These
are photographs of my finished model
of HMS Illustrious. The model was constructed from the very old 1/400 scale
model kit by Heller.
The model is portrayed when it formed part of
the attack Force H for the
Salerno
(
Italy
) Operation in September 1943. The carrier had just had a general refit and
repainted in The Dark Disruptive Camoflauge Pattern which she wore from mid 1943
to mid 1944. It was also the first time that the ship carried a squadron of
Seafires (894) squadron along with two Martlet Squadrons 878 and 890 Squadrons.
So bearing this in mind apart from detailing the carrier, many structural
changes had to be done , which were all scratch-built to be as faithful as
possible the the real thing.
The
Model
This
kit is a very old kit and it had been laying on the shelf for years and years
till finally I decided to have a go at it. It is a very rudimentary and
inaccurate kit and I realized there was going to be a lot of work put into
the model to finish with a satisfactory end result. I haven't seen
many 1/400 scale Illustrious models around , so I said why not, let's go
for it.
First
thing was to saw off the lower part of the hull and reinforce it, since it was
going to be a waterline model. The cable deck in the bow as well as the
quarterdeck were scratch built using a thin layer of laminated wood and
bits and bobs from the spares box.
All
visible sections in the hull of the ship were reshaped and detailed, parts
available with the kit were discarded. The hull was sanded off completely and
trunking and piping scratch-built. Support sponsons for transmitting masts were
scratch-built. Pom poms and twin mount guns detailed accordingly.
The
island had to be restructured and reshaped to accommodate the additional
gun platforms for the many oerlikons added to the ship's defense system.
Extensive detailing was also included all around the island. Resin parts by
White Ensign also incorporated which helped extensively to further detail
the island. The masts were scratch-built with photo etch parts added. A Gun
platform was also included in the stern of the ship with a similar purpose.
Outriggers for the spitfire squadron had also to be included ,various
walkways all around the ship and the boat stations were also altered and
detailed accurately. More boats added accordingly and those available with the
kit were also detailed. Arrester landing wires and arrest
barrier were scratch built from fuse wire.
Louis
Carabott
Malta
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