicopters and the Ospreys require decalling and every plane and helicopter need varnishing.
A view of all of the aircraft. These will be divided between the two builds:
Pic 090:
View attachment 365922

Swordfish and F-35Bs:
Pic 091:
View attachment 365923

Merlins and Apaches:
Pic 091a:
View attachment 365924
Apaches, Ospreys and Chinooks; the latter still need some rotor blades scratched for them:
Pic 092:
View attachment 365925

Before I do any more sanding of the full-hull version, I want to make the keel. In tandem with that lot I will be fabricating two ski jumps and the various Flight Deck edge walkways and platforms for both versions. Starting with the keel, I cut out three lengths of 2mm plastic card:
Pic 093:
View attachment 365926

These were glued together, a narrow channel and slot cut into the hull and the keel glued in place. I made two mistakes with the keel. It was too long and didn’t taper inwards towards the stern. I fixed the first problem but didn’t notice the other until the day before handover so I left it:
Pic 094:
View attachment 365927

Leaving the hull to one side, I began making the two ski jumps. They are over 180mm long and 38mm wide. When I built the QE, I had the luxury of being able to adapt an Airfix HMS Illustrious ski jump. This time round I wasn’t going to break open a new kit so I scratch-built them. Construction is fairly straightforward apart from a "knuckle" on the port side where the bulkhead tapers in to join the edge of the hull:
Pic 095:
View attachment 365928

I glued bulkheads inside the jumps to support the ramps:
Pic 096:
View attachment 365929

Here is a view of the "knuckle". The triangular piece of plastic card was cut off the port bulkhead and glued on the INSIDE of the ski jump. A further piece will be glued on top of that flush with the bulkhead in due course:
Pic 097:
View attachment 365930

Dry-fitting to the Flight Deck in order to check the angles:
Pic 098:
View attachment 365931

The ramps have been glued to the bulkheads. The forward section of the ramps still need to be completed but I have glued strips of plastic card along the edges of the bulkheads in readiness for the next stage:
Pic 099:
View attachment 365932

Leaving the ski jumps to dry, I have turned to the port side walkways of both builds. The walkways are constructed from plastic card and Plastruct. The inner half of the walkways have slots cut in them where ladders go down to the next deck:
Pic 100:
View attachment 365933

Here are the components for each walkway. Two lengths of Plastruct and five pieces of .25mm plastic card.The slotted Plastruct is glued to the underside of the wider, longer plastic card. When dry, the slots are cut out and the other "L" Plastruct is glued onto the plastic card flush with it's slotted partner forming an elongated "U". When dry, the thinner plastic card strips are glued into the channels and left to dry. Once dry, the slots are cut out of the upper plastic card. The plastic card underneath is trimmed and sanded:
Pic 101:
View attachment 365934

Here they are after construction. I will cut the outboard slots for the life rafts later on:
Pic 102:
View attachment 365935

Here is one of the walkways dry-fitted to the flight deck. The underside of the slots will be boxed in once the walkways have been glued in place but that won't be done until much later in the build:
Pic 103:
View attachment 365936

That's all for now

Dave

 

[davecov]

More work on the walkways of both builds last night. The stern, quarter and starboard side walkways were cut from strip. They are slightly oversize to allow trimming later on
Pic 104:


Forward walkways:
Pic 105:


Midships walkway adjacent to the Aft Island. This walkway will be more complicated to construct as it will have a lower mid-section in between two higher ends:
Pic 106:


All of the other sections of walkway have had slots cut out where necessary and plastic card glued top and bottom. They will need some trimming and sanding before fitting:
Pic 107:


I got the walkways cleaned of excess plastic card by trimming and sanding. I also finished closing up the ski jump ramps. I made some bilge keels from a sandwich of plastic card. I also made a pair of rudimentary anchors and four stabilisers:
Pic 108:
View attachment 365974

With those out of the way, I started work on the prop shafts. I am using metal rod with poly tubing forming the bearing end of the "A" brackets:
Pic 109:
View attachment 365975

Someone asked how I manage to organise these builds. Well, I have a rough idea of what I have to do and when things have to be done although I sometimes change the order of things due to boredom, forgetfulness or a crisis! The only aid to help me keep track of things is my use of storage boxes to keep assemblies safe and away from the rubbish bin:
Pic 110:


Turning to the builds, I modified some USS Enterprise propeller blades to the shape of the QE class blades and have cut out some pieces that will form the "A" Brackets:
Pic 111:


I got some HMS Illustrious life rafts from the spares box and adjusted them for the configuration I need. During this session, I realised that HMS Queen Elizabeth's actual life raft fit is slightly different on the port side to that shown on my builder's plans. I will need to adjust the port side walkway as a result:
Pic 112:


I also spent some time getting the bays for the boats ready. I had intended to detail their interior but decided not to as most of it won't be seen. As it turns out, the boxing-in of the boat bays was a time consuming affair and I should make it a much simpler and quicker task on the second build. This is by using single pieces of plastic card with the bay opening cut out of them rather than framing the bay opening with separate pieces of plastic card. We will see.

