All things Airfix 1:600 warships - details and conversions etc.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

15 hours ago, bootneck said:

No photos?  it didn't happen! 

Gidday Mike, your wish is my command. 🙂

 

Firstly, the destroyers.

From back to front:

Z28 (OOB)                                                                    HMAS Perth II (Rommel kit)

Z31 (Z28 kit)                                                                 HMS Manxman (almost OOB)

Z25 (Z28 kit)                                                                 HMS Welshman (Manxman kit)

USN Flush decker (Campbeltown kit OOB)                  HMAS Warramunga (Cossack kit)

HMS Campbeltown Operation 'Chariot'                      HMS Greyhound (Hotspur kit OOB)

HMS Montgomery (Campbeltown kit)                        HMS Hotspur modified for convoy escort work

                         I know Manxman and Welshman aren't destroyers but fast mine-layers.

 

Next, the cruisers.

From back to front:

Prinz Eugen late Feb 1942 (almost OOB)

HMS Suffolk (OOB)

HMS Belfast (OOB)

HMS York (stretched Ajax hull)

HMS Tiger (almost OOB)

HMS Jamaica (Tiger hull)

HMS Ajax (OOB)

HMAS Perth I, Feb 1942 (Ajax conversion)

HMS Ulysses (shortened Ajax hull, technically a whiff, almost a Bellona class)

HMS Penelope 1944 (shortened Ajax hull)

 

Next, the RN capital ships.

From back to front:

HMS Ark Royal (ship OOB but aircraft modified)

HMS Hood May 1941 (modified kit)

HMS Repulse Dec 1941 (almost OOB)

HMS KGV (OOB)

HMS Nelson (almost OOB)

HMS Warspite (OOB)

HMS Iron Duke (modified to Battle of Jutland)

            Omitted here is another HMS Hood, OOB.

 

And now some German ships.

Back to front (I'm sure this will be obvious here 😁)

Bismarck (Revell 1/570, OOB)

Scharnhorst (Revell 1/570, OOB)

Prinz Eugen

Graf Spee (OOB)

Z28 (Narvik class leader, OOB)

Z25 (Z28 kit, modified)

Z31 (Z28 kit, modified)

             I know that the Prinz and the destroyers appear above, and Bismarck plus Scharnhorst don't strictly qualify here, but without them the German Navy was somewhat under-represented.

 

And finally, the whiffs.

Back to front:

HMS Monarch (made from two KGV kits)

HMS Reliant (basically a Repulse hull, Warspite superstructure and Belfast AA guns)

HMS Benbow 1940 (Iron Duke kit)

16 gun HMS Belfast

HMS Ulysses (shortened Ajax hull, KGV turrets and a lot of spares and scratch building)

HMS Antiope, convoy AA escort (Manxman kit)

HMS Igraine (Hotspur kit)

 

     Well, that's it for now. Two incomplete builds not included here are HMS Hardy (Hotspur kit) and HMS Onslow (modified Cossack hull). I won't list my ideas for future conversions here, as you may want to go to bed sometime tonight. 😁 So, stay safe, and regards to all, Jeff.

[Rob S]

Fantastic!  Great work. 

 

The Monarch and Reliant are especially interesting. 

 

I was thinking of something like a Lion using a KGV as a basis but never thought of a 16 gun monster like your Monarch!  Although I have mucked around with plans for a 12 gun version of the Nelson that looks a bit like your Monarch but more dated with the weapons being from the Nelson. 

 

Your Reliant is pretty close to how I thought a “real” Renown could be built but the other Battlecruiser idea I had was a dual 14 inch triple turret arrangement from a stretched (triple funnel) and narrowed KGV. 

 

After seeing these I can’t wait to see you attempt an “R” Class but as I mentioned before probably “easier” cut down from a Repulse (or two for the extra 15 inch turret unless you can mould them) rather than from a Watspite.  If you have a couple of Warspites they could be used to make a stretched (original WW1 type) triple funnelled (or double funnelled after modernisation!) Battlecruiser version of the Queen Elizabeth class. 

 

Getting a bit carried away so I’d better stop now!  

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by Rob S

[ArnoldAmbrose]

35 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Although I have mucked around with plans for a 12 gun version of the Nelson that looks a bit like your Monarch but more dated with the weapons being from the Nelson. 

Gidday Rob, Funny you should mention that - great minds (or is that warped minds) thinking alike. I've got three ideas for Nelsons - the one you've mentioned which would be armed like a USS Montana (but like you a mid-late 1930's secondary armament), and two nine gun versions. One a battleship with the standard length hull USS Dakota style, and the other a nine gun battlecruiser which would be longer and closer to an Iowa. And a Lion from a KGV would be feasible and interesting, I think.

