Thank you very much for the very warm welcome.
Yeah I've been reading through some of the forums and it is unbelievable the time, effort, imagination and innovation that people put into the kits that they are working on - it is actually a bit of a kick up the backside for me because I normally get the kit from the shop and follow the detail from the box and hey presto the kit is finished but has always lacked that something special to set it aside - I knew nothing about conversion kits, purchasing alternative decals or building dioramas - also the research that goes into a lot of it is mind-blowing -
After doing a bit of reading up decided not to put the Ark Royal with the Sheffield but instead try and get a few kits (1:700) of ships that where in the Falklands War in 1982 (I know that there was a kit for HMS Invincible, not sure about HMS Hermes) and build something along those lines.
Is acrylic gel the best option for getting a realistic water setting? Any hints of tips would be much appreciated..........and thanks again for the welcome