Airfix 1/350 HMS Illustrious, R06 Aircraft Carrier OOB Review & Buildup, Kit# 14201

You are one very ambitious and busy model builder ;-) I like the openings that you made to make the hangar deck more visble

Thanks.  I have a lot to do.  Gotta finish this carrier group for the Royal Navy, then the JMSDF one with the Hyuga, the French group with the De Gaulle, and the Russian CSG with the Kuznetsov...along with all of their escorts  (FFGs, DDGs and SSNs).

Hopefully, by the time I am done with that (2-3 years) I will be able to find a 1/350 Ford class and a 1/350 QE Class and go back and update the US and the UK groups accordingly.

As well, later, if somone ever comes out with the 1/350 scale kits for a Spanish (centered on the Juan Carlos), a Italian (centered on the Cavour), an Indian (centered on the Vikrant or Virkamaditya), a Australian (centered on the Canberra), and finally a Brazilian (centered on the Sao Paulo which I already have with the Foch which I will modify to be the Sao Paulo).  Plenty enough to last many years for me if I can find the kits.

In addition, I am falling behind in my desire to keep my 1/72 modern aircraft up to date for the US, China, Russia, and the UK.  I retire old aircraft and sell them completed on ebay when I buy new 1/72 scale aircraft that replaced them.  

For example, I recently sold a highly detailed 1/72 P-3C when I got the P-8A 1/72 scale kit to replace it.  I just have not had a lot of time to build aircraft lately and will have to work them all in over the next several years.

Hehehe...we each have only so many years per life!.

Last week I got my White Ensign Models (WEM) Photo Etch (PE) detail kit in for the Illustrious. I found a real good deal on it on L'Arsenal web site out of France and ordered it. Still, that kit cost me more than the model itself, though I did get a fantastic "sale" on the model about 9 months or more ago for $52.00. Anyhow, the kit is extensive and included not only the parts for the ship, but also for the air wing. I will make the most use of the parts for the vessel. Something like 200 Photo Etch parts for the ship covering every sensor, railing, platform, yard arm, ladders, etc. on the vessel. As usual, also excellent documentation and instructions from WEM.

With the PE kit in, I will be prepared to start the detail work on the island and the hanger bay. First I needed to complete the plastic detail work on the island. This involves a multitude of sensors, radar domes, platforms, weapons, CCTV cameras, and lights on the island. The island itself is a fairly detailed model. Here are pics of where I started this session with the island and then a number of pictures showing the progress on the island through to completion of the plastic detail for the island itself:

This is looking very good. The 30mm Goal Keeper CIWS and the 25mm atuo cannon and their sponsons will look very nice with the handrailing around them. There is significant involved in doing the work for the PE parts for the island, which I will work on for the next session. Then, either in conjunction with that step, or as part of the next one (probably the latter) I will do the detail work in the hanger bay, including the hanger bay aircraft I intend to place in there which will consist of 4 Harriers and at least two helos.

coming alng nicely... it does not appear to be too complicated of a build.... but adding the PE kicks it up a notch or two in that area...

thanks for the blog,it looks like it is going to be a nice project

Thanks.  The WEM PE kit is exceptionally well done for this 1/350 scale Airfix Illustrious.  I was working on the radars this morning.  As is the case with good PE kits, there's a lot of really intricate work, but it will be well worth it.

You are welcome.  Thanks for taking a gander.  I will update it as I go along, the next probably being late this week or early next.  As I indicated to stikpusher, the WEM PE kit is very good.

This is a poart of my overall project to build complete, modern Carrier Strike Groups for all of the World's major sea powers...those who have them.  You can follow that at:

Jeff Head's 1/350 Scale Modern Carrier Strike Groups

www.jeffhead.com/modelbuilds

This session I focused on photo etch details for the island. I wanted to get further along, but with the Memorial Day weekend, taking grandkids to the movie on Saturday (we saw Epic and thoroughly enjoyed it), and helping my ten year old grandson, Riley, with his 1/700 scale USS ROnald Reagan on memorial Day, my own activities necessarily took a back set. Nonethe less, I was able to get most of the photo etching done on the Siland. I started with the main radar, the D band, 1022 air search radar. This was a realtively involved process. Ypu see here three parts, but two of those parts are already made up of multiple parts which have been approriately bent and then glued together.

