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

[Faraway]

Your water effect is stunning. You can almost hear the waves.

Jon

[ArnoldAmbrose]

20 hours ago, Faraway said:

You can almost hear the waves.

Yeah, they're making me seasick. 🤢 But I agree with you - they ARE good. And that crane/derrick is exquisite, very well done.       Regards, Jeff.

[GMK]

Beautiful work, Marco. Looking forward to seeing the next instalment. 

[Marco1965]

I started working on the secondary armament, the QF 4 inch cannons.  I think this will be a losing battle but I will try, the ones provided in the kit are quite deficient in detail.  I used Master models metal cannons instead of the plastic ones, but the cannons are devoid of several details that I will scratchbuilt progressively.  The bases are not accuarate either, apart from the triangular supports for the cannons, and the round base, all the rest has to be either substituted with PE or added scratch.  

 

i bored open a hole for the cannons to pivot (still like to do that if possible...)

 

I closed the front of the base with plastic sheet, and sanded thinner the inner parts of the supports.  And I substituted the peg that goes into the holes in the deck with a longer plastic rod that will allow for the guns to turn without gluing them in place.

 

ok, basic structure is done, I need to start detailing now!

Marco

[Marco1965]

Continued working on the secondary armament, added Eduard PE and some scratch built parts.

 

 

 

I inserted them in their positions, they rotate and elevate easily.

 

 

The finished crane in place, added cables with lycra (the provided PE ones did not allow for the crane to be positioned in the lowered position)  An issue with the PE crane is that the base seems to be too high, I removed the parts that are located under the base to lower the profile, I think it will not interfere with the airplanes-catapults this way, but it is still higher than what it should be.

 

The PE catapults (Eduard) are beautiful, intricate but easy to assemble.

 

Testing their location, just looking for the proper position.

 

painted already, still some parts missing which were easier to glue after painting.

marco

[Courageous]

Lovely work there Marco.

 

Stuart

[beefy66]

15 hours ago, Courageous said:

Lovely work there Marco.

 

Stuart

 

 some very nice details.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Marco1965]

Easier said than done, I finished assembling and painting the catapults.  VERY delicate, those fought me tooth and nail!  It was difficult to estimate the correct position-location of the catapults.  The "2.5cm" measured from the rear of the hydroplane deck forward to locate the catapult supports was quite vague, and the things would have ended up too much to the front of the deck.  The other thing was the separation between the two catapults.  Trying to attach the support to the walls of the hydroplane deck left no space for the rear ends of the catapults, therefore I had to glue the supports a bit separated from the walls, no other way.

 

I followed pictures of the real HMS Exeter from above, and tried to simulate as much as possible the location of the catapults.

 

 

I glued the catapults with Acrylic glue.  if I would have the chance to glue them again, I would move them a bit to the middle, there was still space.  At least I didn´t break anything in the process!  They will look neat with the two Supermarine Walruses on them!

 

marco

[Courageous]

Nice detailed work Marco.

 

Stuart

[Marco1965]

I started assembling the hydroplanes and boats.  Hydroplanes are molded in clear plastic, better for painting, and the Eduard PE set provides some tiny PE that improves the details.  I started by removing all unnecessary tabs from the wings.  I had some issues fitting the separate landing gear parts in place, needed some trimming.

 

I want to represent one of the Walruses with the wings extended and the other one with the wings folded.  The extended wings version proved to be a challenge, mostly because I had to learn what the best way of assembling them should be, taking into account fitting the PE parts.  Next time, I´ll start gluing the upper wing- engine nacelle- lower wing, and then the PE parts.  Anyway, I like the partial results.

 

 

I cut the wings to assemble the Walrus with the wings folded.  This time I know what to glue first, but it will be of no good as most of the wings are separated from the "core" during assembly.

 

I glued the center sections of the wings and the engine nacelle to the fuselage.  Will wait overnight for them to dry.

 

And I am thinking of painting the Walruses in the aluminum finish seen in many pictures of the HMS Exeter, # 769 and 780.  I have not found any other paint scheme or numbers apart from these, although at least one source says that 780 was not on the HMS Exeter for the Battle of the River Plate, without providing further information.  Trumpeter suggests a camouflaged version, no numbers, but for what I have found, camouflaged Walruses started appearing only in 1940-41, not before.  So, unless a picture miraculously appears showing a different scheme closer to December 1939, aluminum they will be.   And still checking where I will get the numbers from, probably from airplane stencils.

