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Author Topic: HMS Kingfisher  (Read 5536 times)

zooma

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HMS Kingfisher
« on: May 31, 2017, 05:29:23 pm »

Some time ago I swopped a yacht for a model of HMS Kingfisher, and now that my TID is more or less clear of the building table I have decided to refurbish this model and get it back into action.


The model is based on a commercially available glass fibre hull and has been built-up mainly using wood with some plastic card for the main superstructure.


On the water the model looks good but is a little "rough and ready" when viewed closely and has all the signs of a model that has been enjoyed and well used !


The model has also had several thick coats of paint that I will rub down to remove the deep brush strokes and re-paint a little more carefully - and here is where some help would be appreciated as I am finding it VERY difficult to find any pictures of this class of ship.


If anyone has any pictures of any of the Bird Class that they could share with me I would be very pleased to see them as it will help me to add some detail to the model as I rebuild it.


My model has been painted in a very light gloss grey colour ( all over) so if anyone can advice what colours were used to paint HMS Kingfisher ( including the deck colours it would be very helpful.
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TailUK

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2017, 06:19:59 pm »

There always some discussion about "Shades of Grey"  and I'm talking about paint  :o.
There was an interesting article about H.M.S. Caroline, the WW1 cruiser, you can read it here.
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2015/may/29/150528-hms-caroline

Some people swear by Humbrol 64,  but I think most people go with R.N Light Weatherwork
Grey or Humbrol 127 and R.N. Deck Green or Humbrol 88.

Peter Hall excellent Atlantic Models website is a real treasure trove for "Modern" navy colours (1950s -1980s) a lot of his kits instructions are available there  with first rate colour painting guide.  Click on the Cold War range and look for the kit instruction button.

http://atlanticmodels.net/index.html
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2017, 11:25:35 am »

There always some discussion about "Shades of Grey"  and I'm talking about paint  :o .
There was an interesting article about H.M.S. Caroline, the WW1 cruiser, you can read it here.
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2015/may/29/150528-hms-caroline

Some people swear by Humbrol 64,  but I think most people go with R.N Light Weatherwork
Grey or Humbrol 127 and R.N. Deck Green or Humbrol 88.

Peter Hall excellent Atlantic Models website is a real treasure trove for "Modern" navy colours (1950s -1980s) a lot of his kits instructions are available there  with first rate colour painting guide.  Click on the Cold War range and look for the kit instruction button.

http://atlanticmodels.net/index.html
 


Thanks for your advice - the Atlantic Models site is interesting and the colour recommendations are very helpful.


I am still hoping somebody can turn up some information or pictures about any of the Bird Class (not specifically HMS Kingfisher) as my internet search has failed to turn up anything much other than a couple of distant side elevation pictures.


It looks like the Bird Class is not very well documented, making it a little more difficult than usual to find any good information about this relatively recent class of Royal Navy ship.
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2017, 05:48:05 pm »

I have found a picture of HMS Kingfisher on the internet when visiting Portsmouth in 1994.


Two things interested me - firstly it is in a much darker shade of grey than the only other colour picture I have been able to find of her - and secondly it looks like a steel cockpit cover has been fabricated to cover the open cockpit.


This "cockpit cover/new cabin"  would be nice to add when I refurbish my own HMS Kingfisher - but a bit more info or some pictures would be very helpful as I can only see a side view in this fairly distant shot.


3370746870 flickr savetheroyalnavy.org
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TailUK

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2017, 07:06:13 pm »

The different shade of paint could be explained by the fact that after she was given a weather shelter on her flying bridge she was given to the Britannia Naval College.  The ship behind here is an Invincible Class Carrier. 
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2017, 09:25:21 am »

The different shade of paint could be explained by the fact that after she was given a weather shelter on her flying bridge she was given to the Britannia Naval College.  The ship behind here is an Invincible Class Carrier.


The "weather shelter" would be nice to add to my model if I can get a picture of it from a different angle - but getting pictures of any of the Bird Class is proving to be rather difficult!


I would like to rebuild my model with some more detail but I could do with some references to help with this rather than guess at what typical detail I should add.
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #6 on: June 04, 2017, 06:16:42 pm »

Can anyone advise how many ships were in the Bird class and if any of them are still in service anywhere - or have they all been scraped ?
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raflaunches

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2017, 06:29:46 pm »

Bit of a wild swing but look for RAF 120ft Long Range Recovery & Support Craft of the Seal class. Names include Seal, Seagull, and Sea Otter. They were essentially the same vessels as the Kingfishers.
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2017, 11:44:57 am »

Bit of a wild swing but look for RAF 120ft Long Range Recovery & Support Craft of the Seal class. Names include Seal, Seagull, and Sea Otter. They were essentially the same vessels as the Kingfishers.
 


Well I never knew that!


Lets hope they are better documented than the Bird Class - I will search the net now to see what I can find.


Thanks for your tip.
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2017, 12:06:31 pm »

Surprisingly I have found a bit more info about the RAF Seal Class than I could find about the RN Bird Class - but not a lot!


