D34 HMS Diamond

[Ray S]

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

[foxy]

I find Ray that if you put a medium size box (empty) on your lap this helps to save most missing pieces from going a stray.

Also a light under the work bench that you can switch on/off and maybe a smooth light bit of carpet under your feet.

It all helps to find those missing bits,' not all', but most

[Shar2]

Nice work Ray. Yes the bow anchor position is 2mm too low, so the amount of work required to move it far exceeds the problem.

[gregg136]

...I did not realise just how big destroyers are these days - this is just about the same length as the WW1 Dreadnought battleship!

I'm currently in the latter stages of Dauntless (as she was when I saw her earlier this year, which means no CIWS or Harpoon) and put it next to Trumpeters 1/350 Montrose.

Now there's a size difference.

[Ray S]

Hello all. Well, after a bit of a hiatus, I have finally knuckled down on this one and there has been some progress. I have decided to alter the build sequence, having thought that doing the main deck and superstructure first then adding the three piece hull would be a recipe for disaster. I added the cross bracing under the main deck after taping the hull sides to the deck to ensure that they fitted correctly and all 3 did, I was so pleased after having read that this is not always the case. I glued them in, waited a while and removed the hull sides. Then I looked at the instructions and found a 4th brace! I glued that in, confident of a perfect fir and guess what? It didn't when I mated the hull sides later. You would have thought after nearly 50 years of modelling I would have learnt, wouldn't you? Anyway, a bit if scraping and filing and it was close, but I think this has caused some of the fit issues I now encountered.

The top deck went on reasonably well, but there were some gaps:

But a new wonder product I have seen mentioned recently came to the rescue, Perfect Plastic Putty by Deluxe Materials. (Obtained from Models R Go - ordered thursday evening, arrived saturday morning - wonderful service). This just gets applied and any excess can be wiped smooth with a wet finger or tissue and produced this:

It is now a lot better. I found the hull sides were very thin, and really did need the internal braces. On this next photo you can see how the anchor recess looks now it has been moved, and when I paint the black boot topping it should hopefully be roughly right.

Without the rest of the superstructure, I think the Type 45 looks a very streamlined ship, but that will soon change!

Doing this out of sequence has also thrown up another hitch where the boats go. there are a number of bulkheads that fit onto blocks pre-moulded onto the deck that are now a bit of a struggle to get in, but I have solved that by trimming down the location tabs from the bottom. They also needed the height reducing too, as I think that may affect the fit of the hangar roof later.

Thanks for looking, and please add any suggestions (other than reading the instructions!). In my defence, I will be using the White Ensign Etch and it is difficult figuring out what needs doing when. I am dreading doing my Illustrious and etch next!

Kind regards, Ray

[MikeR]

Hi Ray,

This may be bad news, but Phil Reeder built his kit the same way you did and he had major problems with the fit of the superstructure:

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=138325

From what I've seen online, this may be one kit where you have to build it according to the instructions or it'll bite you on the rear-end.

It seems that if you build it conventional ship modeller style, i.e. hull first, then superstructure, it won't go together properly.

Mike.

[foxy]

Yep Phil had is fill of this kit .

Not sure if he continued it.

Will be watching this one with Interest .

[Ray S]

Hello Mike (and Foxy), you may well be correct, I will see how it goes and be the guinea pig!

Thanks for the warning, and I will not moan if it goes head over tip.

Kind regards, Ray

[Jockster]

I followed Mikes link and quite frankly it's appalling that Airfix can still produce such glaring fit errors considering the technology available to electronically build the model before it ever reaches tooling. You would also think one of their design team would have built a first run molding to see how it goes. It just further proves the endless talents of modelmakers who can produce such excellent builds from kits like these. Well done to all of you! Jock

[Ray S]

Hello all. After Mike's link to Phil's build, I was concerned as to how this was going to go. I had well and truely glued the deck and hull sides so destruction was not an option, and as this is a present I recieved at Christmas, I did not want to ruin it.

I have cut the boat 'hangar' components from the sprues and done a dry run on the main hangar roof, and it does not seem to have ended up with the issues Phil had.

I think it goes okay, although I am not counting my chickens on this one until the glue has set!

