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HMS Devonshire – D02 (A03202V) 1:600 Airfix Vintage Classics The Devonshire was the first of the County Class Destroyers to be completed in 1960 at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, not a million miles away from Britmodeller HQ. It was commissioned by the Royal Navy in ’62, taking most of the rest of the year to work-up to operational readiness before returning to her home port of Portsmouth in the south of England. The ship had been designed around the unproven Sea Slug anti-aircraft missile system from the outset, which was intended to take down enemy aircraft before they could release stand-off anti-ship missiles aimed at the fleet they were protecting. Sadly, the only time the missile was used in anger during the Falklands war, the results were less than impressive. She also carried a supply of Sea Cat missiles, and fielded two twin 4.5” main guns in boxy turrets in front of the superstructure, anti-aircraft guns, and two racks of three torpedoes. She could also carry a Wessex helicopter on a small pad on the aft deck. I suspect I may have seen her during one of my summer holidays with my folks in the 70s, as we were sometimes visiting Portsmouth and other ports during Royal outings – totally coincidentally, of course. Our theory was she used to follow us round the country. HMS Devonshire served in the Navy until she became a victim of defence cuts in 1978, after which she was decommissioned and in the harbour where she languished for six more years that included a failed sale to Egypt before an ignominious end. It was decided somewhere high up that she could perform one last duty for her country as a target for missile tests for the then-new Sea Eagle anti-shipping missile, the British equivalent of the Exocet missile. After the trials she was finally sunk by British submarine HMS Splendid, in their own test of the new Mark 24-Mod-2 Tigerfish torpedo, which at the time had a poor reputation for reliability. An 80% detonation rate was good enough to see the Devonshire to the bottom of the North Atlantic however. The Kit This is one of Airfix’s Vintage Classic line, which is a clear indicator that it is an old tooling that dates back to 1963, just one year after she went into service with the Navy. You shouldn’t expect great things of these vintage kits, as technology has changed immeasurably since they were tooled and released. Time takes a toll on toolings of even the toughest metals, and quantities of flash are inevitable eventually, and there is some evident on this kit as you can see in the photos. The kit arrives in a slim red-themed box, and inside are two sprues and the deck in grey styrene that don’t have the outer runners that we are now used to these days. Saying that, none of the parts had fallen off the review sample’s runners. The box is completed by the instruction booklet with colour profiles inside, and a small decal sheet. Construction begins with the hull, which is split into two halves that have the demarcations between the underside anti-fouling, boot-topping and the upper colour marked out for you by fine raised lines, which should speed up masking immensely. The deck is a long section with a step up behind the front turret, which has planking engraved into the forward section, plus the anchor chains, bulwark and the turret bases moulded into it. The stepped-down rear deck is a separate part that also has another part to create the step itself, then the basic superstructure is fitted. The forward section is made from two halves plus the upper deck, and it locates on the main deck by a large rectangular upstand moulded into the deck. The rear superstructure is a single moulding that locates on a C-shaped raised mark and a square mark at the rear. A pair of W-shaped anchors fit into the hawse-pipe outlets on the sides of the bow, then the hull is flipped over and the twin propellers are installed on long shafts that have support struts roughly half way along their length, plus a separate twin-boomed strut further aft. Behind the blades are two rudders that fit into holes in the hull, which need drilling out for a better fit. There are a couple of ejector-pin marks in the neighbourhood too, so two jobs can be carried out at once. Righting the hull, the superstructure is then fitted out with twin funnels; flying bridges; twin masts with arms and antennae; four life boats and ship’s tender on davits; weapons turrets including the Sea Slug turret at the rear and other small parts. The pair of gun turrets each have separate barrels slipped into elevation slots in the front of the boxy structure, and these are slotted into holes in the bases, held in place by friction or glue at your whim. Abaft the superstructure the basic shape of a Westland Wessex with separate main and tail-rotors can be glued to the deck after putting the white location markings on the surface, then a pair of staffs for the jack and ensign are glued into holes in the bow and stern deck. A pair of simple stands are included on the sprues for you to use if you wish, one at each end of the completed model. Markings The Devonshire wore grey throughout her career, but the markings option that is provided in the kit depicts her as she was in 1968, with its Wessex in blue/yellow livery with decals to finish the job. From the box you can build this: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin satin carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion 1:600 isn’t a massively popular maritime scale, but if you want a small-scale HMS Devonshire this is still pretty-much the only game in town, but if you wanted to put more detail into it, Atlantic Models do a Photo-Etch (PE) upgrade set. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

