1/350 HMS Invincible (Iron Shipwrights)
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by Wes Beatty |
1/350 HMS Invincible (Iron Shipwrights)
I began this build a while ago - August 2011. Finished in December 2022. Just one of those projects completed in fits and starts over the years. Kudos to ISW for its choice of subject.Out of the box the kit depicts the ship after its 1914 revisions. However, I wanted to build H.M.S. Invincible in all her original Edwardian glory. A number of changes were necessary, the most significant being an overhaul of the forward superstructure.
During this build I received the kind assistance of a number of people. Back in 2011 Dr. David Griffiths got me moving with some great material. Sent me photos of the builder’s model of H.M.S. Indomitable. Also drew my attention to the shape of the navigation deck - two circular searchlight platforms, bridge wings and a roughly triangular forward section all on the same plane and interlocking with the forward tripod. Tricky to get right.
Although I’m sure he found me a nuisance, Martin Quinn never hesitated to provide assistance. The kit-supplied aft boat platform comes so warped that a new one had to be built. Quinn was all over how to go about it. Lucciano Rizzoto also provided comments on colours and paints.
I bought a Grex double action during COVID and put it through its paces with a mixture of Humbrol and Vallejo paints. I wanted the finish to be lived in but not neglected. Whether I love or hate the result depends on how I’m feeling that day.
Two sources which provided no end of help were Ian Johnston’s Clydebank Battlecruisers: Forgotten Photographs from John Brown's Shipyard and Steve Backer’s Grand Fleet Battlecruisers.
Johnston‘s book depicts H.M.S. Inflexible fitting out. Some of the photos are so sharp you might as well be walking the deck of the actual ship having a chat with the shipyard workers.
Backer’s book has more photos of the builder’s model of H.M.S. Indomitable. Very useful when it came to details and rigging.
I used WEM PE cable and rope wheels along with WEM Dreadnought aerial spacers. The latter required a homemade jig and a number of tries before I developed a method for getting it reasonably convincing. The cage aerials were a detail that simply had to be done and gave me pause to wonder how on earth I’d manage without WEM.
Apologies for any mistakes sharp-eyed scale modelling colleagues may spot.