I also need to think about how to do the interior of the boat 'hangar'. This is another area where not having the hull sides fitted would have been a good idea! I think I am going to dry fit the 3 structural pieces and lightly tack them together, then fit the etch mezzanine and ladders followed by the boat cantilever arm and the boat all in one, then slip it all in from the inside of the superstructure (remembering to dry fit before gluing!).

On BM there are some fabulous photographs of the boat 'hangar' and I have got to figure out just how much to try and add. the strapping from the cantilever arm to the boats are red and white for example, although I am not sure if I could paint it neatly. The photographs though do show the boats are not just dark grey, so that is something I will definitely do.

Thanks for looking, and thanks for the help so far!

All the best, Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all, I have just had a fun hour and a half doing the port side RHIB bay. I decided to fit only the two end bulkheads to the interior first, and fit the gantry (etch) to the fore one of those. This gantry has a hand rail on the two open sides and a supporting beam that rests against the fore bulkhead. I reasoned that if I taped the 3rd part of the bay I would get the gantry in the right place. So, out with the glue'n'glaze (my preferred means of attaching etch in the first instance) and ran that along the front part of the gantry and handrail and a dab on the support strut, and in it went and ended up reasonably level. I removed the taped wall and then ran a bead of CA into the joint of the bulkhead and gantry and also added the access ladder.

I then tackled the ladders on the third (long) wall and tacked them on with CA this time, and fitted the RHIB brackets ready for the boats when I have got them painted up. I still need to retouch the paintwork on these etch parts, but it is tricky finding out the correct colours, so I may need to have a bit of artistic licence.

The reason for leaving the long wall unattached is to allow me to fit the RHIB cantilever and associated etch strapping (which needs to be red and white!). I am undecided whether to have both port and starboard bays open or just the port one. I will see how this goes first.

Anyway, thanks for looking.

Kind regards, Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all, I have started the base for HMS Diamond, and I thought I would show you how I do my seascapes. First off, I cut out a decent size piece of fairly thick MDF, after having placed the hull onto it and figured out the position and composition of the display. I then cut out some textured card to size, and I needed to tape it half way as it was not long enough (I taped on the flatter side of the card).

I turned the lower hull upside down and drew around the hull form.

I used a relatively sharp blade and cut out the hull footprint. I do not worry if I am not too accurate, but I do ensure that the cutout is slightly larger than the footprint.

Then, using very strong double sided tape, I taped the card onto the MDF, having first cleaned the surface of the MDF to get rid of all the dust. In the past, this has been all the adhesive I have needed and have had no issues.

This is the next stage. Using Winsor and Newton Heavy Carveable Modelling Paste and a spatula, I spread on a thickish layer of paste over the card. I have read in some places that it is a good idea to flood the card with thin CA to make it waterproof for this stage. I have done this once, but I was badly affected by the fumes and I am now on my 3rd version without the CA and it still works. The first stage of this process produces this:

When the paste has gone off just a bit, I then use a thick stiff (old) brush which I then dab all over the surface to create a stipple effect, which I think simulates ripples or small waves fairly well (you can see the before and after effect here):

While the base dried off, I started to tackle the base of the ship. Airfix have supplied a lower hull, but no flat baseplate. This means that any attachment points to the base will be minimal, being only the outer edges of the hull. So, I added an extra bulkhead and put strips of plastic across the bulkheads fore to aft. The plastic was not quite thick enough, so I then cut out something that was more like the shape of the hull and fitted that to the strips I had already added. I used thick tube glue for all these parts as it was stronger than liquid glue.

All I need to do now is wait for the paste to dry full then I can get on with the paintwork, and adding the wake pattern.

I hope I have not bored you all,

Thanks for looking, kind regards, Ray

[Forlornhope]

coming along nicely, I hope there is not to many fit issues for you

[Ray S]

Hello, a bit more progress (but not on the sea-scape!).

I have encountered some fit issues but nothing too bad. Putty came out on the bow area but with this new stuff being water removeable it was fairly easy to clean up and not too badly affect the paintwork

I have also got some stuff done at the rear of the ship. I bit the bullet and tried to represent the red and white markings on the RHIB gantry straps, but oh boy! was it fun trying to get the RHIB on its cradle and the straps fitted too. It took me about an hour to get it set up reasonably well - I tacked the boat in with white glue, then pushed the rear of the bay into place from the hangar side and tried to judge with the mark-1 eyeball where the straps should fit onto the cantilever arm and the boat itself. Once fitted, I popped a bit of CA on and it was rock solid.

