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Bluebell by Kevin - Revel - 1/72 - with full GLS upgrade


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Fantastic start; she’s already looking good.

 

For my sins, I commanded HMS Blackwater, a River-class MCMV, in the early 90s.  The Rivers were procured on very similar lines to the WW2 Flowers - commercial yards, based on a known commercial design (a trawler in our case), and so on.  All except one of the class were RNR ships; the sole exception being Blackwater, which was in the Fishery Protection Squadron in my time.

 

I only mention this because they were not wildly different in size... and Blackwater, bless her, also “rolled on wet grass”.  Until you have experienced it, it’s hard to imagine what this kind of motion does to you - everything is tiring, sleep is almost impossible, eating hazardous, etc... and we were relatively close in-shore, operating on a 6-day cycle, not in mid-Atlantic or the Barents in winter for weeks at a time.  If things got too rough we couldn’t do our job (inspecting fishing boats), so we’d move closer in, or into the lee of some land.  The Flowers had none of those luxuries.

 

I used to think of the convoys often when the weather got up.  The men who served in these ships deserve every ounce of the respect that they get, and then some.

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54 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Just wondering if one of those riveting wheels for plastic would work here? :shrug:

 

Stuart

Stuart, only if the teeth match the etched marks that can be seen in the 2nd photo of my last post

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6 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Fantastic start; she’s already looking good.

 

For my sins, I commanded HMS Blackwater, a River-class MCMV, in the early 90s.  The Rivers were procured on very similar lines to the WW2 Flowers - commercial yards, based on a known commercial design (a trawler in our case), and so on.  All except one of the class were RNR ships; the sole exception being Blackwater, which was in the Fishery Protection Squadron in my time.

 

I only mention this because they were not wildly different in size... and Blackwater, bless her, also “rolled on wet grass”.  Until you have experienced it, it’s hard to imagine what this kind of motion does to you - everything is tiring, sleep is almost impossible, eating hazardous, etc... and we were relatively close in-shore, operating on a 6-day cycle, not in mid-Atlantic or the Barents in winter for weeks at a time.  If things got too rough we couldn’t do our job (inspecting fishing boats), so we’d move closer in, or into the lee of some land.  The Flowers had none of those luxuries.

 

I used to think of the convoys often when the weather got up.  The men who served in these ships deserve every ounce of the respect that they get, and then some.

I can only wonder what those conditions were like, i had many rough days at sea, but had the safety and comforts that come with modern RN vessels

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5 hours ago, Kevin Aris said:

I can only wonder what those conditions were like, i had many rough days at sea, but had the safety and comforts that come with modern RN vessels

Indeed; I actually used to enjoy a spot of “roughers” sometimes (not in Blackwater, though).  In January 1982 I was in Fearless as she sailed across the Atlantic to Bermuda, and we encountered a Force 12 in the middle; we simply put head to sea and experimented with the speed until we got the right balance of (relative) comfort and minimal damage, which ended up as about 8 kts.  The sea was mesmerising; FS’ bridge wings were 70+ feet above the waterline, but we were regularly looking UP at the next wave as it came in.  But we certainly couldn’t do anything useful in that weather, even in a large ship like Fearless.

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2 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Indeed; I actually used to enjoy a spot of “roughers” sometimes (not in Blackwater, though).  In January 1982 I was in Fearless as she sailed across the Atlantic to Bermuda, and we encountered a Force 12 in the middle; we simply put head to sea and experimented with the speed until we got the right balance of (relative) comfort and minimal damage, which ended up as about 8 kts.  The sea was mesmerising; FS’ bridge wings were 70+ feet above the waterline, but we were regularly looking UP at the next wave as it came in.  But we certainly couldn’t do anything useful in that weather, even in a large ship like Fearless.

I remember getting storm damage in the bay of biscay, and having to dock down in gib, to repair peel back rudder plates

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This brought back one funny memory ... I was having breakfast in rough seas on a gate vessel (another trawler-like design).  I carefully put my plate of bacon, beans & eggs on the table in front of me & my cap on the bench beside me.  The ship lurched, my cap slid onto the deck upside down & my plate of bacon & eggs landed squarely upside down in my cap.  I was able to clean out the cap, but every time I wore it in the sun from that time on there was an slight aroma of pork & beans lingering around me. :D  

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Ahh, meal times in roughers, entertaining to say the least. My first and last time on a RN surface vessel was HMS Iveston, a minesweeper, in the English Channel during a Force 9. I was ill, very, very ill and once shore side, volunteered for Subs...happy man.

 

Stuart

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15 hours ago, Courageous said:

Ahh, meal times in roughers, entertaining to say the least. My first and last time on a RN surface vessel was HMS Iveston, a minesweeper, in the English Channel during a Force 9. I was ill, very, very ill and once shore side, volunteered for Subs...happy man.

 

Stuart

Lol i did the same, not knowing that diesel boats spent so much time running around on top, ah the good old days

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2 hours ago, Kevin Aris said:

Lol i did the same, not knowing that diesel boats spent so much time running around on top, ah the good old days

And to think that on my 'Draft Preference' form, my first choice was Diesels out of Plymouth and my third was Nuclear out of Faslane, and I got Nuclear/ Faslane :rofl:Done me a favour then.

