HMS Alynbank, Starling Models, 1/700 +++COMPLETED+++

[Ray S]

Hello all, this will be my main entry into this GB. My good Lady Wife very kindly bought me this for last Christmas, how she knew I wanted it I know not, but when the parcel arrived from Starling Models she was very quick off the mark and grabbed it out of my hand and said "that will do for your Christmas present. How much do I owe you?" Well, I was honest and truthful and did not make a fast buck, and did not charge her for the postage, only the kit.

 

I knew it was going to be a complex kit when I ordered it, but, upon opening the box on Christmas Day 2021, I thought "Gulp!", put it away in one of my stash places, and waited for a suitable GB to rear it's wonderful head. The reason is that I find if I try and build anything too complex, I can easily get bogged down and go under, but if my friends here on Britmodeller keep chiming in with encouragement, help and advice, I can usually pull something out of the bag and am more adventurous.

 

This is what I have chosen to build:

 

 

A good, solid start, very well packaged. There was bubble wrap and folded tissue paper inside to protect the components.

 

 

It has a high quality instruction guide with colour coding to show etched or resin parts. It also shows you to build in sub-assemblies which I will try to follow. It may well make painting and attaching the parts easier, but I am a little concerned about crushing the delicate etch when I try to fit the assemblies to the hull.

 

 

There is a superb etched frame, and all the parts are numbered and lettered to correspond with the instruction guide. That is not a sample bottle, but it does contain some goodies, notably turned brass mast uprights - I will need to make my own ancillary parts for masts and cranes.

 

 

The hull is very well detailed, but has some very delicate detailing, which I hope I will not break. The superstructure parts again show very nice detail, there is just a hint of resin flash here and there but nothing untoward. And finally,

 

 

A myriad of small, delicate components which were the main contributors to me putting the kit away! Some parts had broken off the pour blocks, but they are all in a plastic takeaway box with the lid firmly sealed for safety.

 

Well, that is the introduction, roll on the start! I am so looking forward to starting these builds.

 

As usual with one of my complex builds, I may well say what I am going to do next to the kit, but if I say something which would be a serious boo-boo, please let me know, any advice and help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Good luck with all of your builds,

 

Ray

Edited March 14, 2023 by Ray S
Edited Title

[TonyOD]

5 minutes ago, Ray S said:

when the parcel arrived from Starling Models she was very quick off the mark and grabbed it out of my hand and said "that will do for your Christmas present. How much do I owe you?"

🤣🤣🤣

[PAUL67]

Interesting choice.. Will be looking in…

Paul

[PeterB]

I will watch this with interest - don't envy you using all that etch in 1/700! Alynbank seems to have had a fairly busy war from Torch to the Arctic convoys, before being scuttled as a blockship (Gooseberry) off Gold Beach. I have always found that in this scale the representation of the small AA guns in plastic was not normally very convincing but I suspect the combination of resin and perhaps etch will be rather better but incredibly delicate to handle - 4 twin 4" mountings and at least two quad 2pdr pom-poms initially I believe and perhaps more pom-poms and maybe 20/40mm later?

 

Best of luck.

 

Pete

Edited December 24, 2022 by PeterB

[Bertie McBoatface]

I think it's madness building a model that would fit in a fly's eye. Thank heavens for macro or I wouldn't be able to see it at all. 🤣

[Torbjorn]

Lovely detail for something that small and nice to see this type of subject getting some love. 

[Maginot]

Very interesting subject. Good looking kit.

[Ray S]

On 12/25/2022 at 10:01 AM, Bertie McBoatface said:

I think it's madness building a model that would fit in a fly's eye. Thank heavens for macro or I wouldn't be able to see it at all. 🤣

 

A bit later on I will give a comparison to show you how large this is compared to some I have done in t' past!

 

I have broken ranks and started this kit, but only in a preparatory way, honest! I have fired a load of Tamiya Light Grey primer at it and removed some of the resin flash so it will be good for when the start is, in just a couple of days time.

 

Cannot wait now, but must, of course.

 

Ray

[Bertie McBoatface]

33 minutes ago, Ray S said:

I have broken ranks and started this kit

 

There's a lot of it about. 😱

[Ngantek]

Interesting little ship of which I know nothing. I have a soft spot for these specific wartime adaptations, so will watch with much interest. The kit looks very nice, but you haven't made it easy on yourself with all those dinky AA guns in tinyscale.

