HMS Bramham, Hunt type II destroyer; Operation Pedestal August 1942. 1/700 IBG.

[Ngantek]

Hi, this is a build of HMS Bramham, a Hunt type II destroyer in 1/700 scale. This has been built from the IBG kit, in this case entirely from the HMS Zetland boxing. 

 

I had intended to have this finished in time to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Operation Pedestal, the crucial supply convoy to Malta in August 1942, in which she played a significant role. Unfortunately I've overrun by a few weeks, but better late than never! 

 

It's a personal build as well, as my Grandfather was serving on her at the time as young Sub-Lieutenant. He would sketch the ship for me on occasion, and it would make regular appearances in my childhood drawing books, no doubt each time diverging further from reality to sprout missile launchers and lightning bolts down the side. 

 

I feel a bit strange talking self indulgently about this model first when really it's of no importance compared with the gravity of the subject matter. However, this being a modelling forum, I suppose I should start with the model, but for those interested in the history and some of his writings on the subject, I've opted to put that in the next post, so please feel free to skip that if it is of no interest to you. 

 

So specifically the build, this is my first ship build since returning to the hobby (although I know I rather roughly glued together without paint some old Airfix 1/600 kits back in the day). It being a relatively simple kit and an important model to me, I had intended to go the whole hog and upgrade it with the Shelf Oddity PE and various Flyhawk gubbins. However it quickly became clear first that my embryonic modelling skills were not equal to the task, and second that all the constant planning, checking references, making notes and apprehensive stalling were unlikely to yield any finished kit this side of the next ice age. I'd also put a little entirely unnecessary pressure on myself to get something out for the aforementioned anniversary, which was unlikely to lead to a enjoyable experience.

 

So instead what we have is a mostly OOB build, completed with a deliberate lack of care, attention or sense of shame! A first attempt or prototype, if you will, built to the mantra of 'rubbish but fun'. There are many things that didn't turn out quite right and were I wanting to do a job to my satisfaction, I would go back and change or redo. So my apologies for putting such a rough model up for RFI! My hope is that, having thoroughly enjoyed carelessly bulldozering straight past any mistakes, and having learned the lessons from this build, I'll one day go back and update this thread when I've made version 2 with rather more care. With that in mind, it's an open invitation for any and all criticism, this being a learning experience and a model that I set no great store by; being a total beginner to ship modelling, I'd rather know what doesn't look right or hasn't worked so I can do it differently in the future.

 

So yes mostly OOB, with addition of some rather nice Starling Models 4" turrets, pom poms and Oerlikons. There's a little scratch here and there, most notably a steel rod replacement for the oversize mast and some rather dodgy Type 285 radar aerials from chopped up PE bits. The kit is finished with a combination of Gunze primers and matt varnish, Tamiya and Colourcoats paints, and some rather over-enthusiastic oil paint washes and weathering, which turned out to be impossible to claw black without repainting entirely (turns out the matte varnish just ate the wash up and spread it indiscriminately around). Any pointers how to do a detail wash onto matte without just wicking the whole surface with grime? Anyway, it's my intention to practice building a sea base for her, but that being so far beyond my skills, and with time ticking, I will leave that for another day.

 

The RFI can be found below, and some writings about the Operation by my Grandfather in the following post. Thanks very much for looking in!

Cheers,
Andy

 

 

 

A little escort destroyer in this scale really is tiny. I was amazed on opening the (rather large) box. Here's it next to generic 1/72ishness

 

 

 

 

[Ngantek]

So yes to the Bramham and Pedestal. Here she is, I suspect in the Clyde during working up.

 

I hope you will forgive me the indulgence of posting some of my Grandfather's writings on his time in the Bramham, specifically during Pedestal, for those few who might be interested. There are some small detail errors in his recollections some 60 or 70 years after the event, that I've tried to correct to the best of my knowledge. 

 

Quote

We then picked up four or five merchant ships from the Clyde and took them to Gibraltar. There it became apparent that a large operation was imminent. The harbour was full, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and Brown Ranger, a tanker for refuelling at sea. No one was supposed to know where we were going but the buzz was that it was to be a convoy to relieve Malta, now reduced to sufficient supplies of fuel, food, aircraft and ammunition for only a matter of weeks. After re-fuelling, we had little to do, so spent most afternoons bathing on the east side of the Rock. The bars were all full to overflowing.

 

The usual dodge was for the fleet to set off in the opposite direction to its destination and then, under cover of darkness to reverse course. This must have been well known to the Germans, but we dutifully sailed west and then from the Atlantic returned. The main convoy had by then entered the Mediterranean and we joined it.

