1/72 HMS Brave Borderer

[Chewbacca]

On 10/04/2020 at 18:50, JohnWS said:

Yes, it certainly is busy.  I've wondered why the actual bridge wasn't enclosed to protect all those controls & gadgetry.  That would have made modelling her a lot easier, too.

 

John

I suspect it was probably because the naval architects who designed her/signed off the designs were of the "we've always done it that way" school of naval architecture! 

[Dmitriy1967]

Amazing detail for this scale! It looks very good!

I have a question. The floor of the open bridge is dark gray. Is there any confirmation of this color, or is it presumptive?

[JohnWS]

Thanks Dmitriy.

8 minutes ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

... The floor of the open bridge is dark gray. Is there any confirmation of this color, or is it presumptive?

I haven't confirmed any of the colours for this build, as the only references I've found are B&W or colourized photos.   As a result, I've made some educated colour guesses using typical colours provided by 'Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies' for Royal Navy ships for the same time period, e.g. I choose the bridge floor colour to be the same dark grey colour that I'll be using for the main deck.

 

John

[Dmitriy1967]

Thank you for your answer, John. I don't know what colors were used on the decks of the coastal forces of that time.

[JohnWS]

13 minutes ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

Thank you for your answer, John. I don't know what colors were used on the decks of the coastal forces of that time.

Dmitriy, here are links to the threads discussing the paint colours for Brave Borderer;

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235057663-thinking-ahead-rn-paint-colours/

 

'Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies' included a table showing Royal Navy paint colours at the following link;

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235057663-thinking-ahead-rn-paint-colours/&do=findComment&comment=3387997

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235060538-another-brave-borderer-paint-colour-question/

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235063627-the-3rd-in-a-series-of-brave-borderer-paint-colour-questions/

 

John

[Dmitriy1967]

Thank you John for the links! Some I've already seen, some I haven't.

I'm here as a student in the school for the Brave border.  🙂

Photos of your work are much better than drawings give an idea of what the ship's structure looked like.

[JohnWS]

Another small update.

 

This time it's the generator exhaust, shown in the following photo.

 

 

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what equipment uses this exhaust system.  Apparently, Brave Borderer's electrical power was supplied by 40 kilowatt generators driven by Rover gas turbines.  No diesel machinery was present on Brave Borderer.  I'm assuming the generator exhaust system was for the gas turbines driving the electric generators.

 

I was hoping I could use the generator exhaust from the Tamiya Perkasa model for this build.  But, no joy.  Compared to Brave Borderer's drawings & photographs, the Perkasa exhaust is the same height, but the shape & dimension between the pipes are different.  I ended up building the generator exhaust from 1/8", 5/32" & 1/4" plastic tubing plus circular flanges punched out of plastic sheet.  I was able to use the Perkasa exhaust outlet that joins the ends of the two pipes.  The composite photo below shows the my BB exhaust & the Perkasa exhaust assembly, for comparison. 

 

 

And finally, a photo of scratch built exhaust test fit on the Brave Borderer model.

 

 

Next, work continues on the forward gun platform & the turbine air intake. Plus, I hope to start work on the deck storage & ammo lockers.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

Edited April 20, 2020 by JohnWS

[beefy66]

The mast and radar look great John could you recomend any extras for the Perkasa kit I know Eduard do a PE set but not sure if there might be any others 

 

beefy

[robgizlu]

Wow 

Rob

[JohnWS]

2 hours ago, beefy66 said:

... any extras for the Perkasa kit  ...

Thanks beefy!

 

There aren't any upgrade/PE sets specifically for the 1/72 Tamiya Perkasa model, that I could find.

 

Eduard has a PE set 53027 for Tamiya's 1/72 Japan Torpedo Boat PT-15.  There might be some PE parts in the set that could be applied to the Perkasa model.

 

Hope this helps.

 

John

 

 

. 

Edited April 21, 2020 by JohnWS

[JohnWS]

Moving on to detailing the Turbine Air Intake Structure.

 

The Turbine Air Intake is similar to the Perkasa model but is a different size & shape.  This resulted in having to make a new intake structure with parts cut from plastic sheet.  Here's a photo of the air intake structure included in a previous post.

 

 

I'm detailing the intake structure in two steps.

 

1st step, as covered in this post, will be to modify the structure shown in the above photo to include a built-in 'shelf' for a Bofors gun ammunition locker, the addition of 'shelves' for inflatable life rafts, brackets for the generator exhaust 'V' shaped support, and a bracket for a compass, all made using various thicknesses of plastic sheet.  The intake structure is masked by a number of stand alone lockers in photos, so I had to use a little modeller's license to dimension some of the structure add-ons.  I added Archer rivet decals to the generator exhaust & the air intake for a little extra detail.

 

Here's a photo showing the completed 1st step;

 

 

The 2nd step will be to build the life rafts, lockers, & vents, and add them to complete the air intake assembly.

