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Dido class light cruiser.


Faraway

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Does anyone know of a kit for a Dido Class Light Cruiser ? 
My wife's, mother’s, brother served on HMS Hermione (74) in the Mediterranean and was one of the 88 crewmen who were lost when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by U205 on 16th June 1942.

I thought it might be a nice tribute to him and the rest of the chaps, to build their ship.

https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1817.html

Jon

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The standard one is very, very nice. The deluxe one has more to add. Realistically you won't be disappointed with either.

 

They are absolutely first class kits, as is everything from Flyhawk. They blow everyone else making injection moulded ships out of the water. The parts count is high though and many of the parts are very small so they're longer jobs to build than the relatively simplistic Tamiya equivalent of a similar size ship kit.

 

The only negative remarks you will ever find about Flyhawk is from people who struggle with the huge amount of detail included. If you are happy to put in the time and are comfortable working with small parts and Tamiya Extra Thin cement to glue them together they really are sublime though.

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1 minute ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

The standard one is very, very nice. The deluxe one has more to add. Realistically you won't be disappointed with either.

 

They are absolutely first class kits, as is everything from Flyhawk. They blow everyone else making injection moulded ships out of the water. The parts count is high though and many of the parts are very small so they're longer jobs to build than the relatively simplistic Tamiya equivalent of a similar size ship kit.

 

The only negative remarks you will ever find about Flyhawk is from people who struggle with the huge amount of detail included. If you are happy to put in the time and are comfortable working with small parts and Tamiya Extra Thin cement to glue them together they really are sublime though.

Jamie.

Many thanks for your reply. I’ve just ordered the ‘deluxe’ kit, which, I believe has more PE, brass etc. Strangely, I quite like working with tiny PE (must be my age). If you can offer any information regards camouflage/colour schemes I’d be very grateful. As I said at the beginning, I would like to make this ship to represent HMS Hermione, which I THINK is very similar if not the same as HMS Naiad. 
Jon.

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As completed, HMS Hermione was very similar to Naiad; the only obvious differences were in the RDF (radar) fit.  NAIAD carried AW.279 aerials at her mastheads, whereas Hermione carried AW.279.281, plus SR 284 on her LA.DCT above the bridge.  In November 1941, Hermione's two quadruple 0.5" gun mountings were removed, and five single 20mm Oerlikons were fitted.  She seems to have worn overall medium grey (presumably AP507A) from completion, but was repainted in a two-colour angular pattern at some point in early 1942 - I've only seen a very indistinct photo of this scheme, although there is a drawing of her port side in Alan Raven Camouflage Vol Two: Royal Navy 1942 (New York: WR Press, 2001).

Edited by Our Ned
Wrong RDF in initial post - now corrected
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@Our Ned thanks for this information. I looked for the book by Alan Raven, but so far the only copy I’ve found is over £40, so that’s a no sale. If you have access to a copy of the photo you mention, could you send me a copy to me ?

In fact, any photos you have, if you can send them would be so welcome.

Jon

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Hi Jon, the profile in the book isn't really worth all that much and the caption says it's an interpretation of one poor quality photograph. I have a very rough Dido class outline sketch from my CB3098(R)-1945 e-book repro so I'll knock up a quick sketch of it later for you and save anyone breaking copyright laws :)

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3 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

Hi Jon, the profile in the book isn't really worth all that much and the caption says it's an interpretation of one poor quality photograph. I have a very rough Dido class outline sketch from my CB3098(R)-1945 e-book repro so I'll knock up a quick sketch of it later for you and save anyone breaking copyright laws :)

Jamie.

That would be really helpful, thank you.

I guess at some point, we will have to talk about paint. I’ve never airbrushes enamels, but I think the size this model is, I might get away with brushing.

Jon

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I suspect Alan Raven's drawing was based upon photos taken after Operation Ironclad, when the forces involved were anchored off Diego Suarez.  I've seen three aerial photos taken on 13 May 1942, showing variously HM Ships Indomitable, Illustrious, Hermione and Resolution Ramillies; the photos are available on the IWM website (reference numbers A8890, A8891 and A9403).  Only one of the photos (A9403) shows all four ships mentioned; in that one, Hermione is between and beyond the two carriers.  Thanks to Jamie!

 

Faraway asked for any other photos of Hermione - there are several which can found by searching the IWM site (suggest using search term "HMS and Hermione").  There is also one of the ship in Gibraltar wearing what looks like well-worn AP507A overall, at http://forummarine.forumactif.com/t9011-croiseurs-legers-antiaeriens-claa-classe-dido-termine (scroll about half-way down the page).

