The Good Old Lady's cruel conversion

[thekz]

Hello, gentlemen!
A thousand pardons!  I've been working on this project for two months now and I've never managed to write anything about it. But my modesty isn't accidental - the project is really daring. Anyway, I haven't done anything like that in my life. 
So, at the risk of being a bad guy I decided to convert the well-known model HMS Warspite from Academy to HMS Malaya for 1940 in 2 colour alexandria camouflage:

 

(as usual - thanks to @dickrd for the advice)
I am planning to use the hull (after some modifications), armament, dinghies (they of course will also need modification) and some details of the lower level superstructure. Also of course photo etched rails, gangways, chains, winches and some other little things will be used. The rest I want to make myself. I must say that nothing is new under the moon and similar work was already done by Phil Reeder in 2014. Giving credit to this brave modeler, I want to end up with a model with more attention to detail. Even if that job takes five years! I'm not in a hurry! ( I will try very, very hard to take my time ).
And if I end up being the man began to build and was not able to finish, let my notes help the more persistent follower. Or maybe (you never know?! ) inspire Trumpeter to release a Malaya model in 1/350 😈

 

What have I been doing for 2 months? I started making the hardest part - the main superstructure. Here's how it looks at the moment:

 

 

 

It's far from finished but it's moderately optimistic.

All sorts of little things, including a homemade aeroplane (Malaya had Swordfish and not Walrus at this time) and of course homemade sailors in jackets.

 

These are the chains I plan to use: on the right prefabricated anchor chains, North Star, from a set of flat chains from Microdesign I plan to use the thinnest for the paravan.

 

 

 

Here is the work plan for the hull:

 

1. First we need to saw off the boules - they will interfere with the mounting on the stand. We will leave more at bow and stern as I want a rough sea again.
2. Add casemates fore and aft.
3. A lady should have a waist. Warspite has one too!

 

 

But is it worth messing around with it? Can it be seen only when looking at the model exactly from the stern? Unfortunately, no. It is clearly visible in almost all the Malaya and Barham photos because of the distinctive shape of the rubbish chute:

 

 

Warspite has that detail in a different location, so the waist is less visible.
4. Next - portholes, exhaust spigots, sheet metal borders etc. 👨‍🔧👨‍🔧👨‍🔧👨‍🔧

 

🪚🪚🪚🪚🪚🪚🪚🪚🪚🪚

 

 

sawed off!
To be continued

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Thekz, good luck with this. You're a brave man to hack into the hull like that, and I really like that Swordfish you've made.

 

Did you CARVE those crew directly from the sprue?   Regards, Jeff.

[thekz]

2 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Did you CARVE those crew directly from the sprue?

Yes, 

body, head, pressed arms and straightened legs are cut from sprue.

Bent arms and legs as well as binoculars are made from stretched sprue of a suitable diameter and glued on.

The result after painting can be seen on my Berwick
Making people in shorts I have not yet mastered, so my subjects are limited to stormy weather 

[robgizlu]

Wow - ambitious but a great start with the bridge which looks excellent.  Great looking camouflage scheme

Rob

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

This is fantastic!  Exactly my kind of madness; I’m in.

 

As Jeff has already said, gorgeous Stringbag

[socjo1]

Your Berwick was very interesting project, but this one... is just far more fascinating!

Good luck!

Edited February 18, 2022 by socjo1

[Adm Lord De Univers]

That poor Warspite, no way she's going to be able to float with a hole that size in her.

 

This promises to be quite a project, and as others have said that bridge is already quite something.

 

David

[dickrd]

I promised to come back to you once I had dug around for more images of Malaya in my collection. I have found a couple more. The images you have worked from are taken  from quite an angle onto the ship. I think the lines in the camouflage pattern lined up when viewed from broadside. Also I think the pattern changed even during its short lifetime: the diagonal line on Y turret portside visible in the 'Polish' photo does not appear in my image below and the lower line of the dark on the funnel seems to come lower.   

 

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by dickrd

[S-boat 55]

Fascinating build, I've toyed with the idea of this myself but always as a far off in the future kinda of thing, I'd thought maybe build the five sisters in the class and even bought Trumpys Queen Elizabeth but was so disappointed with it I sold it on and abandoned the idea as the idea of having to use Warspite as a base and 'rebuilding' 4 of the class seemed just too much like hard work, 

 

I shall follow with interest

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Thekz, that's incredible carving of those figures. I'm very interested in how you plan to add the extra 6-inch casemates. Regards, Jeff.

[thekz]

11 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

how you plan to add the extra 6-inch casemates

I'm in the process of doing that right now.
I promise to publish a photo report in a couple of weeks

[thekz]

45 minutes ago, dickrd said:

I promised to come back to you once I had dug around for more images of Malaya in my collection. I have found a couple more. The images you have worked from are taken  from quite an angle onto the ship. I think the lines in the camouflage pattern lined up when viewed from broadside. Also I think the pattern changed even during its short lifetime: the diagonal line on X turret portside visible in the 'Polish' photo does not appear in my image below and the lower line of the dark on the funnel seems to come lower.   

