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Thorfinn's (Lindberg) Q-Ship Adventure IS DONE! (Update 2-16-17)


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Happy New Year to all!

 

Received the Round2 re-release of the old Lindberg Q-Ship for Christmas. This wasn't one I ever did as a kid---though I did a lot of Lindberg as a child (which pretty well dates me)---but I had a very nostalgic thrill unwrapping the box and seeing the familiar 'Lindberg Line' logo on the label: great memories of quick-but-fun tube-glue-smeared builds, followed by epic naval battles with my brothers, similarly-equipped, on the rolling green 'ocean' of the back yard grass.

 

I have read quite a bit about the Q-ships and the battle against u-boats during both World Wars, though WW1 was sort of their heyday. Q-ships were most often aged merchantmen, intended to be 'decoys' to lure unwary submarines to attack---ideally by surfacing to use their deck guns, not wanting to waste valuable torpedoes on such a plodding and 'helpless' target---at which time the Q-ship would run up the White Ensign, expose the concealed guns and torpedoes with which she had been equipped, and try to take out the submarine at close range. Assessments by the Admiralty after the Great War concluded that in 150 engagements, British Q-ships destroyed 14 U-boats and damaged 60...but at a loss of 27 Q-ships out of 200 commissioned. Q-ships claimed about 10% of all U-boats sunk, "ranking them well below the use of ordinary minefields in effectiveness." [Info and quote from the Wikipedia article.]

 

The kit itself is a real artifact of its time (mid-50s?), and oh-so-typical 'Lindberg' in having rather strange lines, simplified or non-existent detail, generally poor replication of prototype---and their odd 'trademark' tennis-court-marking (raised) plating lines on every surface, vertical and horizontal. [To be fair, it sort of 'works' for the hull, but not much else.] Online assessments suggest it's broadly patterned on the USS ATIK---which was an actual Q-ship, albeit of WW2 vintage (though the merchant ship from which it was converted was from 1912)---and spectacularly unsuccessful, being sunk in its first action in 1942. The box art and decals show the ship's decidedly non-warship lines...painted in overall naval grey...and with big white hull numbers on the bow, which might send a sort of 'mixed message'---and not the good kind---to any stalking U-boat.

 

HL400-2_zpsiaspuvbp.jpg

 

The general consensus among modelers seems to be that the hull is a good starting point. My own addendum to that would be that if the 1/390 scale is correct (and it seems close: ATIK's dimensions would yield a scale of 1/382), then at least it's compatible with 1/350-1/400 p/e and spares, which will make detailing easier.

[I should add here that the only 'Q-ship' aspect included in the kit are two very strange-looking 'deck guns'---which one online reviewer likened to looking like something out of Star Wars---and 'false deckhouse' boxes or crates to drop over them, to conceal them. A quick glance suggests that built as per instructions, the 'guns' might not even clear the bulwarks...rather limiting their use against any but high-flying submarines...which I don't think came into widespread use until some years later. :rolleyes:]

 

Let me say at the start that this is not intended to be an 'historically accurate' build: if that were the object, scratch-building would be far simpler. I intend to honor the nostalgic spirit of the thing by building the kit...only adding and detailing to make things a bit less wonky, and more fun.

My tentative idea is to configure it more to the actual appearance of a WW1-era 'tramp steamer' collier (which the deep hull and the 'short' lines would seem to suggest)---chiefly by adding hatches and raising the funnel height, and fixing booms and masts, which---besides being too few and completely lacking in detail---are far too long for the ship's size. The 'surprise' Q-ship bit might lend itself well to showing the ship looking 'normal' from one side---the 'helpless' coaster or tramp steamer caught alone by the evil hunting U-boat---and show the other side 'cleared for action' with guns revealed, etc. [Haven't decided to embrace my umpteenth-childhood by making these 'working' features or not...we'll see.]

 

An online toddle took me to the stirring account by Captain (later Vice-Admiral) Gordon Campbell, detailing his assuming command and fitting-out of the WW1 Q-ship HMS Farnborough (alias Q.5). That ship would later 'trap' and go toe-to-toe with the Kaiser's U-83...ultimately sinking the U-boat after a harrowing and determined action...and earning the good Captain a VC in the process. (His award was known as the 'Mystery VC'; since the Q-ships and their activities were a closely-guarded secret, no details could be published of why or under what circumstances the award had been made!) [A link to a great summary of that action is here.] As though fortune were smiling on my little project, it turns out that February 2017 will mark the 100-year anniversary of that remarkable battle...so I might just be able to make it under the wire.

