1940 RICHELIEU 1/350

[Sr. Gopher]

Whoa.

[sirmaumau]

thanks Sr. Gopher for your attention,and thank you all,my fellows.The schedule has been heavily delayed by PHD exam for months . Here are some new photos.

[sirmaumau]

the kit turret is geometrically intolerable,but it is my first time to shape it. it is rather painstaking??

[Sr. Gopher]

Lookin' Good!!!! How did you make the tarpaulins??

[sirmaumau]

The tarpaulin is made of Raw Material Belt or TEFLON TAPE which is widely used in joints of steel pipes. It is thin and tender,and it bears some kind of attraction to smooth surface.

[JIM BAUMANN]

Teflon tape-- aha!! also known as PTFE tape --cheap--in plumbing supply shops.


Very good idea--I shall be using that idea as well at some stage!! Thank you!

Lots of work in your Richelieu!!!


Jim Baumann

[sirmaumau]

new turrets and anti-skid!

[sirmaumau]

the mechanic arm is quite mysterious and could any body tell me its function? thanks!

[Sr. Gopher]

I still don't see how you're managing this with out Photo Etch... The cats are looking very handsome!!!!!!!!

[Jean-Paul Binot]

With styrene, the catapults are necessarily simplified and overscale but nonetheless effective.

See the catapult of Dunkerque for comparison (same model as on the Richelieu).

[sirmaumau]

Thanks Binot! But I've noticed that RICHELIEU's cats was quite different from DUNKERQUE's or heavy cruiser's. Her cats has a mechanic arm and a hoister as displayed in my model which seemed omitted in other ships.

[Jean-Paul Binot]

As far as I can say, as per Robert Dumas's books, the catapults on the Richelieu are strictly identical to those installed on the Dunkerque and Strasbourg.

I could not find anywhere close up photos of Richelieu's catapults, and those never were used with planes (only tested quayside), but there is IMHO no reason to believe that the French Navy would have developed a new model of catapult to launch the very same Loire 130 seaplane while the tried and tested model worked perfectly well.

To answer your question on how the catapults worked, there was a single elevator inside the deck that raised the seaplane to the level of the catapult, allowing it to be pushed in place on the trolley for launch. I have no idea what could be the purpose of the frame gear that you are referring to.

[Jean-Paul Binot]

Incidentally, the 3D drawing that you posted comes from a fantastic build of a large scale (1/48) catapult whose WIP can be viewed at http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a.



The modeler states that the mysterious frame is a device to position the trolley on the catapult, but I fail to understand how it would work. Robert Dumas does not mention anything like that in his books, and he is the number one authority on this ship.

I agree that there is indeed such a device on Richelieu's catapults, as can be seen on this photo.

Nonetheless, I cannot see how Richelieu's catapults would differ from Dunkerque's

[Jean-Paul Binot]

So, I DID find a photo of Richelieu's quarterdeck with the two catapults.



The shot is obviously from the period at Dakar after the British attack (see the torpedo nets). It is not all that clear, but it is better than nothing. One can clearly see the mysterious frame. I suppose that it could be a device for loading and unloading the plane trolley when empty (without a plane), as it has similar dimensions, without using the elevator. It might also be used for lifting ordnance (depth charges) to the plane. Who knows?

Incidentally, this is one of the very few photos showing that the rangefinder on top of the 152mmm turrets actually rotated independently (see the central turret at the bottom edge of the picture).

[sirmaumau]

Binot

[Jean-Paul Binot]

Here is a larger and crisper photo showing the fantail of Richelieu with the port catapult and the aircraft crane.

[sirmaumau]

Some new details and surface primer!

[sirmaumau]

[sirmaumau]

painting and ready for weathering .....

[GTDEATH13]

Lots and lots of minor details scratchbuilt to make a superb if not perfect build... Wish I could do that...

Thanks for sharing your work... Looking forward to any progress...