I saw, er, FOUR ships come sailing by! Matchbox Narvik class destroyer, 1/700

[danbuoy]

Well, it seems I have well and truly caught the shipbuilding bug! I've been enjoying my trio of Matchbox US Navy ships so much, I have been looking to add more from the Matchbox marina! Won this off the Bay of E at the start of the week for £7.

 

20230126_204031 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

Not exactly the 99p that it has obviously sold for previously, but still a good price!

 

Can't say I am too familiar with German destroyers, though having done a bit of obligatory research, it seems that the Z23 class (Narvik was the name the Allies knew the class by) was notable for having relatively heavy armament for a destroyer, in the form of 5.9in guns, with one twin and three single mounts. The subject of the Matchbox kit is Z38, which seems to be mostly well known for having been taken over by the Royal Navy after the war, and renamed HMS Nonsuch. It was used for testing of the effects of underwater explosions, and contrary to what was expected of her, she broke in half during the first test.

 

Here is the back of the box, showing a rather plain scheme;

 

20230126_204042 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

Two classic Matchbox sprues:

 

20230126_204109 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

And 10 stages of construction;

 

20230126_204135 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

Same as with my other three ships, got the two hull halves together, and dry fitted the deck;

 

20230126_205630 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

All four turrets done, 1 twin and 3 singles. These are slightly more of a faff than with the other 3 ships, as you actually also need to attach the turret bottom, once the barrels are in place. The turret bottoms for the single guns are extremely small!

 

20230126_224745 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

All superstructure sections assembled;

 

20230126_224759 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

And here she is with everything dry fitted;

 

20230126_225127 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

That is her pretty much at the same stage now as San Diego, Indianapolis and Fletcher.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Dan, I take it realize you now have to build a RN destroyer or two to engage her. This is on top of your planned (?😁) IJN destroyer and two cruisers. You're going to be a busy lad. 😁

Regards, Jeff.

[danbuoy]

Well, I certainly intend to get as many of the Matchbox ships as I can, with HMS Kelly being top of the list. As to whether any more will appear in this GB, that's debatable, as I now have 4 builds running, plus one more planned (not a ship!)!

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 1/27/2023 at 12:26 PM, danbuoy said:

as I now have 4 builds running

 

And all at the same stage. Is the next part something that you Don't enjoy so much?

[danbuoy]

53 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

And all at the same stage. Is the next part something that you Don't enjoy so much?

No, its not the enjoyment factor, just the awkwardness factor, as the next stage is priming, and I can only do this in the shed, and also one ship at a time, due to all the various parts etc. As the halftracks and armoured cars GB finishes in a few weeks, my priority is to get my 2 halftrack builds done. These were both primed last weekend, and painted yesterday. This will now free up space to get the first of my ships primed. Once they are all primed, I'm hopeful that they will start to move along a bit more.

[davecov]

I am definitely having that deja vu feeling with your builds for this GB. As well as the three previous builds you are doing, I also did Z31 but as HMS Nonsuch:

 

Keep on at this rate and you will be knocking out a Matchbox Bismarck too!

 

Dave

[danbuoy]

Actually, Bismarck is the one I'm least bothered about, simply because there are so many models of it available. Main ones I want are HMS Kelly, HMS Exeter and HMS Duke of York.

 

My Narvik will be in its original German guise. Its a plain scheme, though I think I will be glad of that after doing the camouflage on San Diego and Fletcher!

[danbuoy]

First coat of paint on the Narvik tonight;

 

 

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

Painting! Yay!

 

I suspect it is the angle of the lighting but those portholes seem to stick out an awful long way?

[danbuoy]

33 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Painting! Yay!

 

I suspect it is the angle of the lighting but those portholes seem to stick out an awful long way?

Yes, they do look awfully prominent in that photo. It must have been very cold when I took it! Thankfully, they are no where near that bad in actuality!

[CliffB]

I'm really enjoying your Matchbox ship builds Dan. I'm a recent convert too, having built my first in last year's Matchbox GB.

 

A tip I was given at the time was to drill out the portholes.  This sounds onerous, but was actually quite easy and satisfying to do.

The portholes are quite a visible feature in real life and drilling out gives you neat dark holes.  Once they're drilled, just leave them alone - no need to paint the inside edges or to glaze .  This approach would also allow you to sand off those raised rims (should you wish to).

 

Here's my Kelly (masquerading as Kimberley), complete with drilled out portholes.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

[danbuoy]

Thanks for that tip. I will have a look at my Narvik tonight. I very much like your HMS Kelly/Kimberley. This kit is the next one I'm after! I'm finding these Matchbox ships a great introduction to ship modelling, plus they aren't too big either. However, the same can't be said for the Revell Classic Atomic Cruiser/USS Long Beach I've just won off ebay!!

[ArnoldAmbrose]

43 minutes ago, CliffB said:

A tip I was given at the time was to drill out the portholes.  This sounds onerous, but was actually quite easy and satisfying to do.

The portholes are quite a visible feature in real life and drilling out gives you neat dark holes.  Once they're drilled, just leave them alone

Gidday, I think I agree here, although I've not always done it, it's more recent with me. But I've never regretted doing it, it's been worth it when I've done it.

Usually I try to only drill part way through, I still think that looks OK, not as conspicuous. But I stress, this is just my personal opinion. I acknowledge that drilling them all the way through is more consistent.

One thing I've noticed, a side benefit, drilling them by hand with a pin vise sometimes leaves a little ridge around them, which I think makes them look a little more authentic. HTH. 

Regards, Jeff.

[Alan P]

How's this going Dan? Any updates?

[danbuoy]

After the mad rush to get my two builds for the Armoured Cars and Half tracks GB done (just) in time for when that ended last Sunday, I decided to have a break from modelling this week, with the exception of tidying up the "creation station". I will be back on this, and my other 3 ships next week though, as they are all badly in need of updates!

[Col.]

7 hours ago, danbuoy said:

After the mad rush to get my two builds for the Armoured Cars and Half tracks GB done (just) in time for when that ended last Sunday, I decided to have a break from modelling this week, with the exception of tidying up the "creation station". I will be back on this, and my other 3 ships next week though, as they are all badly in need of updates!

 

Sometimes a wee break is the perfect way to let our enthusiasm build up again  

[danbuoy]

25 minutes ago, Col. said:

 

Sometimes a wee break is the perfect way to let our enthusiasm build up again  

And it is certainly building up nicely! 

[danbuoy]

Horizontal superstructure surfaces painted last night, plus made a start on painting the fiddly little turrets!

 

 

[danbuoy]

No modelling last week, due to being away in Cork with work, so good to get back on with things tonight. 

 

Superstructure now added. There are boats slung underneath the middle section which needed adding before fixing that piece in place. Three of four turrets attached too, just the twin turret forward of the bridge to be added later.

 

 

Funnel caps drying, and made a start on assembling the surprisingly complex mast.

[danbuoy]

Getting very close with this one now. More small pieces plus the main turret attached.

 

 

Just the smaller guns, one of the boats, a couple of other bits, then the masts, which were drying when I took this.

[danbuoy]

And so, fourth one started, first one finished! The support for the main mast was a bit of a faff. Had to stop myself adjusting it with tweezers before it all went pear shaped. It's just about OK I think. Will get some gallery photos tomorrow, so for now, here it is;