Then it was onto the Yard Amrs and fittings for the forward mast. These are rather delicate Photo etch pats that involve quite a bit of careful handling to ensure that they stay straight. They are fit onto the forward mast just below the small radar platform for the forward two, which are canted forward at 45 degrees, and then below that the aft facing pair of yard arms, canted towards the rear at 45 degrees. Each has a support structure that comes off of the main mast below it to support it as shown.

Finally, it was finishing off most of the railing and safety netting for the various decks and stations. This included the 30mm Goal Keepr CIWS station, the 25mm autocannon gun station, and the ladders and railings for the main mast, along with numerous other railings for the various decks on the island.

I stil have a few railing to place on the island but should finish that up in fairly fast order. Then it will be onto completing the hagner bay structure and phpoto etch railings, and then rigging the lighting system wiring for the hanger bay. I hope to complete both of those two functions in the next session.

I had hoped to get into the details and lighting on the hanger deck during this last week, but the remaining Photo Etch details on the Island were just too time consuming and so I didn't get to it. However, I did complete the island. Altogether there were over 90 Photo Etch parts for the Island alone. I had quite a bit of small railing to complete and then all of the yard arms for the funnels. With the plastic parts comprising the island, you are looking at well over 150 parts for the island alone. Quite a detailed model assembly in its own right.

Anyhow, with all the detailing, here's how the island now looks, ready to be added to the carrier flight deck when the time is right.

And here's a picture of the overall Island:

Now, I have already started preparing for the hanger deck. I will add the hallway from the fantail to the hanger deck, add the PE railing onto the hanger deck side walls and then construct them around the hanger spaces, build, paint, and detail the two Harriers and two helos and equipment I intend to have on the hanger deck, and then place those on the hanger deck. Finally, I will put together the lighting system for the hanger deck by placing the LEDs on the bottom of the flight deck in the appropriate places and then running the wiring so I can feed it out the bottom of the vessel into the stand where I will place the swith. It will be a 9v dc system. But all of that (or as much as I can accomplish) is for the next session.

The PE really makes the island stand out. Very nice to see!

Thanks.  The White Ensign Models PE set for the Illustrious kit in 1/350 scale is very, very good.  Lots and lots of details.  About as expensive as the kit itself, but it makes a huge difference.

There's a lot more to come for the hull and flight deck.

Well, quite a bit of time has gone y. I got side tracked into a couple of projects, one a 1/22 Peterbuilt conventional tractor build with one of my grandsons for my father-in-law, my grandkids great granfather who retired from trucking after over 55 years at 80 years old. The other another build with another grandson of a 1/700 scale USS Regan CVN-76 aircraft carrier. but now it's back to my HMS Illustrious, R-06. Back to working in the hanger spaces. I got all of the PE handrailing in for the hanger deck walls, and then put those walls together, matching the entry ways I had cut into the sides of those walls with the various auxillary decks along the side of the hull so you could look into the hanger deck when completed. Also preparing for my hanger deck lighting build (which will come next).

Then it was on to painting and building the aircraft I intend to have being serviced in the hanger deck area. I will have two Harriers, a Merlin ASW helicopter, and a Sea King AEW helicopter in the hanger deck. So I painted those while on their sprues, using Light Ghoast gray for the body of the aircraft and then weathered black for the windows and flat black for the wheels. I then placed these on the hanger deck, one of the Harriers being on the lowered aft lift, preparing to be lifted to the flight deck. I will add some more details (various equipment and personnel) after the lighting system is complete and before buttoning up the hanger deck.

So, that's it for this session. In the next session, within the week, I hope to have the lighting system completed, tested and installed (and I am using Modeler's Brand parts for this, just as I did on my USS Enterprise). Also, I want to have the hanger deck finished and the upper hull put together with the hanger deck attached so I can button up the hanger deck and place the flight deck over it.