 

The convoy, Operation Pedestal, was crucial to the outcome of the war. If Malta could not be refuelled, it would collapse and with it our hopes of winning the war in North Africa; plus the development of a second front in Italy, and therefore the prolongation of the war for, say, three years, perhaps making it impossible to invade Normandy. It was the most heavily defended convoy of the war: four carriers, two battleships, seven cruisers and twenty five destroyers, escorted the 14 merchant ships, one of them being the vital tanker Ohio on loan from the USA, as Britain had no tanker fast enough to maintain the convoy speed. Out of fourteen, only five were to reach Malta, and four Royal Navy ships were sunk, including an aircraft carrier and two cruisers, but 55,000 tonnes of supplies were delivered and Malta was saved.

 

For two days, we a pleasure cruise with calm seas and brilliant sunshine, then at 1315 on August 11th, the carrier HMS Eagle was hit by four torpedoes and sank within eight minutes. It was a bad omen and a foretaste of what was to come. That evening we had our first attack by high level bombers. They were flying too high for accurate bombing and no one was hit, but the scene was spectacular, the whole sky filled with tracer and exploding shells, and the sea crested with white peaks as the bombs exploded.

 

From then on it was unrelenting. At dawn, more bombing. The Italian Bombers were supplemented by German Junkers 88s, a different proposition, flying lower and deadly accurate. Destroyers were a low priority for attack so we were okay, but at 1300, Deucalion, one of the merchantmen was hit, and Bramham was detached to stand by her. Some of her crew had thought she was sinking and jumped overboard and had to be rescued. When she got under way again she could only manage 8 knots. She was attacked again by 88s at 1945 but not damaged, but at 2100 two Heinkel torpedo bombers glided out of the dusk and hit her with two torpedoes. The ship was sinking but we managed to pick up all the crew including those in the water, which I did in the whaler.

Bramham alongside the Deucalion

 

This completed we sped to rejoin the convoy which was visibly in great trouble in the darkness ahead. Spurts of flame, continuous gun fire and at least two explosions of such size and force as must indicate an entire ship blowing up. It was obvious that in the narrows of Pantalleria, the convoy would be ambushed and attacked. First it was submarines, then E boats. Shortly before dawn we came to the place where Santa Eliza had been sunk. The sea was covered with wreckage, fuel oil and the red lights from life jackets of men in the water. The life jackets also had whistles, which added to the eerie feeling. It was still dark and only too easy for the whaler to lose contact with Bramham. I kept a good look out but one’s main attention had to be focused on survivors. We soon found that the whaler leaked. The timbers had dried out, so someone was employed full time bailing it out, using his tin hat. We picked up two boatloads, and were then hoisted on board. That was when a knowledge of Robinson’s Patent Dropping Gear was essential! Without it the whaler was likely to be suspended from bow or stern and everyone tipped back in the water!

 

Next morning bombing was continuous. The convoy was dispersed so the Junkers 88s and the dive bombers picked on individual targets. Dorset was hit and stopped once again Bramham was ordered to help her. Those already in the water had to be picked up by the whaler, while others, among them the Captain, were able to walk collectedly on board. Air raids continued during this manoeuvre, so Bramham was having to twist at high speed to avoid bombs. One dive bomber seemed bound to impale itself in our mast, but neither it nor the bomb hit. These frenzied tactics did not make it easy for the whaler to rejoin the ship. I remember Eddie Baines [skipper] with a megaphone, leaning over the side of the bridge bawling “Ted if can’t get alongside next time, you can bloody well sail back to Gibraltar”. We hoped he didn’t mean it, but we checked to see whether we had sails, biscuits and water! There was very little water.

 

 

We had one major task ahead of us- to get Ohio to Malta. Ohio had a 24’ wide gash on her starboard side, her engines were beyond repair, and her freeboard reduced to about 12”. Her original crew was convinced that she was about to split in half. Towing from ahead was hopeless. The metal protruding from her side acted as a rudder and she went round in circles. The more powerful Penn clamped herself to the Ohio’s starboard side, Bramham to port with Ledbury ahead. Working together we occasionally got up to 4 knots, mostly around 2. With 80 nautical miles to go this was going to take a long time, particularly as on three or four occasions we had to let go and resume our role as anti-aircraft vessel.

