Calling all MN Richelieu & Jean Bart fans

[PaulC]

Hi all,

Re: Jean Bart's paint scheme

Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but I looked through this thread and did not see it. There's a colour (or colourized?) photo of Jean Bart with light blue turret tops and bridge face (link is below, scroll down to last pic).

Some parts of it look strange - like the light blue on the deck forward of A-turret - so I was wondering about its authenticity. Can someone comment?

Thanks!

Paul

http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_di ... n_bart.htm

[Gilbert]

Hi Paul,

The picture you mention shows some artist license. When Jean-Bart was finally commissioned on 01/5/1955, she was repainted in light grey overall with boot topping, blastbags and anchors in dull black. This painting will be retained until her decommissioning.

Cheers

Gilbert

[PaulC]

Thanks Gilbert!

Wonder why someone would do that?!

[Caravellarella]

Because the blue looks GORGEOUS?

Terry (Caravellarella)

[PaulC]

Yeah...it does look kinda cool doesn't it!

I have to admit that I've already painted my Jean Bart turret tops light blue and am a little sorry to have to take it off!

In that amazing RC model shown in earlier posts, the rafts are bright orange - I haven't seen that in other builds I've looked at. Is that correct or more artistic license?

Paul

[Sauragnmon]

Even more interesting, it looks like a piece of the bow decking in that picture is similarly blue, as are the angles between the turret face and turret side.

I Think, and I might be wrong, that the picture was Colourized, not taken in colour, and in the process, I would surmise the deck and turret pieces just happened to be the same shades of gray as the water surrounding, or close enough with lighting that they were treated as water and given shading corresponding to it.

Blue turret tops do look pretty gorgeous, I'll keep those beauties in mind when I do mine, but she won't be so easily recognizable when I'm done.

[Caravellarella]

Jean Bart (and Richelieu too) is/are gorgeous regardless......

Big fan of gorgeous (even though it a very subjective judgement)......

Terry (Caravellarella)

[Sauragnmon]

I have to admit, the way the stack is set up and such, I find it interesting to think of a Richielieu and a Kirov put together... I wonder what they'd look like.

But they are quite interesting ships, and elegant in their way yes.

[Toje]

Yeah...it does look kinda cool doesn't it!

I have to admit that I've already painted my Jean Bart turret tops light blue and am a little sorry to have to take it off!

In that amazing RC model shown in earlier posts, the rafts are bright orange - I haven't seen that in other builds I've looked at. Is that correct or more artistic license?

Paul

The rafts on the RC model is more artistic license, because today they have thse color.




I have put some more pictures in the album http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Album=YJIG3G8G

[chuck]

Has anyone ever attempted to build a model of Richelieu class battleship in their original design configuration with 5 6" triple turrets?

[PaulC]

The rafts on the RC model is more artistic license, because today they have thse color.

OK then! I thought as much... thanks!

Beautiful model though Toje!

Paul

[Caravellarella]

Dear Chuck, yes, I did start to make a model of the Richelieu as designed (with 15 x 152mmDP). Never finished it of course. Why do you ask?

Terry (Caravellarella)

[chuck]

Dear Chuck, yes, I did start to make a model of the Richelieu as designed (with 15 x 152mmDP). Never finished it of course. Why do you ask?

Terry (Caravellarella)

I am planning to model the Richelieu as designed using the trumpeter 1/350 kit as foundation. The 5 152 turret design looked like such an efficient design for a classical battleship.

[Guest]

Hi All,

My name is Poul.
I have registered, but am still awaiting an email to activate my account (hopefully it will arrive soon).

2� years and 7,500 parts after I started scratch building RICHELIEU in 1:200, my first ever model, I am now almost ready to start the painting as she looked in 1950 - her nicest paint scheme in my opinion.

Would anyone know the exact colours (eg. RAL numbers) for the different greys and/or the red bottom of the hull?

