Wise decision Norm, one can go bonkers with the last fanatical details 🤔
As you say there were so many changes due to battle damage (and rapid tech developments as well) but you have a wonderful representative of the class👍
I'm proud to have played a small part in her creation! 😊
Well done, Congrats Doug 😎
BTW: she was -
Laid down: 27 April 1937
Launched: 5 April 1939
Commissioned: 25 May 1940
Decommissioned: late February 1955
Out of service: February 1955
Scrapped 1956.
Motto: Vox non incerta
(Latin: "No Uncertain Voice")
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Illustrious_(87)

Appreciate the comments. Yes, you did help tremendously, thanks. Next ship not yet determined. My wife on tenterhooks!

Hi.
Not sure if the attached pictures will help.They are not all from Illustrious but do show some good detail.The pictures of the book pages are of HMS Victorious,sister ship.May be of help to you.
regards Bill.

Great pics, thanks. Not one with a shield which is surprising.

Beautiful! You must have had her on a trailer to the harbour. How was she constructed?
I would have liked to build mine to the same scale, but just don't have the space or facility to transport to our little lake. Only way would be to build in two halves. There is a bloke in Hamilton who built a US carrier to 1/96, brought it to our annual regatta. Not very detailed. Weighed a ton - put ballast in after launching. Was very susceptible to wind. Carried it in the back of a ute in a case with red flag on the overhang. Had a set of wheels to get it to launch.
Most of my RC models are to 1/96 except Nelson to 1/192. I had intended to build her to 1/96 in two halves, but at some stage she would have had to be joined during construction, and my workshop has a washing machine and drier in it so just not on.
What drawings did you use?

Plank on frame construction, glassed over. Can't recall source - too darn long ago! Moved around in back of a Toyota van.
Japan website are making 1/200 kit of her.

Is this anything like? Obviously to be cleaned up.

Hi Norm, yep that's the idea. 👍 I believe though that the verticals should be at least twice the length of the horizontals.
There would also have been a small round box at the centre where the connections were made. Feeder cable runs down the inside of one of the mast uprights.
I think I found the pic that you referred to, see pic #1.
It shows Lusty as in March 1947.
Pic #2 shows her early in the war without this 'box'!
Interesting is that the 1947 pic also shows an outrigger on the mast and what looks like a so called 'strossed' antenna.
This was a version of the vertical antenna where the antenna wire was extended back down over the outrigger to increase the effective length in an attempt to improve the matching to the 50Ohm output of the TX RF power amplifier. Was not very successful and soon disappeared when robust whip and rod antennas with automatic tuning units were developed.😉 I leave it to you to decide which era and equipment you want to depict. Cheers Doug.