1/350 HMS BULOLO scratchbuild ***FINALLY FINISHED***

[Chewbacca]

This project started over in Group Builds under the Pacific War GB that finished on Sunday.  Sadly, I didn't make it so I thought it best to carry on over here.  Full details of work to date can be found here:

This is basically where I'm at:

 

Hull and most superstructure complete.  Bridge roof ready to go on together with funnel and cowl ventilators then it's into the smaller upper deck details.  I'm waiting on a delivery of resin boats anchors and searchlights from Starling Models.  Need to make a plethora of single 20mm Oerlikons, scratchbuild the davits (although I cannot see clearly from any of the photos just how they mount - they look like an early variant of a gravity davit but I didn't think we had those until the late 1950s).  Still lots of PE to go on plus some Shapeways Carley Floats and then its into the fairly complex mast/aerial array.

 

 

Aft 20mm sponson just dry fitted; ready for primer

 

Just found a super upper deck photo on the IWM website thanks to a link on Rob's Fairmile build thread although I cannot work out just where on board they are standing.  I think that the large steel beam top left is one of the LCP davits so I'm tempted to say that it's up on 02 deck port side and that the round structure just above them is the 20mm sponson I've just made.  But I don't think so!  It doesn't quite match any of the other photos I have.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Chewbacca
Topic title updated

[robgizlu]

What a Fabulous looking build - hugely impressive

What time period are you modelling her at?

I love the pic of her in Malta that is posted on my thread.

Looking forward to seeing this progress

Rob

[Chewbacca]

Hi Rob,

 

I'm modelling her as she was in the Far East in 1945 just prior to the surrender of the Japanese in Singapore as that's when my father was on board.  As far as I can tell, there are few photos of her during that period - the best overall one is this one below although I have got  couple of others that show some of the upper deck arrangements when she had Dutch refugees on board after recovering them from Surabaya.

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by Chewbacca
Corrected image URL

[beefy66]

Looking great so far   

 

beefy 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Such an interesting ship!

 

Had never heard of her before this project but pleased I have now. 

[Chewbacca]

Sorry for the lack of updates - had barely any modelling time over the past couple of months with a combination work commitments meaning that I have been working most weekends and too tired to do anything in the evening and my wife's been poorly and in/out of hospital.

 

The good news is that my wife is slowly starting to get better although the pace of work has barely slowed.

 

I have managed some progress although at times it seems like one step forward and two steps back.

 

Firstly the bridge roof area has been completed although I had originally thought from one grainy photograph that the access ladder to the bridge deck was external - one of the photos on the IWM website that I found as a result of Rob's link above seems to show that the access ladders came up through the deck.  So I have filled the bulwark and cut out two new accesses in the deck.  Similarly the same applied further aft

 

 

 

 

More work has also been done around the fo'c'sle area including adding in the raised 20mm sponson and modifying the well-deck hatch when one photo seemed to show that I had it too large.  So I took the old one off, reduced it in size and turned it around.  However, I realised last Sunday that the IWM photo on which I had made that decision was in fact the deck immediately aft of there, just in front of the bridge screen.  So that hatch is going to have to come off for a second time and be modified again 😠.

 

There was a really good photo taken off Arromanches which showed that BULOLO also had at least one single 40mm Bofors.  Logically, these are likely to be fitted in pairs so that meant two.  Still haven't quite worked out where that is but it is clearly above the LCP davits and it looks as though it is somewhere aft.  Haven't quite worked out where yet but did a trawl on the net and found them on l'Arsenal's site.  Great, but they were out of stock.  Starling Models did have some but by the time I realised this I had literally missed adding them to an existing order by about an hour or so and I must confess I felt slightly loathe to pay £13 postage for 4 tiny Bofors that were only £7.95.  And so I started to scratchbuild them.

 

 

They are now all painted.  But it was when looking at the photo above of what I thought was the well deck that I realised that there was also a Bofors sitting on the port side.  This was clearly not the same position as the other photo so there must be four of them, and I have to confess I couldn't face another 10 hours or so trying to scratchbuild two more mountings, but fortunately on this occasion l'Arsenal did have them in stock and so 4 are now on order.

 

I also took the opportunity to look again at the seascape.  I think I have said earlier in the first part of this thread in the GB area that I had experimented with the expanded polystyrene method of producing a seascape and wasn't especially happy with this.  I think fundamentally it looked okay until I started to add the Milliput waves which to my mind really didn't work.  So last weekend I toyed with the idea of starting afresh but thought I'd make an attempt to try to save it first and so gave the whole thing a skim of plaster of Paris.  Its certainly better although more plaster will be needed this weekend to smooth out some of the harsh edges.