Penn and Bramham tow the Ohio 

 

It was an anxious night, as we expected an E Boat attack. After 6 nights without sleep, I was hallucinating and walking up to one of the searchlights on the bridge, held out my hand to it and said “Good gracious old man, I haven’t seen you for ages”. Next morning, Malta was clearly visible, but making that last ten miles took forever, and it was afternoon before we entered Grand Harbour. The entire population had turned out to welcome us. The relief was unbelievable.

Ohio entering Valletta Harbour alongside the Bramham

 

No sooner than Ohio was nudged into her berth by tugs than pumping out her tanks began. The Maltese were well aware that she was the vital ship of the convoy- without her no cooking oil, no aircraft fuel, no diesel, essential lifeblood for men and machines.

 

None of us were in good shape. Eddie’s [Baines, skipper] feet had swollen to the size of footballs, David Milford-Haven [1st Lieutenant] had been hit by shrapnel, Sidney Rule [gunnery officer] had to be lifted from the Director. I, as the youngest, was made Officer of the Day. That meant that I was in charge of refuelling, watering, ammunitioning and food- also for any decisions that had to be taken. They were unlikely to have been sensible. When it was all over, at about 8pm, I went to the wardroom. There was nobody there and nothing to eat, except a plate of 18 cold hard boiled eggs. I ate them all and then slept for 32 hours.

 

 

HMS Bramham would go on serve in the Arctic Convoy PQ18, after which my Grandfather would be back in "that damned whaler" picking up the survivors of HMS Curacoa, tragically sliced in half in an collision with the Queen Mary. Then after a Club Run escorting HMS Furious, on to support the Allied landings in Operation Torch, before further air attacks escorting convoys around Bougie, Phillipesville and Cape Bone. In the last of these, a bomb passed through her aft magazine, detonated beneath the ship and caused a cordite fire. The ship would have exploded in seconds if not for a column of water, driven through the bomb hole by motion of the ship at flank speed, putting it out. Sadly, while the ratings in the magazine were able to escape, the fire had damaged their lungs none were to survive.

 

The Bramham was then decommissioned for repairs, before being transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy as the Themistoklis.

 

[Courageous]

Very nicely done with the right amount of weathering. Good Job.

 

Stuart

[ArnoldAmbrose]

14 hours ago, Ngantek said:

I rather roughly glued together without paint some old Airfix 1/600 kits back in the day)

Gidday, you and me both. In fact I still have one, the Scharnhorst, and now in a condition nearly as good as the real ship is.

       You've done a terrific model here, particularly as it's your first ship. And I think your attitude is correct for these circumstances - built for fun. 

Since you asked for a critique, I'm wondering if the guard rails on such a small but very lightly coloured ship model would be better omitted. Others will no doubt disagree. Those guard rails in the photo of the actual ship are almost invisible whereas on your model they're quite prominent. Having said that you're way ahead of me in even trying them. Your other PE such as the ladders certainly enhance the model. For the dipoles of the radar on the director I've sometimes used very thin wire - a single strand of multi-strand radio wire. Your rigging is also very good, as is your weathering. Again, way ahead of me in that you do it.

       I also want to thank you for sharing your Grandfather's memories of the convoy. Personal recollections such as this give an insight that official reports of the war don't always portray. Many thanks.

All-in-all I think you've done very well here. A very fitting tribute to the service provided by your Grandfather and many others like him. Regards, Jeff.

[Ngantek]

10 hours ago, Courageous said:

Very nicely done with the right amount of weathering. Good Job.

 

Stuart

Thanks Stuart. It all got a bit grubby in the end, but a fun learning experience out of a nice kit!

 

24 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday, you and me both. In fact I still have one, the Scharnhorst, and now in a condition nearly as good as the real ship is.

       You've done a terrific model here, particularly as it's your first ship. And I think your attitude is correct for these circumstances - built for fun. 

Since you asked for a critique, I'm wondering if the guard rails on such a small but very lightly coloured ship model would be better omitted. Others will no doubt disagree. Those guard rails in the photo of the actual ship are almost invisible whereas on your model they're quite prominent. Having said that you're way ahead of me in even trying them. Your other PE such as the ladders certainly enhance the model. For the dipoles of the radar on the director I've sometimes used very thin wire - a single strand of multi-strand radio wire. Your rigging is also very good, as is your weathering. Again, way ahead of me in that you do it.

       I also want to thank you for sharing your Grandfather's memories of the convoy. Personal recollections such as this give an insight that official reports of the war don't always portray. Many thanks.

All-in-all I think you've done very well here. A very fitting tribute to the service provided by your Grandfather and many others like him. Regards, Jeff.

