HMS Hood May 1941

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, I've commenced my next build, a model of HMS Hood as she appeared at the time of her sinking in the Denmark Strait on 24th May 1941. Actually, I commenced it three weeks ago.

     This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Bismarck chase, and to commemorate this the ATF is running a GB of the chase. As the name and tags suggest I'm converting a 1/600 scale model kit of HMS Hood to her appearance at that time. The kit OOB represents the ship at about 1932. I know there are kits available that depict the ship in the 1941 guise but a rule of the ATF is that it must be an Airfix kit. Besides, I like to work in 1/600 scale. Between the two dates the ship was altered a bit. The main alterations that I'll have to do (as far as I'm aware at this point) will be removing the 5.5-inch guns and adding twin 4-inch guns, quad .5-inch machine guns and those UP (unrotated projectile) launchers. Minor alterations to the upperworks and spotting top also, and no doubt I'll learn of some more alterations as I go along.

     Below is a photo of the box art, parts and instructions. I've included parts from other kits that I'll need, namely twin 4-inch gun shields and UP (Unrotated Projectile) launchers. I forgot to add an extra octuple 2lb pompom mounting.

          When I bought the kit some time ago I noticed that the box art is of the ship in May 1941. And as it turns out so is the colour scheme in the instructions. I didn't know whether to be pleased (it'll save me quite a bit of work) or disappointed now that the challenge had gone. But as you can see, the kit comes with single 5.5-inch guns, not twin 4-inch, so it is still the 1932 iteration of the ship. I believe this could be deemed false advertising by Airfix but I'm not going to quibble.
     Included in the parts above are six UP launchers (I only need five) from the twoAirfix KGV kits I used to build HMS Monarch many years ago (yes I plan that far ahead) and seven twin 4-inch shields from Airfix Ajax kits. The kit seems nicely molded with very little flash. And I've had a pleasant surprise - the gun barrels and 5.5-inch guns are attached to the sprues at the rear, not half way along the barrel which Airfix are prone to do. This will make them easier to use (the 5.5-inch guns I plan on using on a future build of HMS Eagle). Why can't Airfix do this all the time? I'm also going to need another octuple pompom mounting, which I have from my recent build of a 16 gun HMS Belfast. I forgot to include it in the photo here. 

 

     I've glued, re-inforced and drilled the hull.

     This model is quite a bit bigger than those I've done recently. I think I need a bigger cutting mat. Therefore of course a bigger desk. And perhaps a bigger room? I don't think SWMBO will agree to that. Oh well . . .       There was a bit of thick jagged flash on the lip of the hull. I checked with a second kit of this, same. It could be a fault with the molding but it's not a major problem.
     While the glue was setting yesterday I thought I'd start on the turrets. I have decided on a standard fitting method for cruiser and battleship turrets now, which is 4.8mm (3/16 inch) tubing for the trunking, and a keyway added to allow removal yet locking in. When I saw the faces of the turrets of this kit I said "erk", followed by "gosh" (or words to that effect). The slots for the guns are a little rough. In fact I could have done a neater job with a chainsaw. See below.

The top row of turrets came with this kit. The second row, obviously from another kit. These are like those I remember when I did my first build, many years ago. The reason I have two kits is that when I decided to do this version of HMS Hood I had trouble finding a kit. When I finally succeeded in tracking one down the store had two so I bought them both. Greedy I know, but I've never claimed to be a saint. 
     Regarding the turrets I had some options. Plan A, use them as they are. Err, no. Plan B, use the turrets from the other kit. Maybe. Plan C, use these turrets and make turret faces to cover the shoddy faces here. Maybe. Plan D, make my own. In fact I have already done so. About forty-odd years ago I had this idea of scratch-building a model of the ship, using my younger brother's build for measurements. Why I decided to copy exactly a model when I could simply have bought my own kit I have no idea. I can't remember what I thought last week, so definitely not my thoughts that far back. Anyway I made the hull from balsa, the turrets from balsa and matches, the 5.5-inch guns and started on the superstructure, this from balsa and paper. Plus a carved name plate. That's them in the foreground. The levels of the superstructure are dry fitted here. I include them here to show how skilled and talented I was back then. 🥴 Yeah, right! 😁 The hull was weighted with plasticine to make it float at the waterline but I put too much in and it floated with the quarterdeck nearly awash. Considering how wet this ship was in a seaway, particularly in later years this wasn't far from the truth. Anyway, the plasticine must have absorbed moisture from the atmosphere or something because it swelled and split the hull. So this I ditched, along with the ten 5.5-inch guns glued to it.
     Anyway, back to this build. I initially decided on Plan C (making turret faces) with Plan B as a back up if I'm unsuccessful.