Ok, since I had been working on the aircraft for the hanger deck, I decided beofre I changed gears to just go ahead and build the entire airwing I intend to display on the Illustrious. This will consist of the following:

4 x Sea Harrier FA.2s (3 on deck, 1 in hanger)
4 x Harrier GR.7/9s (3 on deck, 1 in hanger)
2 x Westland Sea King AEW.2 (1 on deck, 1 in hanger)
2 x Augusta Westland AW101 Merlin (1 on deck, 1 in hanger)

Once these were completed (and I still need to scratch build the side mounted AEW radome for the Sea Kings and then add all of the decals), I then gathered my material for putting together the lighting system I intend to have on the Illustrious hanger deck. The parts to do that include the following (none of which are included with the kit):

- 3 Modeler's Brand (http://www.modelersbrand.com/) regular, double-density, warm white lighting strips with 3 LEDs each
- Several feet of #14 Red (positive) and White (negative) wiring.
- Modeler's Brand 9 vdc leads and Solderless connector leads for the lighting system.
- A 16 pole terminal block (which I will split in half).
- A 9 volt DC battery and an on/off switch.
- A bag of wire tie downs and several tape-on attach points.
- Several electrical wire connectors (butt connectors, flat connectors, etc.).

I bought the Modelr's Brand (http://www.modelersbrand.com/) regular, double density, warm white lighting strips/tape, the 9 VDC, the Solderless leads, and the switch from Modeler's brand. I purchased the 9 V DC battery, the wire, the tie downs, the tape-on attach points, the terminal block, and the connectors at a local hardware store (True Value). I then use the parts I have purchased for several lighting systems. This bunch also let me build the lighting system on my 1/350 scale USS Enterprise, CVN-65 by Tamiya, and will allow me to build the lighting system on my upcoming 1/350 scale JMSDF, DDH-181 Hyuga by Fujimi, in addition to this one for the Illustrious.

I then built the wiring. I attached the solderless leads to each of the three lighting strips ensuring proper polarity (postive-negative). Normally, on these lighting strips, the side with the little "R" is the positive side. But, it is always good to test the polarity before you finalize. I found that two of my lighting strips or solderless leads (it did not really matter to me which it was) had their polarity reversed and therefore I had to account for this in the wiring. I simply reversed the solderless leads from the lighting strip on those two, and then switched everything over to proper coloring with my red (positive) white (negative) wiring after they were joined.

Once the leads had been attached and each individually tested. I then began adding the wiring that leads along the ceiling of the hanger deck, into the body of the vessel, and ultimately through the bottom of the vessel and into the stand where I will place the 9 vdc battery (power source) and switch.

The pictures show the wiring, which is on the ceiling of the hanger deck, so you are seeing it turned over. Since the only view into the hanger deck is through the aft elevator, the several side passageways, and the rear passageway I cut into the model and scrtach built, this wiring will not be visible. I cut a slot in the forward, starboard end of the hanger deck structure, up near the ceiling, to allow these wires to route out to the interior spaces of the ship, which I will later route out through the bottom of the hull, to the switch in the model stand.

Once the wiring was completed, and each section successively tested and working, I tied every thing down, tidied it up, and then performed a final lighting test, as shown below.

Nice.

So, the hanger deck, its aircraft, and the lighting system are now completed. Tonight and tomorrow (Saturday, July 6th) I hope to build the two sides of the upper hull with the hanger deck installed, and then place the flight deck on top of the hanger deck. With my island already completed, I can then move rapidly to adding the many kit included and PE details on the hull and flight deck.

The Build - Hull Construction and Flight Deck Decals- July 14, 2013

Ok, now I am getting to a really nice place with this build. Where it all starts coming together and looking like the 1/350 scale model of the Invincible Class aircraft carrier it is. Before I moved on to the actual hull however, I had to add a few decals to the haner deck and a few more details. This consisted mainly of the decals for the one elevator that I am showing lowered, a few more fire station and hanger details I wanted to add before closing it up, and the davits and ship's boats to be added into the small auxillary decks shown along the outside of the hanger deck on either side, including the "roofs" for each of those decks. All of these are important because they must line up properly with the hull sides when they ar glued together.

