AJM Models
1/700 HMS Pegasus


 
Reviewed October 2024
by Martin J Quinn
HISTORY
HMS Pegasus was an aircraft carrier/seaplane carrier bought by the Royal Navy in 1917 during the First World War. She was laid down in 1914 by John Brown & Company of Clydebank, Scotland as Stockholm for the Great Eastern Railway Company, but construction was suspended at the start of the war. The ship was converted to operate a mix of wheeled aircraft from her forward flying-off deck and floatplanes that were lowered into the water. Pegasus spent the last year of the war supporting the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, but saw no combat. She spent most of 1919 and 1920 supporting British intervention against the Bolsheviks in North Russia and the Black Sea. The ship remained with the Mediterranean Fleet until 1924, but was placed in reserve in 1925 after a brief deployment to Singapore. Pegasus was sold for scrap in 1931. 

History courtesy Wikipedia.

AJM Models Pegasus

AJM Models from Poland has sent us a few more of their recent offerings for review.  This one is another of in the range of unique seaplane tenders the British commissioned during the the First World War, HMS Pegasus, kit number 700-042. The model, which represents the ship after she joined the Grand Fleet in later 1917, comes in a sturdy white box, with a photograph of a completed example of Pegasus - in her spectacular dazzle camouflage - on the cover.  Outside of the hull, the parts are cast in a dark gray resin.   There are over one hundred resin parts, with parts for both the ship and aircraft; photo-etch, decals and brass wire. 

THE HULL 
The hull appears to scale out pretty close to scale, in both length and beam.  The hull is solidly cast in light gray resin, with good details, like fairly well defined portholes (though a few will need a twist of the drill) and nice deck planking.  Almost nothing is cast to the deck.  This is a change from some of the earlier kits I've reviewed from AJM, and I like it, as it will help make painting and masking much easier. 

There is a little bit of flash you'll have to remove from the bottom of the hull with sandpaper, as well as a fit of thin resin in two openings in the bulwalks along the main deck at the bow, which will have to be removed. 

DECKS, FUNNELS AND OTHER PARTS
Several of the decks, such as the forward flying off platform and the top of the hangar, are found on a fairly thick resin wafer, and will have to be carefully sanded off.  The planking and other detail here is pretty good, I especially like the skylights.  There are two funnels, a large deck house that sit amidships, a structure that sits on top of the hangar as well as a gantry that straddles the aft end of the same hangar.  The depth inside the funnels is a little shallow, in my opinion, but should look alright with some black paint. 

Other small parts include winches, bollards, anchors, searchlights, piping and what looks like some bridge equipment.  Casting is solid, with minimal flash. 

SHIPS BOATS AND RAFTS
There are two resin runners included with Pegasus, one with ships boats and one with rafts.  Detail is decent, again with little or no flash. 

AIRCRAFT AND BLIMP
Being an aircraft carrier/seaplane tender, you'd expect Pegasus to have some aircraft, and she does.  The aircraft included are: 
  • Short Type 184 Seaplane
  • Fairey Campania
  • Fairey 3C
  • Sopwith 2F1 Camel
The first three aircraft are seaplanes, while the Camel is wheeled.  On the real ships, these were kept in a separate hangar forward, and launched off the bow ramp.  While these aircraft look ok to the Mk1 eyeball, under digital photography, some of the fuselages are a little rough, and the fabric on the wings is a little overstated.   Some light sanding of the former, and a coat of paint on the latter, will probably make them look alright.  There are small photo-etch frets to round out each aircraft (see below).

Overall, it's a nice compliment of aircraft for such a small vessel. 

DECALS 
There is one small decal sheet included.  The decals for the ship include two White Ensigns and the jack, draft marks and what appear the ships initials for the hangar roof.  The aircraft decals - broken out by aircraft type - all contain roundels and tail "fin flashes".  My sample came with an extra set of decals. 

PHOTOETCH
Pegasus comes with one large and seven smaller photo-etch sets.  The largest set contains parts for the ship itself, while the smaller frets are for the aircraft, with 2 frets for each type of aircraft, except for the Short Type 184, which only has one. 

The ship specific fret has railings, supports for the flying off ramp, inclined ladders, oars and tillers for the ships boats, cable reels, davits, boat cradles, support braces for platforms and photo-etch overhead and supports for the inside of the hangar, as well as PE tracks for the inside of said hangar and a PE door for the forward face of the small, forward hangar. The photo-etch is quite thin, so you may want to exercise caution when handling.  Unfortunately they packaged the brass rod (see below) with the PE, which caused some slight damage to the fret. 

The photo-etch parts for the planes - mostly struts and braces for the floats - are tiny, and should also be handled with care.  My sample came with an entire second set of the aircraft photo-etch. 

BRASS ROD
There is also some brass wire included with the kit.  The instructions seem to indicate these for for masts, yards, spars and booms, but the wire seems rather thin and pliable for these purposes. 

INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are spread out on 10 pages over 6 sheets of paper (there is one blank page).   Page 1 consists of a manifest of all the parts.  Pages 2-6 are step-by-step build instructions for the ship itself.  They seem fairly logical, although, as is AJM's custom with the instructions, parts that are shown installed in one step are "omitted for clarity" later, which can be a little confusing. Other than the details for assembling and painting the Fairey Campania, there is a separate page covering the aircraft - both assembly along with painting and markings.  Finally, there is a very nice painting guide of Pegasus in camouflage, over two pages.  These show both port and starboard patterns, as well as an overhead view of the ship.   The color callouts are, unfortunately, for Lifecolor paints. 

CONCLUSIONS  
Overall, this is a nice little kit of one of the Grand Fleets lesser known ships - and little it is, coming in at around 5 5/8 inches long.  The casting is generally good. Along with over 100 resin parts, there's an good sized set of photo-etch, along with decals, brass wire and good instructions.  One thing I would like to see AJM do is bag the brass rod in a different bag than the photo-etch. 

Overall, Pegasus is a very nice kit from AJM Models.  I find that each of their releases seems to be nicer than the last one, which is great to see.  As mentioned, this isn't a big ship, and other than the complex camouflage, should go together rather quickly, I would think.  As with some of the other funky converted seaplane carriers AJM has released, this model will appeal to modelers with an interest in World War 1 and/or Grand Fleet ships, those who like funky, odd-ball ships, and those who like ships with unique camouflage.  This ship certainly matches all those descriptions.  Recommended. 

This is AJM Models’s 1/700 HMS Pegasus, kit number 700-042. The model lists for around $105.00, and is available from many of our fine sponsors. This is an in-box review, your mileage may vary once you commence construction.  Thanks to AJM Models Models for the review sample.