Edited by Our Ned
Misidentification of battleship
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1 hour ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

starboard side is unknown

Jamie.

So, potentially I can paint both sides the same and probably not be far off. Although if I wish to portray her as she was in the Med, perhaps just on colour and no camo ?

Jon

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1 hour ago, Our Ned said:

Hermione is between and beyond the two carriers. 

Ned.

Many thanks. I've seen many photos from IWM, but most seem to be from the ship, not of the ship. It's a bit spooky to be looking at Hermione and thinking that my wife's uncle may be onboard.

Jon

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15 minutes ago, Our Ned said:

IWM's collection includes the following external views of Hermione: A5740, A5742, A5743,  A5772 and A5773, plus others too distant to be of much use.

Ned. Brilliant, I hadn’t seen those. Does help to confirm the colour scheme. Interesting to note, the gun barrels appear to have a Camo pattern on them, but the hull etc doesn’t.

Many, many thanks.

Jon

Edited by Faraway
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1 hour ago, Faraway said:

Jamie.

So, potentially I can paint both sides the same and probably not be far off. Although if I wish to portray her as she was in the Med, perhaps just on colour and no camo ?

Jon

 

You could and there's unlikely to be many who can tell you it's wrong. There are lots of examples of these improvised angular designs which are different port and starboard though so it is a gamble, but one I had to take on my build of HMS Imperial for similar reasons - a camouflage scheme derived from one crappy photograph (although as Sod's Law dictates, not long after I'd finished Richard Dennis accidently found a series of close-up photographs showing various bits I'd got wrong hidden inside a file full of damage reports in the National Archives).

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6 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

 

You could and there's unlikely to be many who can tell you it's wrong. There are lots of examples of these improvised angular designs which are different port and starboard though so it is a gamble, but one I had to take on my build of HMS Imperial for similar reasons - a camouflage scheme derived from one crappy photograph (although as Sod's Law dictates, not long after I'd finished Richard Dennis accidently found a series of close-up photographs showing various bits I'd got wrong hidden inside a file full of damage reports in the National Archives).

Ned found these. It appears the hull wasn’t camouflaged, but the gun barrels were.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205139979
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205139980

 

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I may be able to add to the small number of Hermione photos. I own a photograph album of photos taken by an unknown FAA aircrew from Illustrious during Operation Ironclad. These are a mix of official ships' photos sold onboard (mainly now at IWM) and poorer quality photos taken by the compiler. I've also got a photo album taken by aircrew serving on Indomitable from around the period that contains a similar mix. This contains one photo of a Fulmar flying low over Hermione, but it is not a very clear image.

 

The Illustrious album contains a couple of photos taken from the starboard side rear boat deck, with a motor boat pulling away in the direction of Hermione. Again, these are not official photos, and therefore not the best quality, but I'll try and get them scanned later and post them. From the relative ship positions, It looks like either Illustrious took Indomitable's place as shown in A9403, or the complier took the photo from Indomitable. 

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1 hour ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

If it were me, I'd probably go for overall Home Fleet Grey (with or without the unusual very dark wavy camouflage on top of the barrels) which still sounds like it probably brackets your wife's uncle's time aboard.

Jamie. I’m thinking the same, can you recommend which colours I’m going to need for the overall colour, and for the wavy line on the barrels ?

It’s highly likely, strange to think, that her uncle is in the photo.

Edited by Faraway
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In Photo A9403, the southern (left-hand) carrier appears to be INDOMITABLE (what can be made out of the camouflage pattern matches, and, in A8890, she seems to have a larger for'd lift, and the deeper for'd 4.5" gun sponson of this ship); the camouflage pattern on the northern carrier appears to match Illustrious.  I have seen a photo similar to the one iang describes, showing Hermione from her port quarter, with Devonshire behind her and Ramilles off Hermione's starboard quarter.  The aspect matches that which would be visible from the northern carrier's position.    As iang says, the quality of the photo is not ideal, and any camouflage pattern is rather indistinct!

 

A later (or earlier?) photo taken looking to seaward (IWM A9404) shows Devonshire much further offshore, so that ship may have been under way when the photo with the motor boat was taken.

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5 hours ago, Faraway said:

Ned found these. It appears the hull wasn’t camouflaged, but the gun barrels were.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205139979
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205139980

 

 

Looking at that pair of photos, it appears to me that the turret roofs are darker than the turret sides and hull. The upper part of the gun barrels then seems to match the turret roofs.

 

Would that darker colour match the colour of her steel decks?

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