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Hi dear fellows, My name is Michal, I'm from Poland. I like 2 WW planes and warships, and Battle of Atlantic is one of my "special topics". First of all I want say thank you all for such lot of inspiration, knowledge and fellowship on Britmodeller Forum. I want to show you my interpretation of White Ensign Models Castle class Corvette as rather late-war Canadian Copper Cliff: EDIT: you will find more photos further in this thread. In this thread's 2 page you will find my modelling guide for WEM's Castle Class Corvette kit. My reflections, list of modifications and so on. Best regards, Michal.

These 1/350 Flower Class corvettes seem to be very popular with White Ensign Models doing a photo-etch upgrade set. However they seem to have a reputation for being a struggle to build. This is my first 1/350 model with HMS Kent waiting in the wings for some pedestals before attacking that. I love the Mountbatten pink scheme portrayed here The colur profile bids you use B20 as the contrast colour, though the text I feel rather more correctly, suggests MS2, more fitting with an early war scheme around 1940/41. Despite extensive searching I can find no original wartime pics of Anchusa in the mast afore the bridge configuration. The kit immediately benefits from the various porthole/scuttles being drilled out As do the Depth charge "doors" at the stern The depth charges have very raised mount bases on this kit that need immediate removing... 2 portholes need adding on the rear superstructure Further inital clean up involves drilling windows in the stack mount section and removign some veery clunky plastic steps And you've guessed it - more drilling to drill out skylights The wheel house has moulded in windows that most finished models on the web seem to have kept - I think drilling these out will be well worth it The hull/deck marriage needs a lot of filing to get a good fit - The forward deck insn't secured yet The plan is to mount this on a "Flodberg" type water base - My styrofoam sits waiting. BTW - do you cut or saw Styrofoam? More soon - more perhaps than was originally planned as a trip to the white stuff next week has been cancelled today due to Covid 19 And BTW 2 - I took delivery of some 3D printed itmes from "micromaster.co.nz" mainly for HMS Kent but some Carley rafts, dinghies and the 4" gun for Anchusa. I've been sniffy about some of Shapeways offerings to date....... OMG These items belong to a different generation - as others have said the level of detail is just astonishing More soon - Thanks for looking Rob

Since I'm new here, I thought I would dig out some old builds of mine to share. I wanted it to be a simple out-of-the-box build, but that changed when I saw the body that was in the box. As far as I can tell, it was based on a prototype road car that was never produced. There are several differences between the kit's body, and the actual car. When Revell released a kit of the C5-R of the 2001 Daytona 24 hour race, I thought I could use that body for the LeMans car, because I prefer the yellow/white scheme better than the all-yellow scheme. Needless to say, that ended up not working either. I ended up using the front and rear of the Daytona kit, cut and spliced onto the Lemans center section (with some scoop modification). Also, the LeMans kit had terrible Revell decals, but the Daytona kit had very nice Cartograph decals, so I used those wherever possible. Anyway, enough talk, on to some photos... Cheers, Corbin

My friends, colleagues and evil overlords at Sovereign Hobbies have pointed out to me that in order to achieve my core competencies and qualify as a fully-accredited member of the Associated Federation of Henchpersons, Goons, Thugs and Minions, I was going to have to build a ship. Believing, as I do, that building a model in anything other than 1/72 scale is a perversion of the grossest nature and an affront to all that I hold dear left me somewhat limited in my options if I was to successfully complete this task. Still, I cast my mind back to 1979 when I was still a mere slip of a lad and Matchbox was not only still a going concern, but perhaps at the peak of its powers; the year that they released the 1/72 Flower Class Corvette kit. It was a remarkable offering, for the subject, the physical size of the model and the number of parts – and far too expensive for me; it became for me one of those semi-mythical uber-kits that you promise yourself: “One day...” I managed to get the Revell 2000 re-box of the kit for a pretty reasonable price on ebay so that day seems to have come: It's a big box - Jack is a full-grown male West Highland Terrier and is shown for scale: There are a lot of parts too: Sadly this edition of the kit does not include the transfers for HMS Bluebell although the specific parts for her are still included on the sprues. I'll probably go with HMCS Snowberry rather than the other option - the USS Saucy - even though the decals for the former are a bit rubbish and the latter has a great name. I'll be building it OOB as far as possible; I appreciate there are innacurracies in the kit but it is still an impressive model particularly if, like me, you are not au fait with the real thing. Also I am very lazy, but mainly this: I like building kits and I'd like to build it just as I would have done at the tender age of 14, just for the pleasure of building it. Unless I feel like changing something (the crew figures for example), in which case I will Cheers, Stew

