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1/72 HMS Brave Borderer


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I going to change focus for a bit, & do a little work on the hull before starting to modify the superstructure.   The superstructure has to fit the camber of the main deck (the lateral deck curvature) as well as the sheer (curvature of the deck in the fore to aft direction).  Needless to say, it's easier to match the superstructure to the actual deck, rather than doing a bunch of calculations.  So, I'm going the modify the hull first & scratch build the deck before starting on the superstructure.

 

The transom of the Perkasa model needs to be modified to remove a step to allow the deck to be flat (with camber) at the stern.  First the finish paint had to be removed using a little spray oven cleaner.  Oven cleaner is great stuff as it dissolves oil based paint, but doesn't damage the plastic.

 

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 I want to keep as much of the transom's molded detail as possible, so I'm going to try to cut out the centre 'exhaust' section and reassemble it about 1/8" lower to remove the step.

 

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Unfortunately, this approach will result in some of the transom's rivet detail being damaged & removed.   To correct this, I've purchased 1/72 scale rivets from Archer Fine Transfers.  I've never used these before, but have seen them used successfully on some aircraft builds.  Hopefully, they'll add the rivet detail I'll need on the reworked transom.

 

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Next up, I'll be modifying the transom as described above.  Keep your fingers crossed.  🤞

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fascinating to see this evolve! 

 

I used Archer weld lines on my LCM 3. Quite happy with the result. I cut them out and applied like decals, including Microscale Micro Sol, and then continued with priming and painting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We're in the middle of a heat wave here (as many countries seem to be), so I was able to retreat to our cool(er) basement & start modifying my Perkasa model.

 

I was able to complete cutting out the transom section to remove the step in the top edge.

 

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The cut out section fits nicely in the transom.

 

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Before gluing the cut out section in place, I decided the modify the stern shelf (used to prevent water spray from entering the exhaust openings) & the trim control flap parts to ensure that these parts will fit properly to the modified transom.

 

48216613646_10b3f5ea99_b.jpg

 

Brave Borderer's stern shelf is smaller than the one on the Perkasa, as it sits lower on the transom.  The control flap is narrower than Perkasa's, as well.  Also, BB's stern shelf is mounted at a 10° angle (from horizontal) instead of the Perkasa's shelf that was mounted at 90° relative to the transom surface.

 

I chose to modify the Perkasa kit shelf & control flap parts, but after spending a few hours cutting, filing, gluing, re-shaping, puttying, & sanding, it might have been easier to make these parts from scratch.  Unfortunately, I haven't found  lot of information about these parts on the actual boat, so I had to use a little creative license to make them look just right.

 

Here's a photo of the cut out section & modified shelf & flap parts dry fit in place.

 

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As I mentioned above, BB's stern shelf is mounted on an angle.  Here's a photo showing the mounting location.

 

48216621346_339f18dd49_b.jpg

 

Whew! Is it hot in here, or is it just me?  Time for a cold one.

 

Next up, it looks like I'll need to do a little more work on the hull, e.g. fill in some holes & verify the propeller & rudder locations.

 

Thanks for looking in.  

 

John

 

 

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Wow John, an impressive start and looks quite different to Perkasa.

Like you, i'm having trouble finding much stuff about 'Swordsman', hopefully something will crop up before I start (not anytime soon).

 

Stuart

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Great stuff going on here just got myself a Perkasa kit and that will be getting built as is and hopefully somewhere near the mark of your great build before you started chopping and converting  :book:

 

If I go for Brave or Swordsman I think I would cheat and get the 1/350 models that Peter Hall is re-releasing soon...

 

beefy

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5 hours ago, Courageous said:

... looks quite different to Perkasa. ...

Stuart

Now that I'm getting into the details, I'm finding there are quite a few differences between Perkasa & Brave Borderer. This may turn into another long build.  :waiting:

 

John

 

 

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A little more progress. :shocked:

 

The cut out section of the transom has been glued in.  While waiting for the glue to dry, I turned my attention to the three stern turbine exhaust outlets.  I originally built the Perkasa model with the exhaust outlet covers in the closed position.  This time, I'm going to build Brave Borderer with the three exhaust covers in the open position.