     Regarding an 'R' class, I would have thought the Repulse hull form and dimensions would be wrong and difficult to correct. Time will tell, I guess. All of these are a long war down the build queue at present though.

 

52 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Getting a bit carried away

Don't worry, that's where whiffs come from, I believe. 🙂

 

Regards, Jeff.

[Adm Lord De Univers]

11 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

HMS Benbow 1940 (Iron Duke kit)

Jeff, this little big navy you've assembled is really quite something. Whilst I especially like the Monarch and Reliant above, and the Ulysses, and the Belfast... (and the actual ships), I'm going to give props to the Benbow - I could not for the life of me think why a 4 turret each with one barrel design made sense, but that's the amazing job you've done on the camo! Could not see the second barrels until I zoomed in.

 

I shall pour and drool over all these in much more detail tonight. As an aside, how long did all these take to do (/how much catching up have I to do)?

 

David

[PF Naughton]

Wow your builds look great.  I particularly like the HMAS Perth and HMS Penelope conversions.  I always thought that those were nice looking ships.

Pat

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, thanks for your comments and interest. I built HMS Benbow between December 2019 and January 2020, and there's a build thread on the forum here, currently on page 16 on WIP. Sorry but I haven't worked out how to post links. I didn't intentionally make the turrets appear as singles, I was simply painting the guns the same colour as the hull beneath them.   

 

 

Here's another photo of HMAS Perth I

 

HMS Penelope

 

HMS Monarch

 

And HMS Reliant

 

Some of the photos aren't the best, I was still learning how to use the camera, best settings etc.

     It's taken me a little over 20 years to build this lot, although HMAS Perth II was started over 40 years ago. HMS Warspite was the first I did since taking up the hobby on a continual basis, and HMS Monarch was the first major whiff that I did, I hadn't even heard of the term back then as it was before I'd heard of modeling forums such as this.

    As far as RN cruisers go, I think the Perth and Penelope classes were the best looking, followed by the Bellona class (personal opinion, of course). 

Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday again, I've just found a question on links and Mike's reply, and I've attempted to add a link regarding HMS Benbow to the post above. Could someone please let me know if it works? Thanks in advance. Regards, Jeff.

[Modelholic]

Links good, Jeff.

Tom

[Adm Lord De Univers]

Both works a treat and has instantly solved a long-standing issue of mine - make a keyway for the turrets . Oh deary me. Thank you Jeff.

 

David

[Chewbacca]

On 25/09/2021 at 21:29, davecov said:

I did one of those over forty five years ago!

 

Here is a picture that I took in 1981 of some ship models that I had made over the previous ten years. My Rothesay-class conversion is at the left of the screen along a capsizing HMS Leander Ikara conversion and many other builds from that era.

 

You can also see a HMS Tiger conversion, an Exocet-armed HMS Antrim and HMS Sheffield conversion from HMS Belfast.

 

Dave

Some of those kits bring back the memories Dave.  Is TIGER a conversion from the Airfix or is she the 1/700 Matchbox kit?

 

Also what is that ship that the Ikara conversion is leaning on?  

 

On 26/09/2021 at 16:52, bootneck said:

In 1981 I also had ideas about building some of those Airfix kits, my inspiration being these.....

 

Would have loved to have served in TIGER or BLAKE.  Sadly I joined just a wee bit too late

Edited September 28, 2021 by Chewbacca
Second quote added

[davecov]

40 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Some of those kits bring back the memories Dave.  Is TIGER a conversion from the Airfix or is she the 1/700 Matchbox kit?

 

Also what is that ship that the Ikara conversion is leaning on?  

 

The ship that the Ikara conversion is leaning on is a Hasegawa 1/700 Hikawamaru Japanese Special Hospital Ship which I converted to a "what-if" RFA.

 

The HMS Tiger conversion is the Airfix 1/600 kit which I converted using the Airfix Magazine article I listed above.

 

Dave

[bootneck]

I have lots of those Japanese merchant ship kits in 1:700 scale but have never done any 1:700 model builds, I just used them for measurements for converting other scales.    Perhaps I should have a look to doing something similar Dave.

I once asked the question "what would I need to change to make the Airfix Victorious into Hermes?"  and was told "everything!".

 

Cheers,
 

Mike

[davecov]

Quite a few years ago, a guy on the ATF did the HMS Hermes from the Airfix HMS Victorious kit and only the flight deck and a little bit of the hull remained, especially as he made it waterlined. Here is his build thread. Actually, I think you contributed to the thread, Mike!

 

Dave

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Mike, regarding HMS Hermes that sounds quite a challenge.

And I've got some 1/700 ships I bought for dimensions, like you. I got them cheap. I guess you could call them 3D plans.

