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Does anyone know of a review of the Trumpeter 1/350 Luda class destroyer "Chinese 166 Zhu Hai" ? Many sources seem to suggest it was derived from the Russian Cold War Kotlin class, and if that is the case I am considering converting and back dating it to a 60's era Soviet Kotlin. Any views or references? Thanks Terry

I have already trailed this in my Dido build, but I ought really to reveal what I am up to. Dido - now at the painting stage, so progressing nicely - has been my first full ship build for a good while, and I have seriously enjoyed it... plus the modular nature of building ships seems to suit my weird weekdays only, away from home current set-up. I am painting Dido with enamels and (in due course) some oils, which will require plenty of drying time... so I’ve decided on the next project. Dido was my first ship: my second was the County Class DLG HMS Norfolk. I joined her in July 1981, straight out of university. Only a few weeks later she was sold to Chile, and her programme no longer really worked for a young officer who needed lots of sea experience to get his tickets, so in November 81 I was re-appointed to Fearless as she emerged from refit in the Tyne. 6 months later I found myself in San Carlos Water... but that’ll be a story for a future build. Norfolk, therefore, is the Prat part of this build (her Chilean name was Almirante Prat). She will be modelled looking something like this (a photo of her sailing from Pompey during my time on board, September 1981 en route to Amsterdam). However, I actually have two Atlantic Models 1/350 DLGs. The second is a commission for one of my oldest friends; he has a significant birthday next year. We didn’t actually meet until 1982, but he too served in a DLG around this time. While I was in San Carlos in Fearless, my mate was out on the gun line in HMS Glamorgan. We all know what happened next - indeed Mark was on the bridge when she was hit. Happily both Glamorgan and he survived. So in parallel with a relatively shiny Norfolk, I will be building a distinctly battered sister; my plan is to try to reproduce this scene, which is Glamorgan entering Pompey with very clear battle scars in July 1982. The wrecked hangar area will require some ingenuity, but I have some good reference shots & I’m sure it’s doable. Here, just because it’s the law at the start of any build, is one of the two kits: This won’t be quick, and I haven’t finished Dido yet... but that’s what is next on the hoist. Crisp

Next on the building mat, a 1/350 Astuste Class Submarine using the HobbyBoss kit. The Astute Class is the current class of 'Hunter-killer' of the RN, replacing the older Trafalgar Class. Box art Hull halves. The upper hull comes complete the fin and aft planes fitted. Traditionally the fin would have been 2 parts and the after planes 4. Sprue shot that looks like parts for the top of the fin, masts, rudder,propulsion and foreplanes. Some photo-etch. Some 'blurb', instructions and painting call-out. Looks like a simple build but I've never built a HobbyBoss kit, so that might come back to bite me on the 'arras'. Stuart

Time for a new project; The 1/350 HMS Hood with some aftermarket add-ons; Artworx wooden deck; Flyhawk PE and Trumpeter after market set (mainly for the barrels; Eduard PE along with Northstar secondary guns mounts, Vickers MGs, searchlights and bridge equipment and White Ensign replacement turrets; It's going to be a long project and it's a bit hard to know where to start really - so started on the hull; Removed the moulded degausing cable and drilled the scuttles to give a bit more depth - some where filled and replaced using various photos as references along with the hawse pipe hull openings; Scrapped away the moulded chain and drilled the deck hawse pipe openings; Fore deck fitted with the bow full of filler - when it's dry I'll try and drill the hawse pipes to connect hull and deck openings. Never tried it before but if it doesn't work the anchors and gratings will cover it, so worth a go; Thanks for looking. Cheers Nick

So having seen this: http://www.alide.com.br/Artigo/HMS Spartan/HMS Spartan.htm and this: It inspired me to try this: And this: To create this: And this: I'm in the process of correcting the bow to look more like this: This so far: And that's up to date. Here's to finishing it!

