vf143_tomcat Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 im just old enough to remember Navy days, and the enjoyment of visiting warship after warship as the pride of the fleet was openned up to the public, at portsmouth or plymouth. One of the first ships I remember visiting was HMS cleopatra the sea cat leander conversion frigate. So when MT minatures brought a model out I had to have it. this is my second project since returning to the hobby, and I got a rude shock when the parcel from atlantic models arrived. It was a lump of resin being passed off as cleopatra, after taking some time to pick myself off the floor, I went about some minor corrections of the kit 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 So after removing a lot of the molded detail, and collecting a WEM modern RN detail set fret, 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 further progress, masts and railings added. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Looks great what you're doing. Would it be possible to get closer pics of the work you've done in future posts? As a matter of interest, what scale is this? Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 1:700 scale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 (edited) Cleopatra was actually converted twice - the first time, converting her from a ‘Gun Leander’ (as built) to a ‘Batch 2’ or ‘Exocet Leander’ was completed in 1975 [all Leanders had Seacat apart from a couple at the very start of their lives, which is why they weren’t referred to as ‘Seacat Leanders’]. The second time was when her Towed Array was added aft, which was completed in 1983. Judging by the stern of that MT miniatures job, she’s portrayed as post-Exocet conversion and pre-TA conversion; the TA reel was big and needed a substantial overhang added to the starboard quarter. You have already made a great job of cleaning up the original lump of resin; your version is a massive improvement! Looking forward to seeing it develop. [Too bloomin’ small for me in that scale; Dido in 1/350 was bad enough!] Edited December 22, 2019 by Ex-FAAWAFU 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Gidday vf, well done so far on your conversion, 'blob of resin to HMS Cleopatra'. I was very impressed, particularly with the last photo. But then I looked at the background and my admiration turned to horror! Are those labels on those drawers? Such organisation is unbecoming and downright unhealthy! 😁 Actually, don't take any notice of me. Well done. Regards, Jeff. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 Managed to get some work done over the last few days, washed, and wiped down ready for primer first cote of primer, and deck colouring ready for masking and the masking begins and on 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 That looks like a job-and-a-half! Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 yes its not exactly the best job, but as a friend once said, if you enjoy masking your doing it wrong, plus from experiance this gives the best results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 managed to get some paint on her during the christmas break, took a slight detour to build my son some tanks from his tanks skirmish game then back to cleo grey coat finished now to remove all the masking 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacca Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Given the "blob" that you started with, you've done a cracking job with that, especially noting the scale (I can cope with down to 1/600 but anything smaller than that is beyond me I'm afraid). I'm also seriously impressed with the masking. I just don't have the patience to start masking maritime models. One small observation would be that of all the Leanders I've seen/served in, the flat element of bridge roof is the deck colour with just the curved edge being ship side grey. This photo of a 1/96 scale shipbuilder's model of DANAE (as built) that I restored for our local Sea Cadet unit about 4 years ago about shows what I mean. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted January 25, 2020 Author Share Posted January 25, 2020 with the paint done, a coat of Klear cote was put over the model ready for decals, however on adding the provided decals to water, this happened 😞 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted January 25, 2020 Author Share Posted January 25, 2020 So I went looking for 1/700 scale RN decals and found these , thankfully someone dropped one in our garden ( the wife never believes me ) 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 12 hours ago, vf143_tomcat said: thankfully someone dropped one in our garden ( the wife never believes me ) Weird how that happens Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 decals, and small details went on today along with , deck washes, some rust staining the small details show the sizing issues of the kit, with the skywave sea cats dwarfing the back, that said its a great improvement on the original ... Next up matt coat then radar, and whip ariels 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 On 1/26/2020 at 3:28 AM, vf143_tomcat said: thankfully someone dropped one in our garden ( the wife never believes me ) Gidday vf, you mean she doesn't believe in the decal fairy? What about the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause? Cleopatra is coming along very well, do you have much still to do? Regards, Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted January 27, 2020 Author Share Posted January 27, 2020 thanks arnold, worth a shot raising santa clause lol no she needs a matt coat, and basing , all being well that will progress this weekend 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 so I final finished her, and got her based, more images of the model in the ready for inspection section 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf143_tomcat Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 Overall the kits a pretty poor representation of the exocet & Sea Cat leander, thought I did enjoy making the model, Id advise anyone buying the kit to purchase some after market decals to go with it, enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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