Mr. Church Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 A couple of photos of my 1:500 HMS Royal Oak, converted from the Ark models (ex Frog) 1:500 HMS Royal Sovereign kit. Many aftermarket items used including: Atlantic Models 1:500 Scale 'R' Class upgrade set, Atlantic Models 1:500 Scale railings, Custom cut 1:500 scale real wood deck from Mk1 Design, 3D printed main gun turrets and 4 inch twin AA mounts from Shapeways / MicroMaster, Tom's Modelworks 1:500 scale figures for the crew, Flyhawk 1/350 anchors and portholes. The mainmast and bridge structure were scratchbuilt using the Kagero plans. (Simplistic) rigging is EZ line. Please excuse the dirty camera sensor causing spots on the photos. 39 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMA131Marine Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Beautiful job! It really annoys me that, other than this kit, the R class battleships have been completely ignored by plastic model manufacturers. I do have the Orange Hobby 1/700 resin Royal Oak but it would be nice to see a 1/350th version in plastic. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bismarck builder Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 thats bloody awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Looks terrific! Congratulations on this one. Amy chance of a few more photos? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-boat 55 Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Great rendition of a forgotten ship, hope you're proud of her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 4 hours ago, VMA131Marine said: it would be nice to see a 1/350th version in plastic. Or 1/600 scale. 🙂 Gidday @Mr. Church, she's beautifully done. She's on neutrality patrol off Spain? And from what I can see from the photos it's an interesting way of using large numbers of identical crew figures - bunting tossing and other drills? Regards, Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Church Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 Many thanks all for your kind words, I appreciate them. 13 hours ago, VMA131Marine said: Beautiful job! It really annoys me that, other than this kit, the R class battleships have been completely ignored by plastic model manufacturers. I do have the Orange Hobby 1/700 resin Royal Oak but it would be nice to see a 1/350th version in plastic. Very much so yes, would love to see one in 1/350. Though having researched them I can perhaps see why it has not happened? As they were pretty much all very different by the time of the Second World War. Best we could hope for I'd say would be a First World War version where they were all still pretty similar. 10 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: Looks terrific! Congratulations on this one. Amy chance of a few more photos? It was very dark and dull yesterday so I didn't take all that many photos. I'll post the rest of what I have now. 9 hours ago, S-boat 55 said: Great rendition of a forgotten ship, hope you're proud of her Yes her loss is a story that should never be forgotten. Hopefully my model goes some very small way towards preventing that from happening. Such a sad story, especially the loss of so many of the Boy Sailors who were aboard her on that fateful night. 9 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said: Or 1/600 scale. 🙂 Gidday @Mr. Church, she's beautifully done. She's on neutrality patrol off Spain? And from what I can see from the photos it's an interesting way of using large numbers of identical crew figures - bunting tossing and other drills? Regards, Jeff. Yes I initially thought about about modelling her at anchor in Scapa Flow on the last day of her life with the drifter Daisy II alongside. But having read up about it it seems she was damaged by heavy seas while patrolling the Fair Isle Gap and had Carley Floats washed away and ships' boats damaged. That would be difficult to replicate on a model and would not look great. So I opted for the happier time of 1937 when she was not long back from her rebuild and was on patrol off Spain. Plus the neutrality markings and identification letters always add a nice splash of colour. This was around the time the Pocket Battleship Deutschland got bombed in Ibiza too so I have Royal Oak's 4 inch AA guns, Vickers 0.50 Cal Quads and 40mm PomPoms all manned. The crew are taking no chances there! As regards the figures, yes the Toms Modelworks sheet includes a few figures in various poses using semaphore flags. I'm not a professional mariner so wasn't bothered looking up what the signals all mean. So I gathered a few sets of the figures and opted to have several small groups of recruits aboard, each with an instructor in front of them teaching them signalling and whipping them into shape. I think it works OK? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Church Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 Here goes for the remaining photos: 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Thanks for the additional photos, they look great! The sea-scape is very good too. Great work all round! 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micha_Pol Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Very, very nice-looking, clean model. Love the seascape, very vibrant blue and great bow wave. Rigging looks good to me as well. This would be a great model in 1/350, but in 1/500 it's fabulous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Fantastic model. Great to see such a refined result from a Frog model. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted March 13, 2023 Share Posted March 13, 2023 Excellent seascape and a Fab build - what a nice model Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted March 13, 2023 Share Posted March 13, 2023 Nice job of this less-than-stellar kit. It's a shame these handsome battleships are so disdained in model scales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bissyboat Posted March 13, 2023 Share Posted March 13, 2023 Nicely done. She´s a beauty! ⚓🙌 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Church Posted March 14, 2023 Author Share Posted March 14, 2023 Many thanks all for your kind words, they are much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Hopefully they do some little bit towards keeping the story of HMS Royal Oak alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas.R Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 Great built in an unusual scale! The wood-deck looks very nice, the sea-scape is very good too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PF Naughton Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 Hi, Your build looks great. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Church Posted March 16, 2023 Author Share Posted March 16, 2023 Thanks lads, I really appreciate the kind comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 Beautifully finished model of a ship that met a tragic end in home waters. I remember when I was very young my grandparents telling me of hearing the explosion (of course they might have been referring to HMS Vanguard). The last time I flew up to the Northern Isles (back in the 1980s) you could still see the oil slick from HMS Royal Oak on the sandy bed of the Flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hewitt Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 Excellent result on a horrible kit,lot a work has gone into this model,superb,yes would love this in 1/350 and a Barham or Malaya would be good also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRMRL Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 A cracking build, looks stunning, especially like the second low rear angle shot, very atmospheric. Another with a 1/350 dream to go with all the other missing RN subjects, ah well I can dream... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglierating Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 BZ to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Church Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 Thanks all, really appreciate the kind words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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