Loose Cannon Productions -1/700
HMS Furious 1918

Background

Many years ago I was struck by a photo of an early aircraft carrier carrying, of all things, both a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter on the fore deck and an airship on the aft deck. Stranger yet, this ship carried a chaotic looking paint scheme and had some odd looking structures on the fore deck which looked for all the world like fences (actually, they are collapsible wind-breaks).

This is, of course, one of the most common photos of HMS Furious, the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier that saw two wars and so many structural changes that by the end of her career, she looked a completely different ship. That photo of her taken in 1918 that inspired me to do some research and acquire some reference. She's the only ship kit I've ever REALLY wanted to build and as regular readers of SMML (The Ship Modelling Mailing List) will know, I have been (im)patiently waiting for a kit all this time.

The Kit

Well, now David Angelo of Loose Cannon Productions has come to the rescue and it's been worth the wait! (A Furious! and I've got one!!) The kit I have is of Furious as she would have been in 1918 after her first refit/conversion. Cast in a pale grey resin, the first thing that strikes you about the kit is how light it is for a resin that feels so solid.

The second is how nice the hull is. Admittedly there will be some clean-up, as indeed there is on most of the parts, but there is some very nice detail as well. The rest of the kit parts are arranged on sprues, just like an injection kit. The detail on these parts is good - the boats and the funnel are particularly nice. Parts are numbered and the seven page instruction sheet features exploded diagrams to help you. Construction wise, there really is little to do but clean it up and put it together.

Brass rods are supplied and here is where things might get a bit challenging. Not only is there the usual mast and spreaders to be constructed but there is also a crash barrier - cheerily known as the gallows - on the aft deck. The truly dedicated could also reproduce the longitudinal and athwartships wires in front of the gallows that served as an arresting system.

Photos of the Furious at this time show that the forward flight deck was constructed *over* the original deck during the refit. Loose Cannon have done the supports for this deck in photoetch which is a nice solution to the problem of how to be able to see through certain parts of the ship.

Also on the photoetch fret are all sorts of goodies - from the railings and boarding ladders to the collapsible wind-breaks for the fore deck. A rather nice crane for rescuing aircraft, as in the early days of carrier aviation many pilots preferred to ditch than attempt a landing and davits to hold the boats which would go and fish them out of the water.

Decals are supplied for the aircraft as well as an ensign and a colour profile is included with the instructions. Loose Cannon have included both side views as well as a top view which is going to be a great help. Nice one guys!

WEM Colourcoats are given as preferred paints for the dazzle scheme which will involve a fair bit of masking. Worth it in my view as this is how Furious would have looked at the strike at ondern, but just after the war she was painted in Atlantic Fleet colours (dark grey) which does give you another option.

Conclusion

I have always liked the Furious so it's a pretty good bet that I'd like anything that helped me to build her just as she was in that photo which so fired my imagination.

This kit however, is a good quality product. The makers have put a lot of thought into addressing any potential problems the modeller may have in construction and made it as easy as possible. With only a little bit of effort - which I think will be mainly caused by the dazzle camouflage - you'll have a great example of an early carrier. A bit more work and you could do the Furious in any of her other incarnations. The kit is scheduled for general release in mid-February.

I would like to thank David Angelo from Loose Cannon Productions for the review kit.