Starting another build now I have a clear slipway after Abercrombie is done. HMS Eskimo a tribal class destroyer built on the Tyne now this kit has a few issues so i will attempt to correct them. I will be using the WEM Tribal PE set and also the ships boat set from WEM and the North Star 4 barrel pom-pom but first I have to re-shape the shear on the Bow and re-locate the hawser pipes for the anchors As you can see the bow shear on the kit is flat this needs to be raised by 3mm back to about the breakwater It should look like this as with the Atlantic Models HMS Scorpion kit but why do all this work So I can build up my skills with the PE and all the other stuff I do not want to make a mess of an expensive resin kit so this is another practice build and the plastic kit was only £20 So will start to pack out the rise in the shear with various size plastic rods then fill in the gaps and hawser holes Wish me luck beefy

Well, here we go with another WiP, this time it'll be a submarine. Now, don't expect a long epic build as they don't happen with modern submarine kits. The WiPs subject is the Vanguard Class SSBN in 1/350 by Bronco. The Vanguard class is currently in service with the Royal Navy after replacing the dated Polaris Class and its replacement, the Dreadnought, is already on its way. This is a big box, it's only that size due the length of the hull. Box contents: hull halves, one sprue, PE, base and instruction booklet. Eight page instruction booklet. Hull halves. The sprue. Like most submarine kits, even more so with modern types, has few parts to contend with, so this shouldn't take long. It will be interesting to the size comparison between the Vanguard and Polaris SSBNs. Stuart

I'm working on converting Airfix's 1/350 Trafalgar to a Swiftsure class. I thought I had read somewhere that all the Swiftsures used the shrouded pump jet propulsor, does anyone know if that is correct? If not, do we know which boat used which propulsion method?

Good time of day. I want to present a model of the most famous "pocket battleship" Germany Admiral Graf Spee in scale 1/350 of the Academy. Set contrary to expectations is quite oak, but the geometry is better than the alternative from Trumpeter. Sets used: - A set of photo-etched parts from Eduard - Deck from Artwox - Barrels 28, 15 and 10,5cm from the Master model - The barrels of the 3,7 and 2.0cm from the Aber set for destroyers type 1936В - Thread for rigging from AMO MIG - Decal from Begemot The model represents rather a collective image of the ship at the beginning of the war. Modifications: - All portholes are drilled out and after colouring are filled in with liquid glass. - 20mm guns taken from the couple sets of destroyers and complemented by etched and metall barrels. - The deadwood shafts and their brackets are made anew. The shafts of the nails under the brass, of suitable diameter, mounting brackets from sheet plastic. Replaced the screws, the screws from the Japanese cruisers from the kit from Aoshima battleship Kongo. - Jack-staff and a ensign staff made of wire. - Stands-taken from the academic Bismarck, processed and painted with gold Valejo, and the top is covered with a thick layer of glossy varnish Akan. - Sharpened the bow near the waterline, because of the box he is more suited to the tanker. - Windlass-a combination of sprues, etching and parts of the windlass set. - Deck-plastic deck turned over and lowered below that would be "wooden" deck sat flush with the Board. Looks good. But, the more I am on such experiments probably will not be resolved. As a whole on Assembly it is possible to tell that it was necessary to adjust practically all details. On the right side of the armored car missed one slot, it must be added yourself. Photo came out not simple at all. The model is not small and the current box just did not fit, so I had in some places not to remove the white background. Sorry for my english😇 25 photo in to spoiler

Those of you who know me (largely from prolonged builds in the aircraft section - notably a 1/48 Seaking HAS5, as yet unfinished) will know that I recently got a new job after 2 very frustrating years of unemployment. Though this is a Very Good Thing by any standard, it has meant that I have not touched a model of any sort in about 2 months - also partly because of the hot weather, which made my man cave barely habitable. The job is in London, which means that I am staying up here 2 or 3 nights per week. Aha! Modelling time. The Seaking is much too delicate in its current state to be moved up to the Smoke, so I have decided to start something new. I joined the RN in 1978, straight from school, but was lucky enough to get a university cadetship (paid to be a student; what’s not to like?). In the long Summer holidays you were sent to sea for about 8 weeks - I assumed that we’d be doing fishery protection in a Ton, or similar (which would have been fine), but for some reason best known to the Admiralty, even my Summer 1979 training came into the Jammy Sod category; I joined HMS Dido. In Perth. As in Western Australia. She was part of a task group (I think led by Norfolk, and I remember a Type 12 and a Tribal being with us, among others) that deployed for 7 months - I joined her in Fremantle and left to fly home from Sydney in mid-trip. It was rough, I tell you (actually it really WAS rough crossing the Australian Bight, but that’s another story). So Dido was my first ship, and since I have a long term plan to build every ship in which I served (Dido, London, Norfolk (both DLGs, not the later 22 & 23), Fearless, Boxer, Ark Royal, Broadsword & Blackwater, in that order), she wins. The kit will be Peter Hall’s (Atlantic Models, for those who don’t know him) 1/350 resin, white metal & PE kit - and if you have never built an Atlantic kit, do yourself a favour and do so, because they are stunning. In due course, Norfolk & London will also be from the same stable. While I was away from the forum, Flickr seems to have followed Photobucket into oblivion / flithy lucre (it won’t let me in without signing up for Yahoo, and since I’d rather poke out my own eyes than go back to Yahoo, I’m looking for my 3rd picture host in 9 months). I seem to have settled on Village.Photos...but have yet to work out how to post from there onto here using an iPad... [Any tips gratefully received!] So pictures will follow in due course. Thus far nothing much to see anyway; just cleaning up parts and poring over references. But it is nice to be back. @perdu, @Martian Hale and my other friends, you’ll find me over here in the watery section for a while. More soon Crisp [Test photo - showing the work done to remove the 4.5” turret base and 2nd breakwater, and fettle the Ikara handling room etc to fit onto the front of the bridge screen. Plus the Jecobin plns of Euryalus, Dido’s sister. This is all dry fitting at the moment]