[Torbjorn]

On 1/5/2023 at 4:34 PM, Ray S said:

 

A bit later on I will give a comparison to show you how large this is compared to some I have done in t' past!

 

I have broken ranks and started this kit, but only in a preparatory way, honest! I have fired a load of Tamiya Light Grey primer at it and removed some of the resin flash so it will be good for when the start is, in just a couple of days time.

 

Cannot wait now, but must, of course.

 

Ray

I’m curious, is there a specific reason why you start by priming all the parts?

[Ray S]

11 hours ago, Torbjorn said:

I’m curious, is there a specific reason why you start by priming all the parts?

 

@Torbjorn, no, not really. I have done it from time to time on other builds, but mainly on resin ships. I found that it makes it easier to see the detail rather than on just the bare resin, and that make it easier to see slight differences in the parts, especially on something this small. It would need priming at some stage anyway, so I sometimes get it done before I start.

 

This will be built 'modular' fashion following the instructions. I had a good look at them yesterday again (no, honest I did!) and I think it will be a better way of dealing with it, despite in the past me building from the base up and then adding the smaller details. There are only 20 stages in the guide... oh yes, plus the rigging (gulp!).

 

The model will be in the overall 507C scheme rather than the splinter camo shown in an earlier post.

 

One question someone may be able to answer: if a ship is at anchor, would it use one or both for anchors? My logic says one but I know what I am like.

 

I have stuff to do this morning, but hope to get a start later on today.

 

Cheers all,

 

Ray

[ArnoldAmbrose]

29 minutes ago, Ray S said:

One question someone may be able to answer: if a ship is at anchor, would it use one or both for anchors? My logic says one but I know what I am like.

       Gidday Ray, most/all photos I've seen show only one being used at a time. I would imagine that if two were used simultaneously they could foul each other. If a ship begins to drag it's anchor then more cable could be let out.

       If you really want to know then why not ask the question in the maritime chat section - you might get a better informed, more knowledgeable response. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

[Bertie McBoatface]

58 minutes ago, Ray S said:

One question someone may be able to answer: if a ship is at anchor, would it use one or both for anchors? My logic says one

 

I just had a look in my books and they tend to support your logic generally, thought there were many different circumstances. However, my library concerns sailing ships so it may all be different on your ironclad. Yo ho ho!

[Ray S]

6 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

       Gidday Ray, most/all photos I've seen show only one being used at a time. I would imagine that if two were used simultaneously they could foul each other. If a ship begins to drag it's anchor then more cable could be let out.

       If you really want to know then why not ask the question in the maritime chat section - you might get a better informed, more knowledgeable response. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

 

I fear there may well be questions popping up all over BM from me with this build, see later in this post! It is a good idea though, thanks for that Jeff! I did wonder about the anchor chains fouling, just as fishing lines foul if you are too close to another fisher.

 

5 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

I just had a look in my books and they tend to support your logic generally, thought there were many different circumstances. However, my library concerns sailing ships so it may all be different on your ironclad. Yo ho ho!

 

Thanks Bertie for that. I will be consulting Google and see if there are any images of 'warships at anchor'.

 

Well, I have started now, oh boy, was it difficult waiting for the start of this HUGE GB. But I was a good boy and had only sprayed some primer before kick-off. This afternoon, I have applied my first layer of 'proper' paint, some Teak on the wooden sections of the main deck. Oh by the way, please feel free to correct/advise me of the proper terminology for nautical subjects. I learnt a lot during my HM Bark Endeavour build, but my memory is like a sieve without the wire, so I may well have forgotten, me hearties.

 

 

I have used ColourCoats Teak, brush painted and thinned with a hint of ColourCoats Naphtha Thinner. It will need another coat tomorrow. There is one further deck midships that will need a wood finish, but something must be done first about the part. I have built a number of resin ship kits in my time, but have been lucky enough to not encounter what has happened with this part:

 

 

I have a nice little banana-shaped deck. I have read that the resin needs to go into some hot water and to receive some pressure to bend it into shape. My thinking is to use hot (not boiling) water and dip this lot into the water:

 

 

I am a little wary about doing this as there is quite a lot of very fine detail on the deck. Also, using a metal bulldog clip on the L/H side bends the part even more straight. So, the question alluded to above - does this sound a good idea to have the part pre-clamped, dipped into the water for a minute or so, pull it out then run cold water over the lot, and finally keep it clamped for a while? Any advice would be appreciated! This question will also appear in the Tools, Tips and Tricks area soon. This will also help me with some 3D printed ships I have that suffer from the same issue - it is a set of 3 Coastal Steamers that I have, and, if this correction goes okay, I may get to sneak one of those into this GB as well.

