Cyber-hobby 1/700 HMS Invincible

HMS Invincible was a British light aircraft carrier, the lead ship of three in her class in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 3 May 1977 and is the seventh ship to carry the name. She saw action in the Falklands War when she was deployed with HMS Hermes, she took over as flagship of the British fleet when Hermes was sold to India. Invincible was also deployed in the Yugoslav Wars and the Second Gulf War. She was decommissioned in 2005 and eventually sold for scrap in February 2011 to Turkish Leyal Ship Recycling

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War that was waged between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy (RN) played a pivotal role in recapturing the South Atlantic islands, and one important element of the naval task force sent to perform this mission was HMS Invincible (R05). Invincible was the lead ship in a class of three light aircraft carriers. She was commissioned on 11 July 1980, just two years before the Falklands conflict broke out. In actual fact, after an agreement reached in February 1982, she was earmarked for sale to the Royal Australian Navy for the price of £175 million. Instead, just three days after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982, she was steaming alongside the carrier Hermes towards the South Atlantic. Her bulging complement of aircraft included eight Sea Harriers and twelve Sea King helicopters that would take off and land on her 170m-long ski jump deck in continuous operations against Argentine forces. Invincible and her embarked aircraft played an important role in recapturing the islands.

What with the Falklands War 30th anniversary being this year, Cyber-hobby decided to release a number of kits of subjects that participated in that conflict. The HMS Invincible kit consists of 150 parts that includes both plastic and photo-etch bits. In fact, many of the photo-etch parts are simply replacements for extant plastic bits. This means that those who wish to use them for things like the radar and other antennas will need to trim off the plastic bits. P.e. is also used for railings and the safety net around the flight deck.

This is a full hull kit and comes complete with a display stand. A selection of Harriers and Sea King helicopters are also included. You do not get the ASW Sea King as shown on the cover, however. The rest of the kit is really pretty simple as there is not a ton of deck detail as you have with a WWII cruiser, for instance.

Instructions are well done and provide painting information using Gunze colors. An exterior painting guide is provided. The decal sheet is well printed and provides markings for the deck as well as the base and the aircraft.

As ship kits go, this is one that will not take an age to build and will look nice on your shelf of modern surface ships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Invincible_%28R05%29

July 2012

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the preview kit. Get yours at your local hobby shop or have them order one for you.

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