Just started out on another model from the Bandai's Resistance Vehicle Set which includes two 1/144 T-70 X-Wings along with this 1/350 Falcon from the Last Jedi. Few parts but great detail. I'm really impressed by the pipes which run from the hull into the maintenance pits. The parts were all very clean except for the radar dish, which had a prominent mold line running down the center. I laid down a base coat of Badger Stynylrez Black Primer followed by random squiggles of Vallejo Model Air 71.119 White Gray to give some modulation to the hull color. I just received a set of Flory Washes in the mail yesterday, so I'm eager to try them out soon.

The good news is that today - the announcement was made that HMS Exeter Item No.: 05350 in Scale: 1:350 was released - so in a couple of months it should be on the shelves in the West ( I believe the new kits get released first in the far East , for a few months ) note confirmation is visible of this fact on the Official Trumpeter of China website kind regards

Good afternoon. I present to you my build of Combrig's re-boxing of U-Boat Laboratorium's UB I type coastal submarine in 1/350, painted as UB-2 (though the plaque says UB 1). From the kit's instruction sheet: "UB-2 entered service on February 18, 1915 and was attached to training Kurland flotilla. An experienced sailor oberleutnant-zur-see Werner Furbringer, future high-scoring U-boot commander and 'Blue Max' winner, became her first captain. "Having successfully completed training UB-2 passed to Flandria to a first line unit. Sincethe beginning of May 1915 up to the end of December 1916 she completed 40 combat cruises and sunk 11 vessels. In January 1917 the submarine transferred to a training flotilla and served there until the end of the war." My first resin ship kit, and was very simple to build; she's barely 3 inches long! The hull was a single piece with the other parts being the rubber assembly, rigging, railing and various other parts. And I lost the propeller. I scratch-built the masts from brass rod and some of the rigging wires with nickel wire. I used Mig Ammo Medium Grey and Citadel Abaddon Black for the paint scheme, and a Copic liner for the face. Weathering was done with an oil paint dot streaking method and Mig Ammo's Rust Oilbrusher. Enjoy!

Trumpeter 1/350 HMS Dreadnought in a scratchbuilt Portsmouth dry dock number 15. PE by WEM including the cage aerial cages, 12pdr's, searchlights and figures by Northstar, resin planks and crates from l'Arsenal. Main gun barrels from Master Barrels. Extra cutters missing from the kit from the Shapeways. The dockside cranes are also 3d printed from my own design. Rigging a mixture of Caenis and Uschi line. Sign by Paul Boyle at http://www.pbmodelmaking.co.uk/ Build WIP here; Thanks to everyone who followed the WIP and provided help and advice along the way, particularly Dave Swindell and Kris - can't believe you got your's finished before me Kris Pics are a mixture of phone and DLSR, outdoors and then in cos it started raining Few detailed views; Guys mopping the deck watched by a PO; These chaps are in trouble for something; Whilst the lucky 3 leaving the ship with bags are going on leave; And these poor buggers are loading stores onto the ship, watched by the dockyard workers; Cranes doing craney stuff; An officer being ferried over by cutter; And the Captain surveying his empire; Hope you like it, any comments gratefully received. Cheers Nick I've taken a few more pics, the idea being to use a more realistic angle and try and date some to look like period photo's; Cheers Nick