Then it was on to actually attaching the completed hanger deck assmbly to the upper hull. The Airfix model has the upper hull in two halves, one for each side for the entire length of the hull. It was a little more difficult than anticpated to line these parts up and attach them to the hanger deck along its length. Some adjustments in the roofs and sides of the auxillary decks weree necessary. In addition, the fit was not as tight (these long hull parts tend to not hold their shape too well in terms of the curvature), so utilizing clamps, rubber bands, and just holding them in place by hand until the initial bond was acheived were all necessary. In addition, I had to glue some stiffiners and other attachment pieces in place on the inside ot the vessel along these hull joint and attachment areas to ensure a good bond for the long term.

At this point, while that was drying, I took the time to add all of the parts to the lower hull. The shafts, the rudders, the sonar-dome, the supports and stabilizors. They all turned out pretty good and in my next build I will paint the lower hull, the warter line mark, and add this to the upper hull.

Once the upper hull assembly had all dried in their proper places, it was then time to add the aft section of the hull across the aft space between the port and starboard upper hulls...by the fantail. This piece was difficult to fit properly. It too required clamps, holding in place, and stiffiners. In addition, once it dried, use of the Dremmel tool was required to get a satifcatory fit and seam lines.

Finally, it was time to glue the actual flight deck in place. Again, this was a more difficult task than antipated. Because of some of the cuuravature issues with the upper huill halves, the fit was not as tight or exact as desired. Once again, a lot of clamping, rubber bands, holding things in place, and then use of files and the dremmel tool wee required to get things to fit as desired. Even then, towardss the ski-jump, putty will be required to fill some seams.

Finally, once that was all dried, I had a completed main upper hull with the hanger deck and the flight deck. I will still have to place a lot of gangways, sponsons, and other details along the hull on either side, inluding the main launches and the crain, but the principle part is complete. So, it was time to place the decals on the flight deck. I had been looking forward to this because Airfix supplies such a rich decal set for the Illustrious flight deck. There are a LOT of decals, providing a very accurate representation of the flight deck markings. Upwards of sixty or more decals are required to get all of the take-off, landing positions, parking positions, and other markings in place. I took it in three parts. The bow area, the middle section, and the aft section. In order to let them dry properly and then move on to the next section, it was literally an all day affair, and into the night...actually until about midnight.

That is looking pretty good. Since the ISland is already complete, I decided to do a dry fit of the island on the deck, and I have to say, it's starting to all come together. Also did several tests of the lighting system throughout this entire period, and it is working like a charm.

In my next installment, I hope to get the lower hull painted, the water line mark painted, and the lower hull added to the upperhull. I will also build the dtand and run the lighting wire down into it and place the switch there with the battery. Also hope to add the various walk ways around the flight deck and the equipment, and then glue the island in place.

Interior lighting and more?! Wow! This just keeps getting better and better.

Yep...there are not too many of these 1/350 scale Airfix "Lustys" with lighting.

That's mainly because as built according to the instructions, you simply cannot see much inside through either one or two elevators.  But I cut some passages between the auxiliary decks on the port and starboard side, did some detailing in the hanger bay, and with the lights you can see in there pretty well.  I also created a passage way from the fantail to the hanger so you could look down the length of it from the fantail looking forward.

I'll try and get some good photos once I am done...tested it this evening now that the flight deck is on and it looks good.

i think your stern sponson for the ciws is too tall as ran into that with the dragon 1/700 version of that ship that i'm doing as the ark royal shortly before she was decommissioned. on the dragon version that sponson is also the wrong shape.

Jeff that looks great, I happened to serve onboard the Illustrious for 2 years if you have any problems with detail as in what it looked like inside the hangar or quarter deck or wherever ask away I'll tell you what you want to know! Great build.

Thanks for the tip.  but the sponson for that Gaolkeeper back there is in the proper place for the catwalk that then has to go around the flight deck and whose staiways then descend to it.  If I move it, it will impact a lot of other stuff, and it looks close enough for my purposes.  In my next installment, you will see where it fits in that regard for the Airfix build.

Thank you.. and thank you for your service towards the cause of freedom.  Whether the US Navy or any of our close allies, that's what we all are hoping to achieve and maintain. .  A whole lot of my hanger deck will not be able to be seen.  

