Finished Builds

[Thorvic]

Please post your completed entries within this thread:-

No more than 4 pictures per model (a more comprehensive photo shoot is quite welcolme in your build thread).
Please include a link to your build thread
Feel free to include the background story or inspiration as this helps set the context for the completed model.

Thanks

Geoff B

[sequoiaranger]

Here ya go! 1/2000 is a very small scale to work with. The entire model is six inches long (on my computer screen Yonaga is shown near actual size), and the aircraft are as long as a worn-down pencil lead.  First, you can see the size of this carrier relative to the Shokaku. Shokaku is about the size of the American Essex-class, and Yonaga is about the size of the USS Midway:

Next is a rear-quarter view, showing the sponsons and "kill marking" stern ensign:

Here are the aircraft---twin-engined "Misagos" out in front of "Zeroes":

Build thread is at:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,32460.0.html

And now for the backstory:

The year was 1938. The world-wide Naval Disarmament Treaty of 1926, scrupulously adhered to for ten years, had been met with disdain by the "have-nots" (those signatories more severely curtailed from future shipbuilding). All parties, except the hold-out British, had refused to extend the Treaty another ten years, and thus another naval arms race was ushered in. Grand Admiral U. Furashita was presiding over a Japanese conference of bickering rival factions arguing the merits of the aircraft carrier and battleship in modern warfare.  Dominance in the Pacific might be at stake in a future war, and their rivalry with the more powerful United States meant that Japan had to carefully pick the best ships to build with her limited shipbuilding capability. "Gigantism" was gaining ground, as it was thought that larger individual ships would be a better use of material and manpower than more numerous smaller ships. Plans for building unprecedentedly large and heavily-armed battleships were under way, and the protests of the "air faction" were vociferous. With Solomon-like wisdom, Admiral Furashita deemed that for every large new battleship built, one of its class would become an aircraft carrier. The "Yokozuna"-class of immense battleships, sporting four triple-18" turrets, had a "classmate", the "Yonaga", that would become the largest Japanese carrier ever built, and the largest and most powerful aircraft carrier in the world until the American "Midway" class some years later.

One of the few carriers built with the future in mind (a luxury not afforded wartime builds), many innovations showed up in her completion. Her immense hull's beam was taken advantage of for aircraft storage, maintenance shops and flight deck space. The forward third or so of flight deck was narrow like most other carriers, as no Japanese carrier was built with catapults and the deckload of aircraft would always take off individually and unassisted. The after two-thirds of the flight deck was unprecedentedly wide, and extended over the sides of the ship, and sturdy sponsons were needed to shore up the deck-edge AA guns. Extra hangar accommodation and extra deck space meant the ability to launch larger strikes, and her elevators were likewise large and capable of handling aircraft three times as heavy as currently in use. Two elevators were placed at the extreme ends of the hangar, and the middle elevator was offset from the centerline so as to afford more room to move aircraft around on the hangar deck. An unusual number of AA guns were included, but "heavy" AA guns were replaced with light ones, the idea being that her fighters would kill off the enemy at longer ranges, and only those that slipped through and getting close would need to be shot down. A large, commodious island on the port side (a salute to the Akagi, the most prestigious carrier in the fleet) was equipped to be a flagship, and house the funnel uptakes (a first for Japan) slanted outward to clear the flight deck of smoke and turbulence. The first (for Japan) shipborne search radar was installed. A few tow tractors were included, to help speed up plane handling and clearing wrecks quickly. More mechanics were trained and assigned to Yonaga than any other carrier, partially due to the anticipation of twin-engined aircraft being used aboard.

In dimensions and capability, the Yonaga was never to be surpassed by any other Japanese aircraft carrier. Sporting over 210,000 shaft horsepower, her 1,000-foot length could be driven to 32 knots. Other modern Japanese carriers were two knots faster but it seemed to matter little. Built to accommodate 125 folding-wing aircraft, she operated 98 of the generally fixed-wing aircraft then in use, roughly 150% of any other Japanese carrier, and she could launch a larger brood at any one time. At 52,000 tons standard, she was some 35,000 tons lighter than her battleship "sister", but had very little armor and the drawback of having the flight deck part of the ship's structure (in the manner of other Japanese carriers). This lack of need for armor accelerated her completion far ahead of battleship Yokozuna, and Yonaga was available for the opening raid of the war on Pearl Harbor. For this particular raid, the twin-engined naval fighter "Misago" was put aboard, her extra gunpower deemed appropriate for the surprise pre-emptive strikes against Hawaiian airfields, despite problems encountered by Akagi and Kaga using them over China. Also aboard were three of the new "Yamagumo" fast, strategic reconnaissance planes, so speedy that they would not be intercepted, and could keep commanders informed of battle developments. Yonaga had seemingly boundless potential as the premier naval attack unit in the IJN.