Sounds like my Scharnhorst was much the same (I can still see the visible glue fingerprints in my mind). It sat rather embarrassingly in my parents house for years, next to a similarly dodgy KGV until they sensibly turfed it out of their house not that long ago. Thanks for the comments on the rails, I agree, I rather thoughtlessly painted them white and only once installed did I notice they were dark/ barely visible in the photo. Particularly the way that white structure under the bridge wings is now covered is very noticeable. On my list of future improvements!

 

Great idea about using multistrand, I hadn't thought of that but it makes perfect sense. Something I have a lot of lying around, so I will try that. Wish I'd thought of it when 'repairing' the pom pom barrels with overscale steel dowel!

 

Weathering got a bit out of hand. I think the additional issue is that I over-muddied the white, on top of the fact that it was black based, so overall is too grey. With the addition of over- gloopy paint application, I think the ship was (unintentionally) plenty over-weathered even before I rather clumsily had at it with oils! I think something to work on (with all my modelling actually) is to get it cleaner and sharper, much closer to your work. 

 

Thanks very much for your kind words, I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to put such a large post of recollections, but if one person read it, then I suppose it wasn't a waste of time! I'm looking forward to seeing the Ledbury!

Cheers,
Andy

[ArnoldAmbrose]

55 minutes ago, Ngantek said:

Weathering got a bit out of hand.

Gidday Andy again, actually I think the weathering is quite good, not over-done at all.

 

And to show Scharnhorst's sorry state:

I did this while I was in High School, early/mid 1970s. I waterlined it about 25-30 years ago (on a band saw at work 😖) so my son could 'play wars' with it on the floor. I've since done Revell's version in 1/570. A much better kit I think. Sorry to go off topic.       Regards, Jeff.

[Ngantek]

Oh that brings back memories! Looks pretty good actually, I think childhood you had more attention to detail than childhood me. I mean the turrets are on the right way round for a start. I think I unceremoniously glued those two stands to the hull, but in such a way that it never sat properly. I'm very glad my parents didn't keep all these old kits lying around (although I think the 1/144 aircraft hanging from my bedroom ceiling lasted a good 25 years!) but having said that, it might have been nice to still see an example of the first model I ever made, or one that I was particularly proud of for future comparison. 

 

It's interesting to look at, I've found seeing models or instructions from old kits, I can 'feel' whether or not I made them in my childhood, even if I was otherwise unsure. That hangar roof for example, it's almost a tactile memory of what it feels like to glue together, or how I can still 'see' those locating pins and holes cantilevered off the bottom inside of the hull. It's like there's some residual memory of a little step or panel on an aircraft that you otherwise have no knowledge about. Interested how memory works. And yet I have no idea what I did last weekend. I blame the kids!

Andy

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

That's very nice. I like the weathering, in fact the painting overall is just to my taste. 

 

It's so tiny though. I could never work that small despite envying you the ease of storage of a fleet of these!

[Ngantek]

2 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

That's very nice. I like the weathering, in fact the painting overall is just to my taste. 

 

It's so tiny though. I could never work that small despite envying you the ease of storage of a fleet of these!

Thanks, you're very kind. I didn't really know what I was doing truth be told, but learning by doing and all that!

 

It's a convenient truth that there's nowhere to put anything larger in my house (the same reason I stick to 1/72 for aircraft), but really I don't have the tenacity or attention to detail to do the kind of larger scale stuff you make so nicely. Even a wee beastie like this takes me months, and my attention span doesn't last much longer than that!

 

Andy

[robgizlu]

Nicely finished and nicely weathered 

Rob

[Cookenbacher]

Great work on a tiny destroyer Andy!

[Chewbacca]

That's a great rendition of a ship that is often overlooked but paid such a critical role in safeguarding Malta.  I've studied Op Pedestal in the past as part of an analysis between that convoy and the disaster that was PQ-17 so it was fascinating to read your grandfather's words - thank you.  You must be very proud of him.

 

With regards to the weathering, when I looked at the model, it didn't look overdone at all - it looks like a well used WW2 convoy escort!  It was only when I then looked at the first photo of the ship herself in the Clyde that I saw what you meant in that actually BRAMHAM was very clean by comparison.  But it's certainly not excessive.

 

@ArnoldAmbrose's comment about the guardrails is unfortunately, something I think about all 1/700 scale ships.  Not that we shouldn't use PE guardrails but that they always look overscale.  And I think the issue is simply that PE technology can only go so far.  A realistic scale guardrail stanchion in 1/700  is 0.04 mm diameter; the wire rope connecting the stanchions about 0.01 mm.  I'm not sure my eyesight is even up to seeing that without an optivisor let alone trying to attach them to a model.  But I would still encourage the use of guardrails even if they are overscale.