[Liizio]

Always nice to see these older kits getting built, looking forward to see what you can do with it! Your old balsa Hood also looks interesting, shame it isn't all there anymore.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, I had to stop the last post abruptly. Now, where was I? Turrets.

      I've used the kit's "gun-slots-hacked-out-with-a-chainsaw" turrets. I sheared off the protruding bits at the front but as close inspection showed the turret face to have both a vertical and sloped facet I shied away from making turret faces. Instead I glued the guns into the turrets and then packed the gun bays (for want of a better name) using 5-minute Araldyte epoxy glue as a filler. But first I added bases to the turrets from 0.25mm styrene sheeting. The main reason for this was to create a floor for the gun bays to contain the epoxy glue while it set. Plus to help contain the glue I stood the turrets near vertical using a clothes peg. See below.

     The turret at the top is sitting on the underside of the foc'sle deck having the guns glued in. The turret lines up with the pencil line you see while the guns sit on two rows of white styrene 'height spacers'. Although you can't see them in this photo the styrene strip on the right has two slots filed into it, in which the gun muzzles are resting. The turret in the clothes peg has had the epoxy glue poked into the gun bays while the other two are having trunking added to the turret rotating pins. They all still require the keyway added to the front of the trunking. 
     I've also been working on the seven twin 4-inch gun mounts the model will require. Five of them are visible here. They're modified twin gun mounts from Airfix HMS Ajax models. The twin 4-inch mount sitting on the upturned foc'sle deck has the two guns dry-fitted for the photo.

     This might be a bit of a slow build. (So what's new, you're all thinking. 😁) I've got a bit of a problem with the bow. It was a bit warped and I didn't notice when I glued the hull halves together, and neither did I check the fit with the deck until after I'd reinforced the bow join. Silly me. Plus I'm not happy with the shafts and and their supporting struts. Nor the keel sked (fin) where it fairs into the rudder.
     Recently I saw some photos of HMS Hood on the slips just prior to launching, and the launching itself. (Thanks foeth February 12th post). Some of the photos showed the screws shafts and struts. I think the kit struts are too long. The outer struts certainly meet the hull too high up the side. Plus the rudder is visible in the photo. The keel skeg is about the same width as the rudder where they meet, but the kit's skeg is much too wide. I think I'll shave it thinner, but first I have to add filler inside in case I shave off too much plastic. I don't like the shafts much, although they seem reasonably accurate in size. I'm thinking of doing my own shafts and struts.
     One photo showed the bows during the launch. The ship had a chin plate at the forefoot, something missing from the kit. The forefoot is the extreme bottom corner of the bows, and the chin plate is a plate there protruding forward with holes in it. (Anybody who's built the Airfix KGV, Belfast, Warspite, Iron Duke or Repulse kit will know what I'm referring to). The chains from the extreme bow, used for attaching the paravane towing lines, pass through those holes. This method of rigging paravane towing lines is only used on large ships, I think. The photo definitely showed it there. I can add it as I try to repair the bow.
     I've drilled out and slotted the tops of the barbettes and am currently adding keyways to the trunking of the turrets. 

 

I decided to scratch build my own shafts. The struts (legs supporting the prop shafts) supplied with the kit are wrong. They are square section of about 1x1mm, which equates to 2x2 feet, and attach to the hull in the wrong places, some attachment points being above the waterline. I have obtained some line drawings and photos of the stern of the ship prior to launching and as a result have made the struts 0.5x2.5mm and 4mm high. I also made my own shafts and shaft bearings. The shaft bearing is the thicker bit of the shaft that the struts attach to and the screw (propeller) pushes against. To hold them in the correct positions while gluing I made some cardboard jigs. I taped the hull upside down to a reasonably large block of wood, and after much measuring and calculation clamped small wood blocks to the larger block, to sandwich my cardboard guide jigs. See below.

