Daniel Gallardo's 1:150 R/C Foch: a Photo-Essay by Daniel Gallardo
Brand: Scratchbuilt
Scale: 1/150
Modeler: Daniel Gallardo

 

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Introduction

 

Since I did not keep many pictures of the actual construction of the Marine Nationale’s Foch, the description of this model will be a photo-essay, rather than a series of build articles as was done for the Charles de Gaulle model. Both models took approximately the same time to build (years!), are the same scale, and share some similar features such as working elevators and radars. I have take the Foch with me to a number of model conventions, just as I have done with the Charles de Gaulle, and have been flattered by the praise and kind comments directed towards my efforts. The following photos are arranged in terms of visual areas of the ship.



Flight Deck and Aircraft:

Picture 1 (above) shows the flight deck with its completed markings and a small coin (beside the elevator) to give the viewer a sense of how large this model is. The second picture (first in the series below) shows a small car put on the flight deck (just for the fun of it), three incomplete Breuget Alizé anti-submarine aircraft next to the island, and just the tip of an F-8’s rudder showing in the forward elevator well. The three Alizé aircraft are seen in picture 3 from the reverse angle: construction on them is complete but they do not yet have their roundels and other markings painted on. Picture 4 has an Étendard aircraft awaiting launch from the waist catapult: the mirror landing array can be seen easily in this picture as well. Picture 5 shows this airplane and the array from another angle. And picture 6 shows the same aircraft again, this time from a forward angle. Notice the F-8 Crusaders at the stern: not only were they not painted at this time but the ones at the very rear do not have any landing gear as yet. Picture 7 has two Alizé at the bow and another unpainted, incomplete Crusader and picture 8 shows an Alizé lined up on the bow catapult. This picture also gives a good view of the 100mm guns that were Foch’s original self-defense armament (two on each quadrant – from 1985 they were replace with missiles). Picture 9 shows 15 aircraft on the deck, all in different stages of completeness while pictures 10, 11, and 12 show a cleared flight deck.

      
      
      
    
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Elevators, Bow, and Stern:

Foch’s forward elevator, seen lowered in picture 13 (above), can be re-positioned by radio-control, although in the pictures I have selected it appears to have always been in the down position, as in picture 14 (below). Pictures 15, 16, and 17 show the starboard elevator also in a lowered position. Note in picture 15 the F-8 Crusader on the deck with its rear section separated from the rest of the fuselage: this would become a small diorama relating to an engine change for this aircraft. The next two pictures, numbers 18 and 19, show the bow area: note the prominent bridle-catcher. The final three pictures, numbers 20, 21, and 22, show the stern area of the ship.

      
      
      
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Starboard:

The next series of pictures will show the starboard side of the ship (see picture 23, above). In many aspects this side of the ship is the more complex. Picture 24 focuses on the bow area: the forward 100mm gun can be seen just to the left of the picture. Picture 25 moves away from the bow: the second 100mm gun can now be seen and one can with effort notice that the hull has been bulged. Picture 26 shows the underside of the sponson supporting the forward two guns on the starboard side. This is seen in even closer detail in the next picture, number 27. Picture 28 moves us further away from the bow, but not quite at midships since the island on the Foch is located slightly forward of a midship position. Picture 29 shows the ‘busiest’ area of the ship – here one can see some of the ship’s boats; the ship’s crane, and the area for RAM (ravitaillement à mer) or UNREP (Underway Replenishment in English). Picture 30 shows this area from a different angle. Picture 31 shows the area around the rear elevator and picture 32 shows the starboard quadrant of the ship, again with two 100mm guns. Picture 33 shows this area from a different angle and the final picture of this section, number 34, shows the very rear of the starboard side in vivid detail.

      
      
      
    
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Port:

Picture 35, above, shows the entire port side, but not from a very good angle. Picture 36, below, shows the stern and picture 37 shows almost half of the port side, with the emphasis on the port quadrant guns. Pictures 38 and 39 focus on the area between the gun sponson and the support for the landing mirror array. Picture 40 shows this array at the level of the flight deck while picture 41 is forward and below the focus of picture 40. It leads to picture 42, showing the underside and support for the edge of the flight deck. Picture 43 brings us to the forward flight deck on the port side.

