Atlantic Models HMS Relentless Type 15 Frigate Atlantic Models 1:350

[Julien]

HMS Relentless Type 15 Frigate
Atlantic Models 1:350

 

 

The Type 15 Frigates were conversions from the WW2 Emergency Class Destroyers made to fill the need for fast anti submarine vessels.  These ships were introduced to the fleet from 1951 and filled the role until replaced by the new Type 12 and Leander class Frigates, the last being withdrawn in the early 1970s, as such HMS Relentless started life as an R class destroyer, commissioned in November 1942 and carried out her duties as an anti-submarine escort, both in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean throughout the war. After the war she was placed into reserve until 1949. She spent the next two years being converted into a Type 15 anti-submarine frigate. Placed in reserve again from 1956 to 1964 she was once again called to the front line, but only for a year, as she was put up for disposal, finally being sold for scrap in 1971.

 

 

The Kit

The kit comes in the standard sturdy Atlantic Models box filled with plenty of poly chips to protect the contents. The metal, (8 pieces), and resin, (20 pieces) parts are contained in zip lock bags stapled to a piece of card.  The upper and lower hull sections are further protected from damage, by being wrapped in bubble wrap.  There is a long envelope found at the bottom of the box containing the sheet of etched brass, whilst a separate zip lock bag contains the sheet of decals.  When the hull is unwrapped the first thing that strikes you is the cleanliness of the resin.  It is silky smooth, with no sign of deformation, bubbles or other imperfections. The upper and lower hulls are joined together by several pips and holes, but I find that it’s easier to remove the pips and align everything by eye and by feel as they tend to leave a large gap whereas by removing them, the gap almost disappears and there is very little need to filling, just a light touch with a sanding stick.  The rest of the resin parts are just as well moulded, although the large sections of the superstructure do appear to have small pips on their undersides that need to be removed.  As seen in the photos, some of the smaller parts have a fair bit of flash, but it’s very soft and easily removed. The white metal parts don’t have a lot of flash, but there are seams that will need removing, again, a fairly easy job.  The large etch sheet is what we have come to expect from Atlantic Models, beautiful clean relief etching, great design and lots of parts, and is probably the area that makes these models more for the experienced modeller than even the resin.

 

 

 

Before any construction can take place, make sure you clean all the parts in warm soapy water to get rid of any mould release agent that may be attached. Naturally for these kits, it’s sub assemblies first. These include the Twin 4” HA/LA gun, consisting of the resin turret, metal gun barrels two PE seats and a pair of rocket rails, one for each side of the turret. Next is the twin 40mm Bofors Mk5, which is made up from the resin turret, metal barrels, and PE shield, seats and sights. The resin funnel is fitted with PE cap, four platforms and two sirens.

 

 

 

 

The rest of the sub-assemblies are all PE, and include the two whip aerial masts, the two piece Type 277 radar antenna with IFF, the five piece foremast top and the seven piece foremast, which once assembled is glued into place on the bridge structure, along with the Type 277 radar, railings, foremast top and bridge wing supports. The mainmast is then assembled from six PE parts and is fitted to the superstructure aft of the funnel, along with the MCDF antenna and bracket which is attached to the starboard side of the structure. The aft superstructure is fitted with the 4” gun director and railings. Aft of gun mount you have a choice of either a pair of Squid mortar mounts, or a pair of Mk.10 mortars.  The instructions then call for all the ships railings to be glued into position, but I would generally leave these off until last. The anchors can be fitted though, as well as the ships boats, davits, both gun mountings, as well as the whip aerial masts, PE signal flag lockers, Dan buoy, fuel can rack and cable reels, for which the modeller will need to provide some plastic rod from their own stock. If you are building this as a waterline model then you can miss off the next bit as it’s the fitting of the rudder, propeller shafts, A frames and propellers.

 

 

 

Decals
The single decal sheet contains the main pennant numbers and ships names for the entire list of Type 15 conversions as well as the bridge windows, depth marks, Union Jack and the White Ensign in two sizes. The decals are very nicely printed, with very little carrier film and are quite thin, although I understand they aren’t as thin as Atlantic's own HMS Leopard and HMS Puma kits, which were a little too unforgiving. Unfortunately the review kit decals were quite badly damaged on arrival, as you can see in the accompanying photograph. So it would be wise to check yours before starting the build. Atlantic have confirmed they will replace any damaged sheets as they are aware of the issue. 

 

 

Conclusion
Well, Atlantic Models have done it again, producing a kit that fills another hole in the Royal Navy Cold War story. It may not be on everyone's wish list, but seeing how it’s quite a simple, (relatively), kit to build, it might be a good second or third resin model in preparation for one of Atlantic Models big destroyers.  For me it is another winner from Peter.  The mouldings are superb, the etch amazing  and even if you don’t like the use of white metal, there is still a place for it if it helps produce amazing models, which with a bit of care this kit can be done.  Just a shame about the decals in this case. Very highly recommended. 

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of Peter Hall of