Just like to mention that I'm quite pleased with at least two of the scheduled Micronaut releases (Enterprise and Scheer), although I'd certainly like to have seen the more typical dozen (including a Kriegsmarine T-22 torpedo boat ); there's always next year. Regarding the HMS Enterprise though--I'd like to make a suggestion/request regarding her embarked aircraft. During the mid-war years (including her skirmishes with German destroyers), Enterprise carried a Lend-Lease OS2U Kingfisher floatplane, which looked quite large on her (almost brings the USN's catapult-equipped Fletchers to mind). A Supermarine Walrus would be completely inappropriate for her. The link below (from uboat.net) is to perhaps the best known WWII photograph of the ship, from 1943 if I remember correctly.
According to Raven & Roberts "British Cruisers of World War Two" Enterprise was the only British RN cruiser to carry a Kingfisher. However, she must have carried some other type of aircraft earlier in the war. The Fairey Seafox is a possibility, but the Walrus is not "completely inappropriate." I don't have any positive references to either.
If GHQ does model the Enterprise with a Walrus and you want a Kingfisher, it would be easy to get one from the extra catapults provided with almost all mid- to late-war US cruisers and battleships.
Actually, Don, most of the smaller "modern" RN light cruisers (the Ajax class, the Arethusas while they still embarked seaplanes, and the RAN Hobarts) all carried Sea Foxes, so a Walrus would definitely look out of place on Enterprise. Lepold's suggestion to use the Dutch floatplanes would probably work--I have at least one of my Dutch destroyers carrying one, and it doesn't look too bad.
I supposeI ought to mention that I'd like to see the model for the Enterprise "borrow" a Kingfisher/catapult piece from one of the USN kits because it would enhance the model's uniqueness. HMS Enterprise arguably deserves to be modelled for her combat record alone, but she was also an improved D class cruiser completed too late for service in WWI who saw action in the Second World War with a centerline twin 6 inch turret. Toss in the fact that she was the only RN cruiser--quite possibly the only RN ship--to operate the OS2U Kingfisher, and you've got a remarkable model. If GHQ does go with a Walrus as her embarked aircraft, I'll buy her anyway, but she'll get modified pretty quickly.
Lepold mentioning the Sea Fox also got me thinking about the fact that the small <general purpose" RN light cruisers had their aircraft handling facilities deleted quite a bit earlier than the County, Town, and Colony class ships. The Arethusas lost their catapults prewar, if I recall, and should never have had them shoehorned in in the first place, but the other ships--Hobart and the surviving Ajaxes--had their AA armament augmented, and something else had to go (the RN was quite a bit more cautious about reserve margins than the USN). However, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Sea Fox was being phased out of service at the same time. It would make the decision a little easier to justify. Even so, Enterprise didn't lose her catapult until much later, and carried a Kingfisher for a couple of years. Guess that's what makes ship modeling fun ...
); there's always next year. Regarding the HMS Enterprise though--I'd like to make a suggestion/request regarding her embarked aircraft. During the mid-war years (including her skirmishes with German destroyers), Enterprise carried a Lend-Lease OS2U Kingfisher floatplane, which looked quite large on her (almost brings the USN's catapult-equipped Fletchers to mind). A Supermarine Walrus would be completely inappropriate for her. The link below (from uboat.net) is to perhaps the best known WWII photograph of the ship, from 1943 if I remember correctly.
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