 

Apparently, Brave Borderer carried 12-man inflatable life rafts deflated in two 'bags' that were stored on top of the turbine air intake.  I made the raft 'bags' using Tamiya epoxy putty formed to the required shape.  Later boats, like Perkasa, carried their life rafts in the round rigid fibreglass containers.

 

Here's a photo showing the turbine air intake structure dry fitted, prior to paint, with the generator exhaust & support, & the epoxy life raft 'bags';

 

 

Next, I'll add a coat of primer to the exhaust, rafts, air intake, plus fix any visible issues.  Once that's done, I'll start building the various storage lockers & intake vents. 

 

As always, thanks for following along & adding your 'likes' & comments.

 

Stay safe.

 

John

 

 

[robgizlu]

Just gets better and better

Rob

[beefy66]

24 minutes ago, robgizlu said:

Just gets better and better

Rob

have to agree with Rob

have you added the rivet decal to the exhaust flange as well that I can see just 

 

beefy

[JohnWS]

14 minutes ago, beefy66 said:

have to agree with Rob

have you added the rivet decal to the exhaust flange as well that I can see just 

 

beefy

Thanks beefy!

 

Yes, good eye! 😎

 

 

I only put the rivets on the middle flanges as the rest will be mostly hidden.

 

John

[gunzo]

Hi John

 

How did you apply those flange rivets- easing round a strip, one by one or what? I have a number of similar to do in due course.

 

Les

[JohnWS]

1 minute ago, gunzo said:

Hi John

 

How did you apply those flange rivets- easing round a strip, one by one or what? I have a number of similar to do in due course.

 

Les

Hi Les,

 

Archer sells sheets with the rivets in circles, for aircraft applications.  I'm using their 1/48 scale rivets for this build - http://archertransfers.com/AR88139.html.

 

John

[gunzo]

Thanks John

 

I've not yet tried their shapes but think I'll follow your lead.

 

Les

[longshanks]

John

As you know I had dreamed of this very conversion....

 

Now every time I open your latest post I think thank the heavens you've lead the way.

Setting the Gold Standard

 

Stay safe

 

Kev

[JohnWS]

7 hours ago, longshanks said:

John

As you know I had dreamed of this very conversion....

 

Now every time I open your latest post I think thank the heavens you've lead the way.

Setting the Gold Standard

 

Stay safe

 

Kev

Thanks, Kev.  Much appreciated, as always! 

 

I remember our first e-mail conversation regarding how to proceed with this build.  The help and the info you provided, plus the support of other BM members, really got this build off to a good start.  As we've discussed in the past, it's a shame that for this boat with its history there isn't more detailed information, photos & plans readily available.

[JohnWS]

This time it's the Type AQM 10 (AGM 10???) Compass.  This compass was located on the forward top surface of Brave Borderer's turbine air intake structure.

 

I made this tiny part using Evergreen plastic rod & bar, & detailed using wine bottle foil 🍷.  

 

Here's a photo showing the actual compass, & the scratch built part glued in place.

 

 

I've primed the turbine air intake structure & compass, ready now for a final coat of paint,

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Stay safe.

 

John

[Dmitriy1967]

Jhon

Looking at large photos, it's hard to believe that this is a 72 scale!

Perfectly!

 

Dmitriy

[robgizlu]

John - The compass looks superb - I have so much wine top foil saved waitingn for an opportunity to use it......

Care to share how you got it so clean and rounded?

Rob

[JohnWS]

3 hours ago, robgizlu said:

 I have so much wine top foil saved waitingn for an opportunity to use it......

Care to share how you got it so clean and rounded?

Rob

Hi Rob,

 

I found that there are a number of different foil thicknesses used by different wineries.  The secret is to use the thinnest possible.  It's more pliable & conforms easily to the round or odd shapes ... very similar to lead.  edit: I like to use .1mm / .004" thick foil.  The fun part is trying different wines to find the right thickness of foil.   Some of the wineries are using plastic instead of metal foil & that doesn't work.   Before using the foil, I sand off the colour coat on the printed outside of the foil.  I apply the glue to the sanded side so the untouched smooth bare metal side is the visible side.  Some foils are laminated, so sanding can also remove one of the layers.  This prevents the foil from delaminating after it's glued in place (I learned this the hard way ).  Once I cut out what I need, I carefully sand the foil again to remove any burrs from the cut edges.  When gluing long narrow strips (like the band around the compass), I only glue a small part of the strip at a time so it can be positioned properly.  Once glued in place, I carefully polish the foil with 1200 or 1500 grit paper to remove any defects, bumps, etc.  It sounds like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

John

Edited May 3, 2020 by JohnWS

[beefy66]

Always good to hear of new tips and how to do things

 

Especially when it involves trying out the products 

 

Stay Sober when you have a scalpel in your hand

 

Cheers

beefy

[robgizlu]

Thanks John - logical and hugely helpful!

 

11 minutes ago, beefy66 said:

 

Stay Sober when you have a scalpel in your hand

 

Cheers

beefy

 

Now where's the fun in that (Says someone who tried to catch a microchisel that rolled off the table 2 days ago )

rob