Scratch-built 1/350 HMS Prince of Wales (R09) - Build Notes

[davecov]

Yesterday I did the second second sanding session. Most of it was concentrated on the bows and the profile of the waterline version is nearly done. The full-hull bow needs a lot more work though:
Pic 085:
[ATTACH]365917[/ATTACH]

Returning to my modelling den, I got some more work done on the air wings. Here the Swordfish for the waterline-version has been painted and is almost ready for final assembly and decalling:
Pic 086:
[ATTACH]365918[/ATTACH]

Swordfish decalled and top wing fitted. I still need to paint the cowling ring and the blade tips and then varnish the whole thing:
Pic 087:
[ATTACH]365919[/ATTACH]

Cockpit canopies and windows of the F-35Bs and Merlins painted:
Pic 088:
[ATTACH]365920[/ATTACH]

The air wings so far. The camera flash has washed out the colours a bit in this picture. Apaches and one Merlin were decalled and just need a coat of varnish to finish them. The F-35Bs were also given a single roundel. I have since painted the undercarriage legs of the F-35Bs white. Detailing of the Ospreys started although I am not happy with the colour scheme of those and may repaint them:
Pic 089:
[ATTACH]365921[/ATTACH]

Just about finished with the painting of the air wings with a little touching up required. Some of the helicopters and the Ospreys require decalling and every plane and helicopter need varnishing.
A view of all of the aircraft. These will be divided between the two builds:
Pic 090:
[ATTACH]365922[/ATTACH]

Swordfish and F-35Bs:
Pic 091:
[ATTACH]365923[/ATTACH]

Merlins and Apaches:
Pic 091a:
[ATTACH]365924[/ATTACH]
Apaches, Ospreys and Chinooks; the latter still need some rotor blades scratched for them:
Pic 092:
[ATTACH]365925[/ATTACH]

Before I do any more sanding of the full-hull version, I want to make the keel. In tandem with that lot I will be fabricating two ski jumps and the various Flight Deck edge walkways and platforms for both versions. Starting with the keel, I cut out three lengths of 2mm plastic card:
Pic 093:
[ATTACH]365926[/ATTACH]

These were glued together, a narrow channel and slot cut into the hull and the keel glued in place. I made two mistakes with the keel. It was too long and didn’t taper inwards towards the stern. I fixed the first problem but didn’t notice the other until the day before handover so I left it:
Pic 094:
[ATTACH]365927[/ATTACH]

Leaving the hull to one side, I began making the two ski jumps. They are over 180mm long and 38mm wide. When I built the QE, I had the luxury of being able to adapt an Airfix HMS Illustrious ski jump. This time round I wasn’t going to break open a new kit so I scratch-built them. Construction is fairly straightforward apart from a "knuckle" on the port side where the bulkhead tapers in to join the edge of the hull:
Pic 095:
[ATTACH]365928[/ATTACH]

I glued bulkheads inside the jumps to support the ramps:
Pic 096:
[ATTACH]365929[/ATTACH]

Here is a view of the "knuckle". The triangular piece of plastic card was cut off the port bulkhead and glued on the INSIDE of the ski jump. A further piece will be glued on top of that flush with the bulkhead in due course:
Pic 097:
[ATTACH]365930[/ATTACH]

Dry-fitting to the Flight Deck in order to check the angles:
Pic 098:
[ATTACH]365931[/ATTACH]

The ramps have been glued to the bulkheads. The forward section of the ramps still need to be completed but I have glued strips of plastic card along the edges of the bulkheads in readiness for the next stage:
Pic 099:
[ATTACH]365932[/ATTACH]

Leaving the ski jumps to dry, I have turned to the port side walkways of both builds. The walkways are constructed from plastic card and Plastruct. The inner half of the walkways have slots cut in them where ladders go down to the next deck:
Pic 100:
[ATTACH]365933[/ATTACH]

