HMS Exeter, Battle of the River Plate, Trumpeter 1/350

[Marco1965]

At last!  Colourcoats Light Gray 507C arrived!  I had stopped painting with the "Light Gray" recommended in the instructions, because it looked too light-white.  Reading about the "507C" color, it is supposed to have a bluish tint, which plain Light gray did not have.  I am glad I waited.

   Comparing this color to the plain light gray, it has the bluish tint, it looks like a lighter "Light Ghost Gray" (sorry, I have been an airplane guy forever, can´t avoid comparing).  

Marco

[robgizlu]

It's a unique colour isn't it!

Rob

[Marco1965]

It has been a while since I last posted, which doesn´t mean I have not been working on my HMS Exeter! (But my Panther distracted me a little bit).  Ok, I painted all the gray and dark gray details of the deck, and the hull.  Although it is going to be a "waterline" model, I wanted to see how the hull painted in hull red (tamiya) would look like, just for the sake of looking at it.

 

 

Once in the "water", the hull red will not be visible anymore.

 

About to finish the open bridge, some figures pending and the roof on the front part.  I have my doubts about some PE parts provided by the kit that go on top of four supports on the open bridge, if they intend to simulate binoculars, they are way too large, need to replace them with smaller scratchbuilt parts.

 

The platform behind the bridge needs some corrections.  Eduard´s PE provides hints on how to correct it partially, but apart from removing the rear railing, the front one needs to be removed, too, it fits to the rear wall of the bridge and there is no sense of keeping it there.

 

The part already modified and ready for PE.

 

All PE glued in place, the corrected platform fits perfectly to the back wall of the bridge.  There is a door that both the kit and Eduard miss right at the center of the platform entering into the bridge, will issue it with PE leftovers.

 

Started working on the main armament turrets, which everybody knows, are quite devoid of detail.  Good shape, "0" details.  Eduard PE set includes parts to provide the proper details, I started by fitting the upper PE, looks nice and it is not really difficult to glue, CA, some minor corrections filling some gaps, nothing really unexpected.

 

 

 

Started working on the funnels as well, nice touch providing the inner "grills" in case somebody wants to peek inside.

 

And finally my big frustration lately.  I ordered the RN Crew set for my Exeter from North Star models, and this is what I got... 40% of the figures were broken upon arrival.  trying to detach the others proved to be challenging, the resin is so fragile, not flexible at all.  Nice figures though, but not really willingly to lose 40% of my money anymore.

 

Most feet were broken already, difficult to fix in that scale, really.

 

So this is where I am currently, I will work next on the water shape, that will take some time.

 

Marco

[S-boat 55]

The bridge is a work of art, its all looking very very precise, 

 

Out if curiosity are you brush painting or airbrush?

[Marco1965]

40 minutes ago, S-boat 55 said:

The bridge is a work of art, its all looking very very precise, 

 

Out if curiosity are you brush painting or airbrush?

Thank you, S-boat.  I normally airbrush as much as I can.

 

Marco

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Marco, shame about the crew, being footloose and not fancy free, but the rest of the model is looking very good. Particularly the bridge. Regards, Jeff.

[robgizlu]

Marco - Agree with @S-boat 55. the brige is just excellent.  The detail on the Coticene sets it off wonderfully!

As to the guns - I believe that these are the same as fitted to the Counties.  I persevered with the Eduard etch on Berwick - wish I hadn't bothered and had got Micromaster replacements from the start 

When you prime, if you are like me you'll be dissatified with the step that the etch "topdeck" leaves.

 

Share your pain with the NorthStar figures, but the bottom line is that they remain the only show in town and WHEN you get them off the sprue they are really nice and frankly hard to improve upon.  I keep bleating that I wish there were more 3D printed figures especially in non-regulation RN service dress.  It's possible that Black Cat will release some

You may have seen that I reviewed the "ION" figures on the Calcutta thread - they don't really make the grade for me.  FWIW, I use a fresh No 11 S&M scalpel blade and very delicately "saw" the fiures off the North Star moulding block.  However careful you are there is still an attrition rate.

 

Lovely work - keep it coming  (I need to check out the Panther)

Rob

[Marco1965]

Hi Rob and Arnold,  thank you for your opinions.  You know, Rob, I thought precisely about the "step" you mention, I´ll check after priming how it looks, and if it is worth working on it.  I can always remove them and replace with Micromaster ones... 🙂   And about the NS figures, yes, they look really nice, I´ll use them in key positions, still have my Fujimi set to combine with.

 

Marco

[Marco1965]

Finished the gun turrets, not easy really to work the seams between the PE and the plastic part, but with patience, results are good.

 

I used CA and Vallejo´s plastic putty to fill the seams between the PE part and the plastic, if the PE has been glued properly, there is not really a big issue, not more than filling for example a fuselage seam in an airplane model, so I was quite satisfied with the results.

