#175 HMS Fearless

Building the vintage classic HMS Fearless from Airfix in 1:600 scale.

Build

Notes

This is one of the few kits I remember building as a kid. IIRC, my Dad brought it home as a present after a work trip. It got the stringy glue treatment, I don’t think even painted. But many an hour was spent recreating beach landings over the living room carpet.

So this is very much a nostalgia build. I built it straight out of the box during a local 48 hour group build, but put it on a seascape in the following weeks.

The Kit

HMS Fearless Airfix No. 03205 1:600 is the 1994 boxing of the 1968 tool.

kit-parts

Paint Scheme

Feature	Color	Recommended	Paint Used
hull, superstructure	Light Aircraft Grey	Humbrol 64	H61
funnel tops, waterline	Matt Black	Humbrol 33	H12
flight deck, deck	Dull Green	Humbrol 117	H320
anchors	Bronze	Humbrol 55	H61
propellers	Bronze	Humbrol 55	70.999
life rafts	Matt White	Humbrol 34	70.951
hull below waterline	Dark Red	Humbrol 73	H17

Helicopters

Feature	Color	Recommended	Paint Used
camo	Medium Green	Humbrol 30	H309
camo	Light Brown	Humbrol 26	H81
props			H65
windows			70.989

Build Log

I chose the Fearless as my subject for our local 48 hour group build in July 2026. Getting started…

build01a

build01b

build01c

build01d

build01e

build01f

build01g

build01h

build01i

Ship Build Complete

This is where I go to at the end of our 48 hour group build: basic out of the box build, no weathering or extra details.

build02a

build02b

build02c

build02d

build02e

build02f

build02g

build02h

build02i

Seascape - Base

I used my standard technique for the sea base:

cut & carved the base structure from high density foam
created the basic surface texture with tissue paper and Mod Podge Gloss as a glue
built up successive layers of airbrushed Vallejo Model colour (various shades of grey, blues, sea greens) over layers of Mod Podge Gloss.

build03a

build03b

Seascape - Waves and Weathering

After adding the ship to the base:

waves and foam built up with:
- cotton wool applied with Mod Podge Gloss
- Deluxe Scenic Snowflakes applied with Mod Podge Gloss
oil paint weathering of the ship itself

build04a

build04b

build04c

Oops, I spot some decals that need some more aggressive attention with Mr Mark Softer. Overall the decals were surprisingly good given how old my boxing was. They were quite yellowed and I didn’t expect them to work as well as they did (or at all).

build04d