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HMS Splendid 1982 and HMS Talent 2012


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Two slight conversions from the Airfix Trafalgar kit, first up is a back date to an early Swiftsure Class submarine, the main changes are shortening the hull by around 7mm, reducing the height of the rudder, replacing the fin with a scratch build to remove the tile effect and replacing the hull vents. Paint is Tamiya Nato black with some subtle highligting for what was a new boat at the time:

Splendid-3.png

Splendid-2.png

Splendid-1.png

The second one is a bit speculative as no details are availble, but is supposed to represent a current generation Trafalgar class with the same sonar fit as the Astute class. The main changes are the flank sonar panels, and a couple of details. On this one, Ipositioned tiny squares of masking tape randomly on the hull before a few heavy coats of primer, with the tape removed, there is an indication of missing tiles. Then more making was used to give an indication of the tiles in place.:

talent-1.png

talent-3.png

talent-2.png

Finally, the two boats together to show the differences:

talent-and-Splendid.png

A

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Splendid, Superb models andrewa - great builds and excellent finish.

Where did you make the 'around 7mm' reduction in length on Splendid ???

I'd like to have a go at converting the Airfix Trafalgar myself - so any more info would be appreciated.

Ken

Edited by Flankerman
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Hi Ken,

I made the cut about 10 - 15mm behind the fin - I just found a section where the deck detail was continuous so nothing would be lost. I also made the cut before joining the upper and lower hulls to allow me to offset the lower cut to give a stepped joint rather than leaving a weakness.

Information is a bit sparse on the real thing, but I gathered as many side on shots of S and T class boats as I could find, then measured the ratio from bow to fin, fin front to rear and fin to rudder, the results I got were that the lengths for the first two measurements were consistent across all the boats with the change occurring aft of the fin. the actual length difference is 2.5m scaling to 7.14mm.

The only other changes were the vents on the casing - 2 small per side for the S class rather than 1 large for the Ts and the shorter rudder.

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