@stickyfingers. Well, to tell the truth the kit is 1/250 so it's not too big. Don't be intimidated to jump into this one. I cheated and blew the kit up 250% to get 1/100. It was a tremendous effort and many assemblies took on a large amount of detail due to the enlargement. Have no fear, it's a much more reasonable build at 1/250.
@ohiomike. I wish I did have it under glass. At over 74" long it's a monster of a display case required. Running $750 or more for a custom case. I just can't afford that. I've treated the kit with print sealer though, so the colors will be well preserved, and I dust it often with compressed air so that the dust build up doesn't take a toll on her. I'll get a case one day, but not soon.
Well, I've just spent a thoroughly enjoyable hour or so going through the whole thread looking at everyone's posts on this amazing project and I've loved every second of it!
It seems that pretty much every superlative has been used to describe this monster but I have to add my own compliment to those already posted above. This is a work of excellent detail, craftsmanship and real diligence, resulting in a fantastic model that is an
ABSOLUTE KNOCKOUT
BEAUTY
of a model!
Damn, but it's good!
And really inspiring stuff too; my great grand father joined the RN as a boy cadet in 1888 when they still had some Nelson style ships but were mostly iron clads. He served aboard both sail powered ships and then later coal fired, then oil fired ones. He served aboard HMS Iron Duke (the second of that name) as a torpedo officer and it's always been my ambition to make a large scale model of this ship. I'm now thinking it can be a practical reality if I go the paper craft route after seeing this build of yours.
@Noddy4000 I'm glad you enjoyed touring through the entire build thread. It was nearly 18 months of a tremendous journey. I learned a lot and I had lots of good advice from this modeling community along the way. In the end I came up with a family heirloom that will pass down from one generation to the next. My 5-year old son loves it and asks many questions about it.
It was a great experience, but quite a task if you know what I mean. It was like building 3 projects at once for a year and a half.
I know my wife got tired of it. :mrgreen: That's o.k. though. I catch her in my office staring at it some times.