At the same time, I have gone to some lengths to make quite a bit more visible than what the kit otherwise allows for.

I did paint a couple of fire stations in there, not too detailed, based on other pictures I have seen.  What can be seen through the side passages I have cut from the auxilliary decks, allows one to get the appropriate "feel" for the hanger deck.  I suppose if I had gotten a little more ambitious, I could have built it so the entire flight deck just lifts off, with appropriate "locks" to hold it in place, and then I could have gone into a LOT more very specific detail.

The Build - Flight Deck Catwalks, Metal Grating and life raft stations - July 19, 2013

Okay, I got the lower hull painted, but will show that as I glue it on in the next installement. For this session, I concentrated on the catwalks around the flight deck, the metal grating that goes on them, and then on the numerous life raft stations all along those catwalks to enable massive evacuation abandonment of ship if necessary.

First, the catwalks had to be painted. I pained them the same Model Master RN Light Gray I have been using for the hull and all vertical surfaces, and then followed that up with painting the flat portion, upon which the metal grates will rest, flat gray.

Then, I added the grating. These provided in the White Ensign Model HMS Illustrious photo etch set I am using. But be forewarned, these WEM parts, are made to replace the plastic parts that come in the Airfix kit. I really like the fit of the plastic parts, as well as the lower structural supports shown on them...so I used both. This meant I had to cut off the tabs on the photo etch parts that otherwise would have fit into the hull in place of the tabs on plastic parts. It also meant I had to trim each metal part to allow for it to fit inside the plastic part, on top of the flat plastic surface where the crew personnel walk. I did so, and then applied each part to its respective place. it is more difficult to see in these pictures, but the contrast between the darker underlying surface and the light gray grating looks really good.

Once they had dried up nice and strong over night, it was time to add these parts to the hull, and then add the numerous lift raft stations to them at all of the cut out locations. The life rafts had been previously painted flat white. That all fit very well into the respective locations and are now giving my Illustrious a much more finished look about her.

Okay, that last pic pretty much shows where I am at.

in the next session, I will add the waterline mark on the upper hull, glue the lower hull to the upper hull with a hole in the very bottom for my lighting system wires, and then add some significat detail to the starboard side of the island, along the edge of the vessel. This will include the large crane, the ships launches and their davitss, etc.). Once that step is complete, it will be time to build the deck handling equipment, and then add the airwing to the deck, and that will complete the vessel. Should be some very nice pictures I can make of the overall vessel at that point.

SCHEDULE for Future Activities - July 19, 2013

 

1. By Jul 31, 2013: Complete HMS Illustrious CVL.
2. By Sep 31, 2013: Start the JMSDF Carrier Group centered on Fujimi's JMSDF Hyuga.
3. By Nov 30, 2013: Start the French Carrier Group centered on Heller's Charles de Gaulle.
4. By Jan 31, 2014, Start the Russian Carrier Group centered on Trumpeter's Kuznestov.

 

The completion of the PLAN Carrier group, centered on the already completed Trumpeter's 1/350 scale PLA Navy's Aircraft Carrier CV-16, Liaoning, (in addition to the other escorts already completed) included Mini Hobby's's PLAN Guangzhou, DDG-168. I recently pre-ordered a 1/350 scale model of the PLAN Type 071 LPD, Yuzhao Class, announced by Trumpeter and due out in October, 2013. I will end up adding two of those, propbably LPD-998 Yuzhao and LPD-999, Jinggangshan, add the PLAN- DDG-139, Ningbo, and the PLAN DDG-115, Shenyang, along with the PLAN Weifang, FFG-550 and thus build a PLAN ARG.

The completion of the US Carrier Strike group, centered on the completed Tamyia's 1/350 scale USS Enterprise, CVN-65, (in addition ot the other escorts already completed) included Trumpeter's, USS Freedom, LCS-1, Dragon's USS Preble, DDG-88 and Hobby Boss's USS Texas, SSN-775. When a 1/350 scale USS Enterprise, CVN-80 (or any Gerald R. Ford Class) is released from Trumpeter, Tamiya, Dragon, or whomever else, I will add it to this group along with another AEGIS Cruiser. Whichever Ford Class coms out in 1/350 scale, I will build it as the USS Enterprise, CVN-80.

