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The Banana Boat - HMS Brinton (1/350 Atlantic Models)


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I have been absent from the ship section of this site for far too long.  I plan to get back to my long-paused Ark Royal 1987 build this year, but before I do I thought I'd get my 1/350 eye back in.  

 

I was in the RN from 1978 - 1997, and my (very long term!) plan is to build a 1/350 model of every ship in which I served (and 1/48 model of every type of aircraft that I flew, but that's over in a another part of the forum!).  That means, in order... Dido, Norfolk, Fearless, Boxer, Ark Royal, Broadsword & Blackwater... 

 

In some cases a good quality model is available; I have the Atlantic Models Ikara Leander (Dido) and DLG (Norfolk) kits safely in the stash.  You can find my Ark Royal elsewhere on here.  Though the chances of a mainstream kit of them are approximately nil, I am still hopeful that Peter Hall will get round to a Batch 1 Type 22 (Broadsword), and it's not completely impossible that he will do a Batch 2 (Boxer).  After that it gets dodgy; I am going to have to scratch build Blackwater and Fearless - but since they respectively were my first (and only) command and the ship in which I went to war, they're arguably the most important of the lot!  Anyway, most of those are along way off.

 

When I was appointed to Blackwater in early 1992, she was in refit and not looking ready to emerge for at least a month, so my Boss sent me to sea in order to get some early experience of the Fisheries Protection malarkey before I was in charge of a patrol in my own ship.  So I was never officially appointed to Brinton, but I spent a couple of very happy weeks in her in early 1992, boarding dodgy French and Portuguese trawlers in the Western Channel.

 

There is also the modelling point of view; I am doing this because it will be first experience of one of Peter's beautiful kits, and I thought I would learn on a relatively simple one (no monstrously complex PE radars or Sea Slug launchers!); Brinton fits that description perfectly.

 

So here we go with the statutory box photo:

24654778797_fb16c4a5b4_c.jpg

 

As you can see, I have a copy of the stunning Jecobin plans (I never do a ship build without decent plans), shown here reduced to 1/350 size.  The plans are of Nurton, and the model matches them beautifully - those of you who followed @Paul E's Brereton build last year will recall that this means the kit isn't actually Upton (who was a 'sweeper rather than a 'hunter, and the kit is a 'hunter).  [If you don't know what I am talking about, Paul explains it far better than me in his build, including photos!]

 

Luckily for me, Brinton was definitely a mine hunter, so the kit can be used for her without any significant surgery.

 

Apart from the Jecobin plans and a few photos, my only other reference source is this, which contains some useful close-ups of the class in all its varied forms:

24654779227_50e432a025_c.jpg

 

I am also lucky enough to have a sheet of Paul E's home-baked extra PE, which will allow me to improve a few details (doors, windows, the Bofors, petrol stowage rack, etc) - seen here in the foreground, with the resin, white metal and PE of Peter's original kit, plus some Master brass 40/60 Bofors gun barrels.

24654778417_db9fc27d66_c.jpg

 

So here goes!

 

I should warn you that I also have a Seafire 47, a Seafang and a Walrus on the go at present, plus I am being badgered to re-start my Sea King and Ark Royal builds...  this is not likely to be quick.

 

But it should be fun... [famous last words].

 

More soon

 

Crisp

 

P.S. Why the title?  Brinton had a long-standing affiliation with Fyffes bananas (the reasons are lost in the mists of time), and throughout her service both in MCM3 and the Fish Squadron had a large yellow banana proudly displayed on the bridge screen.

 

[Auto-correct seems intent on telling me that Brinton should actually say Brenton, so if I slip at times during the build, blame Apple!]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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Well Mr Crisp, you joined the RN at the same time as me but I didn't last as long as you... out in 1987 myself.

 

Anyway, back on topic, will be interesting to see what skills you bring to ship building.

 

Now where's my seat, or if this is going to take some time, maybe a hammock:popcorn:.

 

Stuart

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Before I start work, a couple of shots to show just how well the Atlantic Models kit matches the Jecobin plans (which is almost exactly - any apparent discrepancy is iPhone lens parallax!).  
Also a ruler to give a feel for scale; the hull is just over 5" / 13 cm long:

38831529524_9e10349cfb_c.jpg 

25669912428_86bec2b986_c.jpg

 

Nice!  This really is an astonishing piece of casting; the detail and surface details are crisp, clean and precise - almost flawless.

 

Anyway, time for some work; first up, cleaning out the small amounts of flash that block the fairleads and scupper drains on each side of the sweep deck.

38831531114_b58a0e2862_c.jpg

 

Then some of Paul's excellent PE, which improves the doors, engine room hatch and locker lid on the funnel structure: 

38831530374_1e84c7c098_c.jpg

 

Similar on the other side, but without the doors.

 

Finally for today, starting to mark up the funnel before adding the characteristic Ton "stripes", and the position of the petrol stowage rack which needs to be opened out on the port quarter.

38831531534_d879ce4fb7_c.jpg

 

More soon

 

Crisp

 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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One to keep an eye on I fear :D

Love the subject matter, my brother was a clearance diver and served on board HMS Blythe for a few years, I think Blythe was a few years after Brinton but the profiles are very similar indeed.

