Topic: HMS Illustrious.

[paul swainson]

Well have stuck the bulkheads on to "C" Deck for the admirals bridge and placed all the other support walls to give the structure support when "D" deck is placed on top with the funnel.  I will need to prime the inside area before I put on the skin of the deck structure but would like to place a LED or SMD in the bridge area to illuminate the area.  Having difficulty in finding the correct size so that its not too bright. Also as the STB side has lamps too need to route the wiring. 

[mikearace]

Paul

Excuse the glare and the poor resolution but I was getting glare from the glass framing but this is Galea's painting of Illustrious under attack that hangs in my bedroom.

[paul swainson]

Nice Picture Mike will keep an eye out for others.

[swiftdoc]

I used SMD-LEDs on the Muirneag. If you glue them into a profile the light is not too bright. I made deck lamps out of plastic profiles and drilled holes in it for the SMDs. The result is very realistic.

[paul swainson]

Have carried some of the work required on the "C" deck skin, cut windows and both sliding doors, while working on the doors decided to make them work so that they slide in and out. Pictures show the doors open then half closed.

[Horatio123]

Hi Paul .
       Nice work on the Seafires they look good with folded wings .  Watching your build with interest you look to have made a good start .

[radio joe]

Nice going Paul, all those little touches make all the deference. Joe.

[paul swainson]

Yes have done some work but finding new problems to solve and looking at ways to built the sections.   This is the first idea, but feel the outer skin of 0.5mm is a bit too thin.  So going to try making the C deck as a single unit which can then bond to the B deck just like the way the bridge was bonded to the upper deck on HMS Solebay.  The problem is the side skin,as I would like to use 1.00mm card.   As there are two very sharp folds at the rear and front of these decks I will need to find a way to fold that thick card to march the shell of the deck.   So going to make a template of the shape with an inner line 1.0mm from the outer edge of the origanal, place pins along the lines so that I can insert the card holding it in place and soak in hot water to try and keep its shape.  So this will take a while as I need a strong base to with stand the hot water.   Also if it works I can then keep the decks inside the skin and extend the shin to form the outer shell of the D deck all in one go.  This would give a much cleaner finish and smoother lines.   That would then work as a good template to do the same with A and B deck.

[radio joe]

Yes I know what you mean about bending, I used 1mm card on the forward foc'sle break on Zulu and wanted to curve each side to marry up with the hull sides to look like the real Zulu, I very carefully used a hair drier worked very well, I practiced on a bit of scrape first to how much heat was needed, just a thought, have you thought about using two pieces of .5 card laminated together on the bends.

[mikearace]

Paul

To add to joe's suggestion, when I built my MS Conserver the front had a very pronounced curve which was suggested would be easier to bend with a hair dryer.  I did try that and although it curved it wasn't as evenly curved as I wanted.  I then used .5 instead of the 1mm supplied and got the perfect bend and when it was bonded to the sides I then laminated again with another sheet of .5 so I got the right thickness but it was much easier getting the curved right. 

[colin]

i have also used both methods... a good hairdryer, that will heat the hole area and keep i warm while bending works very well.
the doubling up of 0.5mm on very tight "S" bend curves like on my Inflexible also works very well as can be seen here the superstructure below the funnel was made this way.
smaller strips of 0.5mm i warm and bend in my fingers... as can be seen here.

[paul swainson]

Hi Guys, have taken note of the suggestions and I had not thought of doubling up the 0.5mm card.  The hair dry I have is OK but I find the card does not bend easy and has twist in it and is uneven.  So I have cut out the two decks again and made templates, will then make a frame and then place in hot water then fold the 1.0 mm card around the frame and see how that works.  If it does then I will post the results.  Away for the week end the good lady requires that I take some time with her and visit family in the boards.  So a in-forced rest has been required the dock yard  is on strike!

[paul swainson]

Well I have looks at the plans again and at some build photos that Ron sent me and found that the D deck does not have front and rear wings on the same level as the deck to hold the 20" search lights front and rear, also the 10" single lamps.  The deck area which holds them actually drop down to mid level between the C deck and D deck.  I noticed this when I was looking at how height the 20" S/L would look.  So have cut a new D deck and working out how to cut in the four produding wings which hold these units.  I am now beginning to under stand how these plans work.  The thick broad lines means deck areas, the lighter lines show the route and the dotted lines the under floor route.

I have re cut the front skin and using both hot air and water got the front section to bend nicely and will now work on the rear section of the shin so that it all fits in place.  Now cutting the four winglets for the lights and will then gut the skin wall to insert them to create the correct look of these two decks. 

Will post build photos when the build is complete.

[radio joe]

All sounds very complicated Paul, not sure my old brain could cope with all that. but I'm sure you'll sort it out.  Joe

[paul swainson]

Well have now worked out how to cut out and attach the D deck to the C deck.   The first photo show how I had cut out the decks. The second and third photo show how the deck should be cut out allowing for the 20" and 10" signal lamps to be positioned at their correct height.
Once these small lower decks had been cut measured to a depth they where then cut out and fitted to the D deck.  Once the lamps are in stalled (ordered to day) I will be able to install step rungs and ladders as the plan requires.