The US ARG will include Tamiya's 1/350 scale, USS Iowa, BB-62(which I have already completed), Trumpeter's 1/350 scale USS Iwo Jima LHD-7, Gallery's 1/350 scale USS Sommerset, LPD-25, Bronco Models 1/350 Scale USS New York, LPD-21, Cyber Hobby's USS Independence, LCS-2, Acadamy's 1/350 scale USS Rueben James, FFG-57, and another Flight IIA US AEGIS class detroyer based on Trumpeter's 1/350 scale USS Lassen, DDG-82...all of these models which I already own.

The UK Group is (as shown) featuring the Airfix 1/350 scale HMS Illustrious as its centerp[iece until a 1/350 scale Queen Elizabeth carrier is released. When that happens, I will add that carrier to the group as its centerpiece. The Roylal NAvy CSG will also include two Airfix 1/350 scale Daring Class DDGs (one of which is already completed), two Trumpeter 1/350 scale Type 23 HMS Duke class Frigates (one of which is already completed), and the Hobby Boss 1/350 scale HMS Astute SSN (which is also already completed) and Airfix 1/350 scale HMS Tragalgar SSN. One day, when a 1/350 scale HMS Ocean LPD come out, I will use tt to start building a Royal Navy ARG.

The French CSG is centered on Heller's 1/400 scale Charles De Gaulle, R91. I have purchased the 1/400 scale Heller French De Grasse, D612 DDG, which is an ASW DDG,  the French Aconit F713 and Gueprattet F714 Lafayette FFGs, both of which are Lafayette class frigates. These four vessels round out my French CSG and are all completed. As soon as a French Robin class nuclear sub, like the French Pearle S606 SSN is released in 1/350 or 1/400 scale, I will add that to the group. Also as soon as the Forbin D620, Horizon class anti-air DDG is released in 1/350 or 1/400 scale, I will purchase one of them for the AAW defense DDG. One day, when a Mistral Class LPD is released in 1/350 or 1/400 scale so I  will create a French ARG.

The Japanese JMSDF group will be centered on Fujimi's very finely detailed, 1/350 scale Hyuga, DDH-181, which I own. It will be escorted by Trumpeter's 1/350 scale DDG-177, Atago, an AEGIS class DDG and the JMSDF, DDG-174, Kongo class (which I own), Trumpeters's 1/350 scale DDG-114 Susunami and DDG-111 (both of which are Takanami Class DDGs which I own), and by the 1/350 scale SS-503 Hakuryu (which I own), one of Japans new, very modern and capable AIP Diesel Electric submarines. As soon as a DDG-115 Akizuki in 1/350 scale is released, I will add it to this group. Should a 1/350 scale Osumi Class LPD be relased, I will buy two of those vessels and create a JMSDF ARG.

Then, finally it will be a complete Russian CSG (centered on Trumpeter's Kuznetsov which I own) the Russian Slava Class cruiser, Varyag by Trumperter (which I own), two Trumpeter 1/350 scale Udaloy DDGs (which I own), Hobby Boss's Akula II class SSN (which I own), and the new Yasen class Russian SSN which I own in 1/350 scale. Some time in the more distant future when a 1/350 scale Russian version of the French Mistral class comes out (which is building in real life right now), I will add two of those and build a Russian ARG.

Recently I purchased Heller's 1/400 scale Foch, the Clemceau Class carrier that was sold to the Brazilians in 2000 and in 2002 was refitted and became the Brazilian CV, Sao Paulo, using steam catapaults. I will build the model as the Sao Paulo and thus start a Brazilian group, though the Type 22 DDGs and the FFGs the Brazilians use are not available at present. I have however purchased a set of 1/400 scale A-4 Skyhawks and S-3 Trackers to build a suitable airwing for the Sao Paulo.

