Starspell Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 (edited) So, this is going to be my starting point on this model. (Thanks to the kindness of a fellow BM'er @Faraway from whom I purchased this kit today. He started it 16 years ago and has been sat in a box ever since). I am building it as a 'sort-of' commission build for my window cleaner. A couple of weeks ago whilst doing my windows he saw me in my model building shed in the garden.....one thing led to another....discussion went to the La Malouine as his grandfather served on her during the war and the ill-fated PQ17 convoy and he asked if I would be interested in doing it for him. Jump forward a couple of weeks and another thread (my Super Hornet WIP) and Faraway mentioned this kit as my conversation was about PE and my headaches with it! Long story short, I ended up buying it from him today. Have to finish up my Hornet first which will take a few more days and then I'll make a start on this beast 🥴 that will give me a couple of days to get some paints as I need to change the current splinter cammo scheme of the Snowberry to the "typical 2-colour Western Approaches scheme. The hull is essentially the standardised design offered on plate 23 of Confidential Admiralty Fleet Order 679/42" (thanks @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies) and also for the headache (which has already developed just looking at what I have let myself into) to go away. Any tips/help etc. would be greatly received during this build. And this is where I hope to end up, a typical 2-colour Western Approaches scheme. Edited January 20, 2021 by Starspell Added Tags 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faraway Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 (edited) Good to see you won the battle with the spiders. Not sure what I’m going to do with the room, this going, has freed up in the garage. But I’m sure you will do this kit justice. It’s going to need a BIG display case. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 PS. If you haven’t already, watch The Cruel Sea, and watch the old girl in her element. Jon. Edited October 27, 2020 by Faraway 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Great project Steve. I hadn't come across La Malouine before but you are well served by IWM photographs that cover all quadrants. There's not much different about her from the kit - clearly she is pictured without a fwd gunshield which is quite unusual bit rather fetching. She appears to have one of these on the port 2nd Carly float position - Wooden Reversible Liferaft, once again not commonly pictured on Corvettes and finally she has raised Depth charge rails as distinct from the low rails in the kit (clunky as they are) Nial Orr does some on Shapeways - here's mine from him (in anticipation of a long off build effort !) Shout if you need any help - I have virtually all of the references and know where to source "bits". Jamie is definitley right about the pennant numbers that are definitely not black - it depends on how accurate you are aiming for but masks are easily obtainable to do the pennant number in your choice of grey. If you haven't used Sovereign Colour enamel paints before - I'd seriously urge you consider them - especially if you use an airbrush - authentic colours - particularly the white and now my favourtie paints bar none!! The other striking thing about the IWM images is just how "Oil Canned" the hull is ......................................(Just saying I can see you've got some GLS kits there and I reflect how few of these ships we see actually completed - I imagine pacing is the key! Looking forwards to seeing this unwind Best Rob 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Glad to have you along @robgizlu I'm a 'shoutin' already, can you explain "Oil Canned" for me? Already looking at Jamies paint and been in touch with him as I do (try) use an airbrush 🥴 Don't suppose you have a part number for that depth charge rail? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Hi Steve "Oil canning" describes the way the skin of a sea vessel "Dimples". It's very evident in one of the IWM pics looking from the Port rear quarter. Modellers try to replicate by either scraping away - See Beefy's Blog illustrating the technique here... USS Fletcher 1/144 Or in smaller scales - a Tromp d'oeil technique can be used with paint - which I don't imagine will work at 1/72. I've not really noticed it on many Flowers previously. As to the Depth charge rail - here's the link - considerably more expensive than when I bought it - shapeways has become really pricey! https://www.shapeways.com/product/B7LJMZVJG/flower-class-high-depth-charge-racks?optionId=14184090&li=shops Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Thanks Rob, at that price he'll get what comes in the box..........he'll never know 🤪 Steve 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I can cut masks for pendant numbers, I just realised. They'd be on Oramask vinyl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Juliet Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Permission to come aboard, for the duration, Sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies, you sir are a star, thank you very much!!!! @Alpha Juliet welcome aboard this wild ride, better hang on, it could get rough! Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
europapete Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 That's a nice haul there Steve, well done. Check out the GLS website for more detail sets. Regards, Pete in RI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 On 10/27/2020 at 7:45 PM, Faraway said: If you haven’t already, watch The Cruel Sea, and watch the old girl in her element. The actual main ship in the film Cruel Sea was HMS Saltash Castle F362 which was in real live HMS Portchester Castle K362 this was a Castle Class Corvette which where about 40 feet longer than the flower class for improved stability. I am just gathering info on this for a 1/350 build and received a large amount of info from fellow BM @socjo1 after his great build of HMS Copper Cliff. looking forward to seeing what you do with this kit. Stay Safe beefy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 4 hours ago, beefy66 said: The actual main ship in the film Cruel Sea was HMS Saltash Castle F362 which was in real live HMS Portchester Castle K362 this was a Castle Class Corvette which where about 40 feet longer than the flower class for improved stability. I am just gathering info on this for a 1/350 build and received a large amount of info from fellow BM @socjo1 after his great build of HMS Copper Cliff. looking forward to seeing what you do with this kit. Stay Safe beefy That was the second ship in the film Keith The first ship they go to sea on was Flower corvette "HMS Compass Rose" which was also ficticious. I don't recall what those scenes were filmed aboard. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Macnaughton Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 30 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said: The first ship they go to sea on was Flower corvette "HMS Compass Rose" which was also ficticious. I don't recall what those scenes were filmed aboard. HMS Coreopsis (K32) which was on loan to the Greek navy according to Goggle 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted November 3, 2020 Author Share Posted November 3, 2020 (edited) Dear Hive-mind, Getting close to 'starting' this ship in a few days, just finishing up my Super Hornet. Forgive my ignorance of all things ship.....but according to info from @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies the Western Approaches schemes aim is to achieve a light general tone so "countershading is advisable" (what does this mean?) To achieve this, the following should be painted white to eliminate shadow..... 1) Undersides of blast shields(?), flag decks (?), boats, torpedo tubes, pom-pom decks (?) and other platforms 2) After side of the bridge (After side?) 3) All lockers, vents,davits and other fittings in and around which shadows occur. 4) All darken ship screens (?), canvas covers for hawser reels (?), etc 5) Lower third of gun barrels, searchlights etc 6) Masts and crows nests 7) Any horizontal surfaces that may throw light up into dense shadows (? all the deking? how about non-slip walk ways?) 😎 All stanchions and other small fittings on the upper deck Sounds to me like I pretty much spray/paint everything white above the water line..........or am I generalizing? Any help with all the ???'s would be appreciated as all this terminology is blowing my little mind. Edited November 3, 2020 by Starspell 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 Hi, You've pretty much got the gist of it there from that 1942 Confidential Admiralty Fleet Order. Countershading was painting things lighter to fight the darkening effect of shadow. There was a lot of counter shading on Western Approaches schemes in particular, but there are examples on various larger warships in other schemes too. Here's HMS King George V in 1942 with countershading on the 14" gun barrels - the idea being that when viewed from an observer on the surface some distance away the tops of the barrels wouldn't glare and the bottoms wouldn't appear dark, giving an obvious man-made feature to draw the eye. If you're peering through a U-boat periscope in low-light conditions in the typical North Atlantic in winter with overcast clouds and probably some mist for enemy ASW ships which are painted white, it'll be the shadows that you notice against the background. This is HMCS Sackville which is preserved in Canada. You're looking at the single 2pdr PomPom mount aft. A "Pom Pom" was a particular 40mm Quick Firing gun (autocannon really) which fired 2 pound shells made by Vickers. They were anti-aircraft weapons, although also effective against thin-hulled unarmoured small vessels too. They were seen singly as on corvettes here, but are also found in quadruple or octuple mounts usually on larger ships. There's WA Light Blue camouflage on the tub itself but notice that the underside of it all is painted white to minimise how dark it could look because of shadow. http://www.steelnavy.com/images/Sackville/Sackville 38 pom pom tub closeup.jpg Here you can see the undersides of some superstructure. What we'd call the "ceiling" or "roof" on land is called the "overheads" on a ship. These were fairly consistently counter-shaded white on Western Approaches schemes too. http://www.steelnavy.com/images/Sackville/Sackville 06 port side looking fwd.jpg As for the main decks, I've seen little evidence to be honest of people getting too excited about Line 7 there above. They wouldn't have been painted darker, but equally I don't recall many (any?) examples of decks painted white. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 Glossary blast shields(?) - the shield between operator of gun and muzzle - these guys are standing behind one flag decks - deck where the flag halyards are tied off and there's a locker with signal flags in. Signal flags were still used because you need to be within line of sight to see it, whereas radio broadcasts your message to anyone listening After side of the bridge (After side?) - the back ship screens (?) - window shutters hawser reels (?) - cable reels http://deckequipments.com/upload/image/Steel-Wire-Reel-JISF-3430-1980-1.jpg 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted November 3, 2020 Author Share Posted November 3, 2020 Cheers Jamie, the fog of ignorance is slowly starting to lessen !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 I found it one of the hardest parts about getting started in ship modelling. Sailors speak a different language, and it can be a real barrier to getting started. The learning curve can seem near vertical. Detail set instructions tell you that part 104 are for the HACS directors. Great. What's a HACS director? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faraway Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 26 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said: HACS directors High Angle Control System. Anti-aircraft control for the guns. Jon 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 21 minutes ago, Faraway said: High Angle Control System. Anti-aircraft control for the guns. Jon Thanks Jon - I'm fairly naval literate now, but it was a difficult learning curve when I first got in to this I just chose an example of a typical piece of warship jargon. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted November 4, 2020 Author Share Posted November 4, 2020 Oooooh, got a package this morning, things are starting to happen................thanks @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted November 4, 2020 Author Share Posted November 4, 2020 Any suggestions for mixing ratios for these paints? 50/50? Never used enamels before.........also best pressure for airbrush, usually go for 18 psi with my Tamiya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 I use 50/50 as a default starting point. Often I will go as far as 67/33 thinners to paint. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starspell Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 And so it starts Finished up my Super Hornet this morning then had a massive clear up in the shed to make room for this 'little' puppy. Never realised just how messy/dusty the shed had got, took me a couple of hours!!, but now it's clean and tidy....................ready to start making a 'new' mess. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nheather Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 I like that brush and tool rack - do you remember where you got it, what make it is? Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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