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[110samec]

Oh no, what have I got myself into now??
Well its a 1/72 revell flower class (Its rather big  ). As some of you may have guessed from my (ongoing) Tsekoa build, I dont really tend to go for out of the box colour schemes and this is no different as I will be completely ignoring the kit suggestions and making this as HMS Borage which will require a bit of modification/ scratch building :)

Here is the box:



[I have also purchased the book by Jon Lambert/ Les Brown whioch has some good drawings and information in there :)



First job was to sand down the prominent "eyebrows" above the port holes on the hull. I decided to do this before putting it together purely as I found it easier to hold the parts whilst sanding. (Parts A1, A2, B1 and B2)





The photoetch portholes that came with the kit (part 79 on the etch sheet)



In place, (will sort the hole out later)


Part 1 of the instructions tells you to make up the propshaft fromm parts K22 (on the left) and K34 (on the right)



The instructions do say to not glue into the hull so the prop will turn but I found it to be quite a loose fit so glued it in.

Next thing I did was to glue the hull. The instructions say to glue the forward and aft hull parts together first (i.e. make up both entire sides then glue sides together). What I did was to glue together the forward hull and then glue together the aft hull. When the glue was dry I then slid the hull pieces together :) The fits pretty good but some bits need filler and the extended keel at the bow which comes right the way up to deck level needs sanding back as the original ships didnt have it.



To give a sense of scale I took a photo of it next to the airfix 1/350 illustrious and a 1/72 spitfire



Next was to put in the strengthening beams that go across the hull. I think these are pretty flimsy for that and the hull gets a lot of strength when the decks are glued on. To be honest I think they are just for supporting the deck in the middle

I then went ahead with gluing the decks on. A point to remember and one I nearly missed is to drill the hole to take the rudder before putting the aft deck on.

The bow decks had the raised planking sanded down and the printed wooden sheet supplied in the kit was fitted. Only the parts with the planking pattern should be used, the other plain patterned wood parts should not be used as these bits were steel on the real ships. Plan to replicate these by scribing in the steel plates using the wooden sheet as a guide. (scriber is in work so will bring that home to do it)





I'll use a thin skim of filler on the deck edge to tidy everything up. (ignore the bit of sprue on the hull side, I forgot to tidy that bit up so will go over it with some wet and dry)



the wood parts really make a difference to the look of it!



After this was done, I turned my attention to the spinny bit 

I glued the propeller and the propeller nose on before gluing the rudder halves together and putting on the hull



I also thought it to be a good idea to make up the stand



Will wait for glue to dry and then start tidying things up on the model


Sam

[110samec]

Here is what I would like to make a model of, HMS Borage which is fitted out for minesweeping





[size=78%]


As you can see the colour scheme is pretty interesting :)


Through basic research done so far I have found to convert the kit into Borage I will need to:


1) Move the mast in front of the wheelhouse
2) Scratchbuild the "acoustic hammer" on the bow
3) Make a cable drum for the aft deck (the big drum in the photos above)
4) Modify the superstructure support frames


I will come to the other differences when I get there :)


Sam[/size]

[TailUK]

Have a look at this thread.
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,23303.msg229533.html#msg229533
Very useful pics.

[Niall]

Thanks for the plug TailUK but my winch is not the right minesweeping gear for Borage.

[Sandy]

There are drawings of the acoustic hammer and the LL sweep winch in the Anatomy book about the HMCS Agassiz, but I think there are also 48th scale drawings of the Bryony which has both also.

[110samec]

Right then on to the mast! In this boxing, the moulded plastic upper mast is replaced with brass and PE so first job is to cut the mast in half.The instructions tell you to attach the top bit (BR01) to the main mast (BR03) before the PE bit for supporting the spar (PE78) but you have to put PE78 on before BR01 otherwise you'll never be able to slide it onto the mast!





Ignore all the paint/ glue on my fingers 











Compared to the original plastic bit, the brass looks much better and more refined





I painted the crows nest/ lookout position inside with dark grey before gluing it together.