     And David, I can't claim credit for the keyway on the turret trunk, as I got that idea from other models on Britmodeller here.

Regards, Jeff.

[Rob S]

On 9/29/2021 at 6:47 AM, Chewbacca said:

Would have loved to have served in TIGER or BLAKE.  Sadly I joined just a wee bit too late

 

I worked with a former CPO who served on “Snakey Blakey” from recommissioning after conversion to decommissioning. 

 

After a couple of other ships (somehow just missing a Falklands War deployment) He later went on to Illustrious and then transferred to the RAN (sadly missing out on his Benefits being transferred over after they told him they would be) and served on Sydney (III) in the 1990 Gulf War.  

 

He was chuffed too when as I was leaving my Role I delved into my “Stash” and gave him a Matchbox Tiger which he had no idea there was a kit of. 

 

[Rob S]

Whilst I know this Thread has “Airfix” in the Title but while looking at converting the Otaki/Taka/Arii/MicroAce/Kangham/Academy 1:600 USS Enterprise in another Thread I started to think about what other 1:600 scale Warships were available from other Manufacturers?  (The old Aurora kits come to mind straight away.). This includes “deliberate” and “accidental” kits as with respect to the latter I vaguely recall someone once writing (on Hyperscale I think it was) that one of the Crown “Box Scale” kits was actually 1:600.  Does anyone know which one they might have been referring to?  

 

I know too for example that the Monogram Bismarck and Tirpitz are close to 1:600. 

 

[davecov]

Over on the ATF, we have a list of 1/600 ships and boats (warships and civilian) and there are about 350 in total on the list - excluding the Airfix kits. It is an old list with a few errors and no doubt a lot of omissions as it is not updated regularly. I won't put the list on here as I didn't compile it, but you can see it in the ATF Ships & Boats section.

 

Dave

[AntPhillips]

There is of course, the all encompassing "List of Ship Kits" >>>HERE<<< , I'm not sure how up to date it is but it has served me well over the years 😉

[davecov]

I forgot about that list, Ant. Thanks for the reminder!

 

Dave

[bootneck]

36 minutes ago, AntPhillips said:

There is of course, the all encompassing "List of Ship Kits" >>>HERE<<< , I'm not sure how up to date it is but it has served me well over the years 😉

Excellent, thanks Ant.

 

Mike

[Adm Lord De Univers]

19 hours ago, AntPhillips said:

There is of course, the all encompassing "List of Ship Kits" >>>HERE<<< , I'm not sure how up to date it is but it has served me well over the years 😉

Well thanks for that, I got absolutely nothing done last night, no modelling, no work, no chores, nothing. Great list though, ta.

 

David

[Rob S]

On 9/27/2021 at 8:21 PM, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Regarding an 'R' class, I would have thought the Repulse hull form and dimensions would be wrong and difficult to correct. Time will tell, I guess. All of these are a long war down the build queue at present though.

 

Here’s something that might convince you the Airfix Repulse is the better place to start an R Class than a Warspite. 

 

Firstly find a good set of Plans of Repulse and an R Class in the same scale. 

 

Take the Repulse Plans and like the old Mad (or was it Cracked?) Magazine “Fold In” the Repulse Plans at two strategic points (essentially hiding the second funnel) along the length and compare the result to the R Class Plans. Hopefully that will be pretty convincing. I think the Battleship SIG said the most difficult thing modelling wise (apart from the shortening and the updating of the above deck superstructure) was the difference in the placement of the armoured belt between Repulse and Renown. 

 

If some sources are correct then basically the Repulse and Renown resulted from the material from two R Class Battleship Orders being switched over to the design of two Battlecruisers so the lineage is certainly there. 

 

[Ratch]

I'm also interested in conversions, but as a land lubber I get confused with some (most) of the nautical terminology 

Bring back Locate & Cement style instructions 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Ratch

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Rob, "MAD" magazine, the back page I think. That's an idea I hadn't thought of, I'll give it a try. I've got kits of both ships I can use, and you may convince me yet. 👍

And Ratch, I remember those type of instructions, I had them when I did my Airfix Scharnhorst back in the '70s. I agree that they were educational in that they often named the item, not just 'part 67'. Your conversion of a Hotspur to a Hunt class (HMS Dulverton if I recall?) I thought was very good. Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

3 hours ago, Rob S said:

If some sources are correct then basically the Repulse and Renown resulted from the material from two R Class Battleship Orders being switched over to the design of two Battlecruisers so the lineage is certainly there. 

P.S. Yeah, I'd heard that Renown and Repulse were battlecruiser conversions (before commencement) from 'R' class battleships, on the orders of Adm Jackie Fisher. Regards, Jeff.