Here are the components for each walkway. Two lengths of Plastruct and five pieces of .25mm plastic card.The slotted Plastruct is glued to the underside of the wider, longer plastic card. When dry, the slots are cut out and the other "L" Plastruct is glued onto the plastic card flush with it's slotted partner forming an elongated "U". When dry, the thinner plastic card strips are glued into the channels and left to dry. Once dry, the slots are cut out of the upper plastic card. The plastic card underneath is trimmed and sanded:
Pic 101:
[ATTACH]365934[/ATTACH]

Here they are after construction. I will cut the outboard slots for the life rafts later on:
Pic 102:
[ATTACH]365935[/ATTACH]

Here is one of the walkways dry-fitted to the flight deck. The underside of the slots will be boxed in once the walkways have been glued in place but that won't be done until much later in the build:
Pic 103:
[ATTACH]365936[/ATTACH]

That's all for now

Dave

[davecov]

More work on the walkways of both builds last night. The stern, quarter and starboard side walkways were cut from strip. They are slightly oversize to allow trimming later on
Pic 104:


Forward walkways:
Pic 105:


Midships walkway adjacent to the Aft Island. This walkway will be more complicated to construct as it will have a lower mid-section in between two higher ends:
Pic 106:


All of the other sections of walkway have had slots cut out where necessary and plastic card glued top and bottom. They will need some trimming and sanding before fitting:
Pic 107:


I got the walkways cleaned of excess plastic card by trimming and sanding. I also finished closing up the ski jump ramps. I made some bilge keels from a sandwich of plastic card. I also made a pair of rudimentary anchors and four stabilisers:
Pic 108:
[ATTACH]365974[/ATTACH]

With those out of the way, I started work on the prop shafts. I am using metal rod with poly tubing forming the bearing end of the "A" brackets:
Pic 109:
[ATTACH]365975[/ATTACH]

Someone asked how I manage to organise these builds. Well, I have a rough idea of what I have to do and when things have to be done although I sometimes change the order of things due to boredom, forgetfulness or a crisis! The only aid to help me keep track of things is my use of storage boxes to keep assemblies safe and away from the rubbish bin:
Pic 110:


Turning to the builds, I modified some USS Enterprise propeller blades to the shape of the QE class blades and have cut out some pieces that will form the "A" Brackets:
Pic 111:


I got some HMS Illustrious life rafts from the spares box and adjusted them for the configuration I need. During this session, I realised that HMS Queen Elizabeth's actual life raft fit is slightly different on the port side to that shown on my builder's plans. I will need to adjust the port side walkway as a result:
Pic 112:


I also spent some time getting the bays for the boats ready. I had intended to detail their interior but decided not to as most of it won't be seen. As it turns out, the boxing-in of the boat bays was a time consuming affair and I should make it a much simpler and quicker task on the second build. This is by using single pieces of plastic card with the bay opening cut out of them rather than framing the bay opening with separate pieces of plastic card. We will see.

In the end I reduced the amount of time spent on boxing-in the boat bays by about two-thirds. The result is much tidier too:
Pic 113:


Time to get back to the hull itself. After the first session of filling and sanding there were a lot of pits and holes that needed sorting out so out came the Isopon38 filler again:
Pic 114:


Leaving the hull filler to dry, I turned to the hangar openings and spent some time detailing the bulkheads between the outer and inner openings:
Pic 115:


Of the four bulkheads, no two are the same so they all received varying levels of detailing. I can get on with the painting of the interior of the openings and hangar doors now. Once dry, they will be slotted into the hull:
Pic 116:


Last night I spent time on the hangar doors. Rectangles of plastic card were scored:
Pic 117:


The doors were then glued to the rear of the inboard openings:
Pic 118:


One of the inboard openings dry-fitted to the outboard opening. Once painted, these two sub-assemblies will be glued together. Don’t do what I did and paint the hangar openings in different colours to those used later on in the build:
Pic 119:


I also did the final bit of boxing in of the ski jumps:
Pic 120:


After some initial sanding of the ski jumps, I applied filler to the edges and curved front:
Pic 121:


Lots of sanding and they are almost finished:
Pic 122:


A pair of watertight doors on the inboard bulkhead and they are now ready for fitting to the Flight Deck:
Pic 123:


That's all for now

Dave

[JR]

Amazing work Dave. So interesting to follow the progress .

