Jamesaw's Victorious**Launched sans Air Group**

[jamesaw]

I know if I can get this done-the rest of the build will be a doddle. My wife is off on the other side of the country for 10 days so son and I are baching it. Should make some progress this week.

[jamesaw]

Back on track. My wife has accused me in the past of overlooking the obvious and once gain she is right. I was trying to hold the mast, manipulate the part into position and glue it at the same time. Obviously 3 hands are required to do that-or the little alligator clip that is attached to the magnifying glass that I was using to see what I was doing! Top supports need attaching and the top part of the mast (which is built and ready to attach).



The Tumbling Dice aircraft arrived last week and while the Whirlwinds have wheels, the fixed wing aircraft do not. In the past I've cannibalized wheels from Trumpeter aircraft, but that becomes an expensive proposition, so in this case, I think I'll resort to stretched sprue lengths for the gear and slices of round section for the wheels. Picture shows the Whirlwinds, a Gannet, Buccaneer and Skyraider AEW (with the requisite radar bump). While the general outlines are pretty good, the wings are a little thick (limitations of the media being pewter). In order to show the wing fold, I plan to use cut at the fold line and use plastic card to represent the folded section.

[DavidWomby]

I take my hat off to you. That mast would drive me to distraction. It's going to look great on the ship though.

David

[jamesaw]

I take my hat off to you. That mast would drive me to distraction. It's going to look great on the ship though.

David

It almost did David!

[Dazzled]

That mast is absolutely superb Howard. You've done a masterful job with it.

And thanks for sharing pictures of the TD aircraft.

[gnomemeansgnome]

Excellent work, James.

[Marek]

Holy! That mast is a model by itself. With all my will to deal with PE for small scale vessels, I tend to always produce some strange structures rather than planned masts, so my hat is off.

[jamesaw]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I was almost ready to give up on this and try to glue the yards to the existing kit mast, but it wouldn't have looked anywhere near as good. White Ensign are the suppliers. I'm so glad that somebody has continued on with the business as they really produce some superb products and it would have been a serious blow to ship modellers had they ceased trading entirely.

On another topic, I came across a 1/700 rendition of Victorious by Orange Hobby in her 1966 guise. Looks like a superb kit (resin and etch) with 26 multi-part aircraft including Gannets, Buccs, Sea Vixens and Wessex's. Unfortunately I had to coin a new acronym for the price (about 127 quid) namely MWWKM-My Wife Would Kill Me if I spent that. Check out E-bay if interested under "Orange Hobby Victorious".

[Marek]

...... On another topic, I came across a 1/700 rendition of Victorious by Orange Hobby in her 1966 guise. Looks like a superb kit (resin and etch) with 26 multi-part aircraft including Gannets, Buccs, Sea Vixens and Wessex's. Unfortunately I had to coin a new acronym for the price (about 127 quid) namely MWWKM-My Wife Would Kill Me if I spent that. Check out E-bay if interested under "Orange Hobby Victorious".

I just looked it up and it seems that Orange Hobby became a major player. They seem to have a lot of off-beaten path subject in modern navies. I was not aware of this shop at all. Thanks for the good news.

[jamesaw]

They do some nice Harriers and Deck Tractors in 1/700 too. Trumpeter 1/700 Harriers are also available.

[jamesaw]

Island is assembled and etch added. I'll add the mast after everything's together. A couple of the railings look like they need straightening which I'll do prior to painting.

[Dazzled]

Outstanding. The etched brass makes a big difference.

[jamesaw]

It never quite looks as good as in the manufacturer's pictures though but paint covers a multitude of sins!

[MarkyM607]

It never quite looks as good as in the manufacturer's pictures though but paint covers a multitude of sins!

Some kits should have 'serving suggestion' on them like food does. Never looks the same when cooked as it does on the packaging!!.

[jamesaw]

OK-I should finish putting the etch on the hull tonight. That leaves finishing the mast and capping the funnel before painting in earnest. I decided to make my own decals, so that will delay things. Airfix can supply at a cost of 4 quid, but I either also have to invest in an overseas phone call to give them my card info or send a cheque, which will cost them and me more than the item's worth to process. As an aside, they need to figure out a mechanism to allow paying for things like spares through the web site.