W/Z Class RN destroyers in 1/700

[OutcastJoel]

Hello All,

 

Sort of as the title, the great Uncle served on HMS Whelp and I would love to make a model of it.

Does anyone know of one?

[Graham Boak]

Some of the last White Ensign 1/700 resins were Scorpion and Venus.  The WEM kits are still available, or at least some of them.  These are beautiful highly detailed kits in resin and PE, but not for the inexperienced modeller.   There is also a much more basic kit which may still be available via Starling Models, but will still need much the same skill range plus some scratchbuilding.  It would be possible to rework a Matchbox Kelly, but most of the required parts for alterations were available from White Ensign.  Cavalier is available, or rather one of the later C-class, and this would be very close to Whelp - but I don't recall  details offhand.  I'll chase it up and add it later.

 

Decades ago, Airfix magazine did a conversion from one of the Airfix destroyers, but this was a major rebuilding job and not for the faint-hearted.  Unless dedicated to the scale stick to the 1/700 options.

 

I don't know of examples in other scales.  Frog did Undine in 1/500 but this was a completely rebuild postwar ship.

 

I'd say your best bet would be Venus or the Cx class, if you can find one.  For other advice contact Mike at Starling Models, who is much more in touch with what is available.  I vaguely recall mention of proposed, or perhaps just hoped for, release by Flyhawk Models, but that may just be wishful thinking.  It would certainly be your greatest hope but you will need microscope eyes and tweezer fingers.

[Seahawk]

There's also the injection-moulded Skywave 1/700 "O" class destroyer, which I think has been reissued by Tamiya.  Quality not bad, price often very reasonable.  At least you'd be starting out from a kit of a War Emergency destroyer (ie of the same basic configuration), albeit from the earliest flotilla: you'd need good references to check the evolutionary differences between the O and W flotillas.  There's also an issue (IIRC) with the position of the break of fo'c'stle: I think Skywave assumed that all ships in the flotilla had the increased accommodation of the flotilla leader.  Not a show stopper, you just need to be aware of it.  A more refined starting point than the Matchbox Kelly and closer to where you want to end up.

 

But, in your position, I'd try to track down a White Ensign kit.

[Graham Boak]

The O/P classes were not the standardised War Emergency but Interim types and were noticeably shorter.  The War Emergencies had J class hulls, later modified to have Tribal bows and transom sterns.  You can do early WEs (Q/R) by combining O class armaments with the Kelly hull and superstructure. but even this is lost by the time you get to Whelp, later variants having different gun mountings, masts etc.  I agree that the O/P class kit (Tamiya includes the P option of 4in AA armament) is nicer than the Kelly, but not actually nearer what is needed.  Obviously the much newer Flyhawk kits of the Js are nicer than either, but rather pricey to throw away so much of it.

[EwenS]

The Q & R classes had the J class bow but also had the transom stern. The Tribal bow came with the S class onwards which also moved the quad pom-pom / twin bofors from immediately behind the funnel to between the torpedo tubes.

 

Whelp on completion in April 1944. Of the W class, only she and Wessex received the quad pom-pom amidships, the others getting the twin bofors Hazemeyer mounting.

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205120244

 

And in 1946 on return from the Pacific

[OutcastJoel]

Thank you very much, guys! 

The knowledge (and willingness to share that knowledge) of people on here never ceases to impress me.