[davecov]

The plastic card on the underside of the walkways was a bit uneven in areas so out came the filler:
Pic 124:
[ATTACH]365955[/ATTACH]

Walkways sanded and ready for fitting. The extra detailing of the walkways will be added later in the builds:
Pic 125:
[ATTACH]365956[/ATTACH]

A landmark was reached last night when I was able to start painting the ship (as opposed to the aircraft). Alright, it was only primer and on only a few items but it is a start. The hangar doors will be painted with H127 US Ghost Grey and the deck between the openings will be painted H27 Sea Grey. This turned out to be a mistake as I eventually used Colourcoats paints for the rest of the build so these had to be repainted. The ski jumps got primed too:
Pic 126:
[ATTACH]365957[/ATTACH]

More progress with the hangar openings. The doors and inner bulkheads were sprayed with H127 US Ghost Grey:
Pic 127:
[ATTACH]365958[/ATTACH]

Once dry they were masked up and the decks sprayed with H27 Sea Grey:
Pic 128:
[ATTACH]365959[/ATTACH]

On the bulkheads containing the doors, I traced an outline of where they met the inner section bulkheads and trimmed away the excess plastic card. I then scraped away the paint ready for glueing. The bottom right one still has to be done:
Pic 129:
[ATTACH]365960[/ATTACH]

Here is the first one glued in place. The scribed lines on the doors were emphasised with a pencil:
Pic 130:
[ATTACH]365961[/ATTACH]

All four are now glued and ready for installing in the hull:
Pic 131:
[ATTACH]365962[/ATTACH]

Still a fair bit to do to the hull before they are installed but I did carry out a dry-fitting to ensure they fitted okay:
Pic 132:
[ATTACH]365963[/ATTACH]

Close-up of the forward openings. On the waterline model (top) you can see where I had already added an extra layer of plastic card below the opening to make the fairing in of the openings that much easier later on:
Pic 133:
[ATTACH]365964[/ATTACH]

I have returned to the islands briefly. Here I making up some fire lockers that are situated around the islands - there will be 2 for the Forward Island and 4 for the Aft Island. The longer bits of plastic card are "feet" and the smaller bits are there to help in fixing the lockers to the sloped island bulkheads:
Pic 134:
[ATTACH]365965[/ATTACH]

Here they are glued in position on the Aft Island.
Pic 135:
[ATTACH]365966[/ATTACH]

It was then time to take some progress report photos of the full-hull build with most components in position:
Pic 136:
[ATTACH]365967[/ATTACH]

Walkways have been taped into position:
Pic 137:
[ATTACH]365968[/ATTACH]

Another view:
Pic 138:
[ATTACH]365969[/ATTACH]

Lift areas. Sanding of hull still needs to be finished:
Pic 139:
[ATTACH]365970[/ATTACH]

The bow:
Pic 140:
[ATTACH]365971[/ATTACH]

The stem of the bow still needs "sharpening":
Pic 141:
[ATTACH]365972[/ATTACH]

That's all for now

Dave

[Neil Merryweather]

fantastic, Dave. many thanks for posting this

[davecov]

No probs.

It was time to continue work on the Aft Islands of both builds. The major work would be the walkway that goes under the bridge windows and around each side. The walkway under construction:
Pic 142:
[ATTACH]365976[/ATTACH]

The starboard side is almost complete and vents have been glued in place just above the walkway. I have also glued fourteen roofs of the lighting hoods around the island:
Pic 143:
[ATTACH]365977[/ATTACH]

View showing both sides of the two Aft islands:
Pic 144:
[ATTACH]365978[/ATTACH]

Time to work on the ends of the starboard sponsons. The sponson bulkheads have been cut out:
Pic 145:
[ATTACH]365979[/ATTACH]