North of Hawaii on Dec. 7th, 1941, Yonaga and her accompanying carrier of the Seventh Carrier Division (Admiral Yamaguchi commanding) launched their recce planes long before dawn, and when reports of a "sleepy" Hawaii reached Admiral Nagumo's ears, the first air raid was launched. Yonaga's planes were not as battle-trained as those of the other carriers, so her targets were not the ships but airfields. The Misago's and Zero's swooped in and shot up known Hawaiian airfields while her dive and level bombers hit facilities. The second wave was readied and launched as the first wave was returning.

Landing of the first wave just got underway when two massive explosions erupted in sequence beside the forward elevator of the Yonaga, immediately starting fires and black, billowing smoke of burning petroleum roiled up. Two Dauntless scout bombers had joined up with the returning Japanese strike and struck their blows completely by surprise without any recognition or opposition. Yonaga's radar had duly picked up a mass of oncoming aircraft, but the inexperienced and optimistic operators had all assumed the "blips" to be the returning Japanese strike planes. The Lexington-class aircraft carrier USS Constellation had been in training exercises near the Big Island, responded when the alarm was sounded, and sent the lucky two SBD's north of Oahu. Two hits on an "unknown large carrier with a port-side island" were reported.  Plane recovery operations were suspended aboard Yonaga.  So as not to drive the fires rearward with the headwind, the Yonaga circled around and reversed at flank speed, streaming smoke from her bow-turned-"stern" but keeping station. She signaled her planes to resume landing, despite the approach through smoke and inability to use the normal signal-lamp landing system. The first strike wave landed somewhat haphazardly on the mid-ship arrestor wires, and were promptly taken below to clear the deck for other oncoming aircraft.

A full-sized strike of attack aircraft from both the Constellation and Enterprise, escorted by fighters, descended on the Yonaga (still streaming smoke) and hit her with several bombs and torpedoes that had her listing with uncontrollable fires, exacerbated by the armed planes in the hangar deck. Admiral Nagumo had to transfer his flag to Akagi, and Admiral Yamaguchi bound himself to the bridge to go down with his ship, but at the last minute was dissuaded by his staff---this time. Several massive internal explosions rocked the ship, and she went down by the bow with her still-rotating propellers high in the air. She took all her Misagos and other first strike aircraft down with her, along with most of the mechanics and pilots that were busy in the hangar deck when the explosions occurred.

The Americans reported the sinking as a different large carrier than the one hit previously, as this "new" carrier clearly had a "starboard" island. The US Navy was always on the lookout the rest of the war for this massive carrier with the distinctive port-side island, but not until the war was over was her identity revealed.

The Japanese were shocked at her loss and never tried to repeat her. They figured, though, the loss of the Yonaga was a good trade-off for the four American carriers reported sunk that day (erroneously—only two were sunk). The hasty carrier conversions of the battleships Musashi and Shinano were not nearly as complete or competent, and other wartime expediencies created inferior carriers with which to continue the war. The Yonaga remains the most powerful aircraft carrier ever produced by Japan.

[beowulf]

1/720 Revell Graf Zeppelin

no back story cos its written far better here than i could write it   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_aircraft_carrier_Graf_Zeppelin

build thread..............

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,32792.0.html

[tigercat]

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,33164.0.html

HMS Toucan


In 1896 when Kitchener, the Sirdar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Egyptian Army, set out to re-conquer the Sudan in the name of the Khedive of Egypt, eleven years after the death of General Gordon, he knew that not only had he to defeat a great host of dauntless Mahdist warriors, but also to overcome the huge logistical problem of supplying 25,000 men and 10,000 beasts of burden over great distances in one of the most inhospitable climates in the world. Control of the River Nile was vital.


