The Ship Model Forum

I was thinking of bringing the Colossus samples to the 2019 Nationals in Chattanooga this year, but I checked air ticket prices and travel distances and it's not going to work out this year, apart from the fact the weekend conflicts with another event I have. I wish one day the Nats would come to the Northeast; they seem to stay in the South or the Midwest. Shame, too, because by August the planes will be ready and the kit will be just about ready overall for release.

Mike Bartel

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Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

I'm still hoping for a 1:350 kit of the Colosssus (and/or Majestic) class, but in the meantime I'm progressing slowly with my Heller kit conversion:

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"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

And some detail updates as a bonus:

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Decal sheet is ready for the first kit. Markings for Colossus and Venerable will be included.

Ray Bean is building an advance copy of IHP's 1/700 injected plastic Colossus kit. He had a stroke a couple of years back that restricts use of one hand, so this is pretty good.

Mike Bartel

That looks really nice!

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In 1757 Admiral John Byng was shot "pour encourager les autres". Voltaire

IHP Colossus kits have arrived at the distributor in Japan. All distributors and dealers worldwide should now have them in stock.

Hello there, I am looking to find information regarding HMS Shah - during WW2 my Grandad was on board HMS Shah between May/June 1944 and July/August 1945. It is his 90th birthday at the end of February and I would love to be able to create a birthday card using a picture of HMS Shah. If you could advise me how to go about requesting to use images of the aircraft carrier I would be most grateful. I have tried to use the "contact web provider" link from this forum but it does not seem to work. Many thanks

It's a bit off topic here, HMS Shah was a 'Ruler' class carrier, which in fact were the Royal Navy versions of the American 'Bogue' class carriers, based on the commercial C3 cargo hull. So not a Colossus - at all!

But you can find several photos of HMS Shah here: http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/SHAH.htm#.X8QCeWhKhdg

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

The Imperial War museum has two groups of photographs taken aboard HMS Shah at the time your grandfather was serving in this carrier:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/sear ... +War%5D=on

Maurice

I read that Colossus had her 2pdr pom poms replaced by 40mm Bofors by the end of the war, but I haven't been able to find any drawings that show these. Indeed I haven't found any significant reference on the CVLs at all. Can anybody point me to anything useful?

Thanks,
Rick

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On the workbench:
1/700 HMS Swiftsure - Combrig
1/700 CGC Chelan - White Ensign
1/700 HMCS Forrest Hill - HP
1/700 Ulsan - Kobo Hiryu
--and dozens more

https://www.amazon.com/Colossus-class-Aircraft-Carriers-1945-1972/dp/1901225062
I think you have the most comprehensive reference on the entire class in this book. As for drawings, there are many from different ships of the class, in various states during and after the war. It might be difficult though, to find a drawing of a specific ship (Colussus) at an exact point in time (end of the war). But you might find drawings of other ships in that configuration.

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"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Thank you. I had stayed clear of Neil McCart's books after buying a few and finding that they were much more operational and personal histories and very thin on technical info, and nil on drawings.

Are you familiar with his book on the Colossus class?

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On the workbench:
1/700 HMS Swiftsure - Combrig
1/700 CGC Chelan - White Ensign
1/700 HMCS Forrest Hill - HP
1/700 Ulsan - Kobo Hiryu
--and dozens more

Colossus was transferred to France as FS Arromanches; a photo of her in 1947 as such (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item ... /205162374) shows her with quadruple 2pdr pompom mountings. I'd be surprised if they had been replaced by twin 40mm Bofors before the war's end and then re-fitted before sale to France, but that's possible. That said, I've not found any photos of her with twin Bofors (although she had several single Bofors mountings).

That book is a complete bust, as far as details for modeling. It is focused on the RN operational history of each ship in the class, with a paragraph or two about post-RN service for each. No drawings of any kind. I was hopeful that there might be at least a few color photos, as in McCart's Lion, Tiger & Blake book, but no such luck. Many, many photos, but most are at such a distance that details cannot be discerned. This was a fairly expensive lesson.
Rick

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On the workbench:
1/700 HMS Swiftsure - Combrig
1/700 CGC Chelan - White Ensign
1/700 HMCS Forrest Hill - HP
1/700 Ulsan - Kobo Hiryu
--and dozens more

Hi Rick, I understand your disappointment, as you expliciltly asked for references on 'HMS Colossus'. Indeed there is very little information available on that particular ship in her Royal Navy days. The Nick Card book is focusing only on RN, and the information is limited.

However, as she was sold to the French it might help googling for photos of 'Porte-avions Arromanches' as she was known under her French name. Just Arromanches will not do, as it's the name of a town. I haven't looked closely but I got the impression most AA was removed by the French.

I also have a set of plans of the Arromanches, including even some original Colussus plans dating back to 1943. 12MB in total. If you send me your email address I can send you these via WeTransfer, ok? Then you may research the details for yourself.

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"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Arromanches still had her pompoms in 1956. This is a really interesting picture , a 1942 Light Fleet carrier and a 1942 Fleet carrier together in an almost as-build state.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item ... /205016371

David/Maarten please could you let me know what type of Pom Pom directors HMS Colossus carried, if shown on your plans.

Hi Al,

I made a clipping from the Colossus drawing: You see the B and C deck of the superstructure, showing the Pom Poms and the directors. I find it hard to read which type of directors these were, this was the maximum resolution to be achieved. I hope you can make out what type of directors were used

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023