JohnWS Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 (edited) 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; 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; 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; ... and a photo of my MGB in virtual water using Photoshop. 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 November 15, 2017 by JohnWS 49 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 It looks better than you think 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 That's a bit brilliant too John, right up there with your BPB MTB to my eye. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnWS Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 That’ is a stunning job well worth the effort and time looking forward to seeing your MTB beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 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 More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Nice! Wow - weren’t they ever armed to the teeth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Capital, absolutely capital old bean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorby Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Wow, stunning job! All the better for it being scratch built - very impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Beautiful work .... One to be proud of Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnWS Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Thanks again everyone! It's nice to see my old girl has stood the test of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugle07 Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Excellent work, and a really good back story to the model. Well done sir! Geoff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Gunthwaite Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Great Stuff! Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnWS Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 Thanks again for the feedback. On 2017-11-09 at 04:39, Al Gunthwaite said: Great Stuff! Al Al, I really like your RN figures. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Like that, very smart work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 And scratch built too! Fabulous! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 Well apart from a first class build I also love that last photo too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Gunthwaite Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 On 10/11/2017 at 2:47 PM, JohnWS said: Thanks again for the feedback. Al, I really like your RN figures. I do my best! (in the time available!) More new ones soon (ish) Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilneBay Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 That really is a lovely piece of scratchbuilding. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangor Lad Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 What a splendid tribute to a much neglected and little appreciated force that contributed massively to the war effort. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 A very handsome Dog! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Aris Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 hope my 1/72 build turns out at least 1/2 as good, she looks brilliant 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnWS Posted November 19, 2017 Author Share Posted November 19, 2017 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 More sharing options...
Kevin Aris Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 (edited) 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 sorry about post, will delete if you wish me to Edited November 19, 2017 by Kevin Aris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnWS Posted November 19, 2017 Author Share Posted November 19, 2017 (edited) 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 November 20, 2017 by JohnWS 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now