There is quite a bit of detail supplied by White Ensign on their etch set for the interior of the hangar, and this may be the last time I see much of this. They supply railings for the mezzanine walkway, hand rails for the steps up to the mezzanine and a crane assembly and hook which will be really difficult to see, but being yellow it gives a splash of colour. I have seem some photographs (on the 'Walkround' section of BM) which shows the hangar door can be fully open and not concertinad, so I may be able to see something.

This is going slowly, but so far I am quite happy with the way it is going, although soon I will be getting the hangar roof on and that may change things despite the test fitting I did a few days ago.

Thanks for looking, kind regards, Ray

[Chris Hewitt]

Looking good

[surfsup]

She is looking really nice.....Cheers mark

[AntPhillips]

Nice progress so far, and also good to see the photo etch set being used to great effect.

I've been thinking of investing in some WEM sets for my Airfix Illustrious and Daring, both of which are getting to the point where I need to decide whether they remain OOB builds or get the WEM treatment.

[Shar2]

Very nice work on the boat bay and hanger. The ship is really coming together.

[Ray S]

Hello all. Thank you to all the kind comments!

When I was doing the seascape, I had a bit of a problem, in view of the fact that my nice brush I use for stippling the surface decided to fall apart! The entire brush bristle part just came away from the wood. I had to pop into town today to get a replecement for that. Having got back, I was now in a position to start the paintwork for the 'sea'. Here are the paints I use:

They are acrylic, and react well to water. I popped out dollops of the paint onto a suitable mixing pallet:

Then I put a fair amount of water in between the paint dollops and started mixing until I had a mixture that was not too even in tone. Then I painted that mixture onto the now dry modelling paste with a good quality wide brush, but I do this with the paint quite wet, adding water regularly. I find this helps mix the colours together in a better blend.

As I go along the length of the sea base, I mix in various quantities of grey, darker blue, and green (especially nearer to the ship where the wake will eventually be).

Here at the aft end, there is more green blended in, but a lot of that will go later when I add the wake. In the meantime, as this lot dried off, I got to work on the Hangar roof which was the major area where Phil Reeder had issues in the link given earlier in this thread. Building this Type 45 out of sequence does have issues, but being fore-warned, I am hopefully fore-armed. Hre is the first hitch:

This is caused by the steep angled hull sides. If I followed the instructions, most of the deck superstructure would be assembled before attaching the hull sides. The Hangar roof is wider than the opening at the top of the hull, so some gentle(!) pressure was used to slide the roof in and get it in place properly. All the time I had to remember NOT to put my thumb through the boat opening. The result was:

This need just a little bit of adjustment once it was in place, then I could get some more superstructure fitted at the front of the hangar roof. Once all this had been added, I had some joint lines to fill. This is where I again praise most highly Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty (I have no affiliation). This was spread onto the joint lines and then smeared off with either a wet cotton bud or wet tissue and it left a really neat filled join. It does not affect the paintwork (so far) and all I need to do when it is dry is to give a gentle sand/polish.

Well, that is all so far, I have had a good few hours on this today. Thanks again for all the kind comments, they are really appreciated.

All the best, Ray

[Ray S]

Hello, I don't know why a couple of photo's did not appear above, the paints were Winsor and Newton acrylics, Ultramarine, Paynes Grey, Powder Blue, Permanent Deep Green and Mixing White. Maybe they will come back to be able to be seen again one day. Computers, heh?

Anyway, today I managed to get the transfers onto the hull sides, but I did have some silvering. I sliced the transfers with a razor blade and flooed them again with Microsol so hopefully all will be well. I have also done a bit more to the superstructure and needed to re-touch some of the filler.

I also was able to get on with the wake for the seascape too. Using the same modelling paste as before, I spread some of that on in an approximation of what I was after.

I then used my new brush wet to blend it in and get a less harsh effect. I have noticed as I posted that link that others in the same batch I have just uploaded have gone too, so maybe Tiny pic is doing the same as photobucket has recently.