Here is a picture of Turret I and II at the stage I was at one year ago (all just dry fitted)

[poulw]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum, and this is my first post as a member

I have already made a post as a guest, while I was awaiting my activation email, and now that it finally arrived, my post is still with the moderator for approval - a bit of a circle this

When I retired at 60, I decided that I would build a model of a WWII battleship, mind you that I have never built a model of anything before in my life. My choice was to scratch build the RICHELIEU in scale 1:200, because 1) I found her to be one of the most beautiful warships of that period, 2) the size would fit well in my lounge room when finished, and 3) I expected it to be quite a challenge.
Rather ambitious for a newbie, isn't it?

As I mentioned, this is my first ever model, so I have had a few steep learning curves during the build.
I have had to learn about both resin casting and vacu-forming to overcome problems, planking the decks was a true test of my patience, and the 40mm quad Bofors guns took me three prototypes before I finally figured out how to construct them.
Right now I am at a stage where I will have to discover the fine art of air brushing, also something I have never tried before.
But it sounds like a lot of you are pretty experienced, so maybe I can get some help when needed.

I am looking forward to enjoying this forum and maybe show a little bit of what I have been doing so far.

Cheers for now,

Poul

[Caravellarella]

Dear poulw, your model of the Richelieu is superb and very impressive. Please do keep us updated on your progress......

Terry (Caravellarella)

[JHS]

Poul, You have managed to compress a lifetime of modeling education into one model---a very remarkable feat. Your big RICHELIEU looks superb! I am contemplating converting the Flymodel 1:200 scale RICHELIEU, a paper model, into a model of the ship as she appeared in 1940 at Dakar. I used to have a link to official French government plans of the ship in 1940 but it is now a dead link. Would you happen to know about these plans?

[poulw]

Thanks for the nice comments

Poul, You have managed to compress a lifetime of modeling education into one model---a very remarkable feat. Your big RICHELIEU looks superb! I am contemplating converting the Flymodel 1:200 scale RICHELIEU, a paper model, into a model of the ship as she appeared in 1940 at Dakar. I used to have a link to official French government plans of the ship in 1940 but it is now a dead link. Would you happen to know about these plans?

1) Yes, I do know those plans. As a matter of fact, I have them on my HDD as I downloaded them before the link closed (41 plans in total). I also have the plans on Jean Bart as some of these show better details of the hull than the Richelieu plans.
However, the info needed to make a model is not all that great on either set of plans.

2) I have used the Flymodel 1:200 Richelieu as an aid during my build. First, because the French government plans don't show much of details and only a few of the fittings. Secondly, because they provide an easy perception of the fittings in 3D.
They are scanned at 150dpi and also on my PC.
Warning: the Flymodel Richelieu is not exactly 1:200 (122cm long instead of 124cm)

For a Dakar model, you would have to change more or less the whole front superstructure, part of the rear superstructure (to allow for the hanger), and all the AA armament.
Not much info available from her era before the US refit though. I only have a couple of photos to support the plans.

If you are interested in any of the above, send me a PM with your details and I can put it on a CD for you. (Too large for an email).

Poul

[poulw]

Hi all,

Here are examples of some of the 1:200 Richelieu fittings I have made.
Pictures are taken before the parts were primed to show the materials used:

One of 10 floater net baskets using styrene and stainless steel mesh
(pic taken with the old camera, so sorry about the picture quality)



One of 4 paravanes using copper tube, styrene and brass wire



The rear mast using acrylic rod, styrene and brass wire



The hulls of the ships boats are all vacu-formed styrene



Poul

[Felix C]

This is a copy and paste on what needs to be converted on the Heller 1/400 Richelieu to approximate a pre-USA fit version.

Infor.is from Jean-Paul Binot.

"To backdate the ship to her 1940 state, relatively little is required:
Remove all US-added AA (Bofors and Oerlikons)
Add French light AA (37mm twin mounts)
Restore the aviation facility (hangar and catapults). Note that Richelieu never carried her aircraft complement.
Add the topmost director on the tower and place a mast and aerials above it
Add large yardarms to the tower
Add aerials for the early French radar
Some change to the bridge face and platforms (with wind deflectors!)
Add faired supports to searchlight and director platforms on the tower.
Replace the mast on the funnel group by a taller unit (should be nearly as high as the one on the tower)

Nothing serious in fact, I believe, but that will result in a ship that will look rather different, possibly more powerful looking than the usual USN-like look."