Then, again, once the models are available, I'd like to build an Italian Carrier Strike Group centered on the Cavour and their Horizon DDGs, a Spanish Carrier Strike Group centered on the Juan Carlos and their F-100 AEGIS FFGs, and ultimatly an Australian Strike Group centered on the new Canberra Class LPD and the Hobart class AEGIS DDGs. If they ever build the models, an Indian Carrier Strike Group centered on either the Vikramaditya or their new ADS Carrier, the Vikrant, and their Kolkata class DDGs and Shivlak class FFGs would also be nice.

Years more worth of work!

You can see all of these actual carriers, read their histories and specifictions at my site:

WORLD-WIDE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

...and most of their surface escorts at:

AEGIS AND AEGIS-LIKE VESSELS OF THE WORLD

Thanks Jeff, I was in the Royal Navy, I did see one thing you may want to change if you can if it's too late no bother but all the upper surfaces on the superstructure were dark grey anti slip. also if the instructions do not show boat bays were dark grey anti slip but there were sections called port forward and starboard forward and port aft  and starboard aft they are the two forward most bays on the side of the ship where the gangways would get placed it used two gangways FWD and AFT these bays were not grey anti slip they were natural wood planking also the quarterdeck is also wood planking it's a pale wood, also in the hangar the Harriers were placed in the FWD section and the Sea Kings AFT, there was a gym with weights and treadmills next to the Sea Kings by the rear bulkhead of the hangar (just if you fancy scratchbuilding, but every bay on the ship (boat bay) and the others I mentioned had hatched that lead into the hangar so you could open all of them if you wanted. Also a bit of miscellaneous info here but the section in front of the superstructure was nicknamed the graveyard which is where all the broken aircraft would sit awaiting repair.

One other thing (I am not criticising by the way the model looks great) but all the guard rails were black and only the bars in between were grey.

This is obviously going to be an outstanding model - and the kit obviously is one of those rare birds these days:  an excellent, near-state-of-the-art kit at a reasonable price.  Long live Airfix!

I can't help being curious about one small point, though.  And I hope I don't sound as though I'm being critical; I don't intend to be.  But Mr. Head is the first modeler I've encountered in this forum who has an advance schedule for his projects.  I have to wonder why.  Are the models being built on commission?  Or does Mr. Head find that setting a schedule makes the work more fun?  Personally, in my various hobbies a schedule is the last thing I want.  (I've been meeting deadlines for about 55 years, at school and at work; I see my hobbies as a means of getting away from that aspect of life.  And fun is what they're all about.  I've got a ridiculously large stash, and a rough idea of which kits I want to tackle next; that's the nearest thing to a schedule I want.)

To each his/her own.  I'm just curious; maybe Mr. Head has some interesting insights to offer about this.  And maybe some other Forum members have thoughts on the subject.

No harm asking a polite, serious, and inquisitive question, jtilley...and I will be happy to share my own thoughts and reasoning.  

1st, no, they are not for commission.  I have had a couple of requests to build models for others, but not for money.  I did get the USS Nautilus SSN in 1/350 scale from the people at Blue Ridge Models to build and review for them, and they sent me the kit free to do that.  but that's about the extent of that to this date.

2nd, as you see, the schedule is fairly general. It changes as I go along and as life's events intercede.  I just want to let people know who are following my work, in particular the CSGs for the various countries, what I am planning.  I get a lot of email inquiries from people about when I am going to get to this or that  vessel or nationality and this helps allay some of that.  

In addition, though I too have been in industry now for quite some time, well over 35 years, I just like to have some goals and projected course for what I am doing.  I suppose its a part of my engineering upbringing and work.  

Finally, my work now has a lot to do with my major cancer diagnosis back in 2009 which led to a year of very touch and go major surgeries, 6 months from home down in Houston, and then followed by several months  very major rehabilitation that taught me to walk again with all the hardware and disabilities I ended up with.  Originally I was going to start into my "stash" after retirement in another 3-5 years. but after all of that, my dear wife of 35 years encouraged me to get back into model building now as a sort of therapy and so I did.  She was right, it has helped immensely.  

Anyhow, that's a little tour through my cobwebs on why I have that schedule.  