The kit: * * * First thing to do, trace the mold lines with a marker and sand & polish them out: ]* * * Next, for my own reference, highlight the lift-off nose section, because I'm planning to build this one all opened-up and plumbed/wired to the best of my ability. * * * Ughhh, ugly cut: * * * All separated now, the red 'scars' are where the knife & saw blades slipped and gouged the surface. After the photos, I filled them with Squadron fine (grey) filler and sanded them back with various grades of wet'n dry. * * * This is my 'serious' project to take me through the holidays and well in to the New Year. Stay tuned it could be fun, or it could be a complete dogs dinner, we'll find-out together. AFN Ian.

Having built HMS Crocus, I was planning to attempt HMS Clematis and likely still will. However, researching Corvettes on the web I came across some startling pictures of HMCS Eyebright and I am indebted and grateful to Mr Ron Bell for his permission to download his images via http://www.forposterityssake.ca/GALLERIES/EYEBRIGHT.htm. Thankyou Sir, you are a gentleman. Picture quality is superb and several angles convey one of the ten British built/designed Corvettes that were loaned to the Canadians. The Camouflage is the "Admiralty Light" scheme that seems to have come into use around 1942 and features in many 1942 onwards pictures of Corvettes with good pictures/example being available of HMS Violet and HMS Jonquil amongst many others. I have singularly been unable to find a picture of HMS Bluebell despite this scheme being portrayed by Matchbox/Revell in their 1/72 offering with most models being represented with a 507C light hull and B15 stripe shading with an MS4a Funnel and upper bow area. HMS Violet with thanks to the Imperial War Museum photo archive. And here's HMS Jonquil (IWM photo archive) with area "1" showing the ?MS4a bow area, a distinctly different shade from the ?507C Light grey main hull seen in segment "3". The Funnel is a distinctly different shade from the main hull colour and most seem to agree that this was MS4A. Jonquil appears to extend this colour along her aft superstructure. Returning to HMCS Eyebright ....... ...she has a similar 3 colour hull demarcation ("1") with 507C being I feel the likeliest colour for the main hull (vs white). The bow colour ("1") is distinctly different from the rest and seems to match the funnel "5", the aft superstructure may be funnel or Hull - it's not entirely clear though the cowl vents I feel are definitely hull (507C) colour. Eyebright has a quirk (a little bit like Crocus) in that the middle disruption stripe "4" is made up of 2 colours with a distinct division , the aft colour being lighter possibly matching that of the funnel. The disruption stripes echoing those on Bluebell and others as above have been portrayed most often as B15 (bluegrey) and this is a colur profile presented in The Shipcraft 'Flower Class Corvette' book though John Lambert records HMS Hydrangea and HMS Armeria as having stripes pf 507A (dark grey) in 'Warship Perspectives' . There is no evidence that I can find that paint colours differed drastically between and Canadian and British vessels. I'm struggling with the disruption stripes being B15 or 507A?? And is there a consensus about Light Grey hull and MS4a bow and funnel? Jamie, Kev et al - what do you all think? Thanks Fellas Rob

I wanted something quick and simple that I could get a good result on swiftly to blow away the cobwebs and a mild case of modeller's block... and there in the stash was a recently acquired Revell Germany release of the kit that's a snapfit, I believe, in the US. The body was pre-painted, of which more later... Despite being a "simplified" kit, the detail on the parts was pretty good, so a bit of careful painting was all that was needed to bring a bit more realism. The colour scheme is a real one, albeit intended for the 2017 "Grand Sport" model. As soon as I saw it, though, I knew that it was the one for me. The same applies to the chassis and transmission -- not many parts, but nicely detailed and moulded, and responds well to painting. If there's one thing that really looks toylike on the kit, it's the chromed headlight area. Needless to say, the real thing isn't all chrome, and looks rather more like this. I pretty much stripped the entire chromed sprue... The wheels, too, are chromed. But when stripped, this rather nice varnished black look emerged, so I've left them like that. And finally, that colour scheme: I know there's more to a Grand Sport than a paint job, but I'm keeping this simple! It is soooo cool, though, that there really was no alternative... The clear coat's not on yet -- this is Zero Paints Mercedes "Palladium Silver" and "Jaguar French Racing Blue" base coats. bestest, M.