I have already completed the outboard shafts, now I'm doing the inner set. You'll notice that the finished shafts have pins at the rear for the screws. That cardboard jig (guess what cereal I have for breakfast on weekends ) has two holes in it that currently have the pins poking through, to support the shaft while the glue is setting. Then I added the struts, made from 0.5 x 2.5 mm styrene strip cut about 4mm long. The angle between the struts I've made 45*, and although they're not visible in the photo I drew lines on the cardboard as guides. The white squares on the hull show where the kit struts were supposed to attach to to the hull - not even close.
     Below is a photo of the finished struts and shafts, sitting on a photo showing the actual screws, shafts and struts of the ship.

     Now that this job is done I can paint the hull, then glue in the quarterdeck, followed by the bulkheads at the break of the deck just forward of the aft turrets. Then I can accurately fit the foc'sle deck and FINALLY fix the bows. So believe it or not, the bow repair job (if I can do it) was waiting for the shafts to be done. I guess that's like a plastic surgeon holding off altering an aging Diva's nose job until the podiatrist has finished her feet, or a proctologist has - no, let's not go there! 😫 The shaft job has taken me a while. I had to find out the correct measurements of the parts, how I was going to proceed, and only then actually do it.
     Meanwhile I've painted the foc'sle and quarterdecks. I'm trying something different with this model, doing a lot of masking. It takes time but results in a neater demarcation between deck wood colour and fittings painted hull grey. Usually I paint the deck first but in this case it was the barbettes - easier to mask the barbettes for painting the deck. All square/rectangular objects were painted after the deck. The masking took a while but the painting was much quicker, hence less drying out of paint in the tin. See below.

You can also see that I've slotted the barbettes for the turret keyways, plus I've blanked off the gun bays for the secondary 5.5-inch guns that were removed during a refit in the late 1930s. The breakwaters should be much higher, about 2.5mm (5 feet) but I'm not going to play around with them. If I don't mention them who's going to know? 😁 Oops!

     You may recall that I had a problem with the bow due to the plastic being warped when I glued the two hull halves together. To fix this I first attached the quarterdeck to the hull, followed by the bulkheads (walls) at the step-up to the upper (foc'sle) deck. I then cut though the bow from the foc'sle deck down about 1/3 of the depth of the hull. I did a bit of reshaping of the plastic at the extreme top bow, then re-glued it using the deck piece as a guide for shape, making sure that the upper deck piece was taped in it's exact location. Then I glued the upper deck itself. It's not perfect but much better than it was. It'll need a bit more shaping but I can live with it now. It looked horrible before.
     The reason I worked forwards from the stern is because the quarterdeck fitted beautifully into the hull, a good solid starting point. (So did that of the Airfix Repulse kits, if I recall). If I didn't get the upper/foc'sle deck into it's exact position the bow would still have been wrong, or the two decks wouldn't meet correctly, hence I worked forward from the quarterdeck. While doing the bow I also added the chin plate to the forefoot. On this particular ship it is quite small I think, not as prominent as that on other ships, but I did it as per line drawings on plans so I think it is accurate. Below is a photo of what I'm talking about.

And the bow and chin plate.

I still have to do some sanding of filler on the hull, plus complete the painting of the hull. Although the upper deck is now glued to the hull some of the fit wasn't the best.
     I've made the platform and tub on 'B' turret to accommodate the UP (Unrotating Projectile) launcher, plus some platforms on 'X' turret. I've also started on modifying the shelterdeck, but not a lot of progress there as yet.
     You'll notice that I've painted the underwater hull a slate grey, Revell matt 77. Following a revelation by Jamie (Sovereign Hobbies) regarding underwater anti-fouling paint I consulted the HMS Hood Association site, and they also agree with him and concede now that the colour was probably black or dark grey, as per witness statements of dockyard workers and of the crew of HMS Prince of Wales when Hood's bow rose out of the water as she broke in two. The upper hull and upperworks (superstructures etc) are painted in Revell matt 47 and the wood deck Humbrol matt 94. These are paints I had in stock. Hopefully they'll look OK.

    Well, this is as far as I've gone to date. It doesn't seem much for three weeks work. I hope to have the hull completed by tomorrow and screwed to it's working block of wood. Then it's down to the nitty-gritty of the alterations.

