1/700th scale HMS Habakkuk WIP (aka Project Habakkuk)

[seadude]

Not related to the directors, I've just realised your island has a single smoke stack, rather than the two you see on most drawings of the Habbakuk.  Would probably mean a lot of cutting & chopping to add one in.

The superstructure I already have now was built and painted earlier this summer. I'm not sure where or how to add another stack. I've been mulling it over for quite some time, but if there's a way I can add another, then I will. I just need to do some thinking about it.

[Mossie]

Here's one way you could do it.  Get another kit with the same island.  Cut one of them at the end of the upper tier, the other just behind the bridge.  Join the two largest parts together.  You get two stacks & a much larger island, if that's the way you want to go.  You'd have to rethink the positions of the armament & directors.

I seem to have started a little side discussion about the competitions, I don't mean to steel your thread!  I'm really enjoying this build!

[seadude]

I seem to have started a little side discussion about the competitions, I don't mean to steel your thread!  I'm really enjoying this build!

Don't worry about it. No harm done.

I did pick up an extra Essex kit, which is where my first built/painted superstructure came from. Although the second Essex kit must have been an old release as the quality and detail kinda sucks. But the stack on the extra Essex kit is the same configuration as my built/painted one. As far as armament and directors goes, I'll have to think about that.

*sigh* I suppose if I don't add the extra stack, then I'll probably get $%*&#@% by the judges and nitpickers at contests who'll say the superstructure doesn't look like the ones in artist concept pics and sketches.

[Mossie]

Well, there was never a finalised design & I bet there's not that many who are familiar with Habbakuk, so you could go with it as is.  If you really want to add the second stack in, you could put a request in in the Swap Shop, I'm sure someone somewhere would have the same kit as the original island & be able to spare it for you?

[seadude]

Just for fun and for the hell of it, I decided to take this pic tonight to show how much aircraft a Habakkuk could have and/or how much my model will have. Only 94 aircraft are shown on the flight deck even though a real Habakkuk could probably carry 150-200 aircraft.



I've got a mix of B-25's, F4F's, SBD's, TBD's, and a few others I think. Even though not all the aircraft will be put on the model and/or some types may not be suitable for an aircraft carrier, I at least want to show that this ship is at least capable of handling a wide diversity of aircraft for such a huge ship. Now I just need to find and buy some British naval aircraft.

[Sauragnmon]

Very nice with the deck covered in aircraft like that - truely awe inspiring and gives it a real sense of scale.  Not sure how/where you'll find the 1/700 RN birds, especially ones in timeframe, though I'm sure some of the other boys can chime in with where you can.

[Stargazer]

This suddenly gives the model a whole new meaning, giving it more substance and a touch of realism!

[sequoiaranger]

*IF* you want to extend your island to make it a two-stacker (would be my preference, but its YOUR model), it would be easy with another similar Essex island. I have a "doctored" pic below in which I merely made a "cut" between the mainmast and forward director, pretty much vertically, and simply "attached" that piece onto the rear of the island. Modelwise, you would cut the new Essex island at that point, then cut the old one just behind the stack and add on the new one. I like how it looks, and hope it inspires you to try it. Of course, no hard feelings if you want to stick with what you have.

Here is my proposed new island setup:



Here is the original:



Here is the new addition (presumably from another similar Essex kit):

[sequoiaranger]

I have a couple of 1/700 Fulmars (from an Ark Royal kit) and Spitfires (aftermarket set) I could spot you. Maybe even some Swordfish (used throughout WW II at sea). The aftermarket set of "Royal Navy Aircraft" I have has Corsairs and Marlets (US types) as well as the Spits and Stringbags. Fulmars fell into disuse by mid-42, presumably prior to Habakkuk's time.

Lemme know.

I don't know if there are any Fireflies out there from other kits.

I have a single 1/700 Beaufort, a Mosquito, a Wellington, and even a Lancaster, but plan to use them as picture backgrounds, so I can't offer them to you.

[Mossie]

Looking good!  It's getting there!

Like the idea of British aircraft, even though the US would have taken over the project, maybe it would have had a multinational compliment?

[seadude]

*IF* you want to extend your island to make it a two-stacker (would be my preference, but its YOUR model), it would be easy with another similar Essex island. I have a "doctored" pic below in which I merely made a "cut" between the mainmast and forward director, pretty much vertically, and simply "attached" that piece onto the rear of the island. Modelwise, you would cut the new Essex island at that point, then cut the old one just behind the stack and add on the new one. I like how it looks, and hope it inspires you to try it. Of course, no hard feelings if you want to stick with what you have.

I like how you did the pics/changes. Very nice. I'm not sure if I will do any changes since as I mentioned earlier, the superstructure I have is already built and painted and it would be a pain to cut, chop, re-glue, re-paint, etc. all over again. But I'm not dismissing the idea totally. I want to give it some thought. If I don't change anything for the superstructure, I'll simply go with the fictional story that to save construction time if a real Habakkuk were built, that a extra bridge superstructure from a regular AC was transferred for use to the Habakkuk. As I may have mentioned somewhere earlier in this thread, Had the Habakkuk been built for real, the U.S. and Canada would've taken control of the project as those two countries had more resources and finances, etc. than what Britain did. Britain would not have been in any good shape to build or finance the Habakkuk since they were suffering greatly during and/or after the "Battle of Britain" with Germany.  Had a real Habakkuk been built, it would probably have had a U.S. name, designation number, U.S. armament, and also U.S. radar systems, etc.

Like the idea of British aircraft, even though the US would have taken over the project, maybe it would have had a multinational compliment?

It's very likely the Habakkuk would have had a multinational compliment on board, much the same way that the current NORAD military complex in Colorado here in the US is jointly serviced by Americans and Canadians. The Habakkuk would have a crew of Americans and British, as well as having aircraft from both countries. But I strongly suspect that most of the armament, radars, and other ship equipment would come from America.

[seadude]

Getting back to the Mk.37 radar placement and 5" gun mount issue...........the green dots represent all the 5" gun mounts and their placement on the model. The red dots represent Mk.37 radar placement. The four red dots on the superstructure are standard and cannot be changed. But should I add one extra Mk.37 radar at each end of the model as shown in the first pic? Or should I add four extra Mk.37's at the "corners" of the model in the second pic?





If I do add Mk.37's at the ends of the ship as shown in the first pic, you don't need to worry about them being "on" the flight deck and interferring with flight operations as they'll be "below" the flight deck since the ends of the ship look like this:

[sequoiaranger]

I would have to admit I don't quite know how directors are co-ordinated (though my dad was a director-director aboard the Enterprise in WW II), but I would suspect that directors are broken down into specialty areas to keep parallax at a minimum. In the diagram below, I have "assigned" the directors their guns. I would suspect that ONE director at the front and back would suffice. Perhaps they could even be off-center so as not to interfere with possible "drop" of aircraft as they roll off the bow edge of the flightdeck, and less worrisome to approaching aircraft coming in on the rear.

Just an additional thought: Does a carrier that big need an LSO station in the left rear corner? If so, then maybe the stern director should be in the RR corner so as not to block the view of the LSO.

[Hobbes]

I think pic 1 is fine. The more directors you have close to each other, the more issues with interference you get.

[Sauragnmon]

I might suggest the cornered setup, though I would equally consider a director position between each of the broadside groupings - they would ostensibly be more efficient in regards to parallax, and the redundancy would be good in a "crap in fan" scenario.