Flower class corvette, Scratch Build, 1/600 and Finished

[ArnoldAmbrose]

       Gidday All, in the Inspiration Gallery of this GB I mentioned a couple of contenders for this, one an 'R' class battleship and with some photos of battleships I've previously made. Well, sorry but I've decided to go to the other end of the scale of sea-going warships and do a Flower class corvette. I like to work in 1/600 scale and AFAIK there are no kits available so I'm going to have a go at scratch building her. While I've done a lot of scratching of ship's superstructures and fittings and such this will be the first hull I've done, discounting carved balsa hulls decades ago. So this will be something new for me. I won't be doing a specific vessel but a generic ship of the class with the longer foc'sle.

       I've been giving it a bit of thought as to how I'm going to do this, with a few ideas bouncing around inside my head. There's not much else in there to stop them bouncing, I guess. 😁

 

       Anyway, I've made a start. I got some drawings, fiddled with them a bit, cut them out and traced them onto 0.4mm thick styrene sheet. That's rather thin but it was what the LHS had in stock, and it's possible to cut them out with scissors which makes concave curves easier.

As you can see but I didn't notice, the profile (side) drawing is slightly longer than the plan drawings, which are a touch too short for the scale. Oh well, I'll work something out. I slotted the profile and main deck pieces to fit them together, and wedging them between two blocks of wood I started to glue bracing bits of styrene to them.

 

And I've ended up with this:-

Why so many? A number of reasons, the first being that I have a highly developed sense of overkill. Plus I had to pull the main deck down to follow the curve of the profile. And finally because I thought the thin styrene sheeting I've used would need some stiffening. But I've probably overdone it a little. Oh well  .   .   .  You can see that the main deck dropped below the pencil line at the bow but I don't think that will matter as it'll be hidden by the foc'sle deck.

       I think the next job will be to fit some ribs. The heavy bracing blocks I've used here might work against me in that they take up a lot of space. If this particular model turns out to be a pig's breakfast I'll cut my losses, absorb the lessons learned to date and have another go. I won't have lost much.

 

So until then, thank you for your interest. Stay safe in these times and regards, Jeff.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Another scratchbuild! Brilliant news, this GB is turning into a place for developing all kinds of skills and new ideas generally. I will, of course, be following this like a shadow.

[bigbadbadge]

Hi Arnold   

Wow, a scratch built ship, will pop along when I can to see how this progresses,  always wanted a Matchbox one as a kid but always out of my reach and still are 😄, although might look at a 1/144 one eventually,  depending how my other ship models go.

Good luck with your build. 

Chris

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

3 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

although might look at a 1/144 one eventually

Gidday guys, and thanks. This one even if successful won't be an impressive model, only 104mm long. Regards, Jeff.

[Faraway]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

although might look at a 1/144 one eventually,

The Revell 1/144 does make a very nice ship, there are loads of extra PE and 3D parts available for it.

Jon

2 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

do a Flower class corvette.

Ah, a real boat. 

Jon

[Ngantek]

Seriously brave stuff Jeff. I'm going to enjoying following this one immensely. Must be pretty small at this scale, I'd guess?

9 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

A number of reasons, the first being that I have a highly developed sense of overkill.

😆

 

Best of luck!

 

Andy

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Hmmm, I've got an ever-so-slight curve of the keel but I can live with that as it'll be under hull plating - if I get that far. I've fitted the first set of ribs and I'm thinking that installing the main deck all the way to the bow was a mistake. And my over-kill of the supports is coming back to haunt me. I'm thinking that I might have to resort to Plan B. I'll let you know what that is, just as soon as I think of it. Oh well, at least I've discovered some "Not a good idea" tips. 🙂       Stay tuned  .   .   .           

 

Oh, and Andy ( @Ngantek), 104mm long oa and a beam of just under 17mm.        Regards, Jeff.

[Bertie McBoatface]

34 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Hmmm, I've got an ever-so-slight curve of the keel but I can live with that as it'll be under hull plating - if I get that far. I've fitted the first set of ribs and I'm thinking that installing the main deck all the way to the bow was a mistake. And my over-kill of the supports is coming back to haunt me. I'm thinking that I might have to resort to Plan B. I'll let you know what that is, just as soon as I think of it. Oh well, at least I've discovered some "Not a good idea" tips. 🙂       Stay tuned  .   .   .           

 

Oh, and Andy ( @Ngantek), 104mm long oa and a beam of just under 17mm.        Regards, Jeff.

 

It's all learning, Jeff.

 

The great advantage of plastic card is its flexibility when you need to bend it, and the great disadvantage of plastic card is its flexibility when you want it to stay straight.

 

Why was attaching the deck all the way to the bow a mistake ?

[ArnoldAmbrose]

8 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Why was attaching the deck all the way to the bow a mistake ?