 

[Chewbacca]

Should have added, postage on the l'Arsenal order for the Bofors was just 1€ from France! 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Chewbacca

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Chewbacca, Like Bandsaw Steve I've never heard of the ship either. I'm still finding my way around BM and hadn't reached the GBs until I saw this thread, and simply HAD to go back to see how this build started. Your method of scratchbuilding the hull has given me some ideas. I think you've done an impressive job that I would like to follow from now. Regards, Jeff.

[Chewbacca]

l'Arsenal bofors arrived today and are delightful little kits in their own right although some of the PE is tiny.  No gunshields though but I can make them.  Didn't get a chance to take a photo tonight but will do so hopefully tomorrow or the weekend.

[Martian]

It was nice to see the model in the flesh the other night Ralph. Magnification can be very unforgiving but the pictures here look just as good as the model does to the naked eye.

 

Martian 👽

[Chewbacca]

Thanks Martin

[Chewbacca]

Managed to get some photos of the l'Arsenal Bofors.  Nice looking little kits but loads of flash, nothing that sharp blade wont sort out.  Interestingly they do look somewhat different to the ones fitted to BULOLO which appear to have a step where the aimer's seat is, clearly shown here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205156280, so I'm not sure how I'm going to overcome that but that's a challenge for later on.  Sadly the barrels all look slightly bent so I'l try straightening in hot water but suspect I'll end up replacing with Albion Alloys nickel rod.

 

 

[Chewbacca]

Managed a bit more this weekend.  Had hoped to get the resin/PE Bofors made up but they're taking almost as long as scratch building so just one this morning.  the gun shield is scrap PE frame cut into strips.

 

 

Here shown alongside one of the scratch built ones

 

Also managed to get the forward cargo hatch built (this is the one in front of the bridge screen as shown in this photo here.  The photo below shows it from starboard side looking forward:

 

And this one starboard side looking aft.  Unfortunately I'm away for work all this week so they'll get sprayed next weekend after I've finished the Bofors

 

Also finished off the PE on one of the LCPs, other two to follow next weekend.  Then its time for a little weathering, scratch build the davits and fit the falls.

 

What I can't work out from any of the photos is whether or not the LCP's were held with gripes.  I can't imagine they weren't or they'd bang around in heavy seas but I've not seen any clear images of any davit carried LCPs that do have gripes.

 

Finally I made an initial start on the 27 ft whaler that I think was carried on the port after davits

 

Edited March 24, 2019 by Chewbacca

[robgizlu]

Nice work - I think your Scratched Bofors sees off the L'arsenal offerings

Rob

[Chewbacca]

Thanks.

 

Didn't manage any modelling last week due to being away with work, then all day in Birmingham yesterday at an AGM for a voluntary organisation of which I am Vjce Chairman and just a couple of hours today.  And that was definitely a case of one step forward, two steps back.

 

I couldn't face the PE Bofors so I decided to start on the davits now that the LCP(L)s were done but I still couldn't quite work out their arrangement, especially the forward ones where there was a huge horizontal stretch from the extra deckhouse (installed by the Admiralty just aft of the bridge structure) across to the ship's side which didn't make sense from a structural perspective

 

I then looked at this photo again and it dawned on me that my original interpretation of that deckhouse, based on the grainy photos taken in 1943 in Malta were fundamentally flawed and the deckhouse extended the full width of the boat deck superstructure.  So out with the trusty X-Acto and cut away.  You can also see in that photo that there are guardrails at the back if the bridge not a solid bulwark, so that was also cut away.  2 hours later and the new deckhouse was fitted and first coat if A507C added but still at least an hour before I recover lost ground.  At least now I can see how the inboard end of davits will attach.

 

Before

 

After

 

 

[Martian]

On ‎26‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 21:15, robgizlu said:

Nice work - I think your Scratched Bofors sees off the L'arsenal offerings

Rob

I am inclined to agree.

 

Martian 👽

[Chewbacca]

Back to BULOLO this week after a slightly unsuccessful foray with a Sea Fury while I was away on holiday.  Pleased to say that progress has been made.

 

Firstly the remaining LCP(L)s have been finished off and are ready to be embarked as soon as I finish the davits.  The lower half for the LCP(L) davits are now all done and will be attached after a second coat of paint.  Unfortunately I found out that due to my inaccuracies with the superstructure fitting, each pair of davits needs to be a slightly different size!  Not by a huge amount although probably 3/4mm in difference between the smallest and largest. 

