Jump to content

1/72 Fairmile 'D' Motor Gun Boat - 33 years in the making


Recommended Posts

Hi everyone!  This is my first Ready for Inspection – Maritime thread.

 

I thought I’d share an old build of mine that was built and then reworked over a period of 33 years – a Fairmile ‘D’ Motor Gun Boat.

 

I’ve always been a fan of the Coastal Forces, and especially the Fairmile D dog boat, for as long as I can remember.  I started thinking about building a Fairmile D gun boat in the early 1970’s.  At the time, there were only a couple of Vosper MTB plastic kits available, but no Fairmile D kits.   As a result, I decided to scratch build the model – my first attempt at scratch building.  Little detailed information available about the dog boats at the time, other than a few black & white photos.  I was able to purchase two small Coastal Forces handbooks to help with the build - WARSHIPS OF WORLD WAR II, Part Seven: Coastal Forces by H.T. Lenton & J.J. Colledge, and Royal Naval Coastal Forces 1939-1945 by A.J.D. North.

 

Compared to today, there were few aftermarket modeling materials available.  So, I decided to look around the house to see what materials I could use for the build.  I ended up using a 4x4 cedar fence post for the hull, wood thread spools for the gun turrets, straight pins for stanchions, balsa wood, cedar wood remnants for the ready use lockers, paper card, plastic sprue, brown, grey & black thread, brass eyelets for port holes. steel washers for life rings, plastic spatula handles for the deck air vents, various sizes of copper wire, window screen, Humbrol paints, and a lot of guess work.  The only aftermarket kit parts used were two sailors from a Vosper MTB kit.

 

Here’s a photo of the end result, completed in 1975;

 

24350766068_7c45edb310_b.jpg

 

Moving ahead to 2007, John Lambert had already published his books - The Fairmile ‘D’ Motor Torpedo Boat, and Allied Coastal Forces of World War II, Volume I.  I purchased the books and found all the information needed (& wish I had in 1975) to build a detailed model dog boat.  Rather than building new, I started tearing apart the old 1975 model, rebuilding it to John Lambert’s sketches & drawings, and again using items found around the house;

 

37516283594_99606eb6dd_b.jpg 

 

38171728506_d8d385b894_b.jpg

 

During the build, I was lucky to make e-mail contact with John Lambert, who offered great insight and assistance with my build.

 

Here are photos of the end result, completed in 2008;

 

24350836978_eef68e3f6c_b.jpg

 

24350852938_d4d9e0f6a7_b.jpg

 

37492647724_7ab4f49ac1_b.jpg

 

38147356336_6cfeb3ec9c_b.jpg

 

37556489965_c80d2af45d_b.jpg

 

38147364186_a95df58dea_b.jpg

 

... and a photo of my MGB in virtual water using Photoshop.

 

24350886368_c5b0ede630_b.jpg

 

 As I mentioned earlier, this was my first attempt at scratch building a model.  It looks pretty hokey by today's modelling standards, but it stoked my enthusiasm for future builds (including a MTB build completed this year, using a remnant from that same fence post used for the Fairmile ‘D’ build).  

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

John

Edited by JohnWS
  • Like 49
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

It looks better than you think 👍

I guess whenever I look at my models I see all the things I coulda/shoulda done differently.  Thanks for your reassuring feedback.

13 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

That's a bit brilliant too John, right up there with your BPB MTB to my eye. :)

Steve.

Thanks Steve.  Good hear from you.  I'll be posting the BPB build here as well.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks an excellent model and far better than anything I could manage. Just getting a symmetrical hull would be a massive achievement for me if I was a ship modeller. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys!

 

23 minutes ago, KEVIN_ARIS said:

hope my 1/72 build turns out at least 1/2 as good ...

 

Kevin, I looked in on your HMS Fife build a few days ago, and was amazed by both the size & detail.  She's a beauty!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i am having to buy a few bits for her now, having now sourced a seaslug launcher, and there are other sensors i am purchasing, plus doors stanchions but that was expected, but most of what i have tried to replicate so far has work, 

unfortunately, there are no detail books available and photos were not taken at the time to show accurate detail, LOL just spent an hour trying to find a picture for an item, but before that it took a week to actually find out what it was = it was the the seaslug missile replenishment rig

 

NOT MY PHOTO

RnkVk9I.jpg

 

sorry about post, will delete if you wish  me to

 

Edited by Kevin Aris
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, KEVIN_ARIS said:

... there are no detail books available and photos were not taken at the time to show accurate detail, LOL just spent an hour trying to find a picture for an item, but before that it took a week to actually find out what it was ...

I find that's the most frustrating & most rewarding part of scratch building.  It feels so good once the mystery is solved.

Edited by JohnWS
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...