1/350 HMCS Regina (Halifax Class Frigate) 2021

[JohnWS]

Casting & Damage Repair work completed! 

 

I've finished repairing the main deck, filing & sanding casting blow holes & replacing the damaged or lost bollards.  The foredeck area needed the most work.  This included filling holes & reshaping the two deck spill pipe covers, the capstan, a large bollard beside the capstan, & locker located on the deck below the bridge.  I also replaced 6 missing bollards (2 amidships, 1 below the bridge, & 3 at the bow) using .030" dia. Evergreen plastic rod.  The heads of the bollards were formed by pressing the hot blade of a small flat screwdriver on the ends of the rods. Once the repairs were completed, I drilled out the spill pipes & hawse pipe to accept the anchor chain (to be added later).  Here's a photo showing the foredeck area before & after the repairs were completed.

 

 

Next, the display stand was made.

 

 

You might remember it's the same simple type of oak wood stand I've used on my previous builds.  You ask, why I'm just using a piece of wood & not a pair of pretty brass finials?  Well, I'm glad you asked.    As you know, oak has a long history in naval shipbuilding.  The march Heart of Oak is the official march of the Royal Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy, as well as the Royal Canadian Navy.  So, I thought (in my crazy little mind ) that oak wood would be a fitting material for making my models' stands, if for no other reason that I felt it's in keeping with the nautical theme of the models ... & they're easy to make. 

 

So, now that the main repair & rework on the resin hull is completed, the actual build can start.  This is where I hoped I'd be a month earlier when I received the model kit.

 

Here's a photo of the (repaired) model casting, showing the basic outline of the RCN Halifax Class frigates, & for reference as this build proceeds.

 

 

Thanks for having the patience for following along through the painful repair process.  Next up, the actual build will begin by adding the prop shafts & rudders.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

 

[JohnWS]

Here's a few interesting bow photos of the RCN frigates sailing through rough seas.

 

Hang onto your life belts! 

 

 

 

 

John

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by JohnWS

[Courageous]

Some good initial rework there John, sometimes a necessary evil. And as for the sea shots, forget that!

 

Stuart

[robgizlu]

50 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Some good initial rework there John, sometimes a necessary evil. And as for the sea shots, forget that!

 

Stuart

 

I'm with Stuart - that first shot is just unappealing 

She is looking very fine - as does the oak, and I've learnt things!

Rob

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday John, that's good prep/repair work on the foc'sle. I was interested in one of your names, the deck spill pipes. If they're the pipes leading down to the cable (chain) lockers I was taught the term was naval pipes. Different names for different navies? Your bollard repair technique was also quite interesting. I'll try to remember it.

     Those are impressive photos of the heavy weather. I've never seen guard rails lying on the deck like that. Did the crew do that to preserve them, or did incoming waves flatten them? The second photo would suggest to me it was the latter. It certainly must have been a pleasant relaxing sail for the crew.

     Regards, Jeff.

[JohnWS]

42 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday John, that's good prep/repair work on the foc'sle. I was interested in one of your names, the deck spill pipes. If they're the pipes leading down to the cable (chain) lockers I was taught the term was naval pipes. Different names for different navies? Your bollard repair technique was also quite interesting. I'll try to remember it. ...

Hi Jeff,

The spill pipes do feed the anchor chains to & from the cable locker.  I've heard the spill pipes called by different names, e.g. pipes, deck pipes, etc.   I've heard the cable locker called the chain locker, as well.

 

42 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

 Those are impressive photos of the heavy weather. I've never seen guard rails lying on the deck like that. Did the crew do that to preserve them, or did incoming waves flatten them?  ...

I think the handrails were lowered by the crew when the ships were at sea, & especially during rough seas (and during helicopter operations on the bow & when the forward gun was fired).  Safety lines were rigged across the deck for the crew when the handrails were lowered, as shown in the 3rd photo.

 

42 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

... It certainly must have been a pleasant relaxing sail for the crew.

When I first saw those photos, they reminded me of my first training cruise.   We were sailing through a storm.  I was on the bridge when everyone, including the Captain, became seasick.  It was just me & the helmsman left on the bridge.  I was feeling queasy, but I'm not sure whether that was caused by the weather, or my fear of having someone asking me a question for direction.  Probably both. 

