HMS MAJESTIC, the ex HMAS MELBOURNE, quickly refitted and sailing with the UK task force, late 1982.
Scratch, 1/700
In April 1982 the UK government quietly asked Australia to keep the recently laid up Melbourne on stand-by in case a need for another carrier arose with the pending conflict over the Falklands. The move proved wise indeed when one of the UK carriers suffered a major casualty and the war drug on past the winter in the Southern hemisphere.....
The kit: There is none. I got tired of waiting for a 1/700 MAJESTIC/COLOSSUS, so this will be scratch. Styrene sheet and planks.
If it turns out OK I hope to make a resin mold- all sorts of WHIF potentials for this class!
Some complex curves on this one- wish me luck :thumbsup:
Found a drawing of the MELBOURNE, and copied at 1/700.
Keel laying...
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added some frames and the forward upper sections below the flight deck. Flight deck cut out. Is upside down in this shot.
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multiple styrene runners to give the shape near the bow. Thin styrene sheets laid over.
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some work on the aft section. Made inserts where the ship boats are stored.
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Man, they would have been desperate! :o
A couple of guys in my type course for Trackers were ex-QMG's (Quartermaster Gunners) whose last posting had been Melbourne.
They had been using a jason pistol on the flight deck, cleaning off old paint in order to repaint her, when the jason pistol* literally punched through the steel deck. In their opinion the only thing holding the old girl together was the rust.
*: Jason pistols are hydraulic tools used to strip paint from ships. They work by vibrating a set of 'needles' against the painted metal.
PS: This was in 1982! ;D
Ah, yes, well always remember that Melbourne sank more ships than the rest of the RAN combined...
She was an unlucky ship, which didn't deserve her bad reputation as in each case, it was the commander of the escorting destroyer who was at fault and turned in front of her, which is why she hit them and cut both Voyager and Evans in half. In both cases, it was Melbourne's captain who was unjustly blamed and had their careers destroyed and the real situation was covered up.
Interestingly, my sister went out with the son of Captain Evans (Captain of the Melbourne during the Voyager disaster) back in the early 1970s.
When you have the resin version ready, I might be interested in getting one.
Quote from: Old Wombat on May 27, 2014, 06:44:27 AM
They had been using a jason pistol on the flight deck, cleaning off old paint in order to repaint her, when the jason pistol* literally punched through the steel deck. In their opinion the only thing holding the old girl together was the rust.
Life imitating art. Sounds about as much as the
Caine in
The Caine Mutiny
Wow........some great work going on there......love the work on the bow.....
Nice build so far, the scratch work is terrific
What scale is she.. 1/700 ?
Quote from: buzzbomb on May 27, 2014, 06:00:37 PM
Nice build so far, the scratch work is terrific
What scale is she.. 1/700 ?
Thank you, yes buzz, 1/700.
This is one to watch, great work :thumbsup:
Thanks guys.
Did some work on the hull. Trying a new filler, bondo glaze. For minor automotive finishing.
Bow plates. Still needs sanding and filler.
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Stern section. With this method of using small individual styrene pieces you can mold them into curved sections. Larger pieces do not do well with multiple curves. Also you can still see the individual "plates", which I kind of like as you can see them on the real ships, especially ships that are run hard. The bondo is rust colored. So far so good.
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More hull work.
Bow with putty.
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Hull. Port side. Still needs a few sponsons.
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Begin work on the island. Some complex shapes on the island still to do. Seems each MAJESTIC/COLOSSUS had a a unique island later in life. You can see the track line for the catapult and elevators pencilled in.
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Interesting, impressive, instructive, inspiring :thumbsup:
Island shaping up. All scratch styrene sheet.
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Added side sponsons. You can see the internal frames and where the inserts are for the boat davit stations, etc. Island in primer.
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Starting to look like a carrier. Curved section of funnel from aluminum rod, cut with pipe cutting tool. Photo taken before sponsons added.
U shaped styrene strips added for the walkways along the side of much of the flight deck.
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I'm impressed. :thumbsup:
Gondor
Thanks Gondor! Got some more work in. Hull and flight deck basically complete. Primer on. Much detail remains to be done, but this is the phase I want to prepare a mold of the entire ship so I can pop a few more Colossus/Majestic hulls for future WHIFS. How about a Boneventure in a cold war conflict?, a 25 de mayo with a different airwing?, Melbourne in Vietnam (not just a transport) etc?
If I did more details at this point, they would not survive the RTV mold making process. The itsy bitsy pieces would get pulled of when demating the mold.
Thanks for looking- Dave
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Next to a 1/700 scale ESSEX for size. ESSEX island MIA.
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Great piece of scratchbuilding - well done! :thumbsup:
Quote from: Weaver on June 04, 2014, 05:23:50 PM
Great piece of scratchbuilding - well done! :thumbsup:
Absolutely :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Quote from: NARSES2 on June 05, 2014, 01:29:09 AM
Quote from: Weaver on June 04, 2014, 05:23:50 PM
Great piece of scratchbuilding - well done! :thumbsup:
Absolutely :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
x2 :cheers:
Very nice work! Looking forward to the final result. :thumbsup:
Time to begin thinking about the air wing.
The contenders, with a few false entries to keep Argentinian intel guessing ;)
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There's enough AEW types there to blanket the whole of Argentina with radar waves! :o
Quote from: PR19_Kit on June 05, 2014, 08:16:48 PM
There's enough AEW types there to blanket the whole of Argentina with radar waves! :o
Future War! Sterilize the lot of 'em! ;D
Wow, that's impressive work.
Returning after a week on vacation away from my bench, but not all lost as I got a few bargains for the stash!
Making a RTV rubber mold so I can churn out a few more Majestic/Colossus builds. Ran out of my Alumilite RTV mold so trying a new product, fingers crossed.
