I've always been fascinated with hybrid ship designs. After
reading
"The Hybrid Warship: The Amalgamation of Big Guns and Aircraft" by R.
D. Layman and Stephen McLaughlin, I decided to build some of the designs
shown in the book using Heller kits as donors: they are easily
available and do provide some major components (hulls,
turrets, boats etc).
This
is the first complete one. It's been a long journey, yet here she is,
MNF Richelieu,
a Hybrid BB/CV. The model is based on a sketch from the abovementioned
book. The sketch was just to illustrate the idea of a hybrid and by no
means was a feasible design. So this is just a concept model. It is
based on the Heller Richelieu kit with parts from
the Illustrious. I also used aftermarket parts and upgrades, including:
-
WEM Illustrious PE and Island upgrade
-
Micro Master 3D printed excellent turrets (381mm and 114mm BD mounts), both HACS and Pom-Pom
directors
-
Aber’s 1/400 pom-pom barrels
-
L’Arsenal 1/400 Swordfish planes
-
ArtWox Deck for 1/400 Jean Bart
A special thanks to Simon (Micro Master) for customized 3d parts and Al Newman for providing the French Navy Aircraft Decals.