I thought I would share a potentially different idea for using the existing Trumpeter Display Base Stand - I got the Trumpeter ' Dry Dock ' Display Stand coverted to accept 2 Silver Ship Pedestals for the 1/350 HMS Repulse Model - the Plastic Kit Display Stand was strengthened underneath with 2 Aluminium Supports to transfer the weight of the completed Model to the ground - rather than the Kit display stand plastic - and 2 proper steel screws and washers to fix the Model to the stand - maybe of some interest ?? note the method works perfectly for any Trumpeter 1/350 Kit ( I recommend you take the Display Stand and 2 Pedestals to an Engineer and get it altered like this ) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Model-Ship-D ... 3446606152? These are the ones that I bought on Ebay , from the same seller , but there are others on ebay as well ( search 1/350 Pedestals Ship )

USS Gambier Bay is best known for her action during the Battle off Samar as a part of Task Force 77.4.3. On the morning of October 25th 1944, Vice Admiral Kurita's center force, consisting of 4 battleships (including Yamato), 8 Heavy cruisers and 11 destroyers broke through the San Bernardino Straight and were in a position to threaten the American landings at Leyte Gulf. All that stood between Kurita and the landing force was Taffy 3; 6 escort carriers, 3 destroyers and 4 destroyer escorts. In what is possibly the greatest naval mismatch in the history of warfare, Taffy 3 managed to halt, then turn back Kurita's ships despite their overwhelming superiority. Almost all of taffy 3's ships suffered damage, with 2 destroyers, 1 destroyer escort and 2 escort carriers sunk, this included Gambier Bay. It's thought she was sunk by a combination of 14 and 18 inch main battery gunfire from Yamato and Kongo and was the only carrier sunk by surface gunfire in the Pacific. The kit looks quite nice and I've wanted an escort carrier for some time, but the price was always very high here, around 200 dollars. However last year I happened upon a second hand one for less than half price and well I had to have it! As you can see I've made a bit of a start on it today, fit thus far seems pretty nice. I will add a little photo etch to it to spruce things up.

Hi guys. Here I present my second sub of 2018, a 1/350 Resolution Class SSBN of the Royal Navy by MikroMir. Like most submarine kits in this scale; they have few parts, a few decals and if you're lucky some PE. A simple build that needed only a little filler. RN subs are rather bland... black, so here it is painted satin black overall with a matt black for 'non-slip' deck. I tend to think that the fin looks too cluttered if all the masts are fitted, so I fit what I consider the 'surfaced' arrangement of search periscope, radar and W/T mast. To add a bit of scale, a couple of Tamiya figures were added. Thanks for looking. Stuart

Hey Guys, This is the old(ish) Zvezda offering boxed under Flagman, which also have their Hotel Class K-19. The kit is not necessarily basic, but its one one sprue and most of the parts go into the various masts on the sail. The kit is curiously designed in the way that the two hull halves go together to leave a gap on the top, where the decks are later fitted. Even more curiously is how they give you a flat deck piece thats meant to bend down over the bow. Furthermore the conning tower was left separate in two halves. Two towers were provided so that you could either produce the Project. 627 or the Project. 627A which was a later (and more common) variant with a different sonar set up including a German-esque chin sonar bulb. The rest of the kit was simple enough but I must say the fit was poor. The bow hydroplanes and the various stern planes locating pins were oversized when compared to the holes they were designed for. and where the hydroplanes aft of the propellers were, they seemed to be too far forward and had to be adjusted to allow the fitting of the propeller. The model was painted with colourcoats (ex-White Ensign) Hull red and NATO Black from Tamiya. Then using oil paints I streaked from all of the major inlet valves for both the main and trim ballast tanks finishing with a coat of Xtracolour Matte Varnish. And here she is with some of her contemporaries as well as successors As you may have/haven't seen my photo set up is pretty rough so hopefully you'll be able to at least see the outline! Thanks for looking Sam

