I just finished painting the Argus and was pleased enough with the outcome to share it on the blog. Argus was unique, being the first flush-decked aircraft carrier. She had been laid down as the liner Conte Rosso but was taken over at the start of the World War I and when a large hull was needed for conversion to a carrier she was selected. With a large hull she could be provided with a very large hanger deck. Wind tunnel testing suggested a strait deck was best so that's how she ended up. I didn't even know they had wind tunnels in 1916. Anyway, Argus was completed in 1918 and given a dazzle paint job, which was the fashion late in the war. She also served throughout World War II in secondary roles, although she was certainly in war zones. I don't do many dazzle paint jobs because I don't always have the reference material I need, but in this case I had good shots of the port and starboard sides and a couple color pics, which made me decide to go ahead. The model is from Panzerschiffe, who produce epoxy models rather than metal. They are not as detailed as the metal models but they can paint up pretty nice. The aircraft on deck are Sopwith Camels I think, which are GHQ and I got from the HMS Furious kit. As an aside, if you look closely at the picture in the upper left hand corner there's a blimp in the background. Pretty neat.
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