 

John

Edited February 1, 2021 by JohnWS

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday John, thanks. Yeah, I noticed the life-lines, and I thought the guards rails were laid down rather neatly.

And instant promotion to Captain! For some people it takes years. 🙂 I was more fortunate than most with seasickness, but by no means immune to it. I've done time on the wheel when nearly all others were paralytic with mal-de-mer.🤢 I was a reservist (as were nearly all of us) on a considerably smaller vessel than this one.

     Regards, Jeff.

[longshanks]

Good to see you finally getting underway.

I'm a fan of the Oak stand 

 

Your pics remind me of crossing the N.Atlantic force 9, in a cargo ship (8,000mt dwt.) so not small. I came on the bridge at midnight, bright moonlight and looked up  at the tops of the waves.

We had loaded heavy lifts in the bottom of the hold and the ship was acting like a child's knock down toy. To say she was stiff.....

No hot food for two days, the only time in 10 years at sea. I remember sitting wedged on the floor with the skipper, toaster wedged between us

 

The only way to sleep was to tie the chair to the coffee table (bolted down) and tie myself in the chair. No chance in a bunk even with wedges, thrown out twice, not a pleasant experience.

and no I wasn't sick.

 

Fond memories 

 

Kev

[JohnWS]

We have propulsion! 

 

 

When researching the propulsion & steering systems for the Halifax class frigates, I was surprised to find that although these frigates have two propellers they are fitted with only one rudder.

 

 

I decided to use the resin kit's propellers and rudder for this build.  The kit propellers' blades are a different but similar shape to the actual props.  They're close enough for my needs.  The kit's rudder needed minor reshaping to match the actual rudder.  My kit included two rudders, so I'm guessing the kit designer thought there were two rudders on these frigates.

 

I found the kit's resin prop shafts & supports a little bulky, so I decided to scratch build new shafts using 1/16" aluminum tubing, and new shaft supports using Evergreen plastic tubing drilled out to accept the aluminum tubing plus pieces cut from Evergreen plastic sheet for the support legs.

 

 

And, finally a photo showing the model as it sits, today.

 

 

Next up, I'll apply a coat of primer to the underside of the hull to hi light areas needing further repair & to check how well the primer adheres to the resin surface.

 

Thanks again for following along.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

 

 

[beefy66]

 All good preparation work John 

I always leave the props and rudder off because most of my builds are put in to a base and because I nearly always end up breaking them off. 😜

 

Stay Safe 

beefy 

[JohnWS]

4 hours ago, beefy66 said:

 All good preparation work John 

I always leave the props and rudder off because most of my builds are put in to a base and because I nearly always end up breaking them off. 😜

Thanks for your feedback beefy.

 

Like you, I usually glue the prop's & rudders in place at the end of the build ... for the same reason.  Regina's rudder & prop's are just dry fitted in the above photos.

 

John

[longshanks]

16 hours ago, JohnWS said:

so I decided to scratch build new shafts

 

I wondered how long it would be before the itch got you 

 

Kev

[JohnWS]

14 minutes ago, longshanks said:

 

I wondered how long it would be before the itch got you 

 

Kev

It didn't take too long, did it? 

 

I'm anticipating more scratch building when I start making the refit upgrades to the model.

 

John

[Courageous]

A good start John.

 

Stuart

[ArnoldAmbrose]

21 hours ago, beefy66 said:

I always leave the props and rudder off because most of my builds are put in to a base and because I nearly always end up breaking them off.

Gidday, I glue on the shafts and rudders but leave off the screws/props for the same reason as you. However, I screw models to blocks of wood while building for handling purposes, so the screws would be somewhat protected if I fitted them. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

[JohnWS]

I finally have the hull repaired & primed. 

 

As this is my first resin model, I was unsure how painting a coat of primer would go.  As you know, primer has a nasty habit of high lighting all the surface defects.  And, because of the poor shape of this hull that required a lot of filing, filling & sanding, I was leery of what I might see after applying a primer coat.  Another issue I was aware of was poor paint adhesion on the smooth resin surface.   The primer coat didn't disappoint.  It highlighted a number of areas where I used too much pressure when sanding, as well a minute surface blow holes, that weren't visible on the unpainted resin surface.  So after more filling & sanding, and two more coats of primer, I've ended up with a pretty good looking surface.  Once the primer coats dried, I applied & removed strips of Tamiya masking tape over a number of primed areas on the sides & bottom of the hull, to check if there were any areas with primer adhesion issues.  Luckily, no problems.  Before priming, I had sanded the sides & bottom of the hull with fine grade wet/dry sandpaper to gently rough up the resin surface & then washed down the surfaces with Dawn dishwashing liquid in water.  It looks like this process, sanding & washing, worked to prevent any primer adhesion problems.

