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

[beowulf]

congratz on the awards....that must be satisfying after all the work

[Mossie]

Great news!  It's been a long slog, but you've got some great reward for it, well done!

Best in Show! 

[sequoiaranger]

>The contest was unfortunately small... <

I just chuckle to think of "small" and Habakkuk in the same context!

Good for you. All that hard work and worry (and dedication) paid off.

[Ed S]

Way to go on the awards.  That sure puts a different perspective on all the work and sweat you've put in on this.  Congrats!!

Ed

[Stargazer]

All the work finally paid off... Congratulations on some well-deserved recognition! 

[seadude]

Thanks for all the compliments, guys.    Although I must say, there's still more work to go yet. I still need to detail the interior cross section a bit more, then build some more aircraft, and finally, Figure out a way to make the 2 dozen engine pods.  Next major contest probably won't be until Halloween in October.

[seadude]

I forgot to mention the following. I recently bought a 1/700 HMS Eagle British carrier so that I could get some British aircraft to add to the Habakkuk. Unfortuneately, it looks like the carrier and the aircraft are late 40's/early 50's. The kit does have some Supermarine Seafire and also Hawker Seafury aircraft which might be appropriate for the Habakkuk. The downside is that I don't know what colors to paint these aircraft as the instructions are all in Japanese. Can anybody help with some good pics and other references? I generally prefer to use Testor or Tamiya paints when selecting colors.

[Stargazer]

I forgot to mention the following. I recently bought a 1/700 HMS Eagle British carrier so that I could get some British aircraft to add to the Habakkuk. Unfortuneately, it looks like the carrier and the aircraft are late 40's/early 50's. The kit does have some Supermarine Seafire and also Hawker Seafury aircraft which might be appropriate for the Habakkuk. The downside is that I don't know what colors to paint these aircraft as the instructions are all in Japanese. Can anybody help with some good pics and other references? I generally prefer to use Testor or Tamiya paints when selecting colors.

Aren't the colors designated by an alphanumeral code? If so, and if you know what paint maker is recommended, this shouldn't be a problem... their references are international. Another thought: have you considered exhibiting the Habbakuk next to a "regular" aircraft carrier of the same era so as to make the huge size of it even more evident?

[Mossie]

Late war aircraft would have been Extra Dark Sea Grey (Tamiya XF-24 is close) over Sky (XF-21).  Any lend-lease aircraft would have been ANA 623 Glossy Blue, I think this is Testors 1717.

If you need camouflage schemes, wings palette is pretty helpful.  Either click on the category under World War II to find the aircraft you want, or click Catalogue, Europe, the Great Britain to get all aircraft listed.  Tons of profiles, some full colour top & bottom views too.
http://wp.scn.ru/

[sequoiaranger]

Stargazer, you said: "Another thought: have you considered exhibiting the Habbakuk next to a "regular" aircraft carrier of the same era so as to make the huge size of it even more evident?"

Perhaps you did not see the "tiny" black silhouette of an Essex-class carrier in the left front corner of the exhibit, EXACTLY for the reasons you proposed!!

[sequoiaranger]

>...so that I could get some British aircraft to add to the Habakkuk. <

Skywave makes some 1/700 aircraft for British carriers that has Swordfish, Spitfires and some others (can't remember offhand). Also, the Habakkuk is large enough that regular land-based aircraft could operate without tailhooks. So you could have anything you wanted. But I would recommend as large a variety as possible for show effect. DEFINITELY need Swordfish, the mainstay of the FAA. Skywave also made B-17's (included in some other diorama kit of theirs)--one in Coastal Command colors would look good on the deck of the Habakkuk, too!

[Mossie]

Aoshima do a WWII RN set too, early Seafires, Swordfish, Corasair & Wildcat.  Don't seem to have markings for the Asian theatre.
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AOS512

Fujimi do a post war set, with later model Seafires & Sea Furies, wouldn't be out of place for a slight whiff extension to WWII:
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/FU45102

White Ensign Models do a few, Supermarine Seafires, Fairey Barracudas, Blackburn Skuas, Fairey Fireflys, Sea Hurricanes, Supermarine Sea Otters Fairey Seafox, even Typhoons that could probably operate from Habbakuk's deck.  Might be costly to order them from the UK though.
http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/acatalog/British_Aircraft.html

[Stargazer]

Perhaps you did not see the "tiny" black silhouette of an Essex-class carrier in the left front corner of the exhibit, EXACTLY for the reasons you proposed!!

Gosh, no! You're right! My eyes were riveted on the colossal and colourful beauty that was lying next to it! 

[seadude]

Went out to a craft store today to try and find any types of other materials to try and make the 2 dozen turboelectric propulsion pods with. The only thing that came to mind was possibly using modeling clay. So I bought a small package and worked with it a bit at home. The stuff is lightweight and air dries in about 1-3 hours. I made 20 pods tonight, and I'll make another 20 tomorrow, then do another 20 or so on the weekend as "backup extras". Not sure if this plan will work, but I'm running out of ideas. If this doesn't work, then I'm totally giving up all hope on building any engine pods for the Habakkuk.

[Cliffy B]

White Ensign Models do a few, Supermarine Seafires, Fairey Barracudas, Blackburn Skuas, Fairey Fireflys, Sea Hurricanes, Supermarine Sea Otters Fairey Seafox, even Typhoons that could probably operate from Habbakuk's deck.  Might be costly to order them from the UK though.
http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/acatalog/British_Aircraft.html

Not costly at all, in fact their FREE!!!  WEM is awesome like that.  They'll ship THEIR products (save for paint) worldwide for FREE!!!  Not to mention that even with the fluctuating conversion rate their prices are far cheaper than the US hobby shops.  If possible, I always try to order directly from WEM.  Orders usually arrive in the States within a week or two.

One note about their aircraft though, send John an e-mail first and see if the ones you want are in stock or not before you order.  The one kicker with WEM is that their casters are rather fickle as to which orders they fill leaving some parts "out of stock" for months on end while others are re-stocked in no time flat.  They will ship them out as they come in though but you can left waiting for quite so time.  Tis the nature of the "cottage industry" companies.