Sponson bulkheads were glued in place. The Hangar opening assemblies were also fitted with scrap plastic card filling any gaps:
Pic 146:
[ATTACH]365980[/ATTACH]

The lifts were cut out and ready for some detailing on their undersides. I won't be replicating every beam but will add just enough to look the part:
Pic 147:
[ATTACH]365981[/ATTACH]

Detailing underway:
Pic 148:
[ATTACH]365982[/ATTACH]

After hours of work, I have finished the detailing of the underside of the lifts and they will be fitted later in the build after painting:
Pic 149:
[ATTACH]365983[/ATTACH]

The cleaning up of the hangar door areas is progressing well. Here is the forward hangar opening:
Pic 150:
[ATTACH]365984[/ATTACH]

And here is the aft hangar opening:
Pic 151:
[ATTACH]365985[/ATTACH]

Another mammoth sanding session on the bow. The profile is getting there but I still need to remove a fair bit from just under the vertical bulkheads. That can't be done until the forward sponsons on each side are plated in - and they can't be done until the walkways are fitted:
Pic 152:
[ATTACH]365986[/ATTACH]

Prior to installing the walkways, it was time to get the filler out to clean up the edges and joins of the Flight Deck:
Pic 153:
[ATTACH]365987[/ATTACH]

That's all for now.

Dave

[davecov]

Then it was time to get working on the walkways. Here the stern walkway has been fitted:
Pic 154:
[ATTACH]365988[/ATTACH]

View from above:
Pic 155:
[ATTACH]365989[/ATTACH]

This is the walkway located forward of the forward lift, adjacent to the Forward Island:
Pic 156:
[ATTACH]365990[/ATTACH]

The walkway between the two lifts is made up of three parts:
Pic 157:
[ATTACH]365991[/ATTACH]

The walkway abaft the aft lift. Note the slots which provide stair access to the openings and doors within the sponsons:
Pic 158:
[ATTACH]365992[/ATTACH]

Here I have started to box in the underside of the slots. Since taking this photo I have blocked the ends with plastic card:
Pic 159:
[ATTACH]365993[/ATTACH]

Here I am adding the structures where the life raft chutes deploy. There will be three to port and two to starboard:
Pic 160:
[ATTACH]365994[/ATTACH]

It was now time to do one of the more complicated parts of the build, namely the forward end of the port side sponson and the other sponsons/platforms that merge with it. Here I have started construction of the 30mm gun platform that will be located forward of the port walkway. Note that even this not symmetrical:
Pic 161:
[ATTACH]365995[/ATTACH]

The gun platform has been glued in position but the underside is not finished. I have also started on the Vulcan Phalanx platform. As with a lot of this build, I can't build each part in isolation and just stick them on:
Pic 162:
[ATTACH]365996[/ATTACH]

I have extended the port sponson and started to "plate in" the underside of the gun platform:
Pic 163:
[ATTACH]365997[/ATTACH]

The gun platform has now been merged with the sponson and I then worked on the underside of the Phalanx platform:
Pic 164:
[ATTACH]365998[/ATTACH]

Another view. Note that the underside of the Phalanx platform slopes down slightly from back to front:
Pic 165:
[ATTACH]365999[/ATTACH]

Filler time!
Pic 166:
[ATTACH]366000[/ATTACH]

And after the filler has gone....:
Pic 167:
[ATTACH]366001[/ATTACH]

The starboard side. Since taking these photos I have blocked off the sides of these structures:
Pic 168:
[ATTACH]366002[/ATTACH]

That's all for now.