 

 

Dan 

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Blyth is a Sandown class minehunter - considerably more modern than Brinton and her sisters, and a LOT more capable.  Brinton commissioned 1953, sold for scrap 1997, broken up 1998; Blyth commissioned 2001 & still in service. 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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4 hours ago, Shar2 said:

@Ex-FAAWAFU You'll be pleased to hear that Peter is thinking of doing Fearless in 1/350, but only as a waterline. :thumbsup:

I’d only ever build her as a waterline anyway!  Last time I asked him (admittedly a couple of years ago) he reckoned cost & lack of demand would make it not worth it... but everything crossed that he has changed his mind.  Since she kept me alive in San Carlos Water, you will understand that the old girl has a very special place in my heart 

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Well Crisp, seeing your resin kit of a Ton Class Minesweeper brought back a memory. I was very briefly on HMS Brinton's sister ship, HMS Iveston, and when I say briefly, I mean briefly...3 days to be exact. It was meant to be a loan-draft until my proper drafting came through but we got caught in a gale force storm... very :sick:. I was so bad and of no use, they got me off at the first opportunity and I went into submarines instead.

 

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1 hour ago, Courageous said:

Well Crisp, seeing your resin kit of a Ton Class Minesweeper brought back a memory. I was very briefly on HMS Brinton's sister ship, HMS Iveston, and when I say briefly, I mean briefly...3 days to be exact. It was meant to be a loan-draft until my proper drafting came through but we got caught in a gale force storm... very :sick:. I was so bad and of no use, they got me off at the first opportunity and I went into submarines instead.

 

Small ships in a big sea can be pretty exciting, yes; Blackwater (different class of ship, but I spent over 2 years driving her), sometimes rolled on more angle of bank than I did in a Lynx...  On the day I joined the guy I was relieving showed me round and I noticed a number of HUGE grab handles on the bridge.  "Hmmm; I think this beast might roll a tad...", I said to myself.  Oh. My. God.  A mate of mine in command of another ship in the Fish Squadron once said he saw Blackwater's keel during a squadron exercise!

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36 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Small ships in a big sea can be pretty exciting, yes; Blackwater (different class of ship, but I spent over 2 years driving her), sometimes rolled on more angle of bank than I did in a Lynx...  On the day I joined the guy I was relieving showed me round and I noticed a number of HUGE grab handles on the bridge.  "Hmmm; I think this beast might roll a tad...", I said to myself.  Oh. My. God.  A mate of mine in command of another ship in the Fish Squadron once said he saw Blackwater's keel during a squadron exercise!

"might roll a tad..." understatement! I was doing some electrical work in the engine room at the time; hot, humid, smelly with a big sea was not a good mix. Submarines can 'dance' a lot but we've got an ace up our sleeve...DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

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15 hours ago, Courageous said:

"might roll a tad..." understatement! I was doing some electrical work in the engine room at the time; hot, humid, smelly with a big sea was not a good mix. Submarines can 'dance' a lot but we've got an ace up our sleeve...DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

Luckily I have never suffered from it, but my Observer in Broadsword Flight succumbed; sometimes we used to get airborne just to give him a couple of hours away from the Vomit Comet!

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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I have spoken to Peter, I see him at the Newcastle show about, Fearless and also Tiger,just thought I would throw that in as well.He did say only ,if he got the right number of confined orders,would he even consider,doing either.However, if you check his list of ships, still to do,it will be some time. Oh this is Top Secret ,Sign here ,here ,and here.             

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2 hours ago, Chewitt said:

I have spoken to Peter, I see him at the Newcastle show about, Fearless and also Tiger,just thought I would throw that in as well.He did say only ,if he got the right number of confined orders,would he even consider,doing either.However, if you check his list of ships, still to do,it will be some time. Oh this is Top Secret ,Sign here ,here ,and here.             

Well you can tell him I’d definitely order 2 x Fearless!

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3 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Well you can tell him I’d definitely order 2 x Fearless!

I will have another dig in June when I see him.make it 3 I would buy one.  :fish:

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Looking good so far and I am looking forward to see how your Brinton turns out.

 

Thank you for the mention of my builds, I hope you don't mind I have included a link to my build log to help anyone with differences between the ships in the class:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235001978-ton-class-mine-hunter-hms-brereton-and-minesweeper-hms-wotton-1350-scale-atlantic-models-kit/

 

Seeing your build makes me want to get another one of Peter's kits but I must discipline myself and clear my stash of 1:700 kits first.

:thumbsup:

 

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When I saw the title I thought you were doing one of the West Indies Guard Ships!

I have one of Peters 1/700 kits in the stash to do as HMS Amethyst, one of my favourite tales. When I saw smaller younger I was taken for a walk by a relative in Ilford PDSA pet cemetery by a friend of my parents (with dog attached) and he pointed out Simon's grave telling me he was the only cat ever awarded a medal. I was hooked. 

I plan to eventually do her on the sandbank, but have never done a resin kit (only added resin bits to plastic kits) so I'll be watching with interest your techniques. 

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