GrahamB

Interesting mention of the place. I lived there in mid-late sixties when my father was based at HMS Sea Eagle in (then) Londonderry. There was a concrete air-raid shelter just beyond the hedge at the bottom of our garden and we kids used to spend a lot of time exploring these various relicts of the previous FAA base. My father and I use go shooting rabbits, hares and pigeons on the abandoned airfield itself and I remember seeing a very large propellor left in one of the hangars/sheds. The aircraft we used to see daily were the ASW Shackletons from nearby RAF Ballykelly. Cheers, GrahamB

Nice work as usual. These Flower-class Corvettes keep on giving! Cheers, GrahamB

Amazing skill dealing with all that tiny Flyhawk etched brass. A great result. Cheers, GrahamB

Very nice. I've thought about doing HMS Sheffield in her late 1950s fit - must try and get a look at my father's photos as he was on her for the long 1957-58 (?) commission. Boring colour scheme though! Cheers, GrahamB

Thanks Michal. It is a challenge with ship models, even with a fairly well-known class like the Flowers. It's not like a Spitfire or Bf109 where very rivet and seam is documented, it seems! I also like and appreciate the research done by others on camouflage/colours and enjoy finding something a little different or attractive. Cheers, GrahamB

Thanks for putting up this thread and being brave enough to show a build-in-progress. This kit is my next project after finishing (at some indeterminate time in the future....) the Airfix 1/48 Anson in Kiwi colours. Cheers, GrahamB

Yes, I guess this was the reason. I think there are other mentions of RN ships in the Mediterranean receiving unusual/unofficial paint jobs, using browns/stones/greens.

Hi Beefy, good luck with Brave. If you get really interested in this class, I recommend the book by Jack Williams. It is going to be a help in replying to a letter I've to reply to from my elderly father (HMS Belfast Korean War). Previously, I had written that I had built an Algerine class model and wondered if he had seen any. To my surprise, he actually remembered two names from when Belfast was transiting through/visiting Singapore - HMS Jaseur and HMS Maenad. These were part of the 6th MF, that had been in reserve there after clearing the Japanese mines. They were considered unfit to go to Korea because of their deteriorated condition - they could have blown rivets and broken machinery from mine explosions. Cheers, GrahamB P.S. my father has quite a lot of photos of his service in the RN (starting in 1948) but I haven't seen the albums for about 40 years! He's in the UK and I'm out here in NZ.

Hi Rob, yes, I forgot to mention the excellent WEM etched set. Some spares left over to do an early Flower version. Also, I think I used MS2 (or MS1?) for the darkest tone as I thought the contrast in tone probably didn't match 507A/507C. Over the years I've kept urging myself to keep a modelling notebook so I can remember details, accessories used, paint mixes etc. Cheers, GrahamB

Sorry about this - finally getting around to photographing models completed over the last year or so. A couple more to do. This is Starling Model's excellent 1/350 Algerine Class minesweeper. I added some more detail around the m/s gear (a couple of parts were missing from my kit) including guard rails around the main winch. There appeared to be quite a lot of variation in this area. The model is that of HMS Espiegle, of the 12th Minesweeping Flotilla, in the Mediterranean ca. 1943. According to Jack William's lovely book (The Algerines), HMS Espiegle was known as "The Potato Patch" because of her green and brown camouflage. I've interpreted this as the army colours Light Stone and Dark Slate Grey. Could be wrong though. Cheers, GrahamB

Yet another. The Mirage kit with quite a few Micromaster-NZ and Black Cat accessories. I had to build the minesweeping guides and rollers, and also modified the galley to its revised position ahead of the funnel (with its new stove pipe on funnel). It is in an 507A/507C/MS4a scheme, but I clearly used the earlier WEM version of 507C with its warm tone (based on Snyder & Short research I assume) - when I touched up parts of the hull it was with Sovereign's 507C with the correct bluish hint. Mmmmm. Crewless again. Cheers, GrahamB

Hi, another one finally photographed. A delightful kit from AJM although I was initially supplied with two port-side paddle boxes - soon remedied by AJM. Quite fiddly but I took some lessons from Jim Baumann's build on the Modelship site. The railings were a challenge (several types) and I did some modifications around the paddle boxes based on photographs and added a few Dan buoys on the aft railings. Painted in iterations of 507A and MS2. A grand ship and did great work at Dunkirk, bringing back 2500 men and rescuing 2000 more from another damaged ship. Another ghost ship lacking crew at the moment. Cheers, GrahamB

Thanks guys. Beefy - yes, it is amazing what the British ship-building industry could do back in the day. It never fails to impress with the sheer productivity, from steel manufacturing right through to putting on those huge bronze propellors (how did they manhandle those things?) - and the speed with which the destroyers to battleships were manufactured. Cheers, GrahamB

Hi, this is one of several ship models I've completed over the last couple of years. The very nice Bronco kit is a joy to build. I had a good reference photo of Chih Yuen in an interim paint scheme (the Elswick builder's grey hull (originally all-grey) with the yellow/buff superstructure and funnel elements. I added what appeared to be a strake around the upper hull missing from the kit, opened up the numerous casemates/ports on the poop (as per the photo), raised the foremast derrick/boom (as per photo), and added the stern davits and various boats (as per photo). Crewless at the moment - looking for some suitable 19C figures. Highly recommended kit. Cheers, GrahamB Damn - just noticed a loose rope on the aft boom.

Hi, finally, an aircraft kit finished after a long hiatus. The very nice Eduard 1/48 Mk.1 built out of the box. It is painted in one of the trial camouflage schemes described by Paul Lucas, carried out during April 1941. This version is Olive Grey, Medium Sea Grey, and Sky Blue. The Olive Grey paint was achieved by my luck in having just enough old WEM Dark Sea Grey and Light Slate Grey to make a 50-50 mix brush out, for matching purposes. The actual paint was Tamiya (an olive drab and a grey - I've already forgotten what). The Medium Sea Grey was Gunze, slightly tinted with white as I thought it looked too dark - then sprayed various bits with Tamiya MSG - an almost perfect match (not what I was expecting). The Sky Bue was again a Gunze mix. I really like the Paul Lucas articles, having followed them for many years (and those of Ian Huntley going back to the original Scale Aircraft Modeling of the early 1980s). Might do a Hurricane in one of dark grey trial schemes. Cheers, GrahamB