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Flower Class Corvette, HMS Spiraea Mirage Models 1:350 The Flower class were an essential resource for North Atlantic convoy protection until larger vessels such as destroyer escorts and frigates could be produced in sufficient quantities. The simple design of the Flower class using parts and techniques (scantlings) common to merchant shipping meant they could be constructed in small commercial shipyards all over the United Kingdom and eastern Canada, where larger (or more sophisticated) warships could not be built. Additionally, the use of commercial triple expansion machinery instead of steam turbines meant the largely Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve crews that were manning the corvettes would be familiar with their operation. Flower-class vessels were slow for a warship, with maximum speed of 16 kn (30 km/h). They were also very lightly armed as they were intended solely for anti-submarine warfare; many of the RCN's original Flower-class ships were initially fitted with minesweeping equipment, while virtually all of the modified Flowers were fitted with a limited anti-aircraft capability. The original Flowers had the standard RN layout, consisting of a raised forecastle, a well deck, then the bridge or wheelhouse, and a continuous deck running aft. The crew quarters were in the fo’c’sle while the galley was at the rear, making for poor messing arrangements. The modified Flowers saw the forecastle extended aft past the bridge to the aft end of the funnel, a variation known as the "long forecastle" design. Apart from providing a very useful space where the whole crew could gather out of the weather, the added weight improved the ships' stability and speed and was retroactively applied to a number of the original Flower-class vessels during the mid and latter years of the war. The original Flowers had a mast located immediately forward the bridge, a notable exception to naval practice at that time. The modified Flowers saw the mast returned to the normal position immediately aft of the bridge; however, this does not seem to have been done in all of the modified builds or conversions of the original vessels. A cruiser stern finished the appearance for all vessels in the class. HMS Spiraea, a long fo’c’sle Flower, the subject of this kit, was launched on 31 October 1940 at Glasgow, Scotland and entered nominal service on 27 February 1941. In 1943, she recovered the survivors of two separate sinkings (the merchant vessels Oporto and Fort Howe), of which the Fort Howe effort was in conjunction with Alisma. Surviving the war she was sold to the Greek Navy and renamed Thessaloniki. The Model Originally released in 2013, Mirage Hobby have now re-issued this lovely little kit. The kit comes in a top opening box with a nice representation of the ship at sea on the front. Inside there are three sprues of medium grey styrene, a small sheet of etched brass and a small decal sheet. Normally, being more of a short run kit, you would expect some flash etc, but this is not the case. There is only a little flash but no other imperfections, but the sprue gates are quite extensive, particularly noticeable on the davits and yardarms, so be very careful when removing these and other small items as they are liable to break. Alternatively these could be replaced with aftermarket items. The moulded details are quite restrained but well done. The hull appears to be correct, including the stem post which doesn’t look like an 8 x 8 block as per some other kits. Unfortunately the instructions leave a lot to be desired, in that the diagrams are small and quite cluttered, it may be best to scan it and blow it up to at least A4/page. The build begins with the joining of the two hull halves followed by the quarterdeck and forward bulkhead. The fo’c’sle and shelter decks are then attached. On the quarterdeck the two depth charge racks, each of two halves are glued into position, along with the depth charge derrick, Ensign Staff, two mushroom vents, three rows of spare depth charges a hatch and two pairs of bollards. Along each side of the shelter deck there are two depth charge throwers, plus seven spare depth charges on the port side and eleven on the starboard side. On top of the depth charge rails a platform and Carley float are fitted. Moving foreward the shelter deck is fitted out with the single 2pdr PomPom gun and mounting, ventilators, davits, ready use lockers, winches, and to the sides, two sets of Carley float racks. The funnel base is then attached, followed by the three piece funnel, four ventilators, chimney pipe and steam pipes. Further foreward still is he bridge, the base of which is made up from four sides, onto which the open bridge moulding, which includes the bridge wings is attached, the wing supports are then fitted along with the main boat davits, two on each side, just aft of the bridge. The radio room, also made from four side pieces is assembled and fitted to the bridge deck, whilst aft of the bridge, the ships boats are shipped along with the Carley floats. Aft of the radio room is the radar lantern, made up from three styrene and one PE part is glued into position, followed by the two 20mm Oerlikons, one on each bridge wing and the foremast with separate yardarm and crows nest fitted. In front of the bridge there is a large breakwater, in front of that the 4” main gun and its bandstand, whilst to each side of the bandstand a splinter shield is added, as well as two davits and a spare anchor. Right foreward, on the fo’c’sle the numerous bollards, cleats, and other fittings are attached, as well as the windlass, a pair of ventilators and capstan. The two anchors are then glued into position and the build finished off with the fitting of the ships railings, which are provided as PE parts. The kit provides a small stand, with a single pedestal on which to display the finished model. Decals The small sheet contains the ships pennant numbers for the sides and stern, ships nameplates and a single White Ensign. The kit is for only one ship, but the full colour painting guide shows her as painted in two different schemes, one for 1941/42 and one for 1942/43. The artwork shows both sides even though they were identical, it’s nice to have. Conclusion Whilst I have built a couple of Mirage Hobby kits, they were in their 1:400 scale range, and to be honest they weren’t particularly brilliant. This kit and that of her sisters is definitely a step up. The mouldings are great, the addition of PE very useful and it should build into a nice little model of a very important class of ship. The only point I will have to reiterate, is that you will need to be very careful removing most of the smaller parts. Rather than using side cutters I would recommend a new scalpel blade to cut the sprue gates and subsequent clean-up. Review sample provided by