It means that the ribs have to be cut across at main deck level under the foc'sle. I think I'll have another attempt but only fit the weather decks so that each rib (on either side) will be one piece from deck to keel. The amount of plastic I've used up until now is negligible - the advantage of a small model.

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 minute ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

It means that the ribs have to be cut across at main deck level under the foc'sle. I think I'll have another attempt but only fit the weather decks so that each rib (on either side) will be one piece from deck to keel. The amount of plastic I've used up until now is negligible - the advantage of a small model.

 

I understand. Did you consider making the ribs in one piece and slotting them into slots in the keel? That's the usual life of wooden boat framing, but I'm not sure that it would work well with plastic card because of the floppiness factor

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, my simple drawings show them as half-ribs, one side only. I might try folding the paper as I cut them out but being so small an error of just a little bit is quite a percentage error of the overall dimensions - a disadvantage of a small model. But I'll certainly give the idea a thought.       Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, well I've abandoned put aside the first attempt and started again, with some lessons learned. I managed to find another diagram of a Flower class, HMS Bluebell. The diagram has some ribs marked that I can use.

I've repeated the technique of my first attempt but with a few changes:-

       The 'keel' glued to the profile piece is of a single thickness (1 x 1.5mm) glued on edge instead of made up of thinner layers. I'll have to shave a taper at the ends but this is more rigid.

I've marked the locations of the ribs and left gaps for them between the join supports under the weather decks. Plus these join supports are a bit more modest, cut from 1.5mm square section.

       In my first attempt I cut the center profile piece and the decks 0.5mm inside the actual size, to allow for the thickness of the decks and hull plating. This time around I've done the same with the center profile but the decks are cut to their correct beam. I'll explain why later. The main deck doesn't extend under the foc'sle deck and is currently a bit longer because I wasn't sure what I was going to do at the break of the foc'sle deck - possibly have the main deck extended under the the foc'sle deck for a few millimetres . But now I do know so I'll shorten the main deck slightly.

       Not visible because they're now covered up are marks where the 4-inch gun and the mast will fit. I wanted to make sure that there WAS thick styrene at those locations to support them later.

The next job is to glue on all those supports on the port side of the profile frame and then attach the decks. I think. 🙂

       So until then, thank you for your interest. Stay safe, and regards, Jeff.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Do overs are usually better than our first attempt. Maybe kits should be sold in pairs?

[Ray S]

Good going on this one Jeff, the learning process is a good way to go, even if it does not seem like it at the time.

 

All the best with the build,

 

Ray

[Col.]

The learning curve may be steep Jeff but the results speak for themselves. Nice work.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

       Gidday, and thanks for the encouragement, guys. I've started attaching ribs, starting amidships. I've done four to date. Well, eight half ribs. I've done them quite close together as a starting point for the hull plating when/if I get that far. Probably not worth a photo yet, I'll attach a few more first and see how I'm going.

       It's so fiddley, these the widest are only 7.5mm wide. The advantage of a small (experimental) model is that if this goes pear-shaped (and it's a possibility) then I haven't lost a lot in materials. The disadvantage/trade-off is that tolerances are much tighter, accuracy is more critical. And my ribs (on the model 😁) are far from accurate. Oh well, we'll see what transpires.

       Again, thank you for your interest and responses. Stay safe, and regards, Jeff.

[bianfuxia]

gutsy move, building this! Good luck - watching with interest.

[czechnavy]

Spotted this article using the Airfix Hotspur 1/600 kit:

 

https://www.davecov.org/modelling/reference/airfixmagazinearticles/warships/pdfs/October_1969_Flower_Class_Corvettes.pdf

[ArnoldAmbrose]

       Gidday All, thanks for your interest and support. Since the last photo I've added the 'keel' and 'vertebrae' to the other side of the hull profile centre piece. Next, the foc'sle deck was added. That deck has almost no sheer so it was pretty straight forward, apply glue to all the vertebrae and plonk the deck on, then place it upside down on a wood block while the glue dried.

       The main deck was not quite so simple due to it's considerable sheer. So it was glued to the two closest vertebrae to the foc'sle only, and aligned while the glue dried. When that glue dried it was a case of methodically working my way aft.

That white strip is a strip of styrene, 4mm deep (the same height as the foc'sle deck break) and by laying everything on the wood block it prevented (hopefully) a twist in the hull and decks. I applied glue to a couple of the vertebrae at a time and applied pressure with my finger as the glue dried. Then move along a bit and repeat. Please excuse my fingerprints - I'd been helping SWMBO pull weeds in the garden. You can see the rather wide keel. Again that was to prevent any twist developing. It might be a bit overkill (of which I have in abundance) but I'm sort of making this up as I go, to quote Harrison Ford in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". 🙂

       OK, that's the easy bit done. Now for the ribs. I mentioned earlier that I've started. Well I think they're done. As you can see, I've tapered the keel at each end.

