Of Enclosed Bows and Massive Islands: RN AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
Posted by Matty on March 1, 2014, 13:07:10 Edited by board administrator March 1, 2014, 15:18:55
--Originally Posted 11/8/08--
This thread was originally established for all our discussions of the distinctive and historic aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy, to be collected in one place - including, as always, your contributions and replies, appended as "responses", below.
There had earlier been considerable discussion/graphics relating to flight-deck camouflage - if anyone(s) would like to see these restored, just let me know!
Cheers,
-Matty
Yet Rarer than the Ships Themselves: MODELS of the RN LIGHT CARRIERS
"...(Heller released two Colossus class kits in plastic, but there was also a) DEL kit:
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(At left, top, it) was 1/730 I think. It looks odd (right, top) because of the way they split up the pieces to get the deck to fit. The 6" nail was part of the kit..!! I believe you could get it to float upright if this was fitted. (At right, bottom) is a dry fit - it went together well.
...I can't help you with an opinion on (whether this hull looks a lot like the Airfix) Victorious. I had one of these when they were new(!) and have not examined one since...
(In smaller scale, another Colossus-class model I have is) Triumph as a repair ship:
(Again it) is a plastic kit...(and) builds into a neat model...the fit of the flight deck at the bows leaves something to be desired though. I have water-lined this model - it comes 'full hull' just like the(ir) 1/400 one (released as Arromanches)...I'm not sure if (the 1600-scale ones are) in issue at present, but they are quite easy to find on ebay in the UK.
Th(e following) photo shows a re-worked (Centaur-class, again by Tri-ang in 1/1200) Bulwark as HMS Albion:
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...and (again the above) converted Triumph. Photos taken years ago with a basic 35 mm camera. The models were sold so I can't get a better shot. You can see though how the Centaur class were much broader at flight deck level and simply bigger all round.
(The real-life) Bulwark will forever have a place in my heart - I went aboard her when I was about 8 years old and can still recall the thrill of going down to the hanger on one of the lifts. Flying fast jets off these small carriers took guts. Even with the slightly angled flight deck they were still very small with little margin for error by the pilots.
Here is another Tri-ang Centaur class conversion:
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HMS Hermes as Tri-ang might have modelled her, no 'fine detail' but capturing the essence of the ship. I made this for one of my sons just after the Falklands War. I also saw the ship after she returned home to the UK still covered in the rust and battle scars of operations (as in the classic photo). It was the strangest feeling seeing a RN ship as beaten-up as that. (I don't think they used the side lift for the Harriers, but I had one Harrier with no starboard wing so I exercised 'modellers licence' and showed it half in /half out of the hanger!)
"I am very happy to (have made the above submission to ModelFleet)...I do visit the site from time to time, but as you can probably tell, my main interest is in 1/1200 models (I don't even go after many 1/1250 ones as the scale differential bothers me!).
[Editor's Note: That's OK, Jeff - ANY MODEL SCALE is welcome here, buddy!]
...Having said my main interest is in 1/1200 - I must also admit to an burning interest in the Revell, ex-Renwall, Shangri La... [Ah HA - I KNEW it!]…
Jean D'Arc, Foch and Clemencau. Pretty detailed for what they were.
Funny story about Hermes. I was in the UK at that time too. And to celebrate Britain's "win" I remember building a trio of Airfix 700th scale Leanders.
" The (1942 design) light fleet carriers served with lots of smaller navies after WW2 as well as the RN.
...I saw Magnificent in 1964...(and earlier) in 1963...(and both times) I took a couple of photos with the worlds worst camera(s)...'120' size Kodak(s...whose) old B/W photos are rubbish...simply not in focus...and you shouldn't waste your time trying to make (them any) better!
[Editor's Note: That's all the challenge I need to hear, Jeff! So here we go - note enhanced/enlarged insets, at top]:
Click on Image to Enlarge
(Here she was in '64) waiting to be scrapped, moored off Plymouth, where I now live...It frustrates me still that I didn't have a decent camera then - I have no idea of the identity of all of those ex-WW2 destroyers also laid up. The next time I was able to visit, they had all gone.
(And here is the one I took of her in 1963):
It gives the impression these ships were a long, long way off - they were not. A decent camera with a zoom would have put them next to me! That's the monitor HMS 'Roberts' in a small group of ships at the RHS - 15" guns! That too had gone when I returned with a decent camera - I could still weep now!! I think I scanned this at a high resolution to get the best image I could...
(Anyway) I took...photos with the worlds worst camera - but at least I saw her, the last one in the RN.
Considering how fast they scrapped Warspite and Vanguard I'm surprised they lasted THAT long.
Cheers,
Don
Aircraft Carriers...
Posted by Matty on March 6, 2014, 19:01:52, in reply to "Damn"
Along with submarines, carriers completely replaced the Big Gun, as the Capital Ships of the Cold War.
(Also, Warspite in particular was pretty well trashed, after the abuse at the hands of those Fritz-X' in 1943. Although put back in service - basically as a monitor - off Normandy, her hull would never again be the same. And I don't think they ever did get one of her turrets [X-turret?] fully functional, ever again.
Seems pretty clear the only reason they repaired Warspite at all was her historic/cultural importance to the RN. Just like the USN went to great lengths to repair Franklin and Bunker Hill - but neither would ever again see front-line service.)