1/350 HMS PUMA

[Terry1954]

Fantastic work on that 965! That will look so good on the finished ship.

 

Terry

 

 

[AntPhillips]

That 965 aerial is looking great, I've got a few of those in 1/350 and 1/600 🤪 to look forward to as I try to finish off some of the part completed projects from the "shed of shame", luckily I have a few spares of the 1/600 sets that I picked up from WEM in one of their sales donkeys years ago, I have a feeling I might need them lol.

 

[bootneck]

Ant, my dockyard is looking more like breakers yard, and your post has triggered what could possibly become my New Year's resolution to finish complete them.  Thanks for this timely reminder!

Ralph, I also have the Puma kit needing to be built; along with Glamorgan, Zulu and Cleopatra, and I'm following and storing your updates in readiness.  Keep up the excellent work and posting photo's please.

 

Cheers,
Mike

[Terry1954]

Found this picture in the Royal Navy Ships group on Facebook, which might be of interest. It's a rather good colour shot of HMS Leopard....

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3834708236581670&set=gm.3568326563216076

 

and an excellent shot of HMS Chichester showing the trunking on the port lower side of the mainmast. Slightly different class of ship but helpful I hope

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3405461879506310&set=gm.3149324961782907

 

I notice the gentleman who has posted them in this group, has himself an immense selection of high quality pictures of Cold War RN ships on his page. Worth a look.

 

Terry

 

 

[AntPhillips]

Hi Terry,

 

Those links to FB don't seem to work, I suspect one has to be a member of the group to see them.

[Chewbacca]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. 

23 hours ago, AntPhillips said:

That 965 aerial is looking great, I've got a few of those in 1/350 and 1/600 🤪 to look forward to as I try to finish off some of the part completed projects from the "shed of shame", luckily I have a few spares of the 1/600 sets that I picked up from WEM in one of their sales donkeys years ago, I have a feeling I might need them lol.

 

 

Despite it being smaller, I found the 1/600 965 to be slightly easier because it's less complex.  That said, the 1/350 was fairly straightforward provided you take your time (and don't cut the PE short of fail to take control of the tweezers!)

 

 

19 hours ago, AntPhillips said:

Hi Terry,

 

Those links to FB don't seem to work, I suspect one has to be a member of the group to see them.

 

Same here I'm afraid. 

 

[Terry1954]

19 hours ago, AntPhillips said:

Hi Terry,

 

Those links to FB don't seem to work, I suspect one has to be a member of the group to see them.

Ah yes, correct Ant, you do have to be a member of the group of course.

 

The pictures I found were in the Royal Navy Ships group. Although its a closed group, it has over 20,000 members!. If you are on Facebook, becoming a member of that group is pretty simple, and well worth it for many of the pictures and memories that get posted. There are a number of other really helpful groups on Facebook that might be of interest. Another one is Royal Navy Ships & Submarines Past & Present. That one has just over 10,000 members. I'm also a member of six different model Warship related groups. I can provide details to anyone interested.

 

Terry

[Chris Hewitt]

Here is those photos off FB 

 

[AntPhillips]

2 hours ago, Chris Hewitt said:

Here is those photos off FB 

 

Cheers Chris, I've joined the FB group now too 👍

[Chewbacca]

Thanks Chris, those photos are fabulous.  If that's an example of what's on the group, it's tempting to overcome my utter dislike of FB

[beefy66]

3 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Thanks Chris, those photos are fabulous.  If that's an example of what's on the group, it's tempting to overcome my utter dislike of FB

I was dead set against FB but joined when all the Crap started the lads a my local model club set up a group so that we could see what was going on with each others builds I also joined the Royal Navy model ships group a lot of interesting stuff on there

It is not all sharing what you are having for tea some good stuff out there I had been missing out on.   it can be addictive sometimes

looking forward to more updates really taking shape now.

 

Stay Safe and Best Wishes

beefy

[ERK]

All the best to you  have a tot on me.

 

Erk.

[Chewbacca]

Well I'm pleased to report that Mrs Chewbacca took the hint and I have now joined the growing band of modellers who are using a 3D printer to enhance their models.  I got the Elegoo Mars model which was the one that @hendierecommended over in the aviation forum.  The test piece has gone reasonably well though I am using the water-washable resin to avoid the hassle of having to dispose of contaminated IPA and many of the reports of this resin say that the pieces fall off the build plate and back into the resin bath.  I had the opposite problem and couldn't release the two chess pieces from the build plate, eventually breaking one in the process 🤯.  But based on that and a tutorial in using CAD software from my engineer son, i/we have come up with this as the 3D render of the CAD file that I am going to try printing:

 

 

That's basically taken from a simple 2D line drawing of the aerial copied from a page of the aerial BR that I found on line.  He showed me a really clever technique with the CAD that crates a perfectly symmetrical round object from a simple 2D line drawing.  I've still got to put it through the slicing software to strip it into the individual slices and support pieces for printing which I will hopefully get done today/tomorrow and then do a test print on an actual piece.  The aerial is 7mm top to bottom so the narrowest part is ~0.25 mm and the printer supposedly is good to 0.1mm so fingers crossed it will work.  

