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1/72 HMS Brave Borderer


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Some challenges with the torpedoes it seems, but you have made a brilliant job of them John. Given me some ideas for displaying at least one on the Vosper..... remember that build guys? 

 

Terry

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5 hours ago, Courageous said:

... I have to ask 'What new project do you have for us for the New Year?' ...

Not a clue right now Stuart.  I'm sort of leaning towards a small scale frigate or destroyer for a change.  But then i have a few aircraft in my stash that need attention, too.  So, I guess time will tell.

 

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everyone!  I've finally completed Brave Borderer's auxiliary fuel tanks & torpedoes.

 

There is not a lot of info on the 'net specifically regarding BB's auxiliary tanks, so I had to use a little imagination.  One of the better tank photos shows what looks like a goose neck & a straight vent pipes on the tanks' top surface.  There are also 'bumps' on each end of the top surface.  I decided to interpret the 'bumps' as aircraft style filler caps.  I found one article available on the 'net that describes the need to quickly refill BB"s fuel tanks.  The 'Flight Refuelling Ltd.' company was contacted to help address this issue and a type of aircraft refuelling system was installed on BB.  I also added two straps around each auxiliary tanks.  These appear black in photos, so I cut strips of black electrical tape to simulate the straps.

 

Here's a photo showing the end result (including a photo of an actual tank for reference);

 

50442276032_47b828e25c_c.jpg

 

Next up the torpedoes.  I decided to paint the torpedoes' nose cones flat red, and the bodies aged silver steel .  I used a brown wash to tone down the flat red paint.  To achieve the steel mild weathered look, I added a small amount of jet exhaust colour to the silver coloured paint.  This gave the torpedoes' steel bodies a simulated aged gold/mild weathered look.  The straps holding the torpedoes to the racks were made from silver wine bottle foil painted to suit

 

Here's a photo of the finished torpedoes & roll-off racks.   The camera didn't quite catch the weathered steel look.  I've included a better photo at the end of this post.

 

50441404283_65e9804da9_c.jpg

 

And, a photo showing the completed tanks & torpedoes dry fit;

 

50442101911_eb3c117f96_c.jpg

 

Again, the camera didn't quite catch the weathered steel look in the above photos, so I've added the photo below that better represents the model's actual colour;

 

50442284037_58f3f45e06_c.jpg

 

Next up, I need to add two depth charges & roll-off racks, plus continue to add more small details to the build.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

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5 hours ago, longshanks said:

... I reckon you've nailed it with these two mini projects ...

Thanks, Rusty!  Your LCM is looking pretty good, as well.

 

4 hours ago, stevehnz said:

... That list must be shrinking a lot now. ...

Thanks Steve!  I'm in the "the more you know, the more you don't know" phase of the build.  As I add more detail, I'm finding it's taking longer to research those little fiddly details that are left to build.

 

4 minutes ago, robgizlu said:

... Wonderful! ...

Thanks Rob!  I really appreciate your feedback from one of the masters.

 

John

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29 minutes ago, beefy66 said:

With all the latest additions it is starting to look like it's ready for action great overall view  👍

 

Stay Safe

beefy

Thanks beefy.  Still depth charges, flare launchers & guns to go.

 

John

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1 hour ago, Courageous said:

Stunning fuel tanks, stunning torps...stunning all round and you're not finished yet. ...

Thanks Stuart!  Getting there.

 

1 hour ago, Terry1954 said:

Starting to look every inch a Vosper designed purposeful machine John! ...

Thanks Terry!  She's certainly starting to look the part.

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John, I have questions. What other colors were used to paint the heads of torpedoes? And what did the color choice depend on? And about the color of the inflatable boat - were the Zodiacs black?

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5 hours ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

John, I have questions. What other colors were used to paint the heads of torpedoes? And what did the color choice depend on? And about the color of the inflatable boat - were the Zodiacs black?

Hi Dmitriy,

 

Unfortunately, choosing paint colours on this build & for this time period has resulted in a lot of guesswork, due to the lack of available information & colour photos, e.g. comparing blacks, whites & shades of grey in B&W photos to colour photos of other boats & ships taken in the '50's & '60's.  I haven't put much faith in colourized photos, as many times they're not accurate.

 

Based on what little information I can find, the colour choices for Royal Navy 21" torpedoes in the 1950's to 1970's came down to having the warheads painted red or yellow.  Red seems to appear after WWII & into the 1950's while yellow seems to have been used later.  Again, that's only my guess, & not based on factual information.

 

Similarly, choosing the colour for the Zodiac involved some guesswork.  The colour choices came down to black or grey.  I chose black based photos from the time frame, e.g. black inflatables were used by British Fishery Protection & for Royal Marine assault & raiding craft.

 

Here's a few examples of photos I found during my search for colours;

 

50451012922_6c95405c9c_c.jpg

 

Thanks for following along.

 

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

Moving along ... slowly. :sleep_1:

 

I've just about finished the two depth charges & roll-off racks.  The depth charges are 3D printed parts & the roll-off racks were scratch built using pieces cut from plastic sheet & plastic rod.  These were relatively simple builds, just took a little time due to their small size.

 

50529091338_83fef574ed_c.jpg

 

Next, two deck mounted rocket flare projectors.  These are small builds, complicated by the lack of detailed information available.  I was able to find a number of blurry photos on the 'net, and needed to use some guesswork when making these assemblies.  I found the projectors included in the Perkasa kit were a little oversize & lacked detail.  As a result, I made the projectors from scratch, starting with pieces cut from plastic sprue and drilled hollow.  Details were added using plastic tube, wine bottle foil 🍷, plastic sheet, & stretched plastic sprue.  I was able to re-use the Perkasa kit's projector pedestals.  But again, these were oversize and needed to be shortened.

 

Here is the final result, awaiting paint.

 

50529094433_54a1572650_c.jpg

 

And, one last photo showing a projector test fit.

 

50529819171_92ffb14b82_c.jpg

 

Next up, I'll finish the depth charge roll-off racks & paint the depth charges & racks, and complete their assembly.  Plus, finish painting the rocket flare projectors & continue adding some more small details to the model.

 

Thanks for following along.

 

Stay safe.

 

John

 

 

Edited by JohnWS
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