 

Captain Campbell's account offers a great deal of useful information as to armaments (which seem largely to have been left to each fitting-out captain's individual discretion) and some of the 'ruse' features fitted and employed to periodically alter the ships appearance and 'identity.' I intend to use his account as a guide to 'fit out' my own fictive Q-ship.

 

That's the plan---hopefully she'll be done by the Centenary of HMS Farnborough's epic battle with SM U-83. Any comments, advice, remonstrations or pointing-out of overlooked info will be gratefully received. Photos to follow.

Edited by thorfinn
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Will be following with interest. I'm doing a Round - 2 repop of Lindberg's Kennebec class U S Oiler, although I'm doing as a Mattaponi class. For a buddy of mine that served on the Mattaponi, AO-41.

The kit's crude by todays standards, but I think can be built up nicely with some photo etch and stuff.

I'll be watching what you do with your "Q" if you don't mind.

 

EJ

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Started work yesterday with basic 'removal'---none of it very photo-worthy. I cut off the molded-on solid 'railings,' then cut away the molded-on 'staircase' ladders, filling and sanding resultant gaps with one of those UV-cure '5-second fix' products...which actually worked very well: cured instantly, easy to sand out, and about the same hardness as the surrounding plastic, so easy to 'feather in.' (Will have to wait and see whether the resultant areas do anything 'funny' under paint.) I also started drilling out hawses and portholes, and recontoured the welldeck bulwarks a bit more to my liking.

I had a poke through my 'salvage yard' (the zip-baggie in which I keep my ship-part 'spares') and managed to assemble a pretty decent and reasonably historically-accurate armament suite, fairly true-to-type for what was commonly used on these ships. Most of the pieces are modified from spares from the lovely Mirage 1/400 four-stacker destroyers. Here's the 'basic' shot, before some accurizing bits and bobs will be added

GEDC9648%20--USE--_zps2ocqgslf.jpg

The above are meant to represent (4) QF 12-pounders, (1) BL 4-inch, (2) QF 6-pounders (probably for the bridge wings), and (2) 14-inch torpedo tubes. The little fella up front will be the 'real' deck gun, a 3-pounder. (By 1917 many merchant ships were mounting a small deck gun for 'self defense'; accounts I read suggested U-Boat commanders might expect to see such a gun on the fantail of a 'real' merchantman.)

That's it for now. Thanks to all for looking in.

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Have never seen this kit,but am familiar with the history of the real things. It really does look like an excellent almost blank canvas to work with,given the variety of ships taken up.Will be watching with interest,good luck with it.

 

mtd

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Thanks MTD!

Sort of a 'retro' update, showing what is in the box:

PARTS%20caption_zpshlyqwa3h.jpg

 

     Obviously, parts-count is pretty bare-bones. One can just barely make out the panel lines on decks and hull in the shot above---note that they ambitiously seem to have 'scribed' twin hatches side-to-side on the well decks.

     That's all for now. I'm still working out weapons placement and concealment, so I'll post when I've come up with something useful.

 

 

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Small update.

Have pretty much decided where I'm going to mount my 'mystery ship's' weapons and have started basic construction. Hull needed quite a bit of putty on bottom seam, though bow and stern halves from keel-up matched fairly well.

Photo #1, showing molded-on 'railings' cut away, inexplicable strange cutout at the bow, and (pretty obvious) what will be the midships 12-pounder gun position:

GEDC9654%20R_zpstwfeizx4.jpg

 

(Deck piece is just sort of 'lying' in place---still some some hull-cutting, and much detail work, left to be done.)

Photo #2, showing 'replaced' poop deck to do away with molded-on raised platform. By all appearances, the one-piece deck will actually fit pretty well.

 

GEDC9655%20R_zps8tymquwr.jpg

 

And the roughed-in gun gallery:

 

GEDC9661%20R_zps8aljk3n2.jpg

 

One of the reasons for 'flattening' the poop-deck stems from this 3-picture sequence of an (alas un-named) original WW1 Q-ship...perhaps my very favorite sequence showing some of the guile that went into disguising the 'sting' that these harmless-looking ships had hidden.

 

Shot 1, showing stern-rail, boat on davits, and 'life belt' locker below:

 

LIFE%20BELTS%20a_zps0nijqhn8.jpg

 

Shot 2...showing 'reverse angle' of above:

 

LIFE%20BELTS%20b_zpsplgkyhoe.jpg

 

And shot 3...no pun intended...showing the plucky gunner crouching down under the boat, to man the low-mounted 'surprise' for the unwary U-Boot:

 

LIFE%20BELTS%20c_zpsyuamrsbl.jpg

 

That's how I intend to mount my aft guns...now it's just a question of how to replicate fall-away folding-panel hinges in 1/390th scale!