      
      
    
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Island:

The island is often the most interesting part of an aircraft carrier, if only because it is so crowded – it functions as the centre of command, of information (the radars), of air traffic control, often of gun control, and in most conventional carriers, such as Foch, the intake and exhaust stacks are integrated into its structure. Picture 44 which heads this paragraph shows the port side of Foch’s island, showing most of the things I have mentioned, plus its pennant number R99 (its sister ship Clemenceau had R 98). Pictures 45, 46, and 47 (below) show the port side again, but from slightly different angles. Pictures 48, 49, and 50 show the starboard side. The next four pictures, 51-54, have the top of the island and the mast and its associated radars as their focus. Picture 55 shows the TACAN dome at the very top of the mast (climbing up here must be a form of punishment – you are more than 50 metres above the water) and picture 56 has as its focus the smokestack exhaust.

      
      
      
      
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Comparison with the Charles de Gaulle:

The CDG was built in the same shipyard as Foch, although decades apart. The hulls of the two ships are almost exactly the same length (262m or 858’) and they are almost the same beam, but the Foch displaces 32,000 tons at full load while the Charles de Gaulle has a 42,000 ton full load displacement. The three pictures shown here, numbers 57-59, show how much larger the flight deck of the CDG is compared to the Foch (12,000 sq.m vs. 8800 sq.m). If France builds another carrier this decade (PA 2 or Porte-Avion 2) it is likely to be over 60,000 tons, a displacement that simply cannot be fitted onto a hull the size of the CDG.

    
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On the Water:

Any radio-controlled model must be tested in its natural element, the water. Pictures 60-62 show Foch in its preliminary tests on the water (in 2005). Notice that both elevators are in the raised position and there are no aircraft on deck. The last five pictures, numbers 63-67, show Foch on a much larger pond: here there are aircraft on the deck and the elevators are shown in their down position. These pictures were taken in 2007 – and yes I was involved in the building of the Charles de Gaulle at the same time. Like many modelers I like to have more than one project on the go at the same time. Presently, I am working on some fishing boats (another love that I have) and will return to aircraft carriers if France proceeds with PA 2.

      
      
    
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Editorial Note:

Although it was a great deal of time-consuming work, I enjoyed doing the translating, re-arranging, and presenting of Daniel Gallardo’s excellent achievements in modeling. At this point I would like to add some information about the Foch that would not usually be found in a modeling article. Despite its age, almost a half-century, the Foch continues to patrol the seas. Heavily modified during its service with the Marine Nationale (all the 100mm guns were eventually deleted), Foch served until 1999 at which time it was replaced by the Charles de Gaulle. (see pictures 68-71) The original plans had Clemenceau (Foch’s sister ship retired in 1997) being replaced by Charles de Gaulle, and Foch being replaced by PA 2. However, budget constraints meant that the CDG was 11 years (!) from its keel being laid to its entry into service, and PA 2 is yet to be decided upon. Since it was expected that PA2 would be ordered at some point in the first decade of this century, the Marine Nationale did not try to upgrade Foch any further to keep it in service: instead, they sold the ship to Brazil for a reported $12millionUS. That ship was renamed Sao Paulo, pennant number A 12. Brazil spent $70millionUS to buy 23 A-4 Skyhawks from Kuwait and these now serve on the Sao Paulo. (see pictures 72-78) From 2005-2009 the Sao Paulo underwent a series of upgrades (as did 12 of the Skyhawks) so now a ship designed a half century ago carries a plane designed almost sixty years ago – and yet both ship and aircraft appear to be effective units whose service life has at least 10 or more years to run. I have no doubt that someone will make a model of the Sao Paulo – hopefully it will show up on this website soon. Meanwhile, let me thank Daniel Gallardo again for the privilege of presenting his superb models to the readers of CarrierBuilders.

Dan Linton

      
      
      
    
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  Photos and text © 2010 by Daniel Gallardo

October 7, 2010

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