If you have looked at any of my current builds (Seafire 47/Seafang; HMS Brinton and/or Walrus), you will know by now that I have fractured my wrist. I cannot model one-handed, so I have been wracking my brains about what I can do for the time until I get my left arm back from the menders. The power of modern technology is at least helping in one respect; I am dictating this post into my MacBook Air and will then cut & paste it into BM; no one-finger, one-hand typing for me! Right, so you can't build models for a while, Crisp - why start a new thread then? Because... well, read on. Many of you already know that I served on board HMS Fearless in 1981-1982, including during the Falklands War. The ship, therefore, for reasons that will be obvious, has a very special place in my heart, and it has always been a long-term plan of mine to build a model of her. Kits were very thin until a couple of years ago; basically there was the ancient 1/600 Airfix job. It can be done - one build in particular on the internet shows a wonderful result from that particular elderly sow's ear [http://steeleelstudios.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/marine-art-and-modelmaking-hms-fearless.html]. But it's not my scale - I am very much a 1/350 man when it comes to ships - and if I am going to spend hundreds of hours scratch building, then I might as well scratch build the whole thing. The utterly stunning Hermes, Broadsword and Yarmouth build on this very site (take a bow, @andrewa) shows what is possible and has been a massive inspiration to me. If you have not already seen this masterpiece, then go and look at it now. Actually, do so even if you have; it is superb modelling. [No pressure, then, Crisp…] There will be two Fearless builds shown in this thread; one will be the scratch built 1/350 one I have wanted to do for so long. This will be built docked down in action, as in San Carlos Water, probably as on about 24th May 1982, when this well-known photograph was taken (from one of the Rapier batteries on the hill). [You can tell it was around May 24th, because that Lynx on deck is Antelope's - she had blown up the previous day. I spent much of the war working on the flight deck - this was before I started my flying training]. I have assembled quite a few detailed parts for the 1/350 one, mostly from Peter Hall at Atlantic: I have 4 x Seacat launchers, a Cheverton (Captain's barge), motor whaler (sea boat), 2 x 40/60 Bofors guns, some basic LCU hulls (which may or may not be suitable for adaptation), and plenty of Seaking material which will be left over from Ark Royal. I also have lots of resin bitts, fairleads, hawser reels, etc. and PE RN pattern doors, hatches and ladders. As you would expect, I have lots of reference material, of which the three most useful books are these - two widely available, and the other (the home-produced pamphlet which every member of the Ship's Company took away with them when we got back) definitely not. Ewen Southby-Tailyour's book is particularly good because it has some clear photos of areas you don't normally see (like the inside of the tank deck0. I also have copious plans from Jecobin - and we will come back to those. The second Fearless model - which will be the first to be finished, no doubt - will be half the size; the L'Arsenal 1/700 resin and PE kit. It was launched at ScaleModelWorld in about 2012, and you won't be astonished to learn that I snapped one up instantly. I will not be starting it yet (too many other builds on the go, not to mention the wrist thing!), but I will give you the statutory intro shots. The box: And the contents: The L'Arsenal kit looks very nice, though it's not perfect; it is billed as Fearless as she was in 1982, but some of the details show her as she was a few years later, post-refit - notably the guns (which are BMARC 30mm rather than ancient Mk.7 40mm Bofors) and the chaff launchers on the bridge wing (which are SuperRBOC rather than the old-fashioned Corvus). Nothing, though, that cannot be fixed. I also found a build of this kit in an Airfix Modeller Magazine back issue, in which he says that the only problem he encountered was that the flight deck in his copy was a horrible fit. Yep, me too. Time for some plastic card, I think. Really nasty, bubbly casting on that flight deck, too - which is odd, because the rest of the kit is beautifully cast; here, for example, the fo'c's'le with a Swann-Morton No 11 alongside for scale. Rather than repeat the San Carlos scenario at half the size, I will probably build the L'Arsenal version to show her as she steamed back into Portsmouth in July 1982, missing one LCU (F4 having been sunk) and bearing her battle scars. ANYWAY... why start this thread now, when I cannot model? Because the one thing you definitely need when scratch building is a really good set of plans. I have these; the 1/192 Jecobin jobs, which are excellent, and of which I have already produced numerous copies reduced to 1/350, which will be cut up to produce templates etc. You will note that I have plans for BOTH Intrepid and Fearless - because neither of them show the ship in the 1982 configuration. Intrepid is as built, when the rear of the superstructure was very different. Fearless is as post-refit, with Phalanx, modern guns, a revised comms fit etc. So what I plan to do during my enforced lay-off is to combine the two sets on my computer, and generate a full set of plans for Fearless as she actually was in 1982. Those of you who followed my SeaKing rivet marathon will recall that i did something quite similar then. There will be no modelling in this thread for some time; but in the next few weeks there will be updates showing progress towards accurate plans for the time I wish to depict her. More soon-ish Crisp [P.S. Why "explicit women"? Because the motto under Fearless' crest is EXPLICIT NOMEN - essentially, "The name speaks for itself" - but shortly before the Falklands malarkey we had to pulp a load of publicity leaflets (for open days etc) because it had a misprint; the junior officers immediately adopted the revised motto.]