 

I have also decided to christen my vessel HMS Burnham Wood: far too 'cute' to have been used operationally, I well understand---even U-Boat captains read Shakespeare, after all---but it seemed a fitting classical nod to the peril of well-executed deception in wartime.

 

That's it for now. Still fiddling with a few other details to be worked out, then on to general 'merchant ship' detail. Thanks for looking in.

 

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Last 'internals' before the hull gets buttoned up and the deck added.

Even reading original accounts, it's hard to get a notion how the above-the-waterline torpedo tubes were shipped and deployed. Apparently the 'drop-down' hull panel was standard, and one presumes there would have been some need to be able to position them in an aim-able fashion...so I did a 'best guess' and came up with my own solution, a sort of 'turret' platform with rudimentary training and direction gear. (Capt. Gordon Campbell's account specifies that his were set up to be aimed and fired from the bridge itself, so I added a 'black box' to represent some sort of slave or repeater mechanism for same.)

(Sorry for the low-light shots bluish tint.)

 

T01%20GEDC9663%20RC_zpsw3i5rlfg.jpg

T02%20GEDC9668%20RC_zpsrjhczobe.jpg

T03%20GEDC9673%20R_zpshq7bphai.jpg

T04%20GEDC9675%20R_zpskqizfkbj.jpg

 

And the last shot of the sequence...presumably one of the last sights the 1/400-scale U-Boat crew might see...the 'surprise' under the aft well-deck:

 

T05%20GEDC9672%20R_zps84c2v1he.jpg

 

The last is a bit of fun...the sort of 'working' (or 'play') feature one wonders why the original kit designers didn't think to include.

Since part of the Q-ships' ongoing deception was to change 'identities' of their vessel regularly...covering up or adding names with sign-boards or swaths of painted canvas...I decided to go one better. Taking my inspiration directly from the 'revolving numberplate' on James Bond's Aston Martin DB5, I envisioned the same as a working feature for the model of my Q-ship, to simulate the regular change-of-names to represent the variety of vessels the Q-ship would pretend to be. Herewith, before (hopefully) 'blending' hull-paint is applied...the colliers Atholl Star, Baleshare, Slovakia...and His Majesty's Q-Ship Burnam Wood.

 

GEDC9676%20R%20MONTAGE_zpsoa5szi23.jpg

 

(The first two names a nod to my Scottish fore-bearers who are alleged to have hailed from those locales.)

Hokey, but fun. Thanks to all for following along.

Edited by thorfinn
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On to basic grunt-work: adding hatches and covers to the deck spaces, starting to rough-in basic colors, and adding hatches and some admittedly-rather rough photo-etch ladders.

 

GEDC9680%20R_zps0lsiipci.jpg

 

GEDC9681%20R_zpsj27im79d.jpg

 

The next shots include some of the very-handy porthole decals included in the kit:

 

GEDC9682%20R_zpsasiyvneg.jpg

 

GEDC9684%20R_zpsyviygjax.jpg

 

Went ahead and built my 'lifebelt lockers' to hide the guns on the aft deck. Rather than spend uncounted hours making tiny multi-segment hinged panels---it's supposed to be fun, after all---I decided on simple pivot-hinges that would flop the whole 'box' over the side...but leave a clear-enough field for aiming the guns. Not historically accurate I'm sure...but they work a treat, without giving me a nervous breakdown (or undue eye-strain):

 

GEDC9687%20R_zpszyeuumml.jpg

 

GEDC9688%20R_zpsfdabrm89.jpg

 

That's it for the present. Thanks to all for the looks and the 'likes.'

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  • 2 weeks later...

BRIDGEWORK
(No, I'm not talking about teeth....)


The kit-supplied bridge part has a rather undistinctive 'Soviet apartment-block' solidity about it:

 

GEDC9693%20R_zpsiupiy7qx.jpg


Note the 'trademark' Lindberg tennis-court-style panel lines and the molded-in 'Aztec temple staircase'-style accommodation ladders running up to the bridge. Here 'set' in place, for effect:

 

GEDC9696%20R_zpsnsxbjwdy.jpg


I was looking for something a little more 'rustic' looking, suitable to the 1912-era of my fictive ship's origin. I also needed certain 'architectural' modifications, suitable to her Q-Ship role. After going through many photos online---of both real vessels, and other builders' models of the era---I went with this:

 

GEDC9697%20R_zpszc6n73zq.jpg


A surplus of Evergreen styrene 'siding' sheet left over from other projects came in handy for decking and 'slat' bulkheads. Some generic 1/400 etch railings and ladders served to dress it up a bit.

