1/200 Trumpeter HMS Nelson

[beefy66]

Following along and taking notes this will be of great help to me in the future. 

 

beefy 

[ArtickWarspite]

@beefy66 thanks, it makes sense to do so as it helps reveal problems the builder may have. 

 

I've been closely following @warreni and his build on the 1/200 Rodney. I closely examine his images of the pom poms at times as they're more detailed than the actual instructions!

[ArtickWarspite]

Some more slow progress. The main gun frames are now complete. These were quite tricky as they have to be folded and folded again, and it was really easy to accidentally fold them the wrong way- which of course, meant I broke 2 of them and they had to be reattached which was no easy task. Once I learned from my mistakes, the remaining 4 went together quite well.

 

The brass rod is a nice addition which makes the frame stronger. I deliberately left the excess brass on the rod (you have to cut the cylinder & pipe off the same piece), which made it easier to fit. 

 

 

[Courageous]

Origami in PE.

 

Stuart

[ArtickWarspite]

Having now inserted the plastic ammo boxes, I know the correct decision was made. The next tricky bit is putting the guns on the mounts. Than after that it's the front shields & back rails, then that'll be step 1 complete. 

 

But that is still a couple of hours work away..

 

[Courageous]

How about a 'calibrated' scalpel for scale .

 

Stuart

[ArtickWarspite]

@Courageous Noted, I'll put them into size context with the next image. 

[ArtickWarspite]

Almost done with these, just require the voice pipe in on the back, and some repair work on the first pom pom which has lost a gun barrel.

 

 

[Courageous]

They look fantastic. How do you paint such delicate pieces, we'll find out soon enough.

Thanks for the 'calibrated' bottle top.

 

Stuart

[ArtickWarspite]

@Courageous Painting will be a big job, and great care will need to be taken when it comes to that, but there still a long way to go before any painting begins so will worry about it later.

At any rate, it'll all have to be done in sections. so these pom poms will be tacked down and painted separately. As will all the other guns and smaller pieces.

 

I might make the bottle top my standard calibrating tool.. :)

[ArtickWarspite]

About 30 odd pieces of PE and brass per mount, and about a month of lunch times to complete.

 

Onto the 20mm Oerlikon's now..

 

[ArtickWarspite]

So now that stage one is complete, I'm thinking ahead about how the Nelson is going to be displayed.

 

I'm still deciding if it will have 1/200 figures on the deck or not.

 

If I do, then how many figures would be visible if the ship was at action stations?

 

What is the best brand for 1/200 RN WWII figures?

 

Would signal flags be visible when imitating it at sea or are there flags ships wear when in port?

 

If anyone can help shed some light on what the ship would be like when at action stations and when it's not that would be very helpful.

 

Here's the first of many 20mm Oerlikons. 9 pieces of brass & etch for each gun. 61 more to go..

 

 

 

[Stew Dapple]

23 minutes ago, ArtickWarspite said:

Here's the first of many 20mm Oerlikons. 9 pieces of brass & etch for each gun.

 

It is beautiful, though  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[ArtickWarspite]

Since the 20mm Oerlikons will be done in dribs and drabs over time, I've started on the 40mm quad mounts. These are resin pieces which are highly detailed albeit a little on the brittle side (as resin tends to be). Cutting the small PE parts out of the sprue actually took quite a lot of time, so only the barrels have gone in so far. 

 

[ArtickWarspite]

Some more work on the 40mm quads. That tiny spec is the ammunition magazine that slots into the top of the gun. It was so small it took ages to find it on the PE fret..

 

I'm not happy that some of the barrels have not lined up correctly, so they will be corrected in time.

 

 

[ArtickWarspite]

Starting to come together now. It's about half way there.

 

[ArtickWarspite]

One 40mm quad mount almost complete. 

 

According to the instructions, the gun shield is optional. I like the idea of the gun shield, but I don't want to hide all the detail of the resin either. What was more likely to be installed on a battleship in 1944?

 

There are a couple of smaller resin parts still to add in, but it's mostly complete now. 3 more to go...

 

 

[Courageous]

What you need is a photo of your ship in '44...

Those 40mm look rather nice.

 

Stuart

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday ArtickWarspite, superb work on those AA guns, they look exquisite. If I may point something out in post #40 and #42, what you call the magazine for the 40mm Bofor looks to me like an ammunition clip. The ammo came in clips of four rounds and was dropped into the auto-loader on top of the gun. But each gun was an individual weapon in a pair (left gun and right gun obviously, and two pairs to a quad mount) and the clips when feeding in would line up with the gun's barrel. You appear to have slotted it between the guns. Other than that you've done a terrific job on them. As for the shields, I've seen photos both with and without the shields, so as Stuart says above you might have to find photos of your particular ship in your desired time frame. I guess gun shields could become more common as the war progressed, but I stress the word 'guess'.

     If you want crew on your ship at action stations you're going to need an awful lot. Every gun, every director would be fully manned I would think. A quad 40mm Bofor had a crew of 11 men for each mount, each pompom at least half dozen, each 20mm Oerlikon two or three I think etc.

