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Hi, this is a build of HMS Bramham, a Hunt type II destroyer in 1/700 scale. This has been built from the IBG kit, in this case entirely from the HMS Zetland boxing. I had intended to have this finished in time to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Operation Pedestal, the crucial supply convoy to Malta in August 1942, in which she played a significant role. Unfortunately I've overrun by a few weeks, but better late than never! It's a personal build as well, as my Grandfather was serving on her at the time as young Sub-Lieutenant. He would sketch the ship for me on occasion, and it would make regular appearances in my childhood drawing books, no doubt each time diverging further from reality to sprout missile launchers and lightning bolts down the side. I feel a bit strange talking self indulgently about this model first when really it's of no importance compared with the gravity of the subject matter. However, this being a modelling forum, I suppose I should start with the model, but for those interested in the history and some of his writings on the subject, I've opted to put that in the next post, so please feel free to skip that if it is of no interest to you. So specifically the build, this is my first ship build since returning to the hobby (although I know I rather roughly glued together without paint some old Airfix 1/600 kits back in the day). It being a relatively simple kit and an important model to me, I had intended to go the whole hog and upgrade it with the Shelf Oddity PE and various Flyhawk gubbins. However it quickly became clear first that my embryonic modelling skills were not equal to the task, and second that all the constant planning, checking references, making notes and apprehensive stalling were unlikely to yield any finished kit this side of the next ice age. I'd also put a little entirely unnecessary pressure on myself to get something out for the aforementioned anniversary, which was unlikely to lead to a enjoyable experience. So instead what we have is a mostly OOB build, completed with a deliberate lack of care, attention or sense of shame! A first attempt or prototype, if you will, built to the mantra of 'rubbish but fun'. There are many things that didn't turn out quite right and were I wanting to do a job to my satisfaction, I would go back and change or redo. So my apologies for putting such a rough model up for RFI! My hope is that, having thoroughly enjoyed carelessly bulldozering straight past any mistakes, and having learned the lessons from this build, I'll one day go back and update this thread when I've made version 2 with rather more care. With that in mind, it's an open invitation for any and all criticism, this being a learning experience and a model that I set no great store by; being a total beginner to ship modelling, I'd rather know what doesn't look right or hasn't worked so I can do it differently in the future. So yes mostly OOB, with addition of some rather nice Starling Models 4" turrets, pom poms and Oerlikons. There's a little scratch here and there, most notably a steel rod replacement for the oversize mast and some rather dodgy Type 285 radar aerials from chopped up PE bits. The kit is finished with a combination of Gunze primers and matt varnish, Tamiya and Colourcoats paints, and some rather over-enthusiastic oil paint washes and weathering, which turned out to be impossible to claw black without repainting entirely (turns out the matte varnish just ate the wash up and spread it indiscriminately around). Any pointers how to do a detail wash onto matte without just wicking the whole surface with grime? Anyway, it's my intention to practice building a sea base for her, but that being so far beyond my skills, and with time ticking, I will leave that for another day. The RFI can be found below, and some writings about the Operation by my Grandfather in the following post. Thanks very much for looking in! Cheers, Andy A little escort destroyer in this scale really is tiny. I was amazed on opening the (rather large) box. Here's it next to generic 1/72ishness

I've amassed over the years a fairly large number of original photos of Indomitable during Pedestal and have now scanned most of them. Here are two images of what I assume is the same incident, cropped from larger photos of Indomitable just before, or during, operation Pedestal. It looks like 880:7G to me, though 7C is a possibility? If it is 7G, then it is Z4849. The aircraft doesn't have Pedestal identification markings, so it is possible that the incident is late July, but certainly before August 8. The engine of the aircraft appears to be missing, so perhaps an attempt to dispose of a badly damaged aircraft that then got hung up? The original of the photo that this image has been cropped from shows three Sea Hurricanes on the outriggers at this time: aft, from stern to bow, are 800:M, 880:7Z, forward 880:7M. We have discussed a photo of a Sea Hurricane going over the side. Could this be the same incident?