HMAS Australia - Essex Class replacement for HMAS Melbourne

[Blackbat242]

Looking good.

Probably a bit late now, but did you consider the the alternative mod, which saw the fwd elevator moved from the centre of flight deck to the starboard, fwd of the island.  A US version retains both fwd catapults whereas a Commonwealth version see's 1 of the cats moved out on to the angle.

WOW!!!! Where did you get those drawings?!  Are they real or did you make them?  I'm very intrigued now if you can't tell  

Thorvic, you are a scratch building machine.  She looks great, keep it up!

No, not my work, they are out there on the www.  There are some better, clearer drawings on a Russian site, which I can't find at present (still in the US for another 2 weeks)

The commonwealth version has alrewady been done on shipbucket

They are my work, and are purely imaginary. You are free to use them (just mention me as originator), but just remember that they are NOT HISTORIC, and I ask that you repeat that whenever you use them!  

There is enough confusion between reality and fantasy on the net, I don't want to help create more.


I started working on a "super-Essex" back in 1990, when I was in Southern California... I had recently left the USMC, and while working full-time I was not making enough to rent a place to live.

Living in my SUV was depressing, so I began to work on something to distract me... some alternate history WW1 & W2 fleets and some modifications of ships. This and a heavily-modernized Reshadieh (better known as HMS Erin) were the main ones I was doing. Needless to say, it was all paper, pen, white-out, and physical "cut&paste" work. I completed the USN version in 1991, then let it sit around while real life took up most of my time.

I finished the "Commonwealth" version in ~2003, and posted them in my photobucket account sometime in early 2008.

Portsmouth Bill, who did the Shipbucket drawing, used my drawing for his inspiration after I posted it in a thread on the Warships Projects Discussion board (see the last 2 links in the post). http://www.phpbbplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=26836&mforum=warshipprojects#26836

He gives me credit in this post: http://www.phpbbplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=28012&sid=303c62b0feb2a7e50f3bb50eb582b9a8&mforum=warshipprojects#28012

Two posts later, I give more explanation of what the drawings are: http://www.phpbbplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=28023&sid=303c62b0feb2a7e50f3bb50eb582b9a8&mforum=warshipprojects#28023

[NARSES2]

Wellcome aboard Blackbat 

[Blackbat242]

Thanks... I'm probably not going to be around much, as I'm not doing anything with models at the moment (or for the last couple of years).

I just had to make the note above after I found my drawings in a Google Image search for something else and saw the comments.

It seemed that there was some chance of them being taken as real, and had to prevent that interpretation.

I'd love to make a model of either version myself... many years ago I used to do a lot of "customization" of models, but I haven't had the funds for a couple of decades now.

[Tomcatter 64.]

Awesome work! I've always wanted to see what it would be like to see an Essex class carrier operated under another flag.

[CMarshall]

RAN F-4Ks operating from HMAS Australia in Strike Fighters 2: Vietnam

[Captain Canada]

I often forget that there was a period in the not so distant past where I wasn't around much....but I do relish in 'finding' all this great stuff that I have missed !

Well, what can I say ? Some of my favourite aeroplanes aboard a flat top done by one of my favourite whiffers ? Wow.....just wow. Love what you've done on this one Geoff. The a/c look superb. I love the Wessex in that 2-tone guise. Nice to see that all your patience in the decaling dept. paid off !