HMS Somerset F82

[Sgeek]

Mmmmmmmm, Halyards you so tight you can twang them!

I will forgive the Signal deck crew not having stowed the 15"SP's fore and aft. I hate slack halyards

(and of course it is a Guzz based ship, so standards will not be as high as a Pompey 42 )

joviality aside she is coming togther nicely.

[Paul E]

I was one of the gang who stood & pointed, usually from the signal deck. I particularly remember the very smooth & calm Navigator on Active lose it over the main broadcast when he was OOW & Fred had been chucked over.

"Can any of you blind b*€#+><s see that f@; &g dummy?."

Oh how we laughed. The Captain? No, not so much.

It is funny how Skippers and Jimmys don't have the same sense of humour. Mind you, if they did there would be no pleasure from others misfortune!

Edited January 11, 2016 by Paul E

[Paul E]

Thanks for the comments guys and the tip regarding rigging. I will try it out when I start fitting the wire aerials.

Sgeek; I take the point about the 15inch Signal Projectors, I shall get onto the bunting tossers although I do think they look better pointing outboard. As for standards being higher on a PFK* 42 it is because they spent so much time alongside.

(* Pompey Fat Knacker - a term of endearment from the West County).

[phildagreek]

Real sailors can be found in Guz.

'Nough said.

[Darby]

Thanks for the comments guys and the tip regarding rigging. I will try it out when I start fitting the wire aerials.

Sgeek; I take the point about the 15inch Signal Projectors, I shall get onto the bunting tossers although I do think they look better pointing outboard. As for standards being higher on a PFK* 42 it is because they spent so much time alongside.

(* Pompey Fat Knacker - a term of endearment from the West County).

Bunties are now a thing of the past now. It's the Specs on the bridge who do all that flashing light stuff nowadays. I've had Portsmouth and Plymouth based ships but I have to admit my favourite dockyard is P mouth.

[Paul E]

Bunties are now a thing of the past now. It's the Specs on the bridge who do all that flashing light stuff nowadays. I've had Portsmouth and Plymouth based ships but I have to admit my favourite dockyard is P mouth.

This makes me feel old. When I started there were mythical beasts call ROs and WEMs, then they merged to become super beings known as OMs who came amongst us as the answer to all our prayers.

Next you'll be telling me that the Marine and Weapon Engineering branches have merged into one and that Engineering Branch Development was nothing more than a bad dream.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Paul E

[Paul E]

Here's an update post on adding some of the smaller detail items.

Amongst them is the Ship’s Badge to be placed on the bridge screen. If I did it at 1:600 for HMS Phoebe, http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234976345-hms-phoebe-f42/page-6 I have to do it at 1:350 scale for HMS Somerset. Well I said I was going to print the badge this time around, I did:

But I struggled making a good job of cutting it out and so I gave up and went back to making one.

Fortunately the badge design is pretty simple so I fashioned the shape out of plastic card:

And then painted it carefully:

The badge was then added to the front of the bridge screen:

Another of the ceremonial items is the ships Name Boards. These are only worn at anchor, on entry and exit to harbour and alongside however for purely artistic reasons I am choosing to fit them to my model. Type 23s actually have 3 name boards although only two are provided for on the PE fret. The boards are positioned either side of the forward superstructure:

And at the top of the accommodation ladder which is partially obscured from view when the accommodation ladder is stowed:

Many thanks to Jockster for giving me a spare Somerset board from his PE fret.

[longshanks]

Cracking job buddy

Kev

[Jockster]

You keep raising the bar mate, I'd have finished Kent months ago if I wasn't keeping up with Somerset. Now I have to make her badge too? Ooooh, ok then!

Tough act to follow! Very nice Paul.

P.s. I should have sent you a message after reading this post. You've answered my questions about the nameboards already!

[Sgeek]

Bunties are now a thing of the past now. It's the Specs on the bridge who do all that flashing light stuff nowadays.

I know. It was the end of an era. It is understandable that the specs have had difficulty maintaining the standards of gods chosen branch .

I am sure they try their best (insert tongue in cheek emoticon here!), so good luck to them

Signed

Steve (ex-CY and decrepit old F*rt)

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Oh, I see. Not just any old random Bunting Tosser, but a Yeoman, no less. Respect.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Ex-FAAWAFU

[Paul E]

A little something for the weekend.

Back to rigging; and harking back to an earlier post (#63) where I provided a schematic for the HF wire antenna:

Rigging the aerials uses the same super fine Uschi line as the halyards. I haven't changed my mind about hating rigging but the results of my efforts are as follows:

And finally another overall progress picture to finish with.

Thanks for looking.

[Darby]

I'm with on the rigging aspect. Just been using EZ line on my Graf Spee. Twangs and pings (not the active type) were the main sound effects in the process.

[moaning dolphin]

I feel your pain, I'm still trying to rig my HMS Renown (the old one) and it does my eyes in! I spend about 25 mins doing it and then 3 months off to recover my sight correctly. Love the way the Somerset is coming on, the rigging is the doggies danglies!

[Nick C]

Great work on the rigging!!

Cheers

Nick

[longshanks]

Well worth the verbal abuse mate

The rigging is looking sweet

Kev

[beefy66]

Amazing detail work you are putting into this Paul.

Beefy

[Paul E]

Thanks very much for the support guys. I have made some progress over the weekend and I am nearly there. Hopefully I will be able to post an update with pictures tomorrow.

[Paul E]

The end is nigh!

This posting covers some of the little bits and pieces that need to be done as I come close to completing Somerset.

First up rigging the ships boats: this was done using Uschi/EZ-Line of different sizes (and a lot of patience).

This was followed by taking another look at the 30mm guns. I decided the kit mouldings of the barrels were a little over scale so I replaced them with some thin 0.3mm brass wire:

The picture doesn’t do it justice but there is a marked improvement.

I have added the stowed ammunition davit to the starboard side of the bridge superstructure and painted the ship’s screen (the white blob) hopefully Darby will be happy with that.

The flight deck grid from the PE fret has now been added;

And so have the stays that hold up the flight deck netting.

Lastly I have made and fitted the HF Transmit whip antennae out of 0.1mm brass wire:

and added the HF Active receive antenna also out of 0.1mm brass wire to the bridge structure.

Finally a picture of Somerset with the whip antenna, guns and gun deck safety nets fitted:

So what is left is a bit of touch up painting, the boat ropes and the coronet.

[Darby]

Nice to see the ship screen on there. Have you repeated the process on the port side? Good work on the gun barrels. Nice to see the correct profile and not just lengths of round plastic rod.

[phildagreek]

Looks good!

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Cracking screen, Grommit. Need to feed the Met men

[longshanks]

Great attention to detail as always

Kev

[beefy66]

Did not realize these ships had so much rigging to them

Beefy

[Darby]

Cracking screen, Grommit. Need to feed the Met men

That'll be me then.