Chris tames illustrious aircraft carrier - NOW SAILING

[ShaunW]

Ah, the Queen Of The Carriers is at it again! Great work so far Chris.

[chrism]

Thanks for commenting Shaun good to have you along for the ride. I am currently in somewhat choppy water with no foreseeable sight of the storm abating.

Life with this build got worse as the last week progressed. Each day saw more paint and filler to try and sort out the lower hull. I have taken photos and will just show a couple so you can see I am not making it up:



It was starting to sort of look vaguely ok by the time I got here, but I continued with a further round ...





in between all of this, I painted the deck and gave it a couple coats of clear stuff (I have another brand of floor polish which works same as the other stuff most of you have)



By teatime yesterday - Saturday 11th, was just about happy with things to think about getting out the red and black and get the final coats on lower hull today.

Before doing that, I inserted another small piece with the anchors on them:



By teatime today I had the bulk of the hull painted and have also painted the stand.





Since tea, I have fought the kit again and got the deck on. It fits where it touches! and leaves a lot to be desired.
I think the score is Airfix 1 me 0 ... as I seem to be losing to get the deck in vaguely acceptably. But I will leave it as it is now for 24 hours ...





I have also come to the conclusion, that this is a kit that I shall only build once in my life. It is turning into a real nightmare and a challenge/fight to get together. I have even taken parts out of the other kit (the one I bought) and they are as much of a slightly warped fit as the ones I have used...

With that in mind, I shall now proceed and use all the remaining parts that I need to finish the kit and use sprue D from my own kit, rather than trying to cobble most of the parts for the superstructure as it was those that the kit I had been given was missing. (then give back whatever I have left over to Ray (my mate) who helped me out the other week. I do however have a full set of WEM etch, for the kit which I don't think I shall be breaking into and using anytime soon... so will probably sell that now.

[iggie]

That hull looks beautifully sharp Chris, and I have no doubt whatsoever that you will complete the superstructure in similar style.....super work!

[PaulBradley]

It may be hard work, but it's looking good!

[Clashcityrocker]

It's coming along nicely, despite the shortcomings.

Nigel

[splash]

Its putting up a struggle, but still looking mighty fine to me.

Is there any mileage in you completing it, then having a break and coming back later to attack it with the PE?

[chrism]

Is there any mileage in you completing it, then having a break and coming back later to attack it with the PE?

I saw your comment earlier, and was mulling it over all afternoon. The jury are still out on that one. I will keep it in mind though.

Tonight when I took the elastic bands off and examined the resulting scene I was met with this. It was not as bad as I feared but not really wonderful either. It is sort of passable, but not really upto the standard I am now happy with.




However after tea I set too with some very fine wet/dry and have performed an interesting piece of bodgery in fine sanding which with a squeak more filler tomorrow, some more painting and and a further coat or two of varnish may pass muster. The worst of it will at least be behind the superstructure bit, and I have still got the walkway bits to add on the outside to help take the eye off the worst.

I've then got a load of awfully fiddly bits to try and fit underneath But that is for another day.
It is unlikely there will be another set of photos for a few days as other things alas have priority.

[Dazzled]

It looks pretty good to me Chris although you're not doing anything for my enthusiasm to build the one I have in the stash

[chrism]

Daz - I hope I haven't put you off... get yours out and have a play if you leave your bottom bit out you shouldn't have the painful experience I had (or the next one coming below). Had I done the sensible thing and got a board big enough to waterline her and about 3 tubes silicone I am sure it would have all been a lot more pleasant and simpler.

So back to my build: If I had not had enough pain in the bottom area already, this build certainly became one this afternoon as I wrestled all the fiddly bits on. Airfix kindly supplied a lot of parts with very minimal or non-existant mating points, and all of which being underneath have needed a lot of glue and persuasion to stay where they should.

Since tea I have given it all a couple of coats of floor polish stuff to help seal it all together a bit more. This is now going to stay as it is - upside down for the next couple days as I have no more time for modelling, and hopefully the varnish etc can all go super hard and glue set etc. (that's the theory)

[chrism]

I have been giving the prospect of using the etch a bit of thought over the past few days, given the suggestion that Splash made a few posts back. However, it is not going to be easy to go back later and retro fit or retro change many parts to include the etch once it is all glued together. To illustrate this -

one item the grills on the sides, need to be added or considered very early in the build and the existing ones drilled out and filed through to make an oval / or square etc and then the new ones inset into the resultant hole, and looking at photos they do need be inset, and could not now just be overlaid. This photo shows the hull side as it is



and the instructions to fit etch parts:


One area that I might well have added the etch for were the catwalks and safety netting. However, this is another area where you had to modify the kit parts well before adding them, and to get them off now will ruin everything. Again a photo of one section of one of the kit parts and instructions for etch:





it is a much similar story with the radar array and other fiddly stuff on the superstructure, you need to use just a bit of the kit part and remove and replace other sections ...

The etch set is a very complex set and covers parts and modifications for all 3 ships in the class. I will take some photos of the set and post them next time, as if anyone wants a set for a future build, I will let it go very reasonably and well below cost.

[Clashcityrocker]

A bit of a dark wash in those grilles would certainly help a bit, but whatever the outcome, it's still going to be an impressive looking model.

Nigel

[iggie]

Daz - I hope I haven't put you off... get yours out and have a play if you leave your bottom bit out you shouldn't have the painful experience I had

Sounds painful indeed!

Seriously though, I'm loving these big ship builds and will use the experiences you've detailed when I get around to tackling mine!

Not sure about leaving my bottom out though......

[MarkyM607]

Daz - I hope I haven't put you off... get yours out and have a play if you leave your bottom bit out you shouldn't have the painful experience I had

Sounds painful indeed!

Seriously though, I'm loving these big ship builds and will use the experiences you've detailed when I get around to tackling mine!

Not sure about leaving my bottom out though......

The bottom of mine is still removable!!

[chrism]

Thanks for the comments and support everyone. Monday evening I got her back up the right way and continued painting floor polish everywhere. This morning she looks rather shiny and glossy. So as it is a rather wet and dreary day here (again!) I have bitten the bullet and started on the marathon task of decaling the deck.

What I have to achieve is this ...



and what I am supplied to use is this. So far, after a 2-hour session, this morning I still have a lot to do, and it is taking a lot of time to get the lines straight and level and hopefully spaced apart correctly.... I spent an hour last night just sort of plotting out and planning a course of attack. The main problem, is that there are not many intersecting "T" type junction pieces that you can use to ensure you are still on course...



If the weather continues as it is, I may try and have another go at a few more decals later, failing that I shall try and get the superstructure as sort of done as can be until it is glued on.

The overall state of play outstanding items for this build now is

finish the decals
finish the superstructure and fit to deck
then add and paint all the remaining small parts - of which there are plenty
deal with the other as yet untouched sprue of planes and helicopters
bring it all together and finish off detail painting etc.

so quite a way to go yet.

[splash]

I must confess, even after serving on two out of the three of these ships, I have never looked hard at what went into building a model of one, I always thought they looked bland and assumed the kits would be the same.

Having now seen what you have done and the effort required to get it to its current state, I'm starting to look at these kits in a totally different light. I do have a Dragon kit of the Illustrious in my stash and might now one day attempt to build it.

Keep up the great work its an enjoyable thread to follow.

Regards Splash