Compared to some of the other HMS Hood builds on the forum this build of mine will probably look a rather crude, but the kit itself isn't high precision. However, Airfix kits match my very average level of skill, and my budget, and I like the 1/600 scale. Neither do I do PE, I like to make my own additional parts if I can. But hopefully this model when complete will match my others in the display cabinet.

     So this is it for me just now. Thank you all for your interest and responses. Stay safe, and regards to all, Jeff.

[Richard E]

It's many years since I built Airfix's HMS Hood kit so I'm not sure if I'm being overly critical of the kit if I said it looks like you're making good progress towards a silk purse from a sow's ear.

 

I discovered this video on You Tube that might provide some interesting background, the producer has also released a follow up piece specultating on the shape of Hood's proposed refit had she not been lost - an interesting comparison to your HMS Belfast refit build.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Richard, thanks for the links. That would make an interesting 'What-If'. She'd look a bit like HMS Vanguard I think. Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, just a quick update on HMS Hood 1941. I've finished the hull - almost. The screws I'll leave until later, and I'll make my own anchors I think, depending on how I go for time. I didn't think much of the kit anchors. Plus some small deck fittings.

There are a few little dents and some of the shelterdeck joins are a little rough but I think I'll leave them as they are. I'm not very good with filling and sanding. I sometimes make things worse.
     I rather like these colours. There has been some considerable discussion a couple of months ago among people with much more knowledge than I regarding the antifouling paint (the underwater hull) colour, and as there is still some doubt as to the exact shade of grey antifouling paint I don't think too many can say I'm wrong (or right 😉). I think these colours are close to the consensus. 
     The HMS Hood Association says that the depth of the black boot topping was about 8 feet. This equates to 4mm in this scale, which is the distance between the two guide lines on the hull.
     So, rightly or wrongly, what you see here is what I'm going with. 🙂 I've done a little bit more on the shelterdeck mods but not worth a photo yet. So this'll do for now. Thank you for your interest. Stay safe in these times (all times really), regards, Jeff.

[beefy66]

Another golden oldie a bit like me looks good so far Jeff  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, I've have a pathetically small amount of progress on my 1941 conversion of HMS Hood to show. This is to do with the mods to the shelter deck. See below.

     I've added six supporting pillars for the broadside (wing) 4-inch mounts. You can see them in the upper deck waist of the ship. The rest of my tiny progress is to the shelter deck, all the white bits of plastic. I've added a gun position for the rear firing centerline 4-inch mount to the rear (left) of the shelter deck. The plans and diagrams I have show it to be circular in shape, but nearly all models I've seen show it to be a different shape. As I've been unable to find a photo of the actual gun position I've gone for round, as per the plans I have.
     I've also extended the shelter deck out to the edge of the hull. An Airfix magazine article detailing this very conversion says to cut out those grey outboard bits about midway along the shelter deck and make two (one each side) inserts to fill the entire gaps. As you can see I've opted to retain the grey bits and make four (two each side) smaller inserts instead. The reason is because of the three 'dovetail' recesses along each side. One is already done so why waste it? Plus all those cuts required - If I botched one I might have to throw away the whole piece and start again. This way I'd have to repeat much less work, a much smaller piece. And it seems to have worked. If it didn't, well, I could resort to plan B, follow the Airfix article instructions.
     Those bits of plastic on the wood blocks are my meagre achievements for the weekend. The small items to the right are the four tubs for four of the UP launchers. Two are done, two are under construction. Those larger bits of white plastic to the left are the gun positions for the middle of the three wing 4-inch mountings. They're currently having their balustrades added. Those are the third set I've made. I wasn't happy with the first two pair. They go on the shelter deck over the pencil-shaded areas towards the rear (left) of the shelter deck. I've also plugged a few more holes in the deck. The first level of the superstructure you see here is only dry fitted at present. I need to add sponsons to it.
     Well, that's as far as I've gone. So good night all. Stay safe, and regards, Jeff.