 

There is a lot of superb detail moulded on the deck of Alynbank, Mike McCabe at Starling Models has done a great job with this:

 

 

 

 

That little lot will test my concentration levels when I get around to painting it all, and it will test my ability to keep the brush hand from not shaking too.

 

These are the paints which I will be using, mainly ColourCoats, but a couple of Humbrol enamels too, and one which was called out as 'Canvas' in the instruction guide, and is still to be found. I was thinking of Revell Acrylic 314 or 89, both of which are called Beige, but look totally different

 

 

During this build I will often finish off with a 'this is what I am intending next' line or two. Please let me know if this plan is about to produce a boo-boo of any sort, as I can often 'over think' things, which has been a failing of mine for years.

 

It is good to get this under way now, even if she will be at anchor, and therefore cannot be under way (weigh?) herself.

 

Ray

[ArnoldAmbrose]

12 minutes ago, Ray S said:

she will be at anchor, and therefore cannot be under way (weigh?) herself.

Gidday Ray, as you requested, terminology. Yes, a ship when moving is 'under way'. It is the anchor that gets 'weighed' - hauled in.

 

Another common mistake is the name for the front of a ship. Some people mistakenly call it 'the bow' but the correct term is 'the sharp end' or sometimes 'the pointy end'. 😁

And back to being serious, I've never done a resin kit so I can't advise you there, but this looks an interesting build, and I agree, the detail looks very good. I'm interested in how this turns out so good luck with her. Regards, Jeff.

 

PS  -  I was serious about the ship moving and the anchor. I was joking about the 'sharp end' bit. 🙂

[Ray S]

1 minute ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Another common mistake is the name for the front of a ship. Some people mistakenly call it 'the bow' but the correct term is 'the sharp end' or sometimes 'the pointy end'. 😁

 

I always thought the front bit was always the bit that hit the beach first when the gear stick was forward, and the blunt bit hit first if you could not reverse properly!

 

Thanks for clarifying the way/weigh bit too.

 

Ray

[ArnoldAmbrose]

1 minute ago, Ray S said:

I always thought the front bit was always the bit that hit the beach first when the gear stick was forward, and the blunt bit hit first if you could not reverse properly!

You're obviously training for your Master's Ticket. You've got the ship handling module down pat! 👍 Regards, Jeff.

[Faraway]

1/700 ?

I’ll have nightmares just watching YOU build this.

Jon

[Ray S]

23 hours ago, Faraway said:

1/700 ?

I’ll have nightmares just watching YOU build this.

Jon

 

You think you have troubles? Ha, I laugh at this, and quietly weep into my whisky and think 'what am I doing?'

 

23 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

You're obviously training for your Master's Ticket. You've got the ship handling module down pat! 👍 Regards, Jeff.

 

Thanks Jeff, I knew all my study has not gone to waste.

 

On 12/25/2022 at 10:01 AM, Bertie McBoatface said:

I think it's madness building a model that would fit in a fly's eye. Thank heavens for macro or I wouldn't be able to see it at all. 🤣

 

Bertie, I said I would show you this was big for me, so, if I may indulge...

 

 

At about 7" long, Alynbank (top) is a bit of a monster compared to (middle) the Flyhawk Grosse Torpedoboot (a mere 4.5") and the (lower) Combrig German Tug Roland (chiming in at under 3"), but even those are some what huge in comparison to another tug I had done:

 

 

Measuring just over 1" long, this tug was part of the 1/700 Dragon USS Bon Homme Richard aircraft carrier kit, so I dolled it up a bit. The main use it gets now is as my test piece when I go to the optician and show them what I must deal with for my hobby, and they know what they have to deal with for my eyes. Mutual satisfaction all round.