 

In the meantime, back in the world of "real modelling", I've been progressing with the PE hawser reels so that I can get them primed at the same time as the rest of the weatherdecks.

 

Thanks for watching

[Terry1954]

Great steps taken there Ralph. There is so much scope in the world of 3D printing which can only enhance our hobby. I've taken some steps to learn Blender which is not my preferred software, but Fusion will need more work to install on my outdated MAC OS, and a machine now creaking at the seams. Software and hardware upgrades are planned, but meanwhile Blender allows me to practice the new dark art!

 

The aerial rendition looks the part!

 

Terry

 

PS Hot off the press. The latest IPMS magazine has a photo of your scratch built HMS Bulolo, along with Sarah's SU T-50 and my 1/350 Song class! Not a bad result for the club out of almost a thousand photos submitted for the SMW 2020 virtual gallery! Pat's on each others backs all round I say!

 

 

[Chewbacca]

Well I'm pleased to report that the first efforts with 3D printing went rather well.  I was more than a little concerned when I managed to break one of the aerials while removing them from the build plate as they are so fragile - the central rod that connects all of the components together is ~0.2 mm diameter - and then broke another one while cutting them from the supports but having made six to get two, even with one that failed to print correctly, I still had sufficient spares.  Here they are waiting to be removed from the supports after they came out of my wife's nail varnish UV lamp to cure (she did know about it!):

 

The one on the far left was the equivalent of an injection short shot as it came off the printer like that.  The one top right was the one I broke getting it off the build plate

 

However, where I had failed to plan ahead was checking the foremast configuration.  I had somehow convinced myself that the foremast set up provided in the PE was correct  -i.e. a single AJE aerial on the stbd side and a simple vertical dipole on the port side.  But it was staring me in the face in this photo which I've shown before which clearly shows that the port side foremast yard has a double AJE

So that left me no spares - I could afford no more mishaps.  But of course Mr Sod and Mr Murphy weren't going to let me get away with that so managed to break another in the tweezers simply trying to pick it up so one now has a nice length of brass rod replacing the central spindle.  Here they are fitted to both fore and mainmasts:

 

 

Those of you who remember back to my dilemma on page 2 about how much to construct before committing paint will note that I've now gone much further with the foremast than I originally intended inasmuch that I have completed all of the yardarms, upper platform, guardrails and upper aerial array.  In the end I figured it would be more hassle trying to assemble and fold pre-painted PE and given the difficulties I had getting the CA to grip the upper platform guardrails, I think it was the right decision.

 

One other notable omission from the kit PE is an additional yardarm that projects out at 45 degrees on the stbd after corner of the upper platform which holds the very prominent VHF ACH array.  You can see it here in the this photo of LYNX - it's the one that sticks up at 45 degrees from the end of the yardarm: http://www.shipspotting.com/photos/middle/4/2/9/2880924.jpg (I don't know why the image won't show automatically).

 

I've added the top part of the yardarm rom 0.2mm Albion Alloys rod (see below), need to add the brace and then construct the aerial itself which given the success of the AJE, I'm going to try to 3D print but if not I'm sure it can be made from 0.1mm rod.  I've also removed the anemometers from the forward yards as I can't see them in any post AKE1 photos of a Cat class.  I have still kept them though just in case I am subsequently proven wrong!

 

 

Thanks for watching

 

[beefy66]

It is all looking very delicate and your doing a cracking job with these fiddly little things watching and learning  

 

Stay Safe and Best Wishes

beefy

[Chewbacca]

On 30/12/2020 at 18:35, Terry1954 said:

PS Hot off the press. The latest IPMS magazine has a photo of your scratch built HMS Bulolo, along with Sarah's SU T-50 and my 1/350 Song class! Not a bad result for the club out of almost a thousand photos submitted for the SMW 2020 virtual gallery! Pat's on each others backs all round I say!

Thanks for that Terry.  I don't think my IPMS mag has arrived yet so shall look out for that.  Also not bad for what must be one of the newest IPMS branches

[robgizlu]

Kudos for the mag photo - mine hasn't come yet either

Love the 3D printed buts - make a huge difference.  An acceptable attrition rate I'd have thought - about on a par with my PE fumblings!

The whole aerial array looks Fab

Rob

[Chewbacca]

Thanks Rob.

 

More progress made this afternoon with minor details trying to get ready for primer.

 

Added the various vertical ladders around the superstructure where I can at this stage such as up to the aft superstructure near the Bofors platform and up onto the GDP and bridge roof.  Also added (though they're blurred in the foreground of this photo" two platforms made from 10 thou plasticard to take two whip aerial bases which I may 3D print or I may simply carve from offcuts of plastic runner.

 

 

Also made up the forward PE RAS gantry that mounts onto the bridge screen.  The main derrick pinged off into the carpet monster's hungry jaws but to be honest, I think I was going to ditch that anyway for a length of 20 thou plastic rod to give a better 3D effect.  I also added an additional platform to the front of the 978 aerial platform on the front of the foremast and added the masthead navigation light to that platform.  By international collision regulations she should have a second masthead light but I haven't worked out yet where that is!  Davits have been prepped and folded.  Why is it that 3 worked perfectly yet I folded the 4th very slightly out of alignment and it proved to be a real pig to put right?