[foeth]

THE VISIT OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING TO ROSYTH. 5 MARCH 1941.. © IWM (A 3369) IWM Non Commercial License

 

Pictures of the aft gun position are quite rare, but we have 3 or 4 now... two are from the IWM, none you can find if you search for Hood. I suppose the plans used the best information at hand

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Foeth, many thanks. This looks like the photo in your composite photo in the recent post of your own build, which I have referred to. I am currently redoing that gun position to appear as it is here in the photo. Your post was very timely, many thanks again. My build won't have any where near the detail that yours will, being only 1/3 the size, but I have got a few ideas for detail from your build, and a couple of other builds on the forum. Thanks to you all, I'm very grateful. Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, here's another report on my snail's pace modification of HMS Hood to her May 1941 configuration. Just more fiddly work on the shelter deck. I've been doing more work on the balustrading and tubs for the 4-inch guns and UP launchers. These are done now, I just have to do the balustrading around the pompom sponsons, which are the rounded sponsons protruding outboard a little from the shelter deck abreast the funnels. See below.

Some balustrading has been glued to the shelter deck but the wing positions for the 4-inch guns and UP launchers are just sitting on the deck at present.
     The eagle-eyed among you may notice that I've changed the shape of the gun position for the aft firing centerline 4-inch mounting. Originally I had fitted a round gun tub there as per drawings, because I hadn't seen any photos showing otherwise. Well as you can see above, a few days ago Mr Foeth kindly posted a photo of that particular gun tub to me and guess what - it ain't round. So I redid mine. The shape and dimensions of it are probably a little inaccurate but the new gun position is now more like the real thing than what I originally made. I've also filled in the positioning holes for most of the boats. Easier to do it now while the shelter deck is not fitted to the hull. I'll drill out what I need later.
     The funnels are just dry fitted here. I need to extend aft a little the first level of the superstructure, also dry fitted here. My alterations need to wrap around the leading edge of the fore funnel a little. These alterations aren't done yet, I'm still trying to work out exactly what I have to do. The dimensions of the kit parts of that level of superstructure differ slightly from plans I have. I think I'm going to have to wing it a little to get things to fit. But not tonight.
     So goodnight all, stay safe and regards to all, Jeff.

[robgizlu]

Looking very fine indeed

Rob

[Faraway]

Looking good.

Jon

[steve5]

nice work so far arnold

[Martian]

Impressive!

 

Martian 👽

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, another week (almost) gone, another post due on my build of my May 1941 HMS Hood. I've mainly been working on the levels of the superstructures. See below for more bits of white plastic.

     In the photo in my previous post you'll notice a small oval shaped structure near the aft end (left) of the shelterdeck. This is now gone, and the oval shaped hole it left has been reshaped rectangular and filled. A cube shaped structure (a pompom magazine) is still to be built there, slightly off the centerline, with a tub for the pompom mounted above it. The pompom tub I have made, that's it at the end of the tweezers.
     Fwd of the pompom is the after superstructure. This needed to be built up a bit (the white plastic bit with rounded corners) but as the whole thing is molded to the shelterdeck this was a bit awkward. On top of this will be a triangular shaped platform for searchlights and an AA director (HACS). This is inverted (upside down) in the photo here. More on this later.
     The right side of the photo shows progressive levels of the fwd superstructure, and my modifications. I had planned to do all the alterations and photograph them while unpainted, but I had a rush of blood to the head and slapped some paint on the first two levels. Therefore these two levels are shown inverted here also, to show my alterations, the white bits of plastic. Going upwards you can see more alterations.
     I have the article showing the modifications required from the Airfix magazine kindly referenced in a thread in the ATF by DaveCov, some other plans and drawings of various stages of HMS Hood's life, and some photos of very detailed models, but they don't always agree 100%. Hence I've spent quite a bit of time planning my alterations and how I'm going to make them, rather than actually doing them. Therefore not a lot to show here.
     For this reason I'm pretty certain I'm not going to finish this on time (end of the ATF GB on 11th April), neither do I think she'll be ready by 1st May, the date of WASMEx, although I might surprise myself. I don't want to spoil the model by rushing it. Still, we'll see.
     Thank you all for your comments and interest. Continue to stay safe, and regards, Jeff.