I have tried to get the wash and wake looking fluid, but now need to let it dry then retouch the paintwork and take some of the starkness of the white paste away.

Touch wood, no more pictures will vanish!

Thanks for looking, and as usual any advice will be appreciated.

Kind regards, Ray

[AntPhillips]

Hi Ray,

I've been doing some more prep work on my Type 45 (I have to call her that at present because I still can't decide which ship she'll be).

The main thing I've noticed is that most of the superstructure panels want to spring out from their correct position, I read somewhere that removing the location lugs might help, so last night I bit the bullet and snipped them off, and hey presto, the panels all snuggle up nicely now, although I think I might have to look for some of that magic filler your using.

Your seascape looks cool, mine is going to be full hull but I may have to try doing one sooner or later.

[Ray S]

Hello Ant, yep thats right with the tabs. I found out very quickly that they should go, the area around the front highest tower looked more like a tulip than ship the four sides opened up so much! I have been getting on with more of the upper superstructure, but it is not worth a pic at the moment. I will be using more of the filler, but with the fore'mast' area I remembered not to paint it first so I can get to work trying to blend the corners in a bit more.

I have created more work for myself by doing this out of sequence, but I had my own reasons at the time (honest guv!), but I think I would do it the proper way round if I were to revisit the kit from the start again. Having said that, I have not had any really bad experiences with this, nothing you don't expect with some kits anyway. There, if that is not sitting on the fence I do not know what is!

Thanks for the comments.

Kind regards, Ray

[foxy]

Thats comeing on nicely Ray.

Like the way you have started on the water effect, thats a bit how I do it, also use tissue paper.

But your idea makes me want to do this for my Italian build as the water in harbour would be less rough.

I add when ship fitted some wall filler or some such for the waves along ship sides, but I expect you have allready decided what your going to do lol.

Watching all with Interest.

Cheers Frank

[Forlornhope]

Coming along nicely Ray, I really like the base, good job

Cheers Callum

[Ray S]

Hello all again. The last week or so has been seeing me do a lot more to the superstructure of HMS Diamond. This is quite a complex kit to do the way it has been designed, but I do not know if it could have been done any other way (I have not seen the Dragon 1/700 example). The way the parts go together is quite tricky, and most of the joints have needed some filler, but there is also minimal space to paint some of the forward and aft facing parts (that was one reason I started off by painting some of the parts first).

Anyway, here is the state of play at the moment, I am part way through painting some of the black areas. I found out that the black areas do not always seem to be in the same place from ship to ship (unless I have mis-interpreted photographs - always possible with me!), but I think I have got it okay for Diamond now. It was surprisingly difficult to get the masking straight(ish). I have since masked off and painted the rear of the front tower.

I hope I have got the boot topping okay, it looks to be not too far out. Again, from the instructions it was difficult to figure out where it should go, but with Shar2's advice on the anchor position in his in-box on this site review I was able to get fairly close I think. It is definitely higher at the bow than stern.

Airfix have supplied quite a bit of cockpit interior for the Type 45:

but having said that, what could Eduard do for this? They should stop wasting time on big things like 1/72 aircraft and get on with proper scale stuff (tongue in cheek!). I left the release pin marks at the fore of the control area, but did try to clean the marks up on the wider walkway area at the aft section.

I have seen one or two sink marks, these ones I only noticed when I had got the part in place and a lot off the surrounding area painted. I have to admit I have left these so far, although if I pluck up courage I may try and sort them out. I do not want to wreck the area, hence my uncertainty:

I will soon get to the end of the 'easy' part, and get back to adding the etch work again. I have really gone to the point of no return for the etch, having destroyed one set of plastic aeriels which fit onto the front tower (I did that to fill the fitting-point holes) as the etch will butt-joint to the mast.

It seems odd to me that I have not fitted Diamond to the base yet, but it is big and I would have been worried that I would either knock something over, or the base would fall off just as I was adding some delicate bits. The bases on my smaller ships would have been added by now as it really helps handling in those situations, but this is different. I will be finishing the seascape late on, and blending in the paint and doing the wash down the hull then too.

I hope I have not bored you, but thanks for persevering with me!

All the best, kind regards, Ray