In the end I reduced the amount of time spent on boxing-in the boat bays by about two-thirds. The result is much tidier too:
Pic 113:


Time to get back to the hull itself. After the first session of filling and sanding there were a lot of pits and holes that needed sorting out so out came the Isopon38 filler again:
Pic 114:


Leaving the hull filler to dry, I turned to the hangar openings and spent some time detailing the bulkheads between the outer and inner openings:
Pic 115:


Of the four bulkheads, no two are the same so they all received varying levels of detailing. I can get on with the painting of the interior of the openings and hangar doors now. Once dry, they will be slotted into the hull:
Pic 116:


Last night I spent time on the hangar doors. Rectangles of plastic card were scored:
Pic 117:


The doors were then glued to the rear of the inboard openings:
Pic 118:


One of the inboard openings dry-fitted to the outboard opening. Once painted, these two sub-assemblies will be glued together. Don’t do what I did and paint the hangar openings in different colours to those used later on in the build:
Pic 119:


I also did the final bit of boxing in of the ski jumps:
Pic 120:


After some initial sanding of the ski jumps, I applied filler to the edges and curved front:
Pic 121:


Lots of sanding and they are almost finished:
Pic 122:


A pair of watertight doors on the inboard bulkhead and they are now ready for fitting to the Flight Deck:
Pic 123:


That's all for now

Dave

 

[Guest]

Amazing work Dave. So interesting to follow the progress .

 

[davecov]

The plastic card on the underside of the walkways was a bit uneven in areas so out came the filler:
Pic 124:
View attachment 365955

Walkways sanded and ready for fitting. The extra detailing of the walkways will be added later in the builds:
Pic 125:
View attachment 365956

A landmark was reached last night when I was able to start painting the ship (as opposed to the aircraft). Alright, it was only primer and on only a few items but it is a start. The hangar doors will be painted with H127 US Ghost Grey and the deck between the openings will be painted H27 Sea Grey. This turned out to be a mistake as I eventually used Colourcoats paints for the rest of the build so these had to be repainted. The ski jumps got primed too:
Pic 126:
View attachment 365957

More progress with the hangar openings. The doors and inner bulkheads were sprayed with H127 US Ghost Grey:
Pic 127:
View attachment 365958

Once dry they were masked up and the decks sprayed with H27 Sea Grey:
Pic 128:
View attachment 365959

On the bulkheads containing the doors, I traced an outline of where they met the inner section bulkheads and trimmed away the excess plastic card. I then scraped away the paint ready for glueing. The bottom right one still has to be done:
Pic 129:
View attachment 365960

Here is the first one glued in place. The scribed lines on the doors were emphasised with a pencil:
Pic 130:
View attachment 365961

All four are now glued and ready for installing in the hull:
Pic 131:
View attachment 365962

Still a fair bit to do to the hull before they are installed but I did carry out a dry-fitting to ensure they fitted okay:
Pic 132:
View attachment 365963

Close-up of the forward openings. On the waterline model (top) you can see where I had already added an extra layer of plastic card below the opening to make the fairing in of the openings that much easier later on:
Pic 133:
View attachment 365964

I have returned to the islands briefly. Here I making up some fire lockers that are situated around the islands - there will be 2 for the Forward Island and 4 for the Aft Island. The longer bits of plastic card are "feet" and the smaller bits are there to help in fixing the lockers to the sloped island bulkheads:
Pic 134:
View attachment 365965

Here they are glued in position on the Aft Island.
Pic 135:
View attachment 365966

It was then time to take some progress report photos of the full-hull build with most components in position:
Pic 136:
View attachment 365967

Walkways have been taped into position:
Pic 137:
View attachment 365968

Another view:
Pic 138:
View attachment 365969

Lift areas. Sanding of hull still needs to be finished:
Pic 139:
View attachment 365970

The bow:
Pic 140:
View attachment 365971

The stem of the bow still needs "sharpening":
Pic 141:
View attachment 365972

That's all for now

Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

fantastic, Dave. many thanks for posting this