Hi, Look at what has just arrive to my workbench! The Steregushchy (Project 20380) Russian Stealth Corvette produced originally by Gwylan Models, but now available through Combrig. The Combrig instructions sheets are usually poor, but this one is quite good and I think I have to “blame” Gwylan Models for the excellent photos and step-by-step guide provided, which is a very useful tool in order to build a good looking model. The first photo of this model at my workbench: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/746/riquvU.jpg I won’t write any review of this model as there is already one very complete available here: http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/ru/ff/steregushchy-700-gwy/gwy-review.html At first glance seems to be a “quick win” project, and sometimes is what I need to provide extra motivation for the other on-going more complex and time consuming projects. A very nice ship with quite advanced and modern lines, and a must have model to all who are looking for modern model warships! Thanks. Regards, Ayala Botto

Flower Class Corvette Revell 1:72 The Flower Class Corvette is the best known Escort Ship of all time, purpose built for the task and based on merchant design to enable it to be constructed in merchant ship yards. Designed as an all weather depth charge platform they carried only rudimentary surface and AA weapons. Although intended to act as coastal escorts they were actually used in both the Atlantic Theatre and the Russian Convoys. By no stretch of the imagination was the Flower Class Corvette heavily armed, initially they carried only a single 4" gun, salvaged from obsolete ships, and a couple of machine guns. Her main weapons were the depth charges. Top speed was 16 knots in short sprints, sufficient to charge at a submerged U-Boat, but inadequate to pursue on the surface, the general tactic was to force the submarine to dive and keep it down with depth charges while the escorted ships escaped and more capable Sloops, and later Frigates, were called up to make the kill. The Flowers had a remarkable range of 4,000 miles at 12 knots, using up only 200 tons of fuel oil. They were also very manoeuvrable, able to turn in almost their own length. They packed a crew of around 90 into a ship originally designed for 30 to 35 and a which could "roll on wet grass" made living conditions on them very wet; but they proved ideal for the role of coastal escort, tough, economical, could be built in a month to six weeks in a small yard, the Flower was adopted by the Canadians, the Americans, the French and the Norwegians, even the Germans, with four captured in build stage at the collapse of France were completed and pressed into service with the German Navy. With the fall of France the impetus of the U-Boat war switched to deep water, often beyond the Western Approaches. U-Boats no longer had to risk the dash through the English Channel, or the gruelling long haul up around the Faeroes Gap of the Denmark Strait, under the constant threat of air attack. They could now safely leave from there "Pens" on the west coast of France, and move right into the battlefield of the North Atlantic. The need to escort ships deeper into the Atlantic put a huge strain on an already overworked escort fleet and the Flowers were forced to take up the strain. If the Destroyer was the greyhound of the high seas then the Flower Class Corvette was the terrier of the seas. From a requirement for small cheap escort ships the task was given to Smith's Dock of Middlesbrough, who had a long experience of building tough little ships for the whaling industry, they quickly came up with the design of the Corvette and it was excepted by the Admiralty and they were built in some form or another right through to the end of the war, with almost 300 Flower Class Corvettes built, it is believed that it was "Churchill" with his usual wit that christened the ships "Flower Class" a name that was to confuse the enemy as much as the men who had to report to the ships for duty. The basic design remained largely the same; except it was modified with a longer Forecastle to improve sea keeping in the Atlantic, and the Bridge and Charthouse was improved. AA weapons were increased when available, though this was usually just a pom-pom. Originally fitted with mine sweeping gear as well as depth charges this was discarded and allowed 70 depth charges and up to four throwers to be fitted in additional to twin racks deploying astern. Many variants were produced during the war. Later improvements in radar made the Flowers even more of a threat to the U-Boats and a great many U-Boat Captains were to rue the day they crossed the terriers. Most Flowers were sold off post war, though some saw service as weather ships for a while, although rugged and reliable they were simply too small to be able to mount modern ASW weapons, and far too slow, by the war's end submarines could even outrun the Flower submerged on a snorkel, and faster boats were to come. Those little ships by all accounts were well liked by most of the men, who served on them, and they formed a high opinion of the tough little ships, and most were not slow to tell any detractor's from the larger ships just how proud they were to serve on the sappy named "Flower Class Corvette". Around 1 in ten of the total of 267 Flower Class Corvettes was lost during World War II. The Model Originally released in by Matchbox in1979 and has been released by Revell at least once before now. In this release however Revell have included lots of goodies to try and bring the kit up to date. These include wooden decks, etched nickel parts and turned brass barrels and masts. Whilst this is commendable it still doesn’t mask the inherent faults within the basic kit. It would have been great to have seen a new mould, but alas that is not to be. Now, for the modeller