HMS Suffolk Detail Set Atlantic Models 1:600 (ATEM60015) HMS Suffolk was a Royal Navy County Class Heavy Cruiser. Laid down in 1926 and commissioned in 1928. Originally serving on the China Station she returned home in time for WWII where she served and was damaged during the Norwegian campaign. After repairs she was engaged in the fight against the Bismarck. after firing on the Bismarck she was able to track her on radar to vector in additional units, After the loos of the Hood and damage to the Prince of Wales Suffolk continued to track the Bismarck until her fuel situation dictated she break off. Following this she served with the home fleet until 1942. A refit followed where she lost X Turret to gain much needed AA Armament. After this she was sent to the Eastern Fleet, operating in the Indian Ocean until the end of the war. Following the surrender of Japan she was used to transport military and civilian personnel from Australia, and the Far East, back to the UK. On her return Suffolk underwent repairs at Chatham Dockyard between November 1945 and January 1946. On completion she sailed to Australia again, returning in April 1946. Her final voyage was to Singapore arriving there in May, and returning in July 1946. later that year she was placed in unmaintained reserve until 1948. With the post-war economic difficulties of Britain hitting hard the reserve fleet was quickly sold off, and Suffolk was decommissioned in March 1948. and scrapped later the same year. The Set This slightly smaller thanA5 sheet of PE from Atlantic Models gives a fairly comprehensive upgrade set for her wartime fit before the removal of X Turrett. It is designed for the Airfix kit, this has been re-released over the years and some of the details are starting to become a bit soft. One of the main features is a complete set of railings for the ship. After that there are two 8 barrelled and two quad 50 Cal guns for for AA defence. For the antennas & radars you get a 285 AA Radar Yagi antenna, a 279 radar antenna assembly, and a 284 gunnery radar unit to fit to the director. There are new access doors for the turrets, and new foot ropes for the main fore mast. Starting at the bow there are new ships anchors, then working our way back aft new supports for the bridge deck, and a new shelter deck house assembly below this. There are new deck fittings and railings for the shelter deck and new Pom Pom bulwarks. There are new funnel grills and siren platforms, toped of with a new funnel cap. New decks are provided for the ships boats. There are new lens caps for the searchlights, new foot ropes for the main mast, a new accommodation ladder and rear depth charge rails. New hatches and doors are provided. ne of the main areas to be addressed with this set is the ships aircraft. As well as parts for the Walrus itself, there is a new aircraft crane assembly, a new catapult, and new parts for the aircraft hanger including the doors, deck railings and additional fittings. Conclusion Its good to see set being produced for older kits which can still hold their own and can benefit from the extra detail. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of Peter Hall of

I have already trailed this in my Dido build, but I ought really to reveal what I am up to. Dido - now at the painting stage, so progressing nicely - has been my first full ship build for a good while, and I have seriously enjoyed it... plus the modular nature of building ships seems to suit my weird weekdays only, away from home current set-up. I am painting Dido with enamels and (in due course) some oils, which will require plenty of drying time... so I’ve decided on the next project. Dido was my first ship: my second was the County Class DLG HMS Norfolk. I joined her in July 1981, straight out of university. Only a few weeks later she was sold to Chile, and her programme no longer really worked for a young officer who needed lots of sea experience to get his tickets, so in November 81 I was re-appointed to Fearless as she emerged from refit in the Tyne. 6 months later I found myself in San Carlos Water... but that’ll be a story for a future build. Norfolk, therefore, is the Prat part of this build (her Chilean name was Almirante Prat). She will be modelled looking something like this (a photo of her sailing from Pompey during my time on board, September 1981 en route to Amsterdam). However, I actually have two Atlantic Models 1/350 DLGs. The second is a commission for one of my oldest friends; he has a significant birthday next year. We didn’t actually meet until 1982, but he too served in a DLG around this time. While I was in San Carlos in Fearless, my mate was out on the gun line in HMS Glamorgan. We all know what happened next - indeed Mark was on the bridge when she was hit. Happily both Glamorgan and he survived. So in parallel with a relatively shiny Norfolk, I will be building a distinctly battered sister; my plan is to try to reproduce this scene, which is Glamorgan entering Pompey with very clear battle scars in July 1982. The wrecked hangar area will require some ingenuity, but I have some good reference shots & I’m sure it’s doable. Here, just because it’s the law at the start of any build, is one of the two kits: This won’t be quick, and I haven’t finished Dido yet... but that’s what is next on the hoist. Crisp

Been planning this ship for some time and one popped up very cheap at a model show £3 .Reason it was such a give away,was no funnel caps.hopefully l can fix this with body filler.This will be a batch one,if you just don't look too close they look the same,far from it. especially between the two funnels.The Airfix kit is very basic,with lots of holes and over-sized parts.These can be replaced,lucky there is a Photo etching set from Atlantis models and 3D set from Shapeways for her.I,m replacing the bridge winds with plastic card.The ship will be waterlined The Kit The Etching Kit Lots of holes The Helicopter !