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Academy 1:350 Oliver Hazard Perry FFG - HMAS Darwin - Royal Australian Navy


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Academy 1:350 Oliver Hazard Perry FFG - HMAS Darwin - Royal Australian Navy

 

Gday BM folk. This project was certainly a labour of love. The last warship I served on - HMAS Darwin - The Mighty Phoenix....... I maintained the SPS-49 Radar on this ship (hence my profile picture). Previous to this final posting I also served on FFGs HMAS Canberra and Adelaide as a Sonar Maintainer. Knowing the inside and outside of FFGs like the back of my hand, building this was like a wonderful trip down memory lane.

 

There's some really good PE with this kit and also added the RAN decal set and had some custom 816 squadron decals made up for the Seahawk. I scratched some additional bits based on the version I served on including fin stabilisers, GDP Kevlar Shield, Nulka Decoy Launchers and Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS).

 

Hope you enjoy the build.

 

Cheers

 

JJ

 

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Starting on the Hull and Superstructure

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Needed to remove some forecastle fittings to replace with brass.

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This is the long hull transom modification on the RAN FFGs.

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The 2 small fixtures Port/Fwd of the transom deck needed to be removed so the flight deck could fit properly.

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Needed to cut out these fixtures as there is supposed to be a door here.

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Ready to paint.

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I wanted the deck scheme to be quite weathered as this is what a sea-going FFG's deck is like from sea water.

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The trouble with painting in humid weather !!

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Missile Launcher.

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Boat Deck.

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This channel had to be cut straight through as one to fit the PE boat deck.

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Mk 32 Torpedo Tubes.

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SM1 Missile for the Launcher.

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GDP.

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Scratched fin stabilisers, GDP Kevlar Shield, Nulka Decoy Launchers and Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS).

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Forecastle gantrys.

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Nulka.

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GDP Shield.

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Fin Stabilisers (this keel setup is not correct however I wasn't confident to cut this up).

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EOTS.

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Mk-92 CAS Radome and SLQ-32 Arrays.

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SPS-49, Foremast and SATCOM.

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Just to give you an idea of how better the PE is than the kit parts !!

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Horn on wrong side.

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Main Mast.

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TACAN lightning arrestor broke later, so had to improvise.

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Couldn't get the main mast to stand straight so made up some pad eyes to help.

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Flag Bins.

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Funnel (I think for Deisel Gens).

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Mk 92 STIR Radar.

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76mm Gun and Accommodation Ladder.

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GT Stack.

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CIWS, SGSI and the rest of the AFT 02 Deck fittings.

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CIWS seemed to be mounted a little low so I raised it a little.

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Life Rafts.

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Comms Whips.

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Because there were only 3 whips for the USN version, I scratched the 4th with a sewing neeedle.

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Comms Fans and Prop.

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Decals.

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Weathering.

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Random spare signal flags (no meaning), ANF and White Ensigns.

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Seahawk with custom RAN 816 squadron decals.

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All Done !!

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Thanks for checking in.

 

RFI is here:

 

Cheers

 

JJ

 

 

Edited by JJ2016
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G'day JJ,

 

A lovely job. Can I ask what you used for the RAN "Storm Grey", it does not seem like an easy colour to match,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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On 5/12/2022 at 5:11 PM, RGL said:

Great work, I just finished Sydney

Cheers Greg, the Sydney looks great, and the upgraded mod too !! Really nice detail, I can see the places where you've gone that extra mile - right about when I lost my nerve !!

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On 5/14/2022 at 1:01 AM, Pappy said:

A lovely job.

Hi Pappy, thanks mate. For the storm grey, I found many references but would of had to get a chemist to do the mix !! In the end I found an A-7 I built a while back was close so I went with it - Light Gull Grey !!

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On 5/12/2022 at 10:11 AM, RGL said:

Great work, I just finished Sydney on MSW, you nailed the main mast I found that so hard to build.

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/31553-hmas-sydney-iv-by-rgl-finished-academy-1350/page/4/#comments

 

I love coming over to Britmodeller as the ships here are amazing 

 

Greg that is a truly super build.

 

JJ - lovely work

Rob

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