Dave

[davecov]

Time to start on the bulbous bow. As you can see from it’s profile sections, it is quite a complex affair:
Pic 169:
[ATTACH]366003[/ATTACH]

I cut out 2mm thick plastic card to the rough shape of the sections. As the sections were not thick enough, I had to add extra plastic card to each:
Pic 170:
[ATTACH]366004[/ATTACH]

The sections were glued together and you can see the sandwich of thicker and thinner pieces of plastic card:
Pic 171:
[ATTACH]366005[/ATTACH]

I marked out the section on the bow that needs to be removed to accommodate the bulbous bow:
Pic 172:
[ATTACH]366006[/ATTACH]

The bow after sawing:
Pic 173:
[ATTACH]366007[/ATTACH]

The bulbous bow and the two platforms that wrap around the stern:
Pic 174:
[ATTACH]366008[/ATTACH]

The two platforms were installed as was an extra platform on the transom. The transom platform alone was constructed from 18 pieces of plastic card! Filler was applied around the deck edge:
Pic 175:
[ATTACH]366009[/ATTACH]

After sanding smooth the filler, I started work on the sponson extensions each side of the lifts. The extensions are not all identical in size and shape:
Pic 176:
[ATTACH]366010[/ATTACH]

Aft extensions done:
Pic 177:
[ATTACH]366011[/ATTACH]

Forward extensions done:
Pic 178:
[ATTACH]366012[/ATTACH]

Aft lift glued in place and filler applied topside. I have started adding a little detail to the sponson bulkheads:
Pic 179:
[ATTACH]366013[/ATTACH]

It was now time to work on the walkway forward of the starboard sponson. I glued plastic card along the edge of the hull at flight deck level:
Pic 180:
[ATTACH]366014[/ATTACH]

The walkway at this area is a complicated shape and has now been glued in place. I need to plate in the underside and merge it in with the sponson. Originally, I was going to have both lifts in the raised position but now I am going to have the forward lift in the lowered position. Currently, it is dry-fitted:
Pic 181:
[ATTACH]366015[/ATTACH]

The bulbous bow has been sanded to the approximate shape and drilled to take a long piece of 6mm plastic rod. The rod fits into a hole drilled into the bow. It will need a lot of fairing in with plastic card and filler:
Pic 182:
[ATTACH]366016[/ATTACH]

Gas turbine air Intakes scratched:
Pic 183:
[ATTACH]366017[/ATTACH]

Three in position outboard of the Aft Island location:
Pic 184:
[ATTACH]366018[/ATTACH]

Discs of plastic card were punched out to make the gas turbine exhausts that sit on top of the funnels. The smaller, upper discs are not concentric but off centre:
Pic 185:
[ATTACH]366019[/ATTACH]

There are hundreds of small intakes, vents etc all over these ships and here I am adding a few to the islands:
Pic 186:
[ATTACH]366020[/ATTACH]

Other side of Forward Island
Pic 187:
[ATTACH]366021[/ATTACH]

The Aft Island which has also had a couple of triangular structures added:
Pic 188:
[ATTACH]366022[/ATTACH]

That's all for now.

Dave

[davecov]

I also added "lights" to the underside of their hoods on the sides of the Aft Island:
Pic 189:


The Forward Island still needs the external platforms to be added:
Pic 190:


View from the bow. I am quite pleased with the shape of the bow and my decision to leave off the bulbous bow until very late in the build means it is much better than the bow of my HMS Queen Elizabeth build. I still need to build the walkways in this area and cut out the anchor recesses:
Pic 191:


Last bit to do on the hull for the time being was to start work on the fairing in of the bulbous bow. I had to cut away a little of the sides of the hull and applied some filler:
Pic 192:


View from astern. I still need to add another platform on the port side of the transom on which sits the AN/SPN-41 Instrument Carrier Landing System (ICLS). I also need to add a landing stage:
Pic 193:


Some fiddly bits now as I started to construct the 12 aircraft servicing points located in the catwalks. I cut up some squares of plastic card first. They were then sandwiched together, with 4x3 and 8x2 blocks. Final shaping will be done after fitting to the catwalks:
Pic 194:


Lengths of square plastic rod was used to represent the fuel hose cabinets and glued into the catwalks. The rectangular block next to the "FP" is one of the many Fire Points located in the catwalks:
Pic 195:


A couple more aircraft servicing points outboard of the Aft Island. These two had additional stowage next to the fuel hose cabinets. Now that I have fitted the aircraft servicing points I am not totally happy with their size as overall they are about 25% too short. If I have time, I might alter them:
Pic 196:


I turned to the Forward Islands and started to construct the platforms and bridges:
Pic 197:


Platforms were added aft of the funnel and a small one added just forward of the funnel. When I built the QE I missed this small platform out! Hopefully, I am making a better job of things this time round:
Pic 198:


When I built the QE I used the S1850M Radar from the Airfix HMS Daring kit but I noticed yesterday that it has the wrong number of panels (five instead of four). I guess I could have filled the panel lines and rescribed them but I preferred to scratch-build one from plastic card:
Pic 199:


I also scratched the rest of the radar as well and it was fitted to the foremast:
Pic 200:


I have been busy adding platforms to the port side of the Forward Bridge:
Pic 201:


I have been busy with the Aft Island as well, adding movement boards and started on the traffic lights:
Pic 202:


DISASTER! Today (2nd October) I hit my head on a low beam in my cottage and I suffered severe concussion, double vision and I couldn’t even walk safely outdoors. Suddenly, my ability to model had been severely curtailed and my work for the next two weeks would have to be done with one eye closed! I contacted Darrell Burge at Airfix to tell them that what had happened and that our original agreed deadline of 21st October 2019 would not now be met. I did assure Darrell though that I would get the model finished in time for SMW 2019, Telford.

More progress on the Forward Island where I have fitted the various platforms/walkways to the starboard side. Radar platforms have been added to the foremast and the starboard bridge wing glued in place:
Pic 203:


The two extensions to the foremast were fitted:
Pic 204:


The walkway around the bridge has been fitted. I made this in one piece but when it came to final fitting, I cut it to make fitting much easier. On top of the bridge I have fitted an Electro Optical System (EOS) pod. This is actually a part from an Airfix Type 45 kit, one of the few non-scratch-built items in this build:
Pic 205:


Here I have started to add narrow strips of plastic card to the edges of the various platforms:
Pic 206:


View of both islands. The Aft Island has two Thales AS6000 HF Antenna which also came from the Airfix HMS Daring kit. I did scratch-build two of these but as I had a brief from Airfix to use Airfix parts wherever possible, I have kept them for my own build.
Pic 207:


The Forward Island has now been completed as much as possible before painting:
Pic 208:


That's all for now.

Dave

[SimonT]

Cracking build Dave :thumb2:

As a scratch builder I know that a good set of plans is essential for a good build - were these provided to you by the Navy? The bits I can see look very detailed

Were the planes and helicopters scratched as well or are they commercial kits?

[davecov]

Simon, the Royal Navy asked the shipbuilders at Rosyth (Babcock International) to liaise with me and they were very keen to assist. They gave me side and plan views of the hull along with cross sections and detailed views of the islands initially. As the build progressed I asked for, and was given, plans for the ski jump, bulbous bow, props, bilge keels, rudders, stabilisers, anchors and even the location of every door. One thing I was never given though were full details of the form of the hull beneath the waterline I presume for security reasons.

The F-35B Lightning IIs, CH47 Chinooks, AH-64D Apache Longbows all came from Shapeways. The MV22 Ospreys are from Trumpeter and 4 x Merlins came from Airfix 1/350 HMS Illustrious and HMS Daring kits.

Dave

[JR]

Talk about dedication to your art Dave, this is amazing to follow and see the step by step photos. Do you keep a tally of your hrs !

[SimonT]

Excellent - thought they looked like proper assembly drawings

Thanks

[davecov]

Talk about dedication to your art Dave, this is amazing to follow and see the step by step photos. Do you keep a tally of your hrs !

John, I never seemed to have enough time to keep track of the hours spent on the build!