Ships of the gunboat Flotilla were crucial to the success of the whole enterprise.
In 1898 4 ships of the Parrot Class  were shipped in sections from England through the Suez Canal to Ismailia then towed up the Sweet Water Canal and the Nile to Wadi Halfa. These were HMS Toucan , HMS Parrot, HMS Cockatoo & HMS Macaw.


The crews were a remarkable mixture of British, Egyptian and Sudanese service personnel and civilians of many nationalities. The gunboats bristled with weapons – 12½ and 12 pounders, 4-inch howitzers and Maxim machine-guns – manned by Royal Marines.


After the campaign most of the river gunboats remained in service with the Egyptian Army and later the Sudan Defence Force. But gradually, like all Old Soldiers they faded away.


Until by the eve of World War 2  there was only HMS Toucan gently  rotting away at her moorings long stripped  of her armament  attended only by a skeleton crew from the Egyptian Naval liaison detachment of the Royal Navy  and a caretaking crew of locals. Her machinery however had been lovingly maintained by Mustafa Faisel el-Kahir  great grandson of one of the original crew who wished to honour her former glory
The Egyptian Naval liaison detachment was a dead end posting and tended to attract the scrapings of the Royal Navy , officers and ratings that their commanders wished to get rid of.


However  Lieutenant Augustus Smallbrook had other ideas and decided to make HMS Toucan a useful unit of the Royal Navy and set about rearming her.   A salvaged MTB gave her 4 torpedo tubes  and a twin 20mm Oerlikon.  Captured Axis equipment gave her an Italian 90mm AA gun , a quad  20mm AA gun and a 50mm gun. Dubious trades with other allied forces mainly of moonshine made in the ships boiler room acquired a 25 pounder and 5.5 inch howitzer.  


The detachments legal status was blurred as it was officially part of the Sudan Defence Force gave  Lieutenant Smallbrook  considerable latitude of action although rumours that he obtained a letter of Marque from the Egyptian king was only a rumour. This gave him latitude to conduct a private war against the Axis coastal shipping.

[tigercat]

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,33297.0.html

HMS Scorpio

Name:   HMS Scorpio
Builder:   Harland and Wolff shipyard, Belfast

Laid down:   10 November 1940
Launched:   21st  May 1941
 
   
General characteristics
Class and type:   Catapult Class Seaplane Carrier
Displacement:   8370 tons
Length:   384 ft 6 in (117 m) overall
Beam:   62 ft 3in (19 m)
Installed power:   12,000 shp (8,948 kW)
Propulsion:   Triple expansion engines, 24 boilers, 2 shafts

Speed:   19 knots (35 km/h)
 
 
Armament:   2 ×  40mm Bofors AA
20-26 x 20mm Oerlikon AA

[tigercat]

A variant on the Siebel Ferry converted to carry Landing craft.

In this case a pair of captured LCVP's . The German armed forces often made use of foreign equipment and the Kriegsmarine was no different from the other 2


http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,33208.0.html

[Taiidantomcat]

Soviet SSGN

Build thread:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,33389.0.html

[tigercat]

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,33417.0.html


Wo ist der Volksturm Missing Episodes

All at Sea

Hauptman Waring (pronounced Wareing not Warring) has had enough of waiting for the englander schweinhunde to  come to him and decides to take the fight to the English and despite Feldwebel Wolf's reservations decides to give some naval striking power to his platoon and take a leaf out Kapitan zur See Bernard Rogge of the Atlantis and disguise his new vessel. However a mix up by Obergefreiter Schneider and Private Hecht over the type of boat and a mix up beween metres and feet in an old english plan Schütze Fisher brought back from his boating holiday before the war lead to some interesting results. If that is not enough the hull Schütze Zimmer obtained from a Kriegsmarine dockyard might not be as surplus to requirements as previously thought.

Will the sleepy French town they guard of Trenet sur Mer ever be the same again? Will even Schütze Gottfrei be able to patch them up?   

[tigercat]

PA5

As the Allied Fighter Bombers dominated the sky the Kriegsmarine were forced to increase the Flak armament on their ships much as the allies in the Mediterrenean. This Flak ship is a captured Flower class corvette captured while building at a french dockyard.

[tigercat]

German Landing Craft Tank equivalent

[tigercat]

German LCVP equivalent

[tigercat]

German Landing Craft Rocket equivalent