who isn’t into accuracy to any great way the kit will still build into a super looking model and have a lot more finesse than the original releases, and will continue to make a good basis for an R/C model. Suffice it to say that much work will still need to be done if an accurate and finer model is to be built as well as the addition of some or all of the many aftermarket products that are available today. In addition to the wooden deck, etched and turned parts there are eight sprues of dark grey, light blue grey and brown styrene and one sprue of clear styrene. Given the age of the model and presumably the moulds there is a surprisingly small amount of flash on only a few parts which will be easily cleaned up. There are quite few moulding pips however which may cause minor problems cleaning up on the smaller parts. The instructions come in two parts. The first is the original booklet style showing the build of the styrene parts, and a second, double sided A3 sheet showing the construction and location of all the additional parts. There is quite a bit of flip flopping between the two, so ensure that they are read carefully before beginning the build. The hull comes in four parts, two bow sections and two stern sections, which once joined together are then joined at the amidships area in quite a clever masking of the join with the ships plates, although care needs to be taken to get this join as tight as possible. To the stern, the propeller shaft is fitted through the stern gland and attached by a locking ring, which if glued carefully will allow the propeller to rotate. There are six crossbeams that attach near the top of the inner hull to prevent flexing and increase overall strength. The beams provided are really not strong enough and it would be advisable to add plasticard strip/box or I-beams to further increase the strength. Before any further building is carried out those who wish to build an accurate model may want to reduce the stem post down considerably along with the reduction of the ship plates to make them more to scale and the many rivets added. There are quite a few builds around that show the methods required to be used and really are outside the remit of this review. The rest of the build will be as per the instructions. Whilst working on the hull, the porthole eyebrows should also be removed, to be replaced by etched parts, which include the eyebrows and porthole surrounds. The propeller and propeller boss is fitted to the shaft aft of which is added the two part rudder. Two doors, for the depth charges to pass through the stern are added. To the completed hull the main decks, which come in three parts, the fo’c’s’le, main deck and quarter deck, are attached. At this point it would be an idea to paint the hull and deck fittings before the laying of the sticky backed wooden deck. References should be checked to determine where wood was used on the particular ship being modelled, as there are several variations to be found. Revell have provided wood sheet to cover the whole of the main decks and from research for this review the fo’c’s’le was always plain steel so should definitely not be laid with wood. Moving slightly ahead from the instructions there are several supports attached between the decks and hull sides around the whole ship, which should be attached having been painted first. Putting the now completed hull aside it’s on to the superstructure with the stern section being built first out of the rear bulkhead, side plates and deckhead. This should be painted along with bulkheads and doors that fit between the assembly and hull at the join between the foredeck and main deck, before attaching to the main deck. From this point all major assemblies should be pre-painted before adding to the hull/deck assembly as it would be tricky to paint afterwards with the wooden deck in place. Several sub-assemblies are now built up, the first of which is the complex forward winch, consisting of spindles, cogs, supports and sundry parts to make up a two spindle structure. There are also two cable reels built up of a centre reel and two supports and two, two part anchors. The main 4” gun is then constructed with the main barrel parts joined together, (at this point the main barrel, ahead of the breech can be removed and replaced with the turned brass part). The barrel assembly is then fitted with two trunnion supports which are in turn attached to the turret floor. The gun assembly is then fitted to the turret construction using either the styrene parts or the replacement etched parts. The forward main gun “bandstand” is made of the main circular deck part, access ladders, shell ready slots, which circle the full deck part, and etched railing replacing the styrene version. The turret is then added to the deck via the turret turntable. The completed assembly is then fitted to the foredeck, on top of a central and six outer supports. The next major assembly is that of the bridge structure. The bottom of which is made by attaching the four parts to make up a box. The veranda around the sides and aft section of the box is built up and the wooden deck added to the walkway. Several ammunition boxes and cabinets are then constructed and placed around the bridge, whilst two small derricks are built and fitted to the foredeck and the hedgehog weapon assembly fitted to the starboard side foreward of the bridge. The many and varied array of ventilators, cable reels, side breakwaters and main forward breakwater can now be added. Back to the bridge, the roof is added followed by the wooden deck. The bridge wing supports, a choice of which is provided depending on which ship is being built, need to be fitted and trimmed as necessary. To the bridge deck, the centre consoles are added along with the compass binnacle, wing searchlights, aldis lamps, flag lockers, screens and the two