ArkRoyal 1918
History
HMS Ark Royal was the first ship built from the keel up as a seaplane carrier. She entered service with the Royal Navy in 1914. After the war, the ship was mainly used for transporting aircraft or as a depot ship. In 1934 she was renamed HMS Pegasus so that the name could be used for a new aircraft carrier. She saw occasional use in the Second World War and was scrapped in 1949.
Contents
The kit comes from AJM Models in Poland and is a typical multimedia ship kit. The kit arrives in a sturdy cardboard box, with all parts packed either in zip bags or bubble wrap. This means everything is well protected and can’t be damaged in transit. The resin parts are extremely finely cast and free of bubbles. Only the hull showed some minor imperfections in the bow area on my example. All other parts are flawless. The photo-etch parts are likewise very fine and need to be handled with care. They clearly add a lot to the level of detail. It’s a shame that the railings have no attachment tab — they only need to be glued at the stanchions.
What's included:
- 1 resin hull
- 153 resin parts
- 1 sheet with approx. 300 photo-etch parts
- 6 smaller photo-etch sheets with 90 parts for the aircraft
- 8 small decal sheets for the ship and the aircraft
- 1 instruction manual with 73 steps
Parts & Fit
Decals & Instructions
The instructions are clear and well organized, and can certainly hold their own against the manuals of the big manufacturers. 73 steps lead to the finished model. The steps are easy to follow and each contains only a few parts. Whether the build order is sensible will show once construction begins — personally I prefer attaching the large parts to the model first and adding the smaller parts afterward, rather than the other way around as shown in the instructions. The first page contains an overview of all parts plus the painting guide. The painting instructions turn out to be the weak point of the manual. Colors are given for Life Color, but the illustrations only show the finished model, so it isn’t entirely clear which color goes where. The paint callouts for the aircraft, on the other hand, are shown across 3 side views — I would have liked the same treatment for the ship.
Decals are only included for the aircraft, which is not unusual at this scale.
Conclusion
The kit from AJM Models allows for a very convincing model of HMS Ark Royal to be built. All parts are very cleanly executed and the proportions are accurate. Everything needed is included in the kit, with no additional aftermarket parts required. All that’s left to produce a beautiful model is the modeler’s own skill.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