[Knb.1451]

I've seen this build, I didn't realize it was yours, after I get North Carolina done, I'm going to start my second Airfix Scharnhorst, gotta have something for Hood to chase. 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, I've slapped a bit of paint on my 1941 HMS Hood, on the shelterdeck and those levels of the superstructure I've done. (We can't have HMS Hood chasing Scharnhorst in the nude - see the post above. 😉)

    Everything here is dry fitted at present, and the paint job still incomplete. I painted the first two levels of the superstructure this reddish-brown, I think it's corticene. The planked area is rather obvious and the rest of the shelterdeck (plus upper levels of the superstructure) I painted a dark nonslip grey. However I think there is still some doubt as to the deck coverings at the forward end of the shelterdeck, options being corticene, semtex or painted steel. I initially painted the fwd end of the shelterdeck a dark grey but then reconsidered. One of our RN paint colour gurus (Jamie of Sovereign Hobbies) has published a paint scheme that the HMS Hood Association appears to support (to me, anyway) so I decided to give it a go. Hence the fwd end of the shelterdeck is now red/brown. At first I wasn't sure that I liked it, but I think I'll go with it, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the RN has never consulted me in this life or a past life as to their desired colours of their ships, they've done their own thing, hence what I like is irrelevant. And as I'm building an actual ship as she actually appeared (as much as I can) my personal likes are again irrelevant. And secondly, as the shelterdeck became a bit more cluttered er busy the large area of corticene/semtex colour wasn't quite so dominant. I know my shades of grey vary a little from Jamie's though. I think I'll go with this as is.
     Anyway, this is as far as I've gone to date. Still much more to do, obviously. So stay safe, and regards to all, Jeff.

[Adm Lord De Univers]

Blimey that escalated quickly, you might just hit those dates after all. I don't worry too much about exact shades, as these wouldn't 100% match prescribed colours and light/weather effects it to an observer ("What do you mean it's too dark? It's an overcast day!" etc). And always interesting to see the deck material arrangements on 'ood from those wiser than I, reinforces the patchwork nature of her 'upgrades'.

 

Keep up the amazing work.

 

David

[Martian]

She's looking good Jeff. I am slightly confused though. Surely she was chasing the Bismarck, not the Scharnhorst? Or am I just getting muddled (again!)?

 

Confused of Mars 👽

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Martian, you're correct, she chased the Bismarck. I was referring to a comment in a post by Knb 1451 (about three posts up) where he says he intends to do another Airfix Scharnhorst, and fictitiously something for HMS Hood to chase. 🙂 

     So you're not muddled. But with all that Mars - Earth commuting you do you might be suffering from Rocket Lag? ( The off world version of Jet lag). 😁

Regards, confusing of Earth.

[Martian]

34 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Martian, you're correct, she chased the Bismarck. I was referring to a comment in a post by Knb 1451 (about three posts up) where he says he intends to do another Airfix Scharnhorst, and fictitiously something for HMS Hood to chase. 🙂 

     So you're not muddled. But with all that Mars - Earth commuting you do you might be suffering from Rocket Lag? ( The off world version of Jet lag). 😁

Regards, confusing of Earth.

Cheers Jeff, its reassuring to find I do have some marbles left. Not many I admit but some.

 

Martian 👽

[Adm Lord De Univers]

She chased Scharnhorst occasionally too, though i suspect with differing ratios of corticene/semtex on her decks each time... As this v interesting extract from the Hood website, written by Ted Briggs, mentions: http://www.hmshood.com/crew/remember/tedflagship.htm.

 

David

[Faraway]

45 minutes ago, Adm Lord De Univers said:

She chased Scharnhorst occasionally too, though i suspect with differing ratios of corticene/semtex on her decks each time... As this v interesting extract from the Hood website, written by Ted Briggs, mentions: http://www.hmshood.com/crew/remember/tedflagship.htm.

 

David

David. What a fascinating read, thanks for posting the link. My late father in law served in the Royal Navy during  WW2 and was at one point at Scapa Flow. In fact, it was at the Flow that he got his ‘Blighty wound’ he dislocated his knee whilst playing football for his ship and was honourably discharged. I never did find out which ship, wish I had, but he had trouble with that knee for the rest of his life. But at least he survived the war, unlike his wife’s brother who was lost when his ship, HMS Hermione, was torpedoed in the med.

Jon

[Modelholic]

Jeff,

What have you been told about torturing your Humbrol paints?

Go straight to the naughty step!

Great modelling though.

Tom