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As this would be my first ship build in over 20 years, I had hoped to pick an easy ship to do. As the type-45 is a fairly clean design, not may aerials etc to get in the way, what could possibly go wrong? Apart from the way Airfix design the kit. Not sure if it was my example or if they all have an interesting fit. Many a happy hour was spent putting bits together and then filling in the gaps. Possibly my inexperience of this type of build meant I did things in the wrong order, who knows. I have added the Atlantic Models etch for a bit of extra detail, and replaced the main gun barrel and turret as those in the kit were lacking in detail just a bit(!). one the 30mm guns I used a length of Albion alloys tubing to replace the kit drainpipes. I've also discovered photographing something this size brings it own challenges. I will do another, if/when the pile of land and air based kits ever dies down. The question is what? Tim

Season's greetings! This is my first foray into the maritime section of Britmodeller. I bought this kit cheap from Hobbycraft a while ago, and boy was I pleased that I did. I have never made a maritime model before and set myself a target of a 12-hour build, based on the limited number of parts and straightforward colour scheme. I started at 10am yesterday and beat my target by an hour or so. The construction was quick, but I did struggle a little with the join between the top half of the hull and the lower half (which was made up from two parts.) However some filler and judicious sanding did the trick. I primed the model with Alclad grey and then polished the primer with MicroMesh. Airfix recommended pure black, but I decided to only use pure black on the lower hull, adding a little white for the upper half. I then added more white to the mix and squirted random patches over the top side to create some highlights and break up the uniform finish. Neither Airfix nor I have made any effort to replicate the anechoic tile covering! Internet pictures show the tiles clearly, creating a patchy appearance, but I had neither the time or inclination to recreate that look! I have not weathered the model at all. I found the decals a little tricky to locate, as there were few references on the Airfix diagram or the model to assist, so I apologise if they are incorrectly placed. I finished the model with a couple of brushed coats of Galeria Matt Varnish., and am quite pleased with the result, which I named "Triumph", as I was a bit of a Triumph car nut when I was younger! Sorry for the "noisy" images, but I took them early this morning before heading off to the RAF Museum, Hendon. Thanks for looking.

Been off but not out - here's my take on Airfix's pretty good kit of the Type 45. Used WEM PE set (very good value), Veteran Models CIWS and Harpoon launchers plus all the usual tweaks! Finished in WEM Light Weatherwork Grey and Modern Royal Navy Deck Grey (which is slightly green to my eye, but hey!) All pics courtesy of Farnborough IPMS website (Dr Flangemeister!) Really nice kit, nice decals, and this came out nicer than I expected. The only glaring miss for me was the four spines on the top of the SAMPSON dome. I also didn't reposition the starboard anchor which didn't particularly bother me. This has now been donated to a Royal Navy officer for eventual display in the ship's wardroom once the base has been tidied up! Something I'm quite proud of! Al

Hello all, having just completed a horrible build of the new Airfix Gnat (I am too embarassed to show that one) I decided to get back to pastures known and do a ship. I was given this 1/350 Airfix Type 45 as a Christmas present, and very welcome it was too. I did not realise just how big destroyers are these days - this is just about the same length as the WW1 Dreadnought battleship! I have decided to do this as HMS Diamond, no other builder has chosen her yet that I have seen, and I prefer to do the less obvious, except of course that last year was the Queens Diamond Jubilee, so to me it WAS obvious! There looks to be quite a lot of detail on the mouldings, and my kit does have a bit of flash here and there but nothing too much. Some bits had seperated from the runners before I opened the main bag containing them. I have seen some mixed opinions of this kit, and got a few pointers especially on this forum. So, armed with one of these hints, the first thing I decided to do was reposition the anchor point on the starboard side. Firstly, I put some masking tape onto the hull and roughly marked on the size and shape of the recess: Thanks to the review on BM, I measured the displacement required and put the cut out from the masking tape in position (8mm higher and 5mm aft): Comparing that position with photographs on the web and the position of the bow anchor, I felt it was too high, so I lowered it fractionally so it was in a better position but higher above the projected boot topping line, then I outlined the 'mask' with fresh masking tape and removed the original: Then I used a curved blade and reamed out the recess and used a drill and burr(?) to deepen the recess a bit. It is not perfect, but with luck it is in a better place than it was to begin with. I just need to put a wee strip of plastic along the top of the recess and it is done. In the next shot you can see how much I have offset the recess. Thanks to Shar2 on another post for giving the dimensions, and I think he mentioned about the bow anchor being out in the Review section. It was also mentioned that it would be difficult to correct, and I agree. I have the White Ensign etch for this, so this may take some time! The intention is to do her waterline on a sea base, but I am going to see how the front underwater bulge (radome?) goes together and how the lower hull fits first. You will probably have noticed that I am showing the carpet monster just what it is NOT allowed to eat, along with any of this bits companions. I expect I will find out soon if it has listened. Thanks for looking, and any comments or suggestions are welcome, Kind regards, Ray