( note the images are from imgur - so are safe ! ) I thought the forum might be interested in a method of making the Trumpeter ' Dry Dock Style ' Display Stand much more attractive - I have used 2 Silver Pedestal stands that I bought on ebay last year . You can easily find them for sale elsewhere ( eg Pontos or Mk1 Design - do them ) I went to a local Metal Engineer Firm and got my 2 Silver Ship Pedestals ready to fix to the Repulse Kit Hull of my 1/350 HMS Repulse .󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 I have used the black plastic Trumpeter Kit Display Stand ( this was strengthened underneath ( my idea ) with 2 Aluminium Base Supports to transfer the weight of the completed Model to the ground surface - rather than just onto two areas ( which might be potentially weak ) of kit plastic of the Kit Dry Dock display stand ( better safe than sorry ) . I have taken a few photos to show you - note the Silver Pedestals did NOT have any bolts or washers supplied - so the new ones are made of Steel = total cost for me £ 18 and I think that's not a bad price for the work involved and the craftsmanship . This is British Engineering 🇬🇧 !! just to show what you can use to make the Trumpeter kit display stand a lot nicer

I have been absent from the ship section of this site for far too long. I plan to get back to my long-paused Ark Royal 1987 build this year, but before I do I thought I'd get my 1/350 eye back in. I was in the RN from 1978 - 1997, and my (very long term!) plan is to build a 1/350 model of every ship in which I served (and 1/48 model of every type of aircraft that I flew, but that's over in a another part of the forum!). That means, in order... Dido, Norfolk, Fearless, Boxer, Ark Royal, Broadsword & Blackwater... In some cases a good quality model is available; I have the Atlantic Models Ikara Leander (Dido) and DLG (Norfolk) kits safely in the stash. You can find my Ark Royal elsewhere on here. Though the chances of a mainstream kit of them are approximately nil, I am still hopeful that Peter Hall will get round to a Batch 1 Type 22 (Broadsword), and it's not completely impossible that he will do a Batch 2 (Boxer). After that it gets dodgy; I am going to have to scratch build Blackwater and Fearless - but since they respectively were my first (and only) command and the ship in which I went to war, they're arguably the most important of the lot! Anyway, most of those are along way off. When I was appointed to Blackwater in early 1992, she was in refit and not looking ready to emerge for at least a month, so my Boss sent me to sea in order to get some early experience of the Fisheries Protection malarkey before I was in charge of a patrol in my own ship. So I was never officially appointed to Brinton, but I spent a couple of very happy weeks in her in early 1992, boarding dodgy French and Portuguese trawlers in the Western Channel. There is also the modelling point of view; I am doing this because it will be first experience of one of Peter's beautiful kits, and I thought I would learn on a relatively simple one (no monstrously complex PE radars or Sea Slug launchers!); Brinton fits that description perfectly. So here we go with the statutory box photo: As you can see, I have a copy of the stunning Jecobin plans (I never do a ship build without decent plans), shown here reduced to 1/350 size. The plans are of Nurton, and the model matches them beautifully - those of you who followed @Paul E's Brereton build last year will recall that this means the kit isn't actually Upton (who was a 'sweeper rather than a 'hunter, and the kit is a 'hunter). [If you don't know what I am talking about, Paul explains it far better than me in his build, including photos!] Luckily for me, Brinton was definitely a mine hunter, so the kit can be used for her without any significant surgery. Apart from the Jecobin plans and a few photos, my only other reference source is this, which contains some useful close-ups of the class in all its varied forms: I am also lucky enough to have a sheet of Paul E's home-baked extra PE, which will allow me to improve a few details (doors, windows, the Bofors, petrol stowage rack, etc) - seen here in the foreground, with the resin, white metal and PE of Peter's original kit, plus some Master brass 40/60 Bofors gun barrels. So here goes! I should warn you that I also have a Seafire 47, a Seafang and a Walrus on the go at present, plus I am being badgered to re-start my Sea King and Ark Royal builds... this is not likely to be quick. But it should be fun... [famous last words]. More soon Crisp P.S. Why the title? Brinton had a long-standing affiliation with Fyffes bananas (the reasons are lost in the mists of time), and throughout her service both in MCM3 and the Fish Squadron had a large yellow banana proudly displayed on the bridge screen. [Auto-correct seems intent on telling me that Brinton should actually say Brenton, so if I slip at times during the build, blame Apple!]