       I initially tried making them from 1mm thick styrene but found that too difficult to get them matching, so I've done them in 0.5mm styrene instead. I started in the middle of the model and put four sets close together. This is because I'm not sure how easy adding the hull cladding will be. I might not be able to add a full length strip all in one go, I might have to do it in half lengths. The ribs are rather rough, particularly the four midships sets. I was working out my method as I went along. To get the templates from the drawing I enlarged said drawing by 400% (1/150 scale) and then drew each template separately. When that was done I then reduced the drawing back to 1/600. This gave me very fine lines to work from. Those ribs for the fore part of the ship weren't too bad. The two sets at the bow were quite easy. The bow has very little flair so I took the easy way out and simply cut triangles.

       Those down aft were quite a bit more difficult. The frames didn't seem to match the drawing properly plus the screw will complicate matters. I ended up doing a bit of guess work and doing them by eye. Time will tell how successful I'll be.

       Well, this is as far as I've gone with the model. I think cladding the hull will be next. I had originally planned to clad her in 0.5mm styrene but I've now decided to do it with two layers, each of 0.25mm styrene. I'll explain why when I try it.   So thanks again for your interest. Stay safe, and regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

1 hour ago, czechnavy said:

Spotted this article using the Airfix Hotspur 1/600 kit:

 

https://www.davecov.org/modelling/reference/airfixmagazinearticles/warships/pdfs/October_1969_Flower_Class_Corvettes.pdf

Gidday, thanks for that. Dave has got quite a few of these conversions over on the ATF. I've done four of those Hotspur kits but haven't seen any here for quite a while now. If I manage to get another I plan to convert it to a Hunt class destroyer. But I'm not holding my breath.

       I noticed in the article that HMS Verbena was shown. Have you read any of D.A. Rayner's books? He commanded Verbena during WW2 and it was interesting how he got command. And some of his exploits. "Escort: The Battle of the Atlantic" is a good read, and all true. It's his account of his war. Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

       Gidday all, here's another update of my butchery of a Flower class corvette. I've started cladding the hull, or fitting the strakes is probably a more accurate description.

Lesson learned:- if you ever try this method of scratch building a hull you need 1. A diagram with LOTS of ribs/frames portrayed, and 2. You need to make them ACCURATELY. I've failed of both counts and as a result this is going to be a VERY ROUGH model. Oh well, I have learned a few things. And praise to the modelling gods for filler, I think I'm going to use lots of it.

       Anyway, here's where I'm up to:-

As I said, ROUGH! 😫 I've decided to make the extreme stern segment solid, and have started to fill it in with styrene. Wrapping strips around that stern with the cutaway profile would be very difficult, for me anyway. And while I'm at it I decided to do the same at the forefoot (the front bottom corner of the bow).

       I said earlier that I'd decided to do two layers of 0.25mm styrene for the strakes. Well that didn't look too good due to my inaccuracies of the ribs/frames. The strakes ran in straight lines between each frame and not a nice curve. So I decided that 0.5mm was the way to go after all. Those fitted to the rear half of the hull are in fact 0.4mm, a little bit more flexible.

       Anyway, I won't trouble you with any more of my woes on this. I'll keep slapping styrene on it and later sand it down, shovel heaps of filler onto it and sand again. A cement trowel and an angle grinder might be useful for this. 🤔

So that's it for now. Stay safe, and regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, here's another update of the Flower class corvette. I've added most of the strakes now.

       When those current two get their stern halves glued I think it'll just need a piece (or two) over the keel. The stern's in shadow a bit but you might be able to see that I've filled the very aft bit (the counter) solid with styrene. I've shaped the counter a bit but as you can see, she's going to need a LOT of sanding.

       I think the trick with the strakes is to make them somewhat thick (depending on the size and shape of the hull), in this case they're 0.5mm thick. This appears to make them follow a smooth curve, instead of somewhat straight segments between ribs/frames. Also they seem to form better if they're not too deep, measured vertically. The first I did was 4mm deep, to match the height between the foc'sle deck and the main deck below it. The next was 3mm deep. After that I made them 2mm deep and this seems to be the optimum for this size hull. They've curved nicely and I've been able to fit them as full lengths. They're still rather rough though and I've got a few awkward bits still to do. But touch wood, this might work.

       Well that's it for now. Thank you for your interest. Stay safe, and regards to all, Jeff.

[Ray S]

That, Jeff, is an interesting way of dealing with this, and the reasoning you have given is very illuminating. Hopefully it will stay in my memory-box for future use. I have full confidence in your ultimate success, based on previous builds of yours.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[Faraway]

Even this early in the build, it is unmistakably a Flower.

Jon

[CliffB]

This is very impressive Jeff.  Great to watch