 

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Having the exhaust covers open meant I needed to scratch build new exhaust openings.  The following photo shows the exhaust details.

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Using the size of exhaust openings in the model's transom as a guide, I went looking for parts of a similar size around the house.

 

Here's what I found;

 

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The wire connectors had the correct outside & inside diameters for the exhaust flanges, & the tapered brass ferrules were the correct size & shape to simulate the exhaust pipes.  I cut off pieces from the ends of the connectors, & filed & sanded them down as thin as possible without breaking them.  Then, I glued a ferrule into each 'flange'.

 

Here's the result (looking pretty close to the actual boat :yahoo:);

 

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Next up, I'll putty the joints of the glued in transom section & sand smooth, & then add the Archer rivets to detail the transom & exhaust flanges.

 

Thanks again for looking in.

 

John

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Still nibbling away at the transom ...

 

I've added some more internal detail to the exhaust pipes.  The following photo includes a sketch showing the exhaust pipe casing.  I'm not going to include any detail that can't be seen. so I opted to build shortened versions of the pipes/casings, by wrapping pieces of thin plastic sheet around a drill bit having the same diameter as the transom exhaust openings.  Pieces of plastic sheet were glued to enclose the 'pipe' ends.  I decided to add some faux detail at the ends using steel washers. These will be painted out.

 

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More detail has been added to the stern shelf using plastic bits, & Archer rivet decals, as shown below;

 

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I'm not sure what the 14 little thingies are on the underside of the shelf (couldn't find a detailed photo or drawing), so I just guessed what they might look like.

 

As mentioned above, Archer rivets were used on the stern shelf.  I also added these rivets to the exhaust pipe flanges.  It was a wee bit of a pain applying these tiny decals, but I'm hoping they will add some nice visible detail after a final coat of paint.

 

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Finally, here's a photo shows the transom as she sits today.

 

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It should be noted that the Perkasa model's transom includes moulded rivets & structural details that are not shown in the Brave Borderer transom photos.  I decided to remove the moulded details and smooth out the transom to match the BB photos.

 

Next up, finish the trim control flap, & add wire steps & details to complete the transom.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I do like to look at a nicely shaped back end. :coolio:

 

Amazing what you can find around the house to make things with 👍🏻

 

beefy 

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Not too much modelling done since my last update.  But, I have spent a little more time on planning on how to proceed with this build.

 

Brave Borderer's armament included two Bofors guns, one forward & one at the stern.  I considered re-using the Bofors gun from the Perkasa model & scratch build a duplicate 2nd gun.  However, my lazy side took over & I decided to order a couple of 3D printed Bofors from Shapeways, instead.  I found Shapeways offers a 1/72 scale Bofors on a MKVII mount that should work on BB.  I'll need to add a couple of electrical/hydraulic boxes to each gun but, overall, using the 3D guns will save some time during the build.

 

The 3D Bofors arrived today.  The detail looks pretty nice.  Here's a photo;

 

48407004442_7462359059_b.jpg

 

Another piece of equipment that's shown in some of Brave Border's photos is a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (Zodiac) located on the foredeck.  Again, after contemplating scratch building the RHIB, I took the easy way out and ordered a 3D printed Zodiac from Shapeways instead.

 

It also arrived (Gosh, it feels like Christmas in July :santa:).  The detail is acceptable & should look okay, once painted.   Here's a photo;

 

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I'm currently puttying & sanding down the hull to remove some molding dimples before adding the new deck from plastic card.  I'll show the results in my next update.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

 

 

Edited by JohnWS
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Looks like some nice 'presents' there John.

I have heard good things about the Shapeways stuff but I have also heard that things like the barrels may be bent and/or sag over time...just what I've heard.

 

Stuart

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22 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Looks like some nice 'presents' there John.

I have heard good things about the Shapeways stuff but I have also heard that things like the barrels may be bent and/or sag over time...just what I've heard.

 

Stuart

I've heard the same Stuart.  Remember the issues I had with Shapeways on my Elco PT build - lots of broken parts during shipment plus some warped parts.  This time everything was packaged very well & no warping ... so far!   The detail of the 3D printed parts can't be beat, so hopefully they'll stay that way until I'm ready to use them.  🤞

 

John 

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