Airfix HMS Repulse

[Tony Whittingham]

Hello All,

I’ve just been offered one of these. Is there anything I should look out for when building the kit?

Just curious, what was the retail price when issued?

 

TW

[theplasticsurgeon]

Can't help with price info, but she builds up well.  One of Airfix's better ship kits - right up with HMS Belfast.

Has an internal scoreline for waterlining - as I've done.

Built this kit twice, once mine, another for my dad.  His father was amongst the casualties when Repulse was lost.

 

 

 

[Tony Whittingham]

Hi plastic surgeon,

Your Repulse looks great! I was planning a waterline build as well. My wife’s uncle was supposed to be on Repulse in December 1941, but that did not happen.

instead he ended up on HMS Valiant, and eventually HMS Orion.

 

TW

[73north]

frankly , the Airfix Repulse is pretty Modern ( 1980 release ) AND accurate - eg there are no gun tubs on the rear turret fitted , and Airfix got that right

 

nothing to be aware about - it fits together really nicely - I have built it , and its a good kit

[tempestfan]

I have several but not built one - it's Airfix's final 1/600 kit, first issued in 1982 or 3. As it's a Series 6 kit, it would have been something like 20 Deutschmarks - now convert that yourself 😉

[Seahawk]

On ‎3‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 1:58 PM, Tony Whittingham said:

Just curious, what was the retail price when issued?

 

My first was bought in March 1983 for £3.79 (full RRP).

[Dave Swindell]

On 3/26/2018 at 1:58 PM, Tony Whittingham said:

Is there anything I should look out for when building the kit?

Depends how accurate you want it to be.

The deckhouses depict the vessel prior to modification for the May 1939 Canadian royal tour, but smaller armament appears to be as per wartime fit

[Seahawk]

31 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

The deckhouses depict the vessel prior to modification for the May 1939 Canadian royal tour, but smaller armament appears to be as per wartime fit

Could you be more precise about that please?  The kit does not feature the 2 BD gun turrets aft (removed for the Canadian tour) but does feature the gunhouses for them, together with the single 4" guns mounted on top of them as was done after the cancellation of the tour.  Similarly the triple 4" mount, removed for the tour, has been reinstated.  From the list of tour-related modifications listed in Maurice Northcott's Ensign 8: Renown and Repulse (p.30-31) those appear to be the main externally visible changes.  The one mod I am unsighted on is whether the kit features the extended after vents.

 

I don't recall Roger Chesneau's review and build of the kit when it first came out finding any anachronisms of note in the kit as a representation of the ship at her loss, with due allowance for lack of information on how many Oerlikons were added and in what locations.  (He did however point out serious anomalies in the light AA fit of the Prinz Eugen kit.)

[Dave Swindell]

Hi Seahawk, the main problem is where you've commented on, namely the gunhouses for the BD turrets just aft of the mainmast fitted in the 33/36 refit. These are depicted as fitted during the refit on the airfix kit (and every other kit i've seen that purports to show her as sunk) , but with the single 4" gun fitted on top. Size and shape is unaltered, including a slight taper inboard on the aft half of each.

During the 38/39 refit the gunhouses were removed completely and replaced with new oblong structures containing iirc cabins and offices. The starboard one is longer than the port, and extends to the forward bulkhead of the main aft deckhouse (ie just forward of the mainmast.

If you've got Ensign 8 there's a photo of the new starboard section being constructed on p35, and the finished structure is clearly visible in photos P35/36. The smaller port structure is clearly visible in the bottom photo P37.

If you're building 1941 fit, these are incorrect in the kit (and possibly some of the smaller gun fit), if you're bulding 1936-38 fit the gunhouses are correct but the guns on them are incorrect (and some of the AA fit would need removing)

[Seahawk]

Very interesting: thank you.  We live and learn.  I must admit I only ran my eye down the list of mods in Ensign 8: it looks as if Northcott's mod (g) "Two new cabins to be built on the main deck between Stations 302 and 305 port and 305 to 309 starboard" must have superseded (c) " The [BD] gunhouses port and starboard were to be internally partitioned, additional doors fitted and square ports to be cut in."

 

if you are building 1936-38 fit you would also need to add the BD gun turrets and also replace the aft pompom with another triple 4".

[Dave Swindell]

Hi again Seahawk.

2 hours ago, Seahawk said:

I must admit I only ran my eye down the list of mods in Ensign 8: it looks as if Northcott's mod (g) "Two new cabins to be built on the main deck between Stations 302 and 305 port and 305 to 309 starboard" must have superseded (c) " The [BD] gunhouses port and starboard were to be internally partitioned, additional doors fitted and square ports to be cut in."

(g) didn't supercede (c), they're in different positions. Frames 302 to 309 are aft of the main armament below the quarterdeck (the maindeck was the deck immediately below the quarterdeck) whereas the BD gunhouses were up on the shelterdeck.

Raven/Roberts - British Battleships of WWII gives a much more comprehensive description of the proposed modifications which still refers to modifying the BD gunhouses (for secretary and ladies/gentlemen in waiting), drawings are also referred to but not shown. Published photos after the refit clearly show the BD gunhouses have been completely removed and replaced with new of different shapes and sizes.

 

2 hours ago, Seahawk said:

if you are building 1936-38 fit you would also need to add the BD gun turrets and also replace the aft pompom with another triple 4".

Correct, and for wartime fit there's the degaussing cable to add (1940) and radar (1941).