Ark Models - 1/500 HMS Royal Oak

[tigersteve]

Here I go with my first ever ship build! This is a very old kit which seems to have been sold in various forms in Russia and Czech Republic also Frog ?

Any way the reason for the build is to attempt to make it as Royal Oak, very similar to the Sovereign (Revenge Class),
As some will know, she was sunk in 1939 at Scapa Flow with over 830 men lost , including my Great Uncle Bill Royal.

It looks a pretty poor kit and with my lack of knowledge of ship building, I am sure it will be challenge !!

Any advise and tips welcome......

[Jim R]

Well Steve you seem up for a challenge. An odd scale. For it's age the moulds look to have stood up OK, not much flash. Nice to build a model with a personal connection.

[spanner570]

Interesting looking kit Steve.

Advice? Paint all the decks before you do any building. It makes it so much easier to do it at the initial stage as it's almost impossible to do neatly later.

Good luck with the build.

Ron

[Ian M]

I would add to Ron's suggestion with paint as much as you can before putting it together. Make the sub assembly parts and paint them.

[tigersteve]

And so it starts! taking advice 'on board' ........ These parts are very small, reading about the 15 inch guns (that all four pairs can fit easily into one hand), were in fact 770 tons each pair! Enjoying it so far.

[tigersteve]

Nearing completion, getting nervous about the last putting the thing together now!

[JR]

Great work Steve, esp considering the size , bit beyond me I think.

[tigersteve]

Thanks John, I must admit the old eyes aint what they used to be! Trying to clean up the props etc. has been a challenge........

[tigersteve]

No further movement yet on the model , but this is the real thing in Malta before the war and Uncle Bill - I hope he would have approved

[tigersteve]

Managed to squeeze the deck into the hull, which was very awkward and will need filling as it really would not fit properly......
I also bought some PE railings which are proving challenging and will need pushing into shape.
Definitely not in my comfort zone with such small parts, but enjoying some of it