 

I also finished off the whaler  and tackled its davits.  How this box-frame davit was supposed to work I have no idea - I've never seen anything like it before - and the photographs of it offer little or no information.  So there's a bit of guesswork involved based on how it might work and apologies if its wrong but as someone said in the original GB thread, chances are no one will know!

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Nice work. Any progress on the sea-scape?

[ArnoldAmbrose]

9 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

How this box-frame davit was supposed to work I have no idea - I've never seen anything like it before

Gidday Chewbacca, The German "Hipper" class heavy cruisers each had a set of this type of davit, supporting an open boat (whaler or cutter). The davits appear to hinge at the base of the vertical legs. As they lean outboard the boat is suspended over the water and then simply lowered. I have a photo of this but it is very large, about 3.5mb. If you want me to post it I'll have to try crop it first. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

[Chewbacca]

7 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Nice work. Any progress on the sea-scape?

Hello Steve,

 

Funny you should say that as I was only thinking yesterday that I must press on with that if for no other reason than to afford something with which to handle the model as I spent  an hour or so yesterday replacing PE guardrails and some of the minor details that I'd knocked off through clumsy handling.  I'm on about the third iteration now and have reverted to Plaster of Paris.

 

2 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Chewbacca, The German "Hipper" class heavy cruisers each had a set of this type of davit, supporting an open boat (whaler or cutter). The davits appear to hinge at the base of the vertical legs. As they lean outboard the boat is suspended over the water and then simply lowered. I have a photo of this but it is very large, about 3.5mb. If you want me to post it I'll have to try crop it first. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

That would be very helpful Jeff.  It's clear that this must work in the same way but what's baffling me is what support it must have when deployed.  A 27 ft Whaler weighs near 1.5 tons so without some form of stay to help support that weight when lowering or recovering must place huge stresses on the base of the davits.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, the photo is cropped severely to get it to the size for posting, and is not very clear. It shows the davit leaning out about 30-40 degrees off vertical with the boat suspended.

 

The davit is mounted on the upper deck level, abreast of the tower (not visible here), behind the fwd twin 10.5cm AA mounting. It is quite visible in most photos of Hipper or Prinz Eugen taken from the beam. Again, sorry about the poor quality of the photo, it is the only one I have I think of the davit being used, all others show it housed vertical. I HTH.

 

I'm enjoying following you build of HMS Bulolo. Regards, Jeff.

[Chewbacca]

Thanks Jeff.  That seem to show exactly what I would have expected for this type of davit to be effective - i.e. a wire stay about 3/4 of the way up the vertical.to take the weight as the davit swings over the ship's side.  Thing is, the photos of BULOLO aren't clear in showing where those wires might terminate and in fairness there's not really anywhere for them to terminate, at least not at the after end - unless of course I've made yet another mistake!

 

Best regards

[Chewbacca]

On ‎20‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 00:46, Bandsaw Steve said:

Nice work. Any progress on the sea-scape?

 

Might have to move onto the 4th iteration.  Just caught up with your Carpathia sea scape and the Liquitex stuff truly transforms it.  I'll see if my local art shop has any in stock tomorrow.

[Bandsaw Steve]

In addition Chris Floodberg - on various spots across the internet - emphasises the use of layer upon layer of torn up pieces of heavy tissue paper painted over with multiple coats of gesso to smoothe out the texture of the foam before applying any paint. I have not done this on either of my seascapes but will do this next time.

[Chewbacca]

I've seen some of Chris' results on various websites - absolutely stunning.  For now I'm sticking with the Plaster of Paris on mine and will hopefully add to it with the Liquitex.  Right now its drying after I rubbed down the top coast of PoP and sprayed some primer to get a better idea of where more work is needed.  Unfortunately although I did run off a couple of photos the flash coupled with the angle from which I took them has made the base look very flat and featureless so little point in posting them.

 

While that was drying I finished off the lower davits for the LCPs - here they are fitted on the port side - and started to cut out the upper sliding sections.  They're ready to be fixed but I realised once the lower arms were in place that the angle at the bottom of the upper half is wrong so I will need to reshape.

 

Also fitted the PE guardrails around the tops of the ladders.  I was being a little lazy though as there were some sections in the Liberty Ship PE set that had about the right stanchion spacing so I used those but with hindsight I suspect these should be 2 bar not the 3 bar I've used.