single 20mm Oerlikons fitted to the bridge wings. The original kit guns are discarded, with the exception of the pintle mount, and replaced with a pair of very nicely detailed and far better looking weapons made of etch parts and turned brass barrels. Also completely replaced is the DF aerial mounted on the front of the bridge in addition to a stove chimney port and starboard navigation lamps. To the side of the bridge wings the splinter mattresses are attached. Aft of the bridge is the radar lantern housing consisting of a two part support, to which a hexagonal base, with associated supports, is glued. To the base, the radar and pintle are fitted followed by the outer lantern with clear styrene panes, roof, air vents, access ladder and another searchlight. The railings surrounding the lantern are once again replaced with etched parts. Moving further aft construction turns to the funnel and its deck housing, which consists of a forward and aft section which are joined together creating one continuous structure. Onto the deck of this, a number of vents, skylights, cabinets and lockers, surrounded by etch railings are fitted. The funnel requires a couple of holes to be drilled into each half for the support wires to be threaded through and glued, before the two halves are joined, several exhaust pipes, a ladder and the funnel cap are fitted. This assembly is then mounted on its respective deck position as are four ventilators and two inclined ladders and their handrails. The mast is next for the turned brass treatment, with the top half being removed, to be replaced by the brass part. To this an etched bracket is added and the yardarm fitted to it. The crowsnest is attached to the lower fitting point and the ladder attached to the back of the mast as per the original instructions. The completed mast is then fitted to the deck aft of the funnel and the whole structural assembly is affixed to the ships upper deck. Still on the upper deck, four ventilators are added, two each side, whilst in the middle of the deck a large skylight is fitted. What would be the opening parts of the real thing are removed and replaced with etched parts. Also on the upper deck, further hatches, ventilators, ammunition lockers are added, as are the two twin .303 Vickers machine gun mounts, which, unfortunately haven’t been given the brass/etch treatment, which they really need. The 40mm PomPom does though, admittedly only for the barrel, which is a shame, but at least it’s some improvement. The gun is attached to the two trunnion plates which are then fixed to the mount and the shield is attached to the plates. This assembly is then fitted to its own bandstand type structure with an ammunition locker fitted behind the gun. This whole assembly is attached to the upper deck on six supports. The next ten steps in the instructions cover the fitting of further hatches, inclined ladders, handrails, ventilators, liferings, heating chimneys, railings, (etch), small derrick, and a pair of goose necked cranes. Each of the sixteen two part depth charges are then constructed with four fitted to the throwers and the rest nestled in cradles situated around the after superstructure. The depth charges are very basic and really could do with having some extra detail added, particularly on the arming faces. Just aft of the deck break two pairs of Carley float supports/ramps are fitted, each built up from five parts. Onto these the two part floats are then fitted and detailed as desired. Forward of the float supports, on aft end of the foredeck the two single piece lifeboats are attached to the deck on two cradles. The simple davits are mounted to the deck, either end of the lifeboats and the downhauls added using the black thread provided. The final major assemblies to be built are the ramps and depth charges for launching over the stern. Each of the two ramps are made up of the two sides with top and bottom ramps fitted in-between. Twenty four two part depth charges are then assembled nine slid into each of the ramps. On top of each ramp a cradle is fitted and three spare depth charges mounted. With the build now complete it’s now just the rigging to be done, for which the instructions are pretty clear, followed by the painting and fitting of the twelve crewmembers included in the kit. Decals There is a single sheet of decals which are nicely printed, in good register in a matt finish. There are markings for two ships, HMS Snowberry, or HMS Campanula with their pennant numbers for bow sides and stern, depth markings, ships nameplates, a Donald Duck cartoon for the turret of HMS Snowberry and a large funnel band for HMS Campanula. The carrier film on the larger decals, such as the ships numbers is quite prominent and will probably need some softening and settling solution to bed them done nicely on a glossy background, before having a coat of matt varnish. There is also a large paper sheet of signal flags to cut out and make up any signal the modeller wishes, could make for some interesting scenarios. Conclusion She’s been around for over 30 years now but she’s certainly not looking her age. As mentioned above it’s a shame that a new mould couldn’t have been made for the hull, but that way expense lies, which is something I’d imagine Revell were trying to get away with. The addition of the etched nickel, turned brass and wooden deck does try to bring the kit into the 21st century and it would have succeeded if it wasn’t for all the known problem areas. The kit will still need a lot of work and additional aftermarket to make into a museum quality or award winning model, but for those modellers who don’t want or need to go that far it will still build into a large, imposing and great looking model, and you can R/C it too, what’s not to like. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

Pictures thanks to Mike (bootneck)