Re:1/144 HMS Courageous: SHIP COMPLETED

[Spey_Phantom]

update for today,

i was planning on going to a Wings & Wheels event today, but i had to cancel that trip deu to the bad weather
the weather did permit to continue with some of the work on the carrier, although mostly concept artwork and general designing.
went shopping this afternoon to see if i could find a 1/144 Hawkeye, but unfortunatly i didnt find one, guess im gonna have to order it online

here i have 2 possible additions to the airwing, first up, a French Aeronavale Alpha Jet-M, a carrier varriant of the Alpha Jet, used to train French Navy and Fleet Air Arm pilots for carrier operations, i got 1 revell kit in the stash so i got that pretty much covered.



and here's a concept ive been working on for a while now, i got a 1/144 Revell HH-53 in stash but its missing its front clear parts, so im gonna fit a Chinook nose section on it  

here's what i got planned for it, im planning either a Commando version or an ASW/SAR version.
here's a profile of the commando troop transport version, Sea Stallion HC.4 (depicted in green/white camo)



designing of the island superstructure is still in the works, it still needs lots of tailoring.
i was gonna show you some of the artwork im designing on paper, unfortunatly the guards caught me on spying on the works.
guess im gonna have to try and sneak in again tomorrow  

[Captain Canada]

The guards....haha

Love the chinook/ stallion hybrid.....too cool !

[Spey_Phantom]

ok, i finally got a design ready for the island 

browsing google images for CVA01's design, i found a shipbucket profile (i think it was one of Tornado's or ALVAMA's) of CVA01.
i managed to modify it the available length and scaled it up to roughly 1/144, and came up with this.
printed it out, and placed it on a Lego railing, i think this could work 

[ChernayaAkula]

Looks the part!

[Spey_Phantom]

last update for today 

i have started rough deck testing and basic assembly of the island, the main radar behind the controlroom will be made from the cap of an old inhaler (HOG may be gone, but his inspiration lives on), added some lego parts to simulate the hight of the tower.
i placed a scrapped old E-2 on the side-deck elevator, a Khemedi CE-2C at the main catapult, and a tornado on the stern catapult.
main layout i highlighted with a pencil, it will be eraced before going to the spraybooth in the sched 

[Hobbes]

Are you going to add missile launchers? The two smaller domes on that CVA profile are the 909 directors for Sea Dart.

[Spey_Phantom]

Are you going to add missile launchers? The two smaller domes on that CVA profile are the 909 directors for Sea Dart.

of course im going to add them, no point in leaving the ship unprotected 
i think i can scratch a few launchers 

[Gondor]

With the aircraft on the deck the ship looks a little small to me, but then I am not into ships and such so would not know if it is actually a small aircraft carrier or not.

Gondor

[Spey_Phantom]

im not much into ships either, thats why the project has been stalling for the past (almost) 1.5 years, but i always liked aircraft carriers and they make an excellent display for naval and "navalised" aircraft. to build a full 1/144 scale aircraft carrier, i would need a whole lot more room, and thats something i dont have, she's roughly the same length as Lindberg's 1/180 Graf Zeppelin carrier (if they ever are going to release it  ).
a full nimitz-class carrier in 1/144 would be about 2.5 meters long (rough estimate), there's no way i have room for that.

im just going to build the length i see fit, and 1.20 meters is long enough for me (and the shelves)  

work on the carrier this week will be at a slower pace, as my 3-week holiday is over and im back at work, tonight im gonna see if can get some work done on some of the ilands parts. ive been making drawings and plans for the parts on paper, the top tower of the island is boing to be quite complicated to build (kinda diamond shaped) but i think i can pull it of, as for defences, i made a rough sketch last night and im thinking of 4 or 5 Phalanx guns and 3 or 4 SeaDart launchers (missiles are easely converted from 1/144 AGM-65 Mavericks and sprue pieces)

[Spey_Phantom]

update picture for today,

i have started with the clear parts of the island, first up, first floor, the parts will be painted once construction is complete.
next to the structure, you can see the plate for the second layer, the carriers control tower 
inside has been painted black, it will bring out the windows better then the previous carriers.

[Green Dragon]

To save some work how about a vertical launch missile system? All you'd need is piece of plasticard with either a grid cut into it or small squares of plasticard for the launch covers. Means using up some deck space though, unles you fit them to the island somewhere?

Paul Harrison

[RPadavan2]

Evergreen already has some pre-etched sheets with squares, if you go with a VLS.  I have picked up a sheet of 1/4" and 1/3" for other projects.  But it is your project, so I say do what ever your sanity can handle.  I know if I tried to tackle something like this, it would take me ten years to get half as far as you have, if not torpedo-ing the project with some massive amounts of fireworks!  But I salute you and I eagerly look forward to the updates!  All my work in in 1/144th scale and I have wondered about doing an aircraft carrier in this scale.

[Thorvic]

Fujimi do the Lynx in 1/144 BTW :-

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10070550

[Spey_Phantom]

i got an update, havent been able to post any due to lack of time (back at work).

tuesday, i started on the top tower, this was finished yesterday 



today, i started painting the lower floor, since im not going to be able to reach that spot when the whole thing comes together.

[dy031101]

Just something with a similar topic.