 

   To reduce the risk of silvering, I cut as much carrier as I could from the decals, I have to say that the decals are excellent, very thin and they conformed perfectly under Decal Sol and Decal Set.

 

Turrets are currently awaiting for the final Semiflat coat, and maybe some additional minor weathering.

 

The funnels... not completely satisfied, I hate the rings around the structure, specially the issue that they are not completely surrounding the funnels front and back, and.. this becomes even worse taking into account that is is necessary to sand the halves seam.  But well, did as much as I could.  

 

Eduard´s PE contributes significantly to correct and add some details to the front funnel. specially the starboard ladders and the observation platforms.

 

 

 

What I could not tame, were the Eduard PE parts for the structures on top of both funnels.  As provided, I simply could not find out how to bend the pins to resemble the real thing, and the instructions are quite vague.

 

 

So I ended up using the PE from the Trumpeter kit, which is not bad, either, only a little bit thicker than Eduard´s, but I managed to issue something decent for the front funnel. using the Trumpeter´s PE for the ring, and Eduard´s for the "grill".

 

   Tried to be more cautious on the rear one, but... same result, screwed up the Eduard ring, used Trumpeters combined with Eduard´s "grill".  This time I managed to glue the ring separated from the funnel´s ring, as shown in the references, but the pins are not close to the way they should be shaped according to the references.  Maybe I was expecting too much from the PE, I don´t know.

 

The pins don´t exactly match the ring pins, but I preferred to use the more delicate Eduard PE rather than Trumpeter´s one for the grill, I hope this is not too noticeable once painted in Flat black.

 

And this is where I am currently, looking forward to painting and finishing the funnels and cannon turrets this week.

 

Marco

Edited June 14, 2021 by Marco1965

[beefy66]

Taking notes as you go in the hope I can use this information later when doing my build.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[robgizlu]

As we've come to expect - Super work 

Rob

[Our Ned]

Exeter's turret identification markings are variously depicted as black letters or red letters; I've never seen anything confirming which is correct, although the question has been raised in message boards, including this one.  Given the difficulty of interpreting colours from monochrome photos, I suspect the question will remain unanswered.  I'm aware that the Profile Morskie drawings (on which the Trumpeter kit may have been based?) show the letters in red; is there other evidence for the colour of Trumpeter's decals?

Edited June 15, 2021 by Our Ned
Typo

[Marco1965]

4 hours ago, Our Ned said:

Exeter's turret identification markings are variously depicted as black letters or red letters; I've never seen anything confirming which is correct, although the question has been raised in message boards, including this one.  Given the difficulty of interpreting colours from monochrome photos, I suspect the question will remain unanswered.  I'm aware that the Profile Morskie drawings (on which the Trumpeter kit may have been based?) show the letters in red; is there other evidence for the colour of Trumpeter's decals?

Hi Ned, I haven’t been able to find any proof of the color having been red, or black, or other.  No original description or RN normative providing a hint into it.  
 

marco

[Marco1965]

I arrived to the moment where I was starting to damage the many subassemblies on my desk, so I decided to glue them to the deck already.  Fitting is pretty tight in some cases, had to trim a little bit the insides of both funnels, nothing really complicated.  Life rafts were glued in place as were the top of the funnels.

 

 

 

I also glued the hydroplane catapult deck in place, and the front upper deck in place.  Fitting is really good, these parts stay in place without glue (I glued them, of course)

 

I finished assembling the main armament turrets, and have an issue regarding the openings for the cannons, they are pretty tight and can´t widen them anymore as I would lose PE details.  The thing is that the cannons will not be able to elevate-depress, as the paint gets scratched if I try.  Turrets will be detached to continue working on the ship.

 

 At least the captain would easily know on which ship he was, in case he forgot, with those gigantic red "EX" all over the place.

 

Next step I guess will be putting it into the "water".  I used Gel acrylic to issue the basic shape of the water.

 

Looks decent as a beginning.

 

Marco

[steve5]

thats coming along nicely , marco .

[Marco1965]

It has been a while, I have been adding bits and pieces to my Exeter, but encountered several issues with the area between the front funnel and the bridge. That was some sort of storage area, it was modified at least once during HMS Exeter's career, and is quite difficult to define what is there in available pictures.   In Exeter's early years, it looks like an open space for storage, hydroplane pontoons clearly seen stored there. But at some time before the war, a boxy structure was installed, I guess for storage as well. The kit provides two rectangular structures that try to simulate the storage box when seen from the side, but apart from that, they miss completely how the real think was.
Apart from this, two very notorious pipes cross from funnel to upper front deck, you can't miss them, but the kit did, not provided.
I started fixing these issues by scratch building the storage box. I glued together the parts provided in the kit inserting plastic sheet to form the box, and used the four PE sides from Eduard to cover the four sides of the box. The box should sit much higher than what is provided in the parts, so I glued PE extensions from remanent PE, looking crudely like this.