I haven't assembled a warship since my youth, and I will not tell that this was looooooong time ago. But the Admiral Graf Spee and all the story and myths surrounding the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939 has always attracted me, so I decided to leave my airplane models to rest for a while, and assemble the Trumpeter 1/350 Graf Spee. I got the Eduard PE set as well and Master Models metal cannon barrels for the main and secondary cannons, and for the 105mm AA, really beautiful. I want to represent the ship as it would have been right before the battle, with the Dark Gray camo. I haven't decided yet if I will assemble the Ar196 non-operational (w/o engine, wings folded, as it was in the morning of the battle after it's second engine broke down the day before, or maybe complete it with the disguised markings as it was couple days before the battle, will see). Apart from the stern anchor recess being in the wrong direction, I haven'r really found any issue with the kit. There are some really big rivets on the main cannon towers and secondary cannons, but you can fis this easily with careful sanding (would have loved to get the correct boat types for 1939, but ok, nothing is perfect). I have started assembling as per instructions the armament, cranes and boats. Substituted already all the plastic cannons for the metal ones, a big improvement, only thing is that the metal ones are very prone to scratches while manipulating them. Some scratchbuilding as required, but the kit is excellent, really enjoying this change! The rear opening of the secondary armament turrets required correction of the shape, it comes a a square opening and should have rounded upper corners. Eduard PE doors were sanded narrower as well. With the metal cannons replacing the plastic ones, the turrets look impressive! (it is a pitty that you have to paint them, HA!) Marco

To all pre-dreadnought fans, a German pre-dreadnought battleship is going to become available in 1/350! Trumpeter listed SMS Schleswig-Holstein, the last of the German pre-dreads, in the 1/350 section of their 2018/19 catalogue!

Hello maritime builders. I’ve been slowly getting back into this hobby this year and this is my very first attempt at maritime modelling so I know there’ll be plenty of mistakes, but I wanted to do it to learn new skills and techniques. As described in the ‘Work in progress’ thread, this Hobbyboss kit is really excellent for its size and cost and is a very quick build. The kit has been built OOTB with the only exception being the VLF aerials. These were added because they’re a prominent feature on the full size craft, although finding a suitable scale size medium proved a bit troublesome. In the end my darling partner came to the rescue and donated some of her very fine hair which happened to be near enough scale in thickness. The hair was fixed in place with medium CA glue and the insulators were simply blobs of thick CA. The hair was painted in German Grey and the insulators in Red Brown. I’m fairly happy with the end result and I had intended to place the sub on a ‘North Sea’ diorama, but chickened out as making dioramas is a whole new skill that I need to learn at a later date. Anyway, modelling at this scale with Mr. Magoo eyes and sausage fingers has tested my patience somewhat (especially the PE and aerial wires), but it’s certainly kept me entertained! BTW, as ever, constructive criticism is more than welcome and I must say a big thank you to Tobby on this forum as it was his U-boat presentation that inspired me to have a go.

After serving in RN subs on and off for 9 years, first serving on HMS Courageous, a brief period on Conqueror and lastly on Renown, I thought it was remiss of me not to have better collection of subs. I have some of these subs already in 1/700 scale by OKB but they're just too small and with little else on the market, I drifted to the 'dark-side' of aircraft. I have recently read threads about converting the 1/350 Trafalgar Class to the Swiftsure Class and was wondering if the same donor kit can be used to get a Valiant Class, Dreadnought or is it a none starter? Stuart