 

 

A very valuable observation.
I think the kink in the lines should remain in the area of the first forward casemates as the camouflage was probably also applied to the horizontal surface and then the line should break when viewed from the side.
The "Polish" line on the X tower is probably the shadow of the rangefinder. 
What do you think: was the lighter outline colour everywhere or only on large planes like the board or the hangar?
Anyway in the photo of HMS Kent in similar camouflage this outline is not visible on the superstructure and turrets. 

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[dickrd]

41 minutes ago, thekz said:

What do you think: was the lighter outline colour everywhere or only on large planes like the board or the hangar?

 

Looking closely at my photo I think it was everywhere. Some examples for you:

 

 

[beefy66]

Very ambitious project will follow with interest.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

On similar lines, I’d really love to build Queen Elizabeth in her WW1 configuration, because my Great-Uncle served in her as a Paymaster S/Lt (hostilities only!) during the Dardanelles campaign.  But I am not holding my breath that anyone’s going to produce a 1/350 twin funnel QE any time soon, and backdating a WW2 version would be a massive undertaking - and since progress on my existing ship builds is of the snail variety, realistically it’s never going to happen.

 

So I’ll just watch you do something massive instead.  
 

Sigh.

[thekz]

58 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

On similar lines, I’d really love to build Queen Elizabeth in her WW1 configuration

I think it's easier to do from Warspite than from QE 1943. In any case, the 1930s configuration is quite realistic. To my taste it's the most beautiful look of these battleships.
And as for family tradition, I have a land tradition - my grandmother's grandfather served in the cavalry in WW1. 

[El Búho de Sevilla]

On 2/18/2022 at 7:05 AM, thekz said:

Malaya had Swordfish and not Walrus at this time

¡Guau! Fairey Swordfish in 1/350!!! It will be my by far favorite scale model of an aircraft 😉

[thekz]

2 minutes ago, El Búho de Sevilla said:

¡Guau! Fairey Swordfish in 1/350!!! It will be my by far favorite scale model of an aircraft 😉

I'll tell my feathered friend in confidence - the swordfish in the photo is a training one, it will be put in the hangar afterwards. A more detailed version for installation on the catapult is already in the works.
But at the moment we are concentrating on the construction of the casemates 👷‍♂️

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

19 hours ago, El Búho de Sevilla said:

¡Guau! Fairey Swordfish in 1/350!!! It will be my by far favorite scale model of an aircraft 😉

Tune in to my Ark 3 build in due course, then (when I re-start it); I have to build 15 of the wee blighters in 1/350…

[thekz]

1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Tune in to my Ark 3 build in due course, then (when I re-start it); I have to build 15 of the wee blighters in 1/350…

This has been one of my favourite builds, looking forward to renewals 
Although you are vastly more experienced than me in modelling, let me share my method of making the same time-consuming parts: let's say it takes me 2 weeks to build one string. I would do no more than 1 in 3 weeks and by that method slowly but surely make 15 without getting tired of it at all 

[thekz]

A first approximation of the starboard casemates

 

 

 

 

As you can see - no innovative technology, everything is like in the last century: thick pieces of plastic, putty, model knife and sandpaper.

 

What's next? Copy-Paste-Flip Horizontal! 
We have to do the same on the port side. 🪚Then you have to fit the deck to the modified boards. 🪚

I will make the detailing (4" guns, rafts, second Swordfish etc.) so it won't be boring. 

 

[Andreas.R]

On 2/18/2022 at 4:19 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

On similar lines, I’d really love to build Queen Elizabeth in her WW1 configuration, because my Great-Uncle served in her as a Paymaster S/Lt (hostilities only!) during the Dardanelles campaign.  But I am not holding my breath that anyone’s going to produce a 1/350 twin funnel QE any time soon, and backdating a WW2 version would be a massive undertaking - and since progress on my existing ship builds is of the snail variety, realistically it’s never going to happen.

 

So I’ll just watch you do something massive instead.  
 

Sigh.

I'm also thinking of building a 1918 version, having already had experience with SMS Friedrich der Grosse. I'll be following the build with great interest!

[thekz]

8 minutes ago, Andreas.R said:

I'm also thinking of building a 1918 version, having already had experience with SMS Friedrich der Grosse. I'll be following the build with great interest!

It is certainly easier to build the 1940 version than the 1918 one, and a lot of people on this site make scratchbiult models of ships, so the task I have set myself looks quite feasible

[Bandsaw Steve]

Impressive! Especially those figures; I’ve never seen that technique before. 👍

[thekz]

 

Hello,
What's going on in my yard? The Malaya hull is slowly taking shape. The quaterdeck is now being fitted. The process is like a famous dance with one step forward and two steps back.

Did this labour-intensive process bore me? Strangely enough, no. Only I felt uncomfortable keeping you for a second month without news. So I did not wait for the final result, but took a picture of it as it looks now.

 

 

As promised, I've been doing some detail work.

 

 

These are two 4" guns out of four.

 

This is most of the rafts.

 

The crew numbers are increasing. As you can see, I'm trying to diversify the poses.

 

 

And this is the main star of this post: the second more detailed Swordfish, which will be on the catapult.  She will have a propeller and battens of course, but that's after painting.
That's all the news for today.

Good luck with your builds.

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by thekz