 

The Bofors platform has a half-height guardrail running around it which I've added from that supplied in the Atlantic Models generic 1/350 RN guardrails set.

 

 

The 4.5 inch trunnions have been drilled and the Master Model barrels added.  Yes, I know before anyone says anything that they're 4.7 inch rather than 4.5 inch and yes I know the shape is very subtly different near to the trunnion, but when I ordered these I couldn't find any 4.5 inch versions.  Of course I should have realised that Peter has them on the Atlantic Models site!  The observant amongst you might also notice a solitary 40 mm Bofors barrel  hiding on its own at the back behind the second 4.5 barrel from the left.  I only ordered the Black Cat Mk VII mount over Christmas so am still waiting for that to arrive.

 

 

Finally for completeness, I mentioned just before New Year that I had been working through the cable reels - here they are ready for primer though slightly blurred I'm afraid.  I meant to take some better quality one s with a better camera today in daylight but ran out of time.

 

 

So I think now bar the VHF aerial which I am still trying to design in Fusion 360,  I am ready for primer.

 

thanks for watching

[Chewbacca]

Having spent a couple of days doing battle with Fusion 360, I now think I have a fair rendition of the ACH aerial.

 

Things I've learnt about Fusion 360:

1. It's about as intuitive as trying to learn Mandarin just simply by looking at a Mandarin text with no dictionary or help guide
2. The online help is no help at all and pulls up the most random solutions to what i thought were simple questions
3. The "Move/Copy" tool doesn't offer copy functionality
4. The built in version control is very good...apart from the fact that if you want to revert to a previous version, any work you do to that previous version won't be saved and will be automatically overridden by the previously saved higher level version (which is why 2 hours work was thrown away this morning!)
5. Once you've created a tube or rod, you cannot then adjust its length without changing its diameter by a similar ratio

Having said that, I fully accept that I am trying to run before I can walk and it's a bit like going out once in a sailing dinghy and then thinking you can skipper a frontrunner in the America's Cup.  What I should be doing is working through the hours of tutorial that are available on YouTube.  But then patience has never been one of my virtues.

 

So having slated Fusion 360, I am going to stick with it because it is so much more powerful than say Tinkercad that I briefly played with a couple of years ago.  This is the final version of the aerial:

 

 

Next step is to slice it up in Chitubox ready for the printer.  Wish me luck!

 

I've also been pressing on with the diorama base.  Relatively straightforward with just a representation of the jetty down one side which I've fabricated from 3mm rigid foamboard with a skin of 10 thou plasticard.  The skim gave me the opportunity to cut 2 grooves in the surface to represent the rail lines for the travelling crane.  If I was being totally accurate, I guess there should be some buildings on the other side of the jetty; I haven't decides if I'm going to do those or not.  Photographs of dockyards in the 1970s (as opposed to the ship's themselves) are hard to come by though I did find this  excellent one online from Getty Images dating from 1972:

No prizes but see how many  ship classes you can identify.

Thanks for watching

[Terry1954]

Great shot indeed. I get about 8 Frigates/Destroyers, an Aircraft Carrier and a couple of support vessels. I've ploughed many times across those Medway bridges as a boy, visiting my oldest sister and her Naval hubby.

 

Terry

 

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Kind of a carrier; that’s Triumph, in reserve as a heavy repair ship by the time she was in Chatham

[Our Ned]

OK - here goes!  Starting with Triumph and going clockwise, a Whitby class (with extended after superstructure), RFA Bacchus or Hebe, a Leander class, a Rothesay class (with hangar and flight deck), a Salisbury class (Salisbury or Lincoln), another Salisbury class (Lincoln or Salisbury), two Blackwood class, a Leander class in No 8 Dock, an SSN(?) in No 7 Dock, Manxman with a Type 15 frigate and Vidal outboard of her, a Head class maintenance ship, another Salisbury class (Chichester or Llandaff), RFA Robert Dundas and two Ham class minesweepers.

[Chewbacca]

You did better than I did!

 

There are a few there that I'm not sure about.  The ones on the opposite of the Basin to the Head class look to me to have a black hull so I was thinking RMAS rather than Blackwood class though it could be a trick of the light.

 

And looking at the Whitby, I thought that was EXMOUTH but I'm far from certain.  if you look at the foc's'le, it appears to have a raised bulwark all around and a large black intake just aft of the funnel for the gas turbine intake.

[Our Ned]

The "Whitby class" - on second viewing, I agree - it looks more like Exmouth - and the length is wrong for a Type 12 by comparison with the ships across 3 Basin, even allowing for perspective.

 

The ones I thought were Type 14s are the ships on the west wall of 1 Basin, between the caissons and No 8 Dock - I can't make out any black on their hulls.  Looking again, we may be seeing Echo, Egeria and Enterprise, with two abreast nearest 8 Dock, and the third astern of those - they look lighter in colour than the rest of the ships.

 

And there's a Porpoise or Oberon class in 1 Basin astern of Manxman.

Edited January 10, 2021 by Our Ned
Just noticed another vessel!