 

Today's task was to blob another coat of Teak onto the main deck of Alynbank, and to get some Dark Deck Grey onto the metal decks. This caused issues due to the quality of the moulding and the ability of manufacturers to be able to have massive undercuts on resin parts (all of which are absolutely fantastic by the way so not a criticism), which meant it was very awkward getting a brush into some areas (no sniggering at the back please) but hopefully if it is difficult to get a brush in, it will be equally tricky to see in there too. He hopes.

 

 

I would seriously struggle to mask that lot if I was airbrushing. During this process I discovered two things. Firstly, I found that there were two decks midships, not one as initially thought, which will need the wood finish, and secondly, I found that there was a very fine texture on the 'metal' deck areas which appears to give a representation of non-slip material. If so, then my admiration for the designer and manufacturer of the kit has gone even higher than before. All parts are just dry-fitted at the moment.

 

That is it for the day, the bench is currently sharing Alynbank with an Airfix 1/48 Bouton Paul Defiant which is also a joy to be building, and it gives me something different to build if this gets a bit intense. Once the Defiant is done, I will then deal with the second subject for this GB, the DUKW. That will be on hold for a short while.

 

Anyway, thanks for looking and to reiterate, any advice or suggestions are always welcome.

 

Ray

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

8 minutes ago, Ray S said:

 

 

Measuring just over 1" long,

 

It's beautiful. If I'd made that I'd carry it around in a matchbox to show to the ladies, a la Compo!

[Dave Swindell]

On 07/01/2023 at 16:08, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Another common mistake is the name for the front of a ship. Some people mistakenly call it 'the bow' but the correct term is 'the sharp end' or sometimes 'the pointy end'.

Some ships are pointy at both ends and others aren't pointy at either end. The front of the ship is the "front"; for the hard of understanding, it's often referred to as "the other front". The "sharp end" or "pointy end" is what is used to emphasise  this. 

 

26 minutes ago, Ray S said:

Anyway, thanks for looking and to reiterate, any advice or suggestions are always welcome.

 

Alynbank was a Bank Line general cargo ship (bit of a clue in the name) before being requisitioned, a bit of info and some photo's on the Clydeships site https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=9089#v

 

[PeterB]

On 1/7/2023 at 8:41 AM, Ray S said:

One question someone may be able to answer: if a ship is at anchor, would it use one or both for anchors? My logic says one but I know what I am like.

 

Hi Ray,

 

For what it is worth it seems to me it depends on where you are anchoring, the weather forecast and the state of the sea bed I would have thought. If you are over "poor holding ground" ie the type of sea bed that will probably not grip your anchor too well such as shells (anchors can differ in design to cope with this problem to some extent I believe ) then you might want to drop two "hooks", as a precaution, as indeed you might if the forecast was bad and you were in an exposed place. Also, if you were lying up somewhere subject to tides, such as the entrance to a river, with only one anchor you would be prone to the tide making you "swing at anchor". Normally this is harmless but maybe inconvenient as you may have to turn the ship round to get into port, but if you are in a confined channel or moored close to another vessel or hazard you would probably anchor fore and aft.

 

Not an expert so probably wrong.

 

Pete

[Ray S]

On 1/8/2023 at 4:26 PM, Bertie McBoatface said:

It's beautiful. If I'd made that I'd carry it around in a matchbox to show to the ladies, a la Compo!

 

Bertie, it is as though you could read my mind, that is somewhat scary, believe me! Anyway Nora, fancy a shufty at this? Heh Heh Heh!

 

 

Not quite a matchbox, but close, and it does prevent the tug from sliding around inside.

 

On 1/8/2023 at 4:48 PM, Dave Swindell said:

Some ships are pointy at both ends and others aren't pointy at either end. The front of the ship is the "front"; for the hard of understanding, it's often referred to as "the other front". The "sharp end" or "pointy end" is what is used to emphasise  this. 

 

Alynbank was a Bank Line general cargo ship (bit of a clue in the name) before being requisitioned, a bit of info and some photo's on the Clydeships site https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=9089#v

 

 

I could not post a laugh and a thanks, but please accept them both Dave! I have used the Clyde Ships site quite a bit but keep forgetting about it until nudged, so thanks for adding that nudge.