Strange how the RAF ships have more interest than the RN types!


I have still not found a front view of the "weather enclosure"that was added to cover the open bridge - I would like to know how many windows they had so I can make a copy of it for my Kingfisher model - can anyone help here?
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dodes

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2017, 09:41:30 pm »

Hi mate, used to see the Petrel a lot in Devonport in the early 1980's, believed she was used for the university training boat then. Always berthed in 4 basin, close to where the RMAS berthed. Seemed to remember having to pilot her from the Hamoaze up to Ernisettle, because her gyro compass had failed !! remember she was painted standard light grey and her decks may have been dark grey as that was the time the RN was going from green to grey decks. Also according to my 1983 Janes, Kingfisher was the lead build vessel, the others differed in no crosstrees for the radar and no scuttles. As Nick says very similar to the Seal but bigger and the rear accommodation block was different and she mounted a 40mm on the rear.
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #11 on: June 09, 2017, 02:12:58 am »

Hi mate, used to see the Petrel a lot in Devonport in the early 1980's, believed she was used for the university training boat then. Always berthed in 4 basin, close to where the RMAS berthed. Seemed to remember having to pilot her from the Hamoaze up to Ernisettle, because her gyro compass had failed !! remember she was painted standard light grey and her decks may have been dark grey as that was the time the RN was going from green to grey decks. Also according to my 1983 Janes, Kingfisher was the lead build vessel, the others differed in no crosstrees for the radar and no scuttles. As Nick says very similar to the Seal but bigger and the rear accommodation block was different and she mounted a 40mm on the rear.


Thanks - very helpful - do you happen to have any information about the cockpit cover that seems to have been added later to Kingfisher and others in her class?
..............or any pictures?
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dodes

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2017, 07:49:58 pm »

It is a long time now and have slept a few nights. But I seem to remember she had a open bridge, the helms man was in the forward accommodation block, he had a good view and I did toy with the idea of going down and steer the boat myself, but there you are.
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2017, 09:53:26 am »

It is a long time now and have slept a few nights. But I seem to remember she had a open bridge, the helms man was in the forward accommodation block, he had a good view and I did toy with the idea of going down and steer the boat myself, but there you are.


It has been suggested that the weather cover was added at a later date and that the picture that I had seen with HMS Kingfisher painted in a darker grey and with the weather shield added was taken after the ship had been transferred to the Irish navy - ?
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Allnightin

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #14 on: June 14, 2017, 01:16:17 pm »

I served in Sandpiper 83 - 84 and have a decent colour PR shot I can dig out plus a few others taken onboard. There was also a training video on coastal navigation recorded onboard with plenty of bridge shots.  Sandpiper and Petrel both had a sheet metal cover over the upper bridge to allow more space for the Dartmouth trainees to be able to do their navigation training  - although sea sickness always seemed to claim a fair proportion anyway!  Thanks to the way the windows were done, the view forward on the upper bridge wasn't that good but that astern was excellent!

As to colours, light upperdeck grey on everything that wasn't deck or a notice and standard deck grey.   Given the high level of scrutiny from the College we had to keep things very "tiddly" and the main deck was repainted very frequently so a nice uniform colour was the norm.

I always heard that the RN birds were built after the RAF equivalents but someone got the steel thickness wrong and they were always very delicate and easy to damage
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #15 on: June 15, 2017, 09:58:57 am »

I served in Sandpiper 83 - 84 and have a decent colour PR shot I can dig out plus a few others taken onboard. There was also a training video on coastal navigation recorded onboard with plenty of bridge shots.  Sandpiper and Petrel both had a sheet metal cover over the upper bridge to allow more space for the Dartmouth trainees to be able to do their navigation training  - although sea sickness always seemed to claim a fair proportion anyway!  Thanks to the way the windows were done, the view forward on the upper bridge wasn't that good but that astern was excellent!

As to colours, light upperdeck grey on everything that wasn't deck or a notice and standard deck grey.   Given the high level of scrutiny from the College we had to keep things very "tiddly" and the main deck was repainted very frequently so a nice uniform colour was the norm.

I always heard that the RN birds were built after the RAF equivalents but someone got the steel thickness wrong and they were always very delicate and easy to damage



Thanks for your contribution - very helpful - and your pictures will be more than helpful as I can find no other information about these boats and nothing at all that shows the front elevation of the sheet metal bridge covers.
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TailUK

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #16 on: June 15, 2017, 11:53:03 am »

Have you seen this one. Taken in 1994
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zooma

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #17 on: June 15, 2017, 11:59:18 am »

These are the best pictures I have ever seen of HMS Kingfisher - and it shows the front view of the steel "weather cover" too!


Brilliant - thank you - small pieces of the jigsaw are slowly coming together thanks to help from contributors on this forum.  :-))
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TailUK

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Re: HMS Kingfisher
« Reply #18 on: June 15, 2017, 12:20:00 pm »

The photo should only have appeared once, sorry.
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