The Ship Model Forum

thank you so much

here there are....this Flattop will be for IL2 sturmovik 1946....flight
simulator




thank you

Aoshima is now developping 1/700 water line kit of Ark Royal III



https://twitter.com/Fleetnet_info/statu ... 3864851456

http://happy.ap.teacup.com/runchicken_s ... 158617.jpg

http://happy.ap.teacup.com/runchicken_s ... 158665.jpg

http://happy.ap.teacup.com/runchicken_s ... 158684.jpg

At this moment, only rapid prototype mockup is displayed at Shizuoka Hobby Show now held in Japan and farther info such as date of release or price isn't yet available. It is difficult to detect the type of aircraft from the pictures I found on the internet, but I assume that one monoplane would be Blackburn Skua and another monoplane would be Fairey Fulmar from the positional relation between vertical stabilizer and tailplane.

Anyhow this is a news we have been waiting for a long time

If you support this, please vote:

http://ideas.revell.de/ideas/item/1893/

Thanks!

Anyone know if the new Aoshima Ark Royal has started to reach U.S. shores. I don't see it even listed for pre-order at any of the places I usually order from.

Aoshima new Ark Royal kit finally appeared on market. But Aoshima's new kit is very disappointing one and IMHO it can not be recommended to serious Ark Royal III fan.

I evaluated kit external appearance mainly based on Cammell Laird draught included in "British Warships of the Second World War (Conway Blueprint Series)" compiled by John Roberts and some photos. I scanned the Roberts book and resized and printed the scanned images to much kit size. It would be unavoidable small warping of draught in the process of photographing of original draught by printers and scanning and resizing by myself. But I believe resized draught would be enough useful for my purpose.

Firstly, positions of openings beneath forward HA gun groups are aft than it should be. The height of portholes of two lowest rows are lowered than it should be in comparison with side armour belt stepping.


Bow rake should be lengthened forward comparing with Cammell Laird draught.


Flightdeck beam is narrower than it should be.


At midship section portside freeboard above lower hangar deck is inclining outside as it goes upward to compensate weight of island on actual ship.


Sorry I don't have body plan drawings showing both side of Ark Royal III, but I assume that freeborad inclination of portside is greater than that of starboard from stem to stern.

OTOH it seems to me that port and starboard freeboard inclination is identical on the kit and I think this problem results in narrower flightdeck.

I don't intend to comment on kit details precisely, but it can be safely said that small parts such as boats, quad pompom or Supermarine Walrus are clearly inferior compared with Tamiya 1/700 RN ships 40 years ago.

I don't know what reference material Aoshima used, but more precise model kit would be developed if Aoshima used authentic material and interpret them appropriately.

Maybe I'm too much serious, but I still hope Aoshima improve their next kits.

The 3rd Ark Royal most definitely did not have an armoured flight deck.

As for the Aoshima kit, I'm pretty sure 99% of people will not analyse it to the degree of measuring it against plans and to most people it will be a reasonable representation of the subject. Remember the Aoshima kit and matching etch is less than a third of the cost of the l'Arsenal kit, which is a big factor in the Aoshima kit's favour. Especially when modelling on a budget. I'm looking forward to getting mine to sit next to Renown.

Nice pic of Ark Royal with the iconic Liver building behind it. I used to live about 25 mins drive from Ark Royal's Camel Laird birthplace and have looked across the Mersey a few times, especially when the 5th Ark Royal visited.

thanks
Mike

Apologies if this has been answered already but should be a quick one. What colour was Ark Royal in 1941? She looks quite dark in pictures so I'm assuming AP507B, is this correct?

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Vlad

What is the full information on the 4.5 inch mounts on the Ark Royal.

Are those 4.5 QF Mk I guns on a Mark III mount?

The mounts are Mk III's, an upper deck mount used on Ark Royal, AA cruisers Scylla and Charybdis, and a few auxiliaries.

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ah3000mk1

As to color in 1941, Raven in Royal Navy Camo-1938-1941 says she was painted in dark hull, light upperworks in late 1940 for a short time. Most of the pictures of her operating with force H show a single rather dark color as you said. However, both Renown and Sheffield, which were with force H at the same time, had some form of dark hull and light upperworks. There are two close up, very clear pictures of Ark Royal at the time of her torpedoing, that show her with a pretty new looking paint job on the lower hull and splochy worn paint job on the upper hull, with what looks like a much lighter background. Her island looks newly painted however. This all makes sense, as she was kept very busy in 1941. I think whatever you decide to paint her, I'd go with 507B, she was probably pretty scuffed up. Most authors have said the British were not taking many pictures during 1941 so their may not be any clear pictures of her during May, when she was chasing Bismark.

Thanks Dan. Part of the reason I asked is because I've learned from a bunch of other research projects and forum threads that you can't trust shades of grey in old black and white photos. You're right though, guess I can't go wrong with AP507B since it would at least be right for part of the year or the ship would be dirty, chipped and part re-painted so a medium grey base would be the best compromise.

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Vlad

Thanks!

I have an original unpublished photograph that shows this scheme, with the dark hull extending about half way up the hull

Would you be willing to share it, at least perhaps a low quality version?

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Vlad

It is possible that the darker colour is shadow, but this is the only photo I have seen that shows this area in this way. The darker colour extends from below the knuckle uniformly, including the area opposite and to the rear of the island where there is no knuckle on the hull.

The aft superstructure pom-pom mount has a lattice support framework in this photo, so I believe it is before Ark returned to the UK in October 1940. Subsequently a solid screen was installed from deck to 'A' deck level partly enclosing the pom-pom when viewed from the rear. The DG coil dates the photo as as being taken after Feb 1940.

Thank you, very nice photo! It might be the knuckle but I don't think so, something about how uniform it is and how there is a lot of light reflection on the hull from the water. I'm really tempted to paint my Ark like this now, rather than overall 507B.

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Vlad

This is a really useful and interesting thread. I'm building the Ark at the time of her sinking and the finish she displays at this time is crucial to getting the look 'right'.

Cheers

Dave

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Dave
Currently on the workbench: Tamiya USS Enterprise; Airfix 1/1200 Ark Royal

I found the two photo's of Ark sinking. One is in "Fleet Air Arm, British Carrier Aviation 1939-1945 by Ron Mackay. It is sqadron/signal pub. isbn0-89747-432-5, page #19. The other is Supermarina II, the second part of the mediterranean war July 1941 to August 1942, by John D Gresham and Michael Markowitz. This was a scenario book for the Command at Sea Series game by Larry Bond. Both photo's are referenced to IWM, but with no specific numbers. Both are very reminicent of the KCV photo's in Dec 1940 when she was in the process of painting out the builders very worn 507C and 507A splinter camo with an overall 507B. It must have driven RN captains crazy to have their proud ships operating in such a state!

Collecting stuff for my new Ark Royal. Check this stuff out. I first ordered the octuple pom poms. When I received the pom poms and saw the quality I went right back and ordered the 4.5 in QF with MKIII mounts. Amazing stuff!

http://www.3dmodelparts.com/