 

It's remarkable how the colour perception in a BW phot can distort the eye.  Looking at the photo of BRAMHAM in the Clyde, I would have sworn that the block of WA light blue that comes up from the stem to just under the bridge and the inverted triangles underneath the seaboat/cutter were the same colour as the WA green used elsewhere.

 

Great build - you just need to scratch build Ohio to go with her.

 

 

[Ngantek]

On 24/08/2022 at 23:23, robgizlu said:

Nicely finished and nicely weathered 

Rob

 

4 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Great work on a tiny destroyer Andy!

Thanks Rob, Cookie. The nice thing about the scale is that all the dodgyness is generally not visible to passing inspection, so despite knowing all the faults, it's nice enough to leave on the shelf and not be offensive!

 

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

That's a great rendition of a ship that is often overlooked but paid such a critical role in safeguarding Malta.  I've studied Op Pedestal in the past as part of an analysis between that convoy and the disaster that was PQ-17 so it was fascinating to read your grandfather's words - thank you.  You must be very proud of him.

 

With regards to the weathering, when I looked at the model, it didn't look overdone at all - it looks like a well used WW2 convoy escort!  It was only when I then looked at the first photo of the ship herself in the Clyde that I saw what you meant in that actually BRAMHAM was very clean by comparison.  But it's certainly not excessive.

 

@ArnoldAmbrose's comment about the guardrails is unfortunately, something I think about all 1/700 scale ships.  Not that we shouldn't use PE guardrails but that they always look overscale.  And I think the issue is simply that PE technology can only go so far.  A realistic scale guardrail stanchion in 1/700  is 0.04 mm diameter; the wire rope connecting the stanchions about 0.01 mm.  I'm not sure my eyesight is even up to seeing that without an optivisor let alone trying to attach them to a model.  But I would still encourage the use of guardrails even if they are overscale.

 

It's remarkable how the colour perception in a BW phot can distort the eye.  Looking at the photo of BRAMHAM in the Clyde, I would have sworn that the block of WA light blue that comes up from the stem to just under the bridge and the inverted triangles underneath the seaboat/cutter were the same colour as the WA green used elsewhere.

 

Great build - you just need to scratch build Ohio to go with her.

 

 

Yes I've been reading Roger Hill's book as well re:PQ-17. As for Pedestal, as you know there are many texts that describe the events with much greater detail and accuracy, I just figured given their availability, it might be interesting for some to see his unpublished account.

 

With weathering, I think the photos are from when the Bramham was brand new, and while the Malta photos are generally pretty low resolution, there had definitely built up some wear in the intervening months. Nonethelss, it's definitely overweathered compared to the reality, and indeed my intention; more a upshot of poor execution! But hopefully those lessons will bear fruit in future. The same with the guardrails, definitely a lesson learned. I think the model did look a little bare without them (in particular because I'd not done a great job on the deck seam!), so next time I think I'll probably try to apply them but try to hide them as best as possible.

 

Really interesting what you say about the WA scheme. I come from a place of no knowledge of common naval practice, nor experience analysing naval colours from B&W source material; and the decision to use WA green and blue in that scheme was really just from matching the shape to similar examples from Man'O'War 4 by Raven and Roberts. Clearly the blue is a long way off in my case, I didn't redo it for a darker shade simply because this was a quick build that I'm doing primarily for practice and to discover these things. Given that I used the well researched colourcoats, I had assumed it the mixture was darker on Bramham for whatever reason, but as you say it looks indistinguishable in the photos. This is true also in the Malta photos (have a look here and here for example). Do you think it's a darker blue or just WA green all over? Certainly next time I was going to do a custom blue mix but WA green all over is looking likely now you've mention it.

 

I'd love to be able to build beautiful dioramas like you do, and as you say, it would look great with Ohio, and even Penn, Ledbury and Rye, but that's a long way beyond my abilities! One for the retirement perhaps!

 

Thanks very much for your help and comments!

 

Cheers,
Andy

 

 

[TallBlondJohn]

There was a resin 1/700 Ohio - difficult to find, but may be of some use.

 

I'm still thinking of the consequences of eating 18 cold hard boiled eggs in one go. Hadn't Malta suffered enough?

Edited August 27, 2022 by TallBlondJohn
correction

[beefy66]

Great little build very well detailed for the size of it.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[PF Naughton]

Hi,

Your build looks great.  These were fascinating little ships.

Pat