 

marco

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Marco1965

[Our Ned]

When modelling the aircraft with folded wings, the lower wings will need the flaps folding upwards by 90 degrees, so that they don't foul the fuselage when folded fully aft.  See https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Supermarine_Walrus_I_‘L2301’_(49924421827).jpg, https://www.classicwarbirds.co.uk/british-aircraft/supermarine-walrus.php

Edited December 20, 2022 by Our Ned
Typo

[ArnoldAmbrose]

42 minutes ago, Our Ned said:

When modelling the aircraft with folding wings, the lower wings will need the flaps folding upwards by 90 degrees, so that they don't foul the fuselage when folded fully aft.

Once you know what to look for you can see the flaps folded in the above photo too I think. Regards, Jeff.

[iang]

11 hours ago, Marco1965 said:

I started assembling the hydroplanes and boats.  Hydroplanes are molded in clear plastic, better for painting, and the Eduard PE set provides some tiny PE that improves the details.  I started by removing all unnecessary tabs from the wings.  I had some issues fitting the separate landing gear parts in place, needed some trimming.

 

I want to represent one of the Walruses with the wings extended and the other one with the wings folded.  The extended wings version proved to be a challenge, mostly because I had to learn what the best way of assembling them should be, taking into account fitting the PE parts.  Next time, I´ll start gluing the upper wing- engine nacelle- lower wing, and then the PE parts.  Anyway, I like the partial results.

 

 

I cut the wings to assemble the Walrus with the wings folded.  This time I know what to glue first, but it will be of no good as most of the wings are separated from the "core" during assembly.

 

I glued the center sections of the wings and the engine nacelle to the fuselage.  Will wait overnight for them to dry.

 

And I am thinking of painting the Walruses in the aluminum finish seen in many pictures of the HMS Exeter, # 769 and 780.  I have not found any other paint scheme or numbers apart from these, although at least one source says that 780 was not on the HMS Exeter for the Battle of the River Plate, without providing further information.  Trumpeter suggests a camouflaged version, no numbers, but for what I have found, camouflaged Walruses started appearing only in 1940-41, not before.  So, unless a picture miraculously appears showing a different scheme closer to December 1939, aluminum they will be.   And still checking where I will get the numbers from, probably from airplane stencils.

 

marco

 

What a terrific build.

 

There is a photograph of Exeter amidships with two Walrus embarked in the summer of 1939 in my book on Fleet Air Arm Camouflage and Markings 1937-41. Both are in aluminium finish and I believe this is how they would have appeared immediately before the Plate action. The 3-digit fleet numbers would no longer be carried by the autumn of 1939. The visible Walrus is K8560 and carried the code N9F arranged in a triangular form on the fin. I'm not sure about the identity of the other Walrus, but my guess is K8341. I have a photograph of this aircraft taken from Exeter in May 1939. By this stage, the 3-digit fleet number had disappeared, but the new letter-number-letter identification code had yet to be applied. K8341 carries a large White Ensign painted onto the port bow and Exeter's crest on the fin (painted over after War was declared I'm sure). This is the precise location of the N9x code, but I don't know the individual aircraft identification letter for K8341. Note also that the red float tips carried pre-war had been over-painted by May 1939. Whether the pre-war style roundels that were thinly outlined in white were altered I'm not certain, but the white outline does not appear to be visible in the  summer 1939 photo. Serials are still standard 8-inch and repeated on the rudder.

 

HTH. 

IG

[Marco1965]

Gentlemen, can´t be more excited about the information that you have provided!  I had not realized that the flaps had to fold upwards, great detail!  Iang, so I understand that the three-digit big numbers on the bow of the Walruses (769 and 780) were not carried anymore, that would make the task of issuing the markings much easier!  (Is that picture available in any internet link? Can´t find any w/o the bow numbers).  I will not go to the detail of adding the tail markings nor the small fuselage numbers, in 1/350 they would be barely, or not at all, visible.   I will stay with the roundels on the wings and fuselage.  

 

Thank you! (cutting the flaps already...)

 

Marco

[Chewbacca]

Haven't caught up with this for a wee while but I must say the attention to detail is superb.  You are giving us a masterclass in how to build this iconic WW2 cruiser.

[Marco1965]

I finished painting-assembling the Supermarine Walruses.  The one with the extended wings did not represent any problem but converting the other with folded wings position did.  Only the flimsy PE struts kept the upper and lower wings in place, had to be extra-careful painting and manipulating them.  Notice that the flap was raised 90° upwards to allow the wings to fold properly.  And gluing the folded wings to the fuselage was easier said than done, just looking for two tiny gluing spots in the upper and lower wing, while trying to keep the wings level, aligned with the fuselage, too shifted to the front, no, too shifted back, AARRRGHHH!!!  