Heres a couple of pics showing the carley floats and ships boats with a first coat of western approaches green








Sam

[thunderchild]

Good Day Sam

I'm in the process of putting together the fittings for a Flower Class, I've brought a APS models Flower Class hull (without the fittings). Have a look at this website, David's fittings are beautiful. 

http://www.djparkins.com/acatalog/Great_Little_Ships.html


Also have a look at this website.


http://theflowerclasscorvetteforums.yuku.com/directory#.Ur0C-dIW2So


The colour scheme is WA Blue, WA Green on White, going into Hull Red, no boot topping.

[Pondweed]

Right then on to the mast! In this boxing, the moulded plastic upper mast is replaced with brass and PE so first job is to cut the mast in half.The instructions tell you to attach the top bit (BR01) to the main mast (BR03) before the PE bit for supporting the spar (PE78) but you have to put PE78 on before BR01 otherwise you'll never be able to slide it onto the mast!















Compared to the original plastic bit, the brass looks much better and more refined

Sam
so all the brass rod and etch is included in the kit? I see that the yard had been turned and there are raised areas on it.

I think the stays 'bracket' halfway up the mast is very good ... very neat & tidy.

How do you fix the halyard pulleys to the yard?

The Carley floats: if it were my boat the rope that is moulded on would be replaced with real cord.

[110samec]

Thunderchild, by looking through a lot of stuff on the web I've found that the hull is actually all black underneath. Thanks for the diagram though, it'll come in handy for working out the masking for the cammo scheme :) I've seen those fittings, they make up an absolutely beautiful model (i think theres one over on RC web where they've used all the fittings) :) Unfortunately I dont think my budget extends that far :/

Pondweed, yes this is all included in the kit (I havent bought any aftermarket stuff). The brass bits have all been turned so they are all ready to go on. I'm not sure as of yet but so far all the brass has been assembled using superglue so I imagine that to be the way I'll go for :)

Yes, I didn't think it looked too bad but now I've found some fine chord that will do the job, I think I'll have a go at replacing it :)

Thanks for your comments and help guys!
Sam

[110samec]

Been doing some more! I havent actually forgotten about this thread, I've just been busy working on the land rover :)

The hulls been given a base coat of black hull below the water line and given a first coat of white (I havent masked it yet hence the wavy line, the next coat will have the masking)
I've fitted the breakwater and started work on the wheelhouse as well as started to work on the main gun









This photo shows the rough position of where the mast will be fitted. In the kit it goes aft of the wheelhouse so will have to make something for it to locate into



I've also built up the funnel (Remember to pass the cord through this before you glue it together) and its ready for a bit of paint again





So thats where I am as of now :) Slow progress but progress nonetheless!

[110samec]

Did a little bit more this evening :) Got the funnel base done and glued the funnel in place.









This shot shows how the mast fits in a standard kit (i.e aft of the wheelhouse). Later I shall move this in front of the wheelhouse as per HMS Borage. Its only there atm so I dont lose it

[Niall]

Been doing some CAD designs for the magnetic and acoustic minesweeping gear.
This is based on the drawings in the Aggassi book and the IWM photos which I assume were taken on a 105ft motor minsweeper. The location of the small gear wheel and thus the crank handle is a guestimate, the support for the outer end of the crank handle is a total guess.

[110samec]

Cheers niall those drawings are great for getting a good idea of what to do for those bits :)

Righty ho thought I'd give this thread an update, been busy land rovering so modelling has been on the back burner

I've painted the deck which gives the model another dimension I think, it looks good, especially in contrast with the wooden deck. (I know theres grey on the white paneling but it needs painting white again anyway. I've also been busy building the bridge.



The guns are what you get with the platinum model. Its the first time I've ever used Photoetch so they're a bit wobbly







It needs filler where it joins to the floor (Its not glued in place yet, just on top of the wheelhouse temporarily)





I've got to say this is one of the most enjoyable kits to work on, yes the detailing isnt fantastic as its an old kit but its fun to build :)

Sam