Scratch hull master going into a mold making box from scratch wood. Blue putty to reduce the ampout of RTV mold I use. RTV is pricey.
Master in upside down.
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Poured the rubber mold over the master. Let sit overnight.
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Popped out the master. Here is the mold, right side up. Worried about the result, not as crisp at the Alumalite RTV mold I used before. This is a firmer rubber. Really had to pry some of it off the master, a few tears. I did use no-stick over the master. I am a real novice with molds, operator error entirely possible.... :banghead:
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Poured resin into the mold.....
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Thanks for the "in-progress" shots, interesting
Elevator and hangar deck work. Forward elevator will be able to be displayed up or down.
Laid catapult rails and jet blast deflector.
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LOve it ! Love the sneak peek at the air wing as well....awesome, awesome stuff. Nice to see you molding techniques as well. I have to try that one day !
:cheers:
HMS MAJESTIC, Falklands october 1982.
1/700 Scratch build.
In April 1982 the UK government quietly requested that Australia keep the recently retired HMAS Melbourne on stand-by in case she were needed for operations in the Falklands. The request paid major dividends when the war was extended past the southern hemisphere winter when the UK task force was force to temporarily withdraw due to several casualties.
The MELBOURNE received a very minor refit and set sail for Portsmouth in June 1982. The first major step was to determine the airwing. Despite offers from Australia to include the A-4 Skyhawk in the deal, and some eager volunteers to man them, it was determined that qualifying FAA aircrew on the Skyhawk would take too long, and Australian air crew was deemed politically touchy. Thus the Sea Harrier was determined to be the main fighter/attack platform.
As airborne early warning was sorely missed in the first phase of the war, a flight of Gannet AEW.3's were bought out of retirement and crews were re-qualified, with the re-formed 849NAS. A single Gannet COD4 "777" was brought out of the museum at Yeovilton and provided sterling service.
The rest of the Air wing included GR.3 Harriers, Sea King and two Wessex for SAR duties. Chinooks occasionally cross decked.
xxxxxxxxxx
The Kit- 1/700 scale. Entirely scratch built with sheet styrene. A few minor bits from the parts bin including guns, small boats and radars. Rest is scratch. Airwing mix of 1/700 kits.
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For scale reference.
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Nice :thumbsup:
Gondor
Beauty ! Turned out really well, and is quite a susbtantial piece even at 700 scale eh ? Love the airwing. Always liked the Gannett, and it would have been a real help down there. I was sure there was going to be at least one pic with a hinook on deck !
:cheers:
What an excellent job you've made of that. :thumbsup: :bow:
The seascape makes it, wonderful stuff.
Excellent.
A much better end to her career in the RAN than what really happened.
Did she manage to sink any more friendlies while in RN service?
Amazing work in a tiny scale. Bravo. :bow:
Excellent work, so which ones will you be building next ?
Quote from: Thorvic on September 01, 2014, 11:59:22 PM
Excellent work, so which ones will you be building next ?
Thank you all, I lost the mojo after completing the hull, thus the delay in fitting out. Backed off super-detailing, needed to claim her as done for now.
Thorvic, several ideas below, any others?
Always thought the BONAVENTURE could fit into a few WHIF's: Cold war turned hot, Cuban crisis, Korea II- would be neat to have those Banshee's do something. Vietnam?
25 de Mayo, alternate air wing; they were shown the Harrier, hmmm.......
MELBOURNE, off Vietnam as an attack carrier. A-4's in cammo?
UK, Suez helicopter carrier
Assault ship.....
Ideas???
That's come out really well :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Quote from: sandiego89 on September 02, 2014, 05:14:29 AM
25 de Mayo,
25 de Mayo captured by the British during the Falklands ;D
Quote from: Hobbes on September 02, 2014, 01:03:45 PM
Quote from: sandiego89 on September 02, 2014, 05:14:29 AM
25 de Mayo,
25 de Mayo captured by the British during the Falklands ;D
HMNLS Karel Doorman retained as Dutch Carrier with an updated airgroup rather than being sold off to Argentina :thumbsup:
Nice job.. that is a very good scratchbuilding display
Quote from: Thorvic on September 02, 2014, 01:13:35 PM
Quote from: Hobbes on September 02, 2014, 01:03:45 PM
Quote from: sandiego89 on September 02, 2014, 05:14:29 AM
25 de Mayo,
25 de Mayo captured by the British during the Falklands ;D
HMNLS Karel Doorman retained as Dutch Carrier with an updated airgroup rather than being sold off to Argentina :thumbsup:
oh yes, why didn't I think of that? Harriers in EDSG over Sky ;D
QuoteHMNLS Karel Doorman retained as Dutch Carrier with an updated airgroup rather than being sold off to Argentina
That's a good one. For the late 1960's I like the idea of a strike carrier, trackers and helo's are a bit boring. I could see Entendard IV, A-4 Skyhawk, or perhaps second hand Sea Venom as the main fighter/Attack, SeaHawks were just getting too old. Crusaders and Sea Vixen too big.
Quoteoh yes, why didn't I think of that? Harriers in EDSG over Sky
Antoher good idea. Can't go wrong with EDSG over Sky
Waiting for Captain Canada to chime in on a recommendation for an updated BONAVENTURE airwing.
A-7 Corsair II as a 70s strike fighter
Quote from: Thorvic on September 03, 2014, 06:52:13 AM
A-7 Corsair II as a 70s strike fighter
I can't recall an A-7 operating on such a small carrier. Perhaps too big and heavy for the cats and arresting gear? Of course this is WHIF, but I dont' see a A-7 with a meanigfull load being on board a MAJESTIC/COLOSUS? Much heavier than a Super Entendard with a meaningfull war load.