 

Stuart

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On 8/20/2019 at 8:59 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I actually used to enjoy a spot of “roughers” sometimes

Gidday, My naval time was fourteen years in the reserves, sailing mainly up and down the West Australian coast for either two or four of weeks in patrol boats (although I sailed twice across the bight, once in a carrier and once on HMAS Perth, both in 1981). I quite liked it a bit rough at the end of a trip. By then I had my sea legs and didn't suffer sea sickness (not like at the beginning of a trip 🤢). I guess "rough" is a relative term, depending on the size and sea-worthiness of the ship, and in our case we knew it was for a finite period of time, not never ending as it was for the convoy escorts during the war.

     Plus, nobody was trying to kill us.         I have nothing but admiration for those sailors.         Regards, Jeff.

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Sorry for the long time between posts, lol it takes ages to make something to show 

 

my biggest concern is the phots im posting make the build look very messy,(the brass is showing the stains for being handled), im sure i will find something to clean it up closer to being painted

 

the bridge work continues

i dont actually know the name for these panels,  i quess it would be bridge wings, 

 

my soldering has greatly improved, but i still make the occasional mistake and still lots to learn

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also remounted the brackets for the gunmount platforms

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again sorry for the photos, i will need to rethink how to shoot something as bright as this is

 

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Kevin - looking nice

Are you using ordinary solder?

If you are - are you aware of solder paste?  It makes the job a whole lot easier.

Kev (Longshanks) uses solder paint which seems even easier

Just a thought

Rob

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5 minutes ago, robgizlu said:

Kevin - looking nice

Are you using ordinary solder?

If you are - are you aware of solder paste?  It makes the job a whole lot easier.

Kev (Longshanks) uses solder paint which seems even easier

Just a thought

Rob

im using Carrs liquid flux, at present, paste is my next option

 

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Carr’s liquid solder is the way to go Kev, I swear by it, for clean up I use a fibreglass pencil and white vinegar. The white vinegar cleans off the flux and also etches the brass. I can’t get on with a traditional soldering iron so I use a blow torch made by Nimrod set on the lowest flame. 

 

https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/welding-brazing-and-soldering/butane-soldering-tools/pro-70k-25w-80w-butane-soldering-kit/p/NIM5163060E

 

HTH

 

Dan 

 

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12 minutes ago, Dads203 said:

Carr’s liquid solder is the way to go Kev, I swear by it, for clean up I use a fibreglass pencil and white vinegar. The white vinegar cleans off the flux and also etches the brass. I can’t get on with a traditional soldering iron so I use a blow torch made by Nimrod set on the lowest flame. 

 

https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/welding-brazing-and-soldering/butane-soldering-tools/pro-70k-25w-80w-butane-soldering-kit/p/NIM5163060E

 

HTH

 

Dan 

 

thank you Dan

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7 hours ago, Kevin Aris said:

again sorry for the photos, i will need to rethink how to shoot something as bright as this is

Gidday Kevin, The photos look fine to me. What you are building shows up very clearly to me, and the bridge work is looking very good. Regards, Jeff.

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Good evening everyone

Post birthday celebrations, and no alcohol involved

 

Bridge supports

 

two types are given in the etch set one of them for the Bluebell, there are a lot of choices to be made, and i can see it being easy to make a mistake

 

the legs are braced from behind, a week ago this would have been a nightmare for me, but with the right flux and lower temp solder it is working for me

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centre braces fitted

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whether it is right or wrong, yet again i find myself building the big bits, and yes even some of the kit is being used

Funnel and mast

the moulded banding is removed, as is the top spider the body is then covered from the PE set

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these two units are made up from the box

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more soldering

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poor photo, was there to show the ladder against the funnel

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4" gun

two shields are in the kit 1 suare the other curved, not know which im using yet so made them both

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the bandstand went together better and anticipated

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legs folded out

 

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wooden spoon to shape the ring

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edges tacked in numerous locations

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i decided to solder this first before adding, it actually worked ok, there is a ridge the disc sits in, so once in place it was just tacked again

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and the wheely bin again

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Edited by Kevin Aris
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20 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Kevin, it is truly exquisite. You make my models look like they've been carved from a single block of wood, with an axe! Regards, Jeff.

Thank you Arnold, its early days for this build, and all i am doing is cutting folding soldering, and i certainly dont agree with the 

second part of your sentence

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Some amazing modelling here Kevin, and absolutely superb brass work. I recognise those 20mm Oerlikon "bandstands" so well, they look very like the ones on the Vosper I'm building.

 

Terry

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On 05/09/2019 at 13:40, Terry1954 said:

Some amazing modelling here Kevin, and absolutely superb brass work. I recognise those 20mm Oerlikon "bandstands" so well, they look very like the ones on the Vosper I'm building.

 

Terry

Terry i think i have found part of the maritime hobby that i enjoy, (small ships), i will certainly be looking at doing another of the Flower class possibly in a larger scale, i cannot see me doing another 1st rate anyway, 

 

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9 hours ago, Modelholic said:

Amazing!

How long will it be before someone makes an aftermarket upgrade set where you don't have to buy a base kit? Just make the whole thing out of brass!

Tom

Lol and then we will be back to square once again and not being able to afford it, better still would be revamping all the old moulds to something resembling the subject

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