 

21 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Ray,

 

For what it is worth it seems to me it depends on where you are anchoring, the weather forecast and the state of the sea bed I would have thought. If you are over "poor holding ground" ie the type of sea bed that will probably not grip your anchor too well such as shells (anchors can differ in design to cope with this problem to some extent I believe ) then you might want to drop two "hooks", as a precaution, as indeed you might if the forecast was bad and you were in an exposed place. Also, if you were lying up somewhere subject to tides, such as the entrance to a river, with only one anchor you would be prone to the tide making you "swing at anchor". Normally this is harmless but maybe inconvenient as you may have to turn the ship round to get into port, but if you are in a confined channel or moored close to another vessel or hazard you would probably anchor fore and aft.

 

Not an expert so probably wrong.

 

Pete

 

Thanks Pete for that. I am very glad the general thoughts are for one anchor to be used in the main. My idea is to have Alynbank at anchor in calm seas and set fair, so I will use just the one. Thanks to all who have helped, and to Google for confirming it in photographs too.

 

Today was another painting day, and the metal decked areas have had their second coat of Dark Deck Grey. I also looked at the instructions (shock, horror!) and found some other areas on the main deck that needed the colour, so that has been added. I found I was able to give it two coats of thinned ColourCoats enamel brushed on in just twenty minutes with no dragging of the paint. I have found that works quite well on small areas, especially if the second coat is applied quickly and you don't 'play' with the paint to spread it evenly.

 

 

 

 

I think the dark grey will need another coat, but that will be for tomorrow now.

 

That is it for now, most of the next few posts will be paint-orientated. Thanks for looking and the 'likes', but especially for the advice and chat.

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all. More paint has gone the way of Alynbank, and I am even more flabbergasted at the quality and detail on this kit.

 

This afternoon I bit the bullet and tackled that warped midships deck. I used a couple of bulldog clips to hold the piece flat against a metal sheet and immersed the lot into some hot (but not boiling) water for a few minutes, and then doused it in cold water afterwards to lock it into place. I eventually had a nice flat deck, with an indentation where one of the bulldog clips was attached! Thankfully it is on a flat area of the deck, and I may be able to repair that with some thin card or filler. I was really concerned that that would happen, I still do not know how to straighten resin without holding the part flat against something immovable without causing exactly what happened. Next time I will try using a peg instead of the bulldog clip.

 

I then started adding some more paint, brush-painting thinned ColourCoats 507C Light Grey on the internal bulwarks and deck details (again applying the second coat soon after the first), and adding the Teak to the three areas that had not had any so far, again double coating very soon afterwards. It even worked on the larger midships raised deck. I wonder if the fact that the paint was thin helped?

 

 

You can just about make out the channel running 5 o'clock to 11 o'clock on the forward section of the midships deck, and the bent aft section of the same deck, which will be more difficult to fix. I have tried bending the part but the resin slowly springs back. It may have a hot water bath again without bulldog clips this time. All major superstructure is just dry-fitted.

 

One thing I had not noticed, despite ogling the kit many times before starting, was that most parts are numbered (or lettered):

 

 

This was a nice surprise as a lot of the parts are very similar. I have been used to Combrig resin ships, they give an illustration of the parts but do not number them. On the other hand, Combrig do picture each pour block with the parts so it is possible to sort things out, but this is the better way. Great job Starling!

 

Thankfully, the pom-poms are resin and not the etch ones that have appeared on some aftermarket etched detail sets, and these again are parts full of wonder (except for two missing muzzles but hopefully they are in my box of bits):

 

 

See the detail on the foot plates and the magazines(?)? I wonder if that is another part which has broken off one of the blocks on the front left hand side? While the paint was out and I was listening to Lindisfarne being Nicely out of Tune, I also got some of the smaller detail parts pre-painted. This is again something I do on these small ships, and then just re-touch the paint when the part is fitted:

 

 

The two things bottom left look like they have infiltrated the kit from the War of the Worlds, don't they? The forward smaller deck details have had their coats of 507C added while I held the ship on one leg (right hand leg for those keen to know) and rested my arms on both legs to reduce the shakes I have, and it seemed to work:

 

 

These photographs have reminded me that the Dark Deck Grey needs another coat before I go too far. 

 

Tomorrow I hope to get the midships deck straightened and filled, the deck grey done, more of the small deck and bulwark 507C paintwork done and also start to look at making the calm sea base.

 

Thanks for looking and the likes, and don't forget to chime in if you have any advice for me, all will be very much appreciated.

 

Ray