 

Nevertheless, here we are, Walruses finished, painted in Aluminum Alclad according to paint scheme references in general, showing that they were still flying in that scheme in 1939.  I used the markings provided in the kit but would have liked to have the Exeter coat of arms on the tail and the a/c number on the fuselage (K8557 and K8343), maybe too small for the scale. I followed the advice on this thread not to use the big numbers (780 and 769) on the bow of the airplanes, as they should have been overpainted at the beginning of the war. 

 

Having provided the Walruses in clear plastic is a nice touch from Trumpeter, it allows for proper canopy masking to keep them transparent when finishing painting.  I added the tail wheel aerodynamic cover with metal sheet.

 

Couple additions included boring open the wheel wells for the landing gear, barely noticeable in the end but just in case anybody is too inquisitive!

 

The Walrus with the folded wings is quite interesting, neat storage!  Eduard provided the propellers, nice touch as the ones in the kit are plastic and too bold.

 

They will look nice on the HMS Exeter!  

Marco

[S-boat 55]

Love the Walruses!

[Rich75]

Outstanding 

[robgizlu]

Great work all round but the Walruses are outstanding

Rob

[Marco1965]

About time for updates.  I was not satisfied with the Walruses without rigging.  The reason why I had not added rigging was that no thread that I had actually was thin enough for the scale.  Enter Ultra Fine Lycra (Infini), only 0.048mm.  And this is the result, very proper for the scale!

 

 

 The HMS Exeter had a wide variety of boats, from the 35´ Motor Boats, to the 14 or 16´"Dinghes".   The boats as provided in the Trumpeter kit are very basic, put the Eduard PE set can help in detailing them.  Couple issues with the boats: the set is missing one 35´Motor boat, one with wooden superstructure, and the PE parts for the other 35´Motor Boat resemble more a modern motor boat.  But anyway, they look nice on the HMS Exeter.  I could not find good references for the colors, so I went on with combination of light gray, wood brown and white for most, and for the 35´Motor boat I added a blue band on the sides of the hull. 

 

Before starting to paint, I glued the boat supports to their hull, easier to align and level this way.

 

 

 

Significant improvement over the ones provided in the kit.  I am thinking of working on the plastic 35´ Motor boat to represent the 2nd covered motor boat missing from the kit.

 

One of the "Dinghies" will be positioned upside down on the deck, so no rows were added.

 

 

all the boats positioned on deck, not glued yet.  Notice that the support behind the right catapult is empty, a covered Motor Boat should go there but it is not provided.  And when I tried to fit the remaining plastic motor boat, it sits too tall and interferes with the catapult, need to check if I can modify it.  The service platforms for the hydroplanes are already installed, behind the catapults.

 

And worked on the Vickers 0.50" Quads, added metal barrels and PE.  Barely seen on each side of the bridge, they are a nice fine detail on the Exeter.

 

 

 

Coming next...

Marco

[Marco1965]

Continued working on the hydroplanes, glued them to the catapults, no problem at all.  I started gluing in place some of the boats as well, you´ll notice a "Dinghy" under the catapult´s front end.

 

Folded wings Walrus looks nice on the catapult!

 

The 40mm Salute cannons have been added already to the rear castle.

 

 

marco

[beefy66]

Great details Marco some great stuff for my notes when I get round to my build of this famous ship.  👍

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[S-boat 55]

Marco that is looking incredible

[Andreas.R]

Very nice and clean built! 

how did you attach the ultra fine lycra rigging at the Walruses and the funnels? 

   

I tried it with CA glue, but the results were disappointing.  

Yours are perfect!

 

Andreas

[Marco1965]

7 hours ago, Andreas.R said:

Very nice and clean built! 

how did you attach the ultra fine lycra rigging at the Walruses and the funnels? 

   

I tried it with CA glue, but the results were disappointing.  

Yours are perfect!

 

Andreas

Hi Andreas, thank you!  For the  funnels I dip the tip of the Lycra in CA and simply touch with it the funnel surface, it sticks almost immediately.  For the extreme attached to the deck, I bored open tiny holes, glued the Lycra to a piece of very thin wire, and inserted / glued both wire and Lycra in the hole.  For the Walrus rigging, again  dip the tip of the Lycra in superglue, touch the wing strut and it sticks almost immediately.  As the other end will have some tension, I prefer to keep the Lycra it in place with a small clip, touching the spot where I want to glue it, and then apply apply CA.  After a while you can release the tension of the clip and cut the excess Lycra.

 

Marco

Edited March 11, 2023 by Marco1965