Ark Royal vs Invincible vs Illustrious
Revell - 1/700
or
OK - What's The Difference?

By: Mike Dunn

Revell's 1/700 HMS Invincible (Falklands fit) is compared with their 1/700 HMS Ark Royal (Gulf fit) and 1/700 HMS Illustrious (1994 refit).

Unless you've either been asleep for the past month, or just don't build the modern Royal Navy, you will have heard that at long last there is a mass-produced model of HMS Illustrious now available at a decent price. Now, we have all three of the Invincible class! A review of the Ark Royal kit can be found here.

So - what's the difference between these three Revell kits; what is it you are actually paying for? New tooling, or a sneaky re-issue? Let's find out........

Box art. The Ark is obviously an artist's impression of the ship, heading towards you & to your right. Side panel detailing is of the prototype model. The Invincible (from now on, just 'Vince) is a more realistic painting, with the side panels being actual photos of the 'Vince. Illustrious' artwork is OK, with side panels of the prototype. Each piece of artwork will help in painting the models. One to the 'Vince, but just because you get photos.
 

Instruction sheet. Like the Ark Royal kit, the booklet for the 'Vince is 12 pages - but this time, all 12 pages are used; Illustrious is back to 11 pages. I'm sure you are all familiar with Revell's style so I won't include any images. Page 1 differs in that the histories are of the relevant ships. Pages 2 to 4 are effectively the same (various warnings). Page 5 differs in the instruction icons, and also on the colours to be used. Now we get to the main parts. Page 6, both show the various sprues; the Ark details 5 procedures for the aircraft, island and flight deck, while the 'Vince details 1 procedure for the main hull, island and flight deck all in; Illustrious has 2 for the aircraft and one for the island. Page 7 has the Ark with 5 procedures on the side bars, the main hull, the foredeck & flight deck, and some island details, while the 'Vince has 3 procedures on the under-hull, the island and the side bars; Illustrious has three on the main hull and deck,with three on the superstructure detail. Page 8 sees the Ark with more island detailing, fore deck detailing, and some emergency equipment detailing, while the 'Vince has more under-hull, and island detailingl Illustrious has ten covering island detailing and two on bow details. Page 9 has the Ark with more emergency equipment, and the under-hull, while the 'Vince shows how to island, and do a little emergency work; Illustrious has six on emergency equipment. Page 10 has the Ark all finished bar the mounting of the display stand, while the 'Vince lags behind with fore-deck detailing, and the last of the emergency kit; Illustrious has one on the cranes, one on the underhull, and one deals with the stand. Page 11 sees the decals and painting instructions finishing the Ark, while the 'Vince is finalising the last of the flight deck, and the stand; Illustrious covers painting and decals. Page 12 is blank on the Ark and Illustrious, while the 'Vince trains with the decals & paint instructions. Illustrious wins here, but only on layout - overall these are almost identical.

Decals. The Ark gets a larger decal sheet (1/3 longer), and 3 more decals than 'Vince (note that in the Ark review, 3 decals couldn't be traced on the instructions). The set for Illustrious are similar to the Ark, but have 41 different ones - once more, there are several decals that can't be identified on the instructions. Model title names are in a different font, and are slightly different sizes. Ditto with flight deck identification (R vs N vs L), and hull numbers. Flight deck distances appear to be very similar. Main flight deck line (split into 6 decals) are identical on Ark and 'Vince, but are more in-scale on Illustrious. Roundels seem to be more to scale for the 'Vince and Illustrious, and have less blank sheet. Flags appear to be identical for Ark and 'Vince, but are "wavy" ones on Illustrious. Illustrious gets the nod, because of the better scale for some decals. Due to limitations in the scans, the white lettering hasn't come out properly.
 

Sprues. Now, if there is a real difference, it'll have to be here. Sprue A From the back, the only difference is the addition of hidden locating tubes to join the Ark's hull. From the front, the moulding is brighter and crisper for the Ark. Illustrious uses the Ark's sprue, but you can tell it's starting to wear slightly. Sprue B The most obvious difference here is that the bow deck, flight deck and side panels have been omitted from the Ark's version. Otherwise, again the Ark has clearer moulding. Once more, Illustrious uses the same sprue as the Ark, again it shows signs of wear. Sprue b This holds over 120 pieces, most of which are ignored for the Ark (makes me wonder why they didn't include them onto Sprue E, and just leave off this sprue). Identical, apart from being yet again crisper for the Ark. Once more, Illustrious uses this sprue, and also uses a couple more than Ark - again, signs of wear. Sprue C Here, the pretence gives way - both sets are labelled HMS Invincible - oops! However, the Ark's set is again crisper. Illustrious again is the same, with wear. Sprue D Ditto for Sprue C (seeing as D is attached to one of C). Sprue E This only appears on the Ark, and has the missing pieces from Sprue B, and some new items not on the 'Vince, eg the Phalanx system. Sprue F Illustrious has this to herself; it's essentially a revamp of Sprue E, square instead of rectangular. The bow, ski-jump and other items appear here (eg another two Harriers, compounding the decal problem, as well as some CIWS). Ark gets this one, because of the cleaner detailing.

Final score : Ark Royal 1, Invincible 1, Illustrious 2

But is it really this close? Well - let's have a quick review of the facts. We might as well forget the pretence that we are looking at new tooling (Revell did on several sprues!), because the only differences are Sprue E and Sprue F. However, they had cleaned the moulds a lot for Ark, which had rejuvenated them considerably; unfortunately, they didn't bother doing this again for Illustrious. I am very impressed by the level of detail that has come out on Ark- much better than on the old 'Vince kit - but Illustrious is back to that standard again. The decals are mainly the same, apart from a small size difference (only noticeable when you directly compare the sheets). The instructions have been re-ordered, and modified to ignore 'Vince-specific and Ark-specific parts, and include those just for the Ark, or just the Illustrious. And it's a new box for each - big deal here.

Is it worth getting? Well, that's your call. If you want a modern Ark Royal or a modern Illustrious - then yes. Let's face it - if a conversion kit comes out by anyone to change the 'Vince to the Ark or Illustrious, you'll probably spend £15 minimum for it. Add on the cost of the 'Vince kit.....Why spend twice the cost, when Revell have one all ready? However, a conversion kit from the Revell moulded fit to the current 2000 fit - now THERE is an idea!

As an aside - since the original Ark vs 'Vince review was written, White Ensign Models have brought out super-detailing kits for the Invincible class carriers. As yet, SMML has no review on these various items (photo-etch, replacement aircraft, additional resin detailing, and a proposed deck vehicle set), but based on other WEM products they will be well worth purchasing. While not specifically for either Ark or Illustrious, they will no doubt fit perfectly.