Dave

[davecov]

It is now time to get down to some serious painting – at last! Here is the Forward Island after a coat of primer:
Pic 209:
[ATTACH]366070[/ATTACH]

Here is the Aft Island:
Pic 210:
[ATTACH]366071[/ATTACH]

Both together along with the ski jumps of both builds:
Pic 211:
[ATTACH]366072[/ATTACH]

Time to start painting the top coat of light grey. Originally, I was going to play safe and use Humbrol H127 Satin US Ghost Grey applied with my seven-year old Harder & Steenbeck airbrush - the same setup as when I built HMS Queen Elizabeth. However, I ended up using a newer Harder & Steenbeck airbrush and an Aztech AZ7778 and for paint I used Colourcoats NARN52 (M01) - RN Light Weatherwork Grey (BS 381C 676). Here I have just given the Forward Island it's first coat:
Pic 212:
[ATTACH]366073[/ATTACH]

The coverage of the paint is very good but I will still apply a second coat:
Pic 213:
[ATTACH]366074[/ATTACH]

The Aft Island after the first coat. You might just be able to make out some filler on the Flyco where I hadn't noticed a hole in the join of the plastic:
Pic 214:
[ATTACH]366075[/ATTACH]

Leaving the painting for the moment, I turned to the stern where I started building the last two sponsons for a Phalanx CIWS and the SPN-41 ICLS Azimuth Transmitter (the box on the right hand side):
Pic 215:
[ATTACH]366076[/ATTACH]

These two together were one of the most complicated parts of this build - and there have been many. The main problem was that the original shipbuilder's drawings that I have does not show the SPN-41 ICLS and platform, only the Phalanx CIWS platform. I had to work out their combined construction using photographs:
Pic 216:
[ATTACH]366077[/ATTACH]

Another complicated area was the platform for the Phalanx CIWS at the head of the starboard sponson. Here is the void that needs filling. I have just made the bulkheads which are of differing angles and depths:
Pic 217:
[ATTACH]366078[/ATTACH]

Here I have "plated in" most of the bulkheads and applied filler:
Pic 218:
[ATTACH]366079[/ATTACH]

The "plating in" of the forward starboard platform for the Phalanx CIWS has finally been completed and most of the filling and sanding has been done:
Pic 219:
[ATTACH]366080[/ATTACH]

Another piece of geometric madness in this build (and there are many) is the small walkway that wraps around the hull just in front of the port Phalanx CIWS platform. It is a "Z" shape and this part of it is made up of eight pieces:
Pic 220:
[ATTACH]366081[/ATTACH]

The next part has been added. Note the cut-out on the outboard corner. This was not in the original design for QE but has been added since she entered service. An M134 Minigun or a GPMG is mounted here (not sure which but it seems to be the former). The outside of the walkway here has additional plating:
Pic 221:
[ATTACH]366082[/ATTACH]

View from the rear:
Pic 222:
[ATTACH]366083[/ATTACH]

Glued in position. The small platforms beneath the doors have also been fitted. I will fit the supports for those after the platform has been painted:
Pic 223:
[ATTACH]366084[/ATTACH]

The location of the anchor recesses was marked on the hull and I have started to cut them out. They have to be a lot deeper, wider and taller. Note that the forward walkways either side of the bow are not fitted yet. This is because the bow section is the only area where I can hold the build safely and the walkways would only get damaged if fitted now:
Pic 224:
[ATTACH]366085[/ATTACH]

Talking of the forward walkways, here they are. The longer one is the starboard walkway whilst the smaller one is for the port side. Note the pair of whip aerials on the starboard walkway. HMS Queen Elizabeth had one aerial there (the aft one) when she first went to sea although she does have the rotating mechanism for two. I decided to fit two complete aerials even though they are slightly overscale:
Pic 225:
[ATTACH]366086[/ATTACH]

The rest of the walkways are almost complete. On the port walkway of the real-life HMS Queen Elizabeth, the five life-raft stations have been given metal shelters. There are also two shelters like this on the starboard side. I can only think that they are there to prevent damage to the life-rafts by F-35B exhausts as they come over the deck. Of course there could be another reason but I can’t think of one. I have made the bulkheads for the shelters but still have to make some roofs:
Pic 226:
[ATTACH]366087[/ATTACH]

That's all for now.

Dave