 

GEDC9701%20R_zpsyloyppqf.jpg


Just 'set' in place. [Can you spot the hidden gun positions?]

 

GEDC9704%20R_zpskok8wj7k.jpg


That's it for now. Thanks to all who have troubled to look in or follow along!

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Work proceeds apace. She's starting to look---just a bit---like a working ship.

 

The midships island/bridge structure is largely finished. I used most of the kit parts, though I repositioned a few as suited me, and added bits and of course etched railings.  I made the longer funnel (typical of coal-burners of this era) from the barrel of a 'freebie' bank ball-point pen---one of my favorite, seemingly-inexhaustible sources for that sort of tubular material. The funnel-band is for my own fictive 'Green Diamond Line,' with logo lettering courtesy of that Old-West-style sheet of Microscale RR letters I knew would come in handy for something, someday....

 

GEDC9731%20RC_zpsrv99byle.jpg

 

GEDC9732%20RC_zpsqw7g5r8j.jpg

 

GEDC9735%20RC_zpssfr1bqae.jpg

 

Paintwork is obviously a bit rough, which I'll try to fix. I may also add a smaller 'donkey boiler' stack aft of the main funnel, yet...I haven't quite decided.

 

Next big challenge will be configuring and rigging the masts and cargo-booms. I've already trimmed the length of the kit masts a bit---even with the lengthened funnel, they looked bizarrely-tall, 'out of the box'---but the real trick will be the booms, since the cargo/well-decks are so short relative to the overall length. I'll try to make them look properly 'busy'...maybe add a few blocks, and such...but they won't be anything close to accurate, I'm sure. Ah, well, c'est la guerre... ['Faux' guerre, that is....]

 

'Parting shot' for the moment is the lettering on the 'life belt lockers' (on the still-unpainted and yet-to-be-detailed poop deck), as depicted in the B&W period shot a few posts back. It's the same 'Old West' lettering used for the funnel band---which, in addition to having a faintly-Edwardian look to it, happened coincidentally to be the smallest lettering decals I had available in my stash. (Actually, from about an inch away, it looks sort of like 'stencilled' lettering, so it seems to work.)

 

GEDC9737%20RC_zps1xffwhqv.jpg

 

Thanks again to all who are taking an interest. Onward and upward!

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MASTS AND BOOMS

I decided to articulate the booms, not from any desire for 'working features' per se---I don't really intend to play with it in the tub, when I'm finished---but because, since the kit's shortened and 'squashed' lines mean there isn't a lot of 'clearance' [hmmm...just like on a real ship, actually....], I won't get a good feel for where things need to be positioned until everything's 'together.' Then I'll pick a position where the booms look their best...or, perhaps, 'least-worst'...and lock everything in position before rigging.

GEDC9738%20R_zpswrrpds4j.jpg

I cut off (and shortened) the kit's booms---which were molded right to the masts---then filled the lunar-crater-sized mold-release divets, and filed/sanded the walloping great seams along everything, until the bits were usably smooth. (Everything will ultimately be painted black, so a little 'wander' in cross-section is allowable.) I mounted small aftermarket rigging eyelets at the base of each boom, then 'pinned' each in place with a short length of rod through drilled base-mounts cobbed up from scrap bits of styrene sheet.

Crosstrees for each mast were made from 'wedge' sections of spare kit sprue frames, filed to shape. Punched-out styrene discs simulate pulleys, and give something to attach the rigging to when it is added, later.

At this point I've also finished hull painting and weathering, and stepped the masts. Just have some poop-deck architecture to work out, a few details and p/e railings left to be added, and flat-coat to be applied before rigging.

The end is in sight....

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2 minutes ago, thorfinn said:

Got her wrapped up and posted in RFI here.

Thanks to all who took the trouble to look in, post or 'like.'

 

01%20GEDC9748%20RC_zpst4whnymi.jpg

 

GUN07%20GEDC9809%20RC%20U-boats%20last%2

 

 

Beautiful job.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you use for the rigging. My tanker has a lot of it.

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Thanks EJS!

Funnel supports, mast stays and the single long 'fore and aft' from the bow to the poop-deck are EZ-Line---one continuous strand for the latter, so I could tension it evenly without danger of flexing the masts, with a shorter section added from the back of the mainmast where it 'splits.' The rest is good old-fashioned stretched sprue, attached with white glue: pretty much easy as dirt to apply, and easy to fix when those inevitable 'oopses' occur.

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Thank you.

I do have some ez line. Will have to try the rest with fine sewing thread or fishing line though. I'm terrible at stretching spru. Try as I might, it always turns out to be a mess and a waste of time. I need a live, hands on tutorial from an expert I guess.

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