 

Here's a photo of the primed hull.

 

 

One thing that has bothered me (& was reinforced by one of my BM friends who will remain nameless, eh Kev? ) was the size of the kit's rudder ... too short in length.  I couldn't find a detailed drawing of the rudder, but I did find a screenshot of one of the frigates' interactive damage control screens that has a line drawing of the frigates' profile, including the rudder.  Using the line drawing as a guide, I modified the kit's rudder.  It's ended up being 0.1" longer & looks a lot better.

 

Here's a photo showing the reworked rudder.

 

 

And finally, a fun photo showing one of the tiny Browning M2 machine guns (scratch built & described at the start of this thread) dry fitted at the stern to get a sense of scale.

 

 

Now time to start making & adding details on the deck.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Stay safe!

 

John 

[longshanks]

Good first hurdle to get over 

 

Rudder definitely looks better

 

Keep up the good work

 

Stay safe and warm 

 

Kev

[JohnWS]

4 hours ago, longshanks said:

Good first hurdle to get over 

 

Rudder definitely looks better

 

Keep up the good work

 

Stay safe and warm 

 

Kev

Thanks Kev.  Really glad to have the hull repairs completed.

 

BTW, this morning it's -37° C in Regina, Saskatchewan (this ship's namesake). 

 

John

[robgizlu]

Makes a difference !!

We think it's cold here currently John...........-1 Celsius 

Rob

[JohnWS]

1 minute ago, robgizlu said:

Makes a difference !!

We think it's cold here currently John...........-1 Celsius 

Rob

Brrrrr!!!!! 

 

We're only -12°C here near the Great Lakes.  Might have to turn on the air conditioner.  

 

John

 

[longshanks]

Reminds me of a time I was chatting to a Norwegian in a 1/2 horse town in the depths of winter

Q. What an earth do you have to do?

A. In the summer we fish and fornicate 

Q. and in the winter?

A. There are no fish 

 

Kev

[JohnWS]

The last week, or so, has been spent focusing on enhancing Regina's mooring & towing deck fittings.  A number of fittings were not included with the resin kit, plus I needed to replace cast bollards that I removed when cleaning up excessive resin at the stern of the model.  As a result, I ended up scratch building the required deck fittings.  A challenge for me at the 1/350 scale.  I turned to my usual 'goto' to make these tiny parts using Evergreen plastic sheet & shapes (channels, tubing, & 'I' beams).

 

Here's a photo of the final result, waiting for a coat of primer;

 

 

I've decided to pre-paint these parts & add them to the model after decks have been primed & painted.

 

As an aside, a little frigate sonar trivia for those interested.  "The Royal Navy (and Royal Canadian Navy) used the term ASDIC (Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee) until the end of the Second World War, after which (possibly as late as the early 1960s in the RN) they gradually changed to the USN acronym (SONAR for SOund NAvigation and Ranging) instead."  The Halifax class frigates have a sonar dome permanently fixed to the bottom of their hulls.  Previous generation RCN frigates & destroyers had sonar transducers located internally shipboard, in pulled arrays, or mounted in a retractable dome on the bottom of their hulls.  These domes were raised or lowered either by hand with an hydraulic pump or operated by an electric motor.  The fixed domes on the Halifax class frigates reduced the amount of maintance needed by eliminating the need to send divers down at regular intervalls to torque the dome securing nuts. Although the domes are now fixed, the transducers can still be raised or lowered when entering or leaving harbour.

 

Here's a photo showing the location & size of the sonar dome.

 

 

Next, I'll prime the fittings & start assembling the deck equipment.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

 

 

 

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday John, I've got to make fairleads etc in 1/600 scale. Looking at the first photo in the above thread has given me an idea. Thanks. That info on frigate sonar was interesting. Regards, Jeff.

[beefy66]

I am sure you and @longshanks use the same size magic pen very neat work on the details John 

 

Stay Safe 

beefy 

[robgizlu]

Precision work 

Rob