Hi Jacques,
Thanks for that. From you post it is unfortunate that Bearn sounded like a problem you wish you had not started. I think it is both an interesting and important ship in the development of carrier aviation and for what you've achieved, a good kit.
I have it but it is unbuilt because of the omission of the forward suspended section and finding any accurate plans or even images to attempt a scratchbuild has left it languishing in the stash. I would say if you are not in France it is a difficult subject to research.
On the market it is not particularly rare and comes up from time to time at affordable prices and this may reflect the problem, people would like to build it but after the '36 refit only and are unable to scratchbuild what's missing, so they lose interest and pass it on.
Perhaps Blackcat would be able to revisit the 1/400 Bearn, having all those details at hand now, and supply in a limited edition what's needed for the 1936 modernisation with printed parts? You would have at least two buyers but I dare say most likely quite a few more.
Hello,
Béarn kit was really a pain to design in days when CAD was only a "what if" possibility. Most of the parts were hand designed, and there were sometimes misunderstandings between us and the production company. The major one was the lack of workshops under the flighdeck that were added during the 1936 refit.
Best regards from Normandie,
Jacques
Hi:
Hopefully Jacques Druel will chime in on this as he designed the kit! .
I believe it is pre-war as the kit lacks the large forward workshops that were suspended under the forward section of her bow. However, since I'm not an expert on this vessel, this is just an educated guess. Once I actually build her, I'll do the requisite research to match a particular period.
Regards
Peter M the WWII Task Force 400 Ship Guy.
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