      HTH. And I repeat, a superb job you're doing.      Regards, Jeff

[ArtickWarspite]

On 9/7/2019 at 1:13 AM, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday ArtickWarspite, superb work on those AA guns, they look exquisite. If I may point something out in post #40 and #42, what you call the magazine for the 40mm Bofor looks to me like an ammunition clip. The ammo came in clips of four rounds and was dropped into the auto-loader on top of the gun. But each gun was an individual weapon in a pair (left gun and right gun obviously, and two pairs to a quad mount) and the clips when feeding in would line up with the gun's barrel. You appear to have slotted it between the guns. Other than that you've done a terrific job on them. As for the shields, I've seen photos both with and without the shields, so as Stuart says above you might have to find photos of your particular ship in your desired time frame. I guess gun shields could become more common as the war progressed, but I stress the word 'guess'.

     If you want crew on your ship at action stations you're going to need an awful lot. Every gun, every director would be fully manned I would think. A quad 40mm Bofor had a crew of 11 men for each mount, each pompom at least half dozen, each 20mm Oerlikon two or three I think etc.

      HTH. And I repeat, a superb job you're doing.      Regards, Jeff

Gosh, you're right! Thanks for pointing that out, I would have totally missed it. The instructions illustrate the clip from a side angle and do not mention anywhere that there are two of them- though looking closely at the built up image, there are indeed two. 

 

In regards to the shields etc, I have had a look online and decided that i'll leave the shields off. More detail will be on display if left off, and from what I can see online, most images don't have shields. 

 

Thanks for also providing info on what the ship would look like at battle stations. With that many figures needing to be added- it might be a bridge too far on this build. (Maybe something to look at on a future build). But at any rate, I would like to have figures on the ship so perhaps some can go in various places around the deck... Presumably if she was just cruising along, there would most likely be a spattering of men on deck at most times?

Don't suppose you'd know what types of signal flags would be on display at any given time? Or were these just used exclusively when the ship was in action?

 

Thanks heaps for your help!

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday AW, to have men on deck then cruising would definitely require less manpower. Some of the guns would be manned at cruising stations or normal defence stations but not all. Bridge crew again with less men, and crew in various pursuits on deck - boat maintenance, deck swabbing, PT, general lounging about - indulge your creativity! 😀

     As for flags, again maybe refer to photos. There would always be at least one flag visible, unless the ship had surrendered! (Struck her colours 😥). I would imagine the ensign from the yard arm or masthead at sea. The jack staff and ensign staff at the ends of the ship I think were used only at anchor or while berthed alongside. But I acknowledge I'm very rusty there, as my experience was limited and during peace-time, not war. We flew the ensign from the stern at sea, but at action stations it could distract the gunners, hence the mast head. No doubt there are others on BM that could give you a better idea. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

[Courageous]

7 hours ago, ArtickWarspite said:

I would like to have figures

 

7 hours ago, ArtickWarspite said:

what types of signal flags

Depends on how the build is going to be displayed. From my pov, the use of figs and flags are more fitting for a sea base diorama, then you have some context. I'd go for a few placed figs for scale but as for flags, haven't a clue really.

 

Stuart

[ArtickWarspite]

Thanks @ArnoldAmbrose & @Courageous, I wasn't aware that some of the guns would have been manned at all times.  I quite like the idea of having some of the guns manned, sailors longing around, scrubbing the decks etc. Looking online, North Star Models do some sets that may be suitable.

 

Agreed with what you were saying about the white ensign- apparently the flags were only ever on the bow & stern when in port- apparently the winds shredded them easily when out at sea, so the plan was just to have one on the main mast. In regards to signal flags, adding some could potentially bring some more colour and a point of interest, so I'll investigate this further. Having flags forming a word could be interesting..

 

Unfortunately the Trumpeter Nelson is not a waterline model, and I'm not going to spend the time and energy making it one either. (I've never made a sea base for that matter).

I plan to have this as a full hull sitting on some of those nice brass stands. Having some light weathering, figures and some signal flags will be a nice addition to give the model character, context and help reinforce the scale. 

[ArtickWarspite]

After some advice, I changed the ammo clips on the 40mm's and corrected them- with great difficulty. Then it was decided to leave off the gun shields and front plates. This is a common look, plus it maximizes detail once it gets painted, washed & weathered. So one is complete and the second well underway.

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Not only would there have been no ensign at the stern or (Union) Jack at the bow, but the ensign staff and jackstaff themselves would be unshipped at sea.  Unless they are dressed overall (which happens very, very rarely at things like Fleet Reviews) RN ships only wear a jack when they have at least one line attached to terra firma - i.e. at anchor or alongside.

 

She’d fly an Admiral’s flag at the masthead whenever one was embarked (which would have been a lot of the time for Nelson).  A couple of signal flags might add something, but if you have them add some figures at the bottom of the signal halyards; warships never just stick signals up and leave them there for ages.