Jeff,

I'm as sorry as I can be to hear about your health problems.  I've had my share over the years; I get around most of the time on a "disability scooter."  I went through four months of rehab two years ago - but obviously not as intense as yours.  Your wife is right, of course:  modeling is one of the best forms of therapy there are.  (The physical therapists who worked on me said the same thing.)  

I'm semi-retired from my teaching job.  As of July 31, I'm officially no longer a tenured faculty member, and I can start collecting my pension (50% of my current salary).  On August 1, I'll be hired back as a half-time adjunct faculty member, teaching half-time (for 50% of my current salary).  This is called "phased retirement," and it's a great deal:  in effect, I get paid the same amount of money for doing half as much work.  That arrangement goes on for a maximum of three years - after which, by happy coincidence, I'll be eligible for full Social Security benefits.   (We operate in constant fear that the state legislature may figure out what a good deal phased retirement  is and take it away from us - but if that happens I'm now grandfathered in.)

You may well be right:  if a person has a lot of unstructured time on his hands, maybe an unofficial schedule is a good idea.  Personally, though, I'm looking forward to a life free of scheduled classes, papers to grade (the worst part of the job), theses to read, and alarm clocks.  Down the road a bit, though, I just may decide that a schedule - as long as I'm the one who makes it - would be a good idea.

Dean, and all, thank you so much for your input and pointers.  I continued with the vessel this weekend and here's the ltest report on that porgress:

So, I begain adding the final details to the vessel on the auxilliary decks on the port and starboard sides, and on the flight deck around the island. This included the ships launches and their davits, the large crane, the large crane truck, one of the tow trucks, and the various safety nettings still needing to be added.

Then it was on to adding all of the railing around the various auxilliary deck opening on the starboard and hull sides. This was quite time consuming, but the folks at White Ensign Models provided each and every one in their very complete photo etch kit specifically for this model. I then added the waterline mark utilizing my model masking tape. Then it was time to attach the lower hull with the rudders, props and shafts to the upper hull.

This was more difficult than normal for two reasons. 1st, I waited until the end to do it so the upper hull with all of its details, particularly the masts and sensors on the island, had to be situated so I could add the lower hull and place pressure on it to form the bond. I used some extra boxes (which were sturdy) to do this as shown. 2nd, because the fit is rather difficult. This goes back to the Airfix design and tooling for this model where the upper hull is formed from two seperate halves along a very long length where the plastic for each half is relatively thin. It warps easily and I ran into the same troubles I had with putting the upper hull halves together with the hanger deck. But, in the end it got done.

In the mean time I had also painted the stand and let it dry. Once the upper and lower halve hulls were joined and had dry, I place them on the stand. So at this point, the vessel is essentially complete as shown. I went ahead and tested the lighting system again and have a couple of grainy pics showing how that is looking through the elevator and through one of the opening on an auxilliary deck on the port side.

She's looking pretty good. Now I will add the remaining decals to the flight deck aircraft and helicopters and then place the aircaft on deck. Then I will build a box into the stand that will hold my 9 vdc battery and the switch to turn on and off the lighting system for the hanger bay. Finally, with a little touch up, the carrier will be complete and I will take a number of detailed pictures showing her off. I hope to complete this by the weekend on Saturday, July 27th. See you then!

I added the final decals to the airwing, then built a couple of more deck tow vehicles, and then glued the aircraft and deck vehicles to the carrier. I then went around and did touch up work on railings that had been bent, touch up paint, etc. I wired the lighting switch and decided to just run that switch, with electrical tape wrapped wires, out next to the stand and let it be there for operation. Then the model was complete and ready for display.

Here are some closer up pictures showing some of the detail.

And finally, a number of pictures showing off the lighting system on the hanger deck. I really need a better camera to capture the detail thrpough the small passageways, but you can clearly see the aircraft and helos through those openings as they are lit up, and it adds a really good look and feature to this kit. A couple are taken with a flash, the others without the flash and with the lighting in the room turned off, using just the background ambient lighting.

And, at long last, that's it, the completed Airfix 1/350 scale HMS Illustrious, R06.

Now it is on to the Japanese Group that will be set around the Fujimi 1/350 scale Hyuga, DDH-181.

Great job, Jeff, I really like this one a lot.

Lee