 

Then I scratch built the pipes, using Evergreen plastic rod, 1.0mm and 1.2mm diameter.

 

The pipes completed, they run from funnel to bridge.

 

And the storage box fits on top of the pipes (not glued yet).

Marco

[S-boat 55]

That's a clever and effect solution that also builds up the area nicely, 

[Marco1965]

I finished adding scratch details to the area between front deck and front funnel. First I glued in place the two pipes going from the base of the funnel up to the lateral platforms, each ends up in a horn loudspeaker that I still need to add.  The pipes were issues with thin wire, painted bent (several times, several tries!) and glued in place with CA.

 

Then I glued the pipes running horizontally between funnel and front deck.

 

And finally the storage box was glued in place.  The whole area looks much better than the mostly empty space as provided in the kit, and of course more accurate to how HMS Exeter looked like in 1939.  I understand if the kit did not include the thin piping leading to the horn loudspeakers, as they are quite flimsy, or the storage box as it was not always installed, but the horizontal pipes running from funnel to front deck should be there, all the time, they are quite notorious.  I am aware that there are two PE parts that I glued in place according to instructions, on the front of the "ice cream stores", that should be located further under the storage box.  When I noticed, it was too late, I was afraid that I could ruin the deck or other parts if I tried to detach the parts, so they will stay as they are.

Marco

[ERK]

Excellent modeling.

 

Erk.

[Marco1965]

I assembled the wavebreaker, substituted the plastic part with PE, 19 parts, difficult to clean the smallest ones but managed to assemble them without feeding the carpet monster. Glued with acrylic glue, had some issues fitting the tips over the deck edge, have to retouch it later.

 

 

 

 

And put the anchor chains in place, used 40 LPI chain, looks to scale to me. I had doubts about the color of the chains, have pictures showing them in light gray, same as the ship, have another picture showing them painted in black and light gray, by segments, and then the ones after the Battle of the River Plate, that show the chains in black. I chose the latter option.  There are secondary chains missing, I will add them later, and I realized that the capstans heads should be black, need to change the color, too.

 

Marco

[Marco1965]

Adding some more bits and pieces. The boat platforms are extremely fragile PE, if you made a mistake bending anything, there is not a second try, parts break.  They look very nice at the end, though!

 

 

One of the boat platform and PE ladder in place.

 

And this platform is giving me trouble, it is already glued in place, but the issue is that on the left side of it, there is a connection to a ladder running down on the side of the funnel.  Only thing, a liferaft is on the way.  There was no indication for not installing the raft, and it is impossible to remove it now without damaging the funnel.  

 

The kit provides this part in PE, but Eduard´s is more complete.

 

And the anchors in place, will benefit later of some dirt-rust effects (as will the hull)

Marco

[robgizlu]

Your work is so clean and precise.

Rob

[Marco1965]

i finished gluing in place the boats racks on each side of the deck.  Quite delicate PE, have to bend it correctly the first time, if trying twice, it will break.

 

 

I needed to finish the water before continuing with the details on the ship (not willingly to break something while painting the water with the big brushes!).  I had applied before a coat of Dark blue (a mix of Blue, Green and Black, to be true). which was mostly featureless and lacked deep.  I applied layers of progressively lighter and greener colors to give the appearance of deepness to the waves and ocean on the sides of the ship, using white for the breaking waves.  it is almost done, needs some more white and clear actylic at the bow, should be more water splashing higher on the hull.

 

 

marco

 

 

[Marco1965]

I was not satisfied with the "volume" of the waves, so I tried incraesing them using cotton.   I like it but is not gloss, I need to work on that.

 

I plan on spraying gloss acrylic lacquer to get some gloss on the cotton, and the splashes of the waves has to be more irregular, so still working on it.

 

 

marco

[Marco1965]

I started issuing the rigging of the funnels but realized that there are several things on deck that might interfere with the rigging if not properly located, among them the crane and some boats.  

 

So, I stopped with the rigging and decided to build the main objects on deck to ensure that they don´t interfere with the rigging.  First think that I tackled was the ship´s crane.  Trumpeter provides a crane that combines plastic (the base) and PE (the arm), but Eduard provides the complete crane in PE, much better!  Only thing is that you´ll have to be quite patient with this, everything fits perfectly, just need to bend carefully and precisely the parts.

 

The base was much more difficult than the arm, with quite flimsy parts that require proper alignment.

 

After 6 hours... this is how it looks currently.  Base and arm are almost finished (not glued together yet), still missing are the pulleys and cables, but the most difficult part (I hope) is done.  I´ll still add some more details to the base, need to check for references.

 

The crane is impressive and intricate, one of the main objects on deck.

 

 

Can´t wait to install pulleys and cables, it seems that there is lot of opportunity for installing cables on the crane´s arm, as only the segments from the base to the crane arm´s "elbow" are provided, there is nothing running from there to the tip and hook of the crane.  Oh and no, the crane does not interfere with the rigging as planned!

marco