Model Boat Mayhem

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length.
Pages: [1] 2   Go Down

Author Topic: Small Monitor M19  (Read 9974 times)

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Small Monitor M19
« on: January 26, 2017, 11:40:01 pm »

When the Deans marine its of M33 and M15 came out I was quite excited because I was an avid reader of the Ian Buxton book and hoped that a few of the vessels would be produced in it form.

I bought the M15 kit as I like big guns, and the 'plonking' of a big turret on a small hull adds to the hastily designed look of the early monitor fleet. They were simple, expendable and designed for one purpose, namely, lobbing shells at enemy targets ashore.

Reading the book informed me that there were two marks of 9.2inch guns made available for the M15 class; the Mk VI and the Mk X. The latter gun is that provided in the kit and seen on other models published in magazines, so when I found the former weapon and its more interesting turret, I had to create a model of this type.

I chose M19. Why? I cannot say, but often our decisions are fortutious and hopefully this build log will show how.

I like making fiddly bits and parts, so I started on the superstructure and weapons.

The superstructure was made as per the instructions with kit water tight doors fitted and scratch built access doors to non water tight areas such as the galley. These doors need their hinges and handle added.


The wheelhouse and Bridge is smaller than on some Small Monitors, indeed being quite cramped! I asked you chaps for ideas on where the chart tabe would be situated on such a wee bridge and as expected, recieved much considered and good suggestions, for which I thanks you. As it turned out, moving a piece of paper used as a bookmark uncovered a caption for a photo showing several monitors moored abreast, and it turns out that it protruded out the side on braces! It had the little sloping roof as seen in other photos of Monitor bridges.


Port holes were added by turning a porthole hub and adding a section of turned disk to create the rigol. I then moulded and cast a number in pewter. I got the idea from somewhere but for the life of me cannot remember where.








Weapons for self defence included a 12pounder and a 6pounder on an extemporised high angle mounting. I modified the low angle kit provided using a block of obeche clad with styrene. The existign model was fitted to the top and the whole lot was mounted onto the pintle.





The 12pounder was built as per the kit and just painted. Both are lovely kits though the location of some parts was by a little bit of guess work.

Initially the turret was going to be a problem to build because I had little but small photos to work from in the Buxton book, but by chance I was reading a book called 'Naval Guns' by IV. Hogg which has a few side views and cutaways of weapons platforms. Luckily, there is a side plan of the original turret mounting the 9.2inch Mk VI on Endymion class Armoured Cruisers.

From this I was able to scale dimentions making doubly sure of the formula this time so as not to repeat my M class debacle  <:(

There are some vagaries with dimentions because the gun mount was modified to increase the range of the gun by raising the height of the trunnions. Also, the heavy armoured gun house was replaced with a sheet steel shield. Looking at the photos, the turret looks taller suggesting it was made so to accomodate the taller mounting which, by the way, was an old Vavasseur inclinded slide type.

First off the gun barrel was turned in Chemiwood. Then moulded and cast in resin.


The complex breech was designed in styrene plastic and cast in pewter from a silicone spin casting mould.


The gun house was built in a similar manner to that provided for the kit's MkX gun except that the mounting is radically different and so needed representing as such. The floor was cut out and the slides incorporating the brackets to hold the armour plate fitted.


A structural frame was then made and fitted to the floor, and again this was to support the armour plate, but not so as to look out of place.






Finally this session, the recoil cylinders with the trunnions were made from styrene rod and sheet. The breech detail was fitted at this time.




More soon!



Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

derekwarner

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,463
  • Location: Wollongong Australia
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2017, 01:42:01 am »

Ian......your rendition of the blast baggage is excellent :-))......will they be painted in grey/green flat colour?

Not sure what protection they/it really offered, were they not only canvas X quilted bags stuffed with Wool or in latter years Kapoc?  O0....a 22 bullet or even a Slug Gun projectile would penetrate it  %%

Looking forward to more images as you progress the build........Derek
Logged
Derek Warner

Honorary Secretary [Retired]
Illawarra Live Steamers Co-op
Australia
www.ils.org.au

roycv

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,389
  • Location: S.W. Herts
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2017, 02:45:46 am »

Hi like the boat I thought it was Plastic armour, but then I thought this would be a WW2 invention.  Anyone know?
Roy
Logged

derekwarner

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,463
  • Location: Wollongong Australia
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2017, 04:13:47 am »

Hullo Roy......this 'blast baggage' was used in WW1 on vessels, around the Bridge, conning towers and around small arms mounts .....originally intended as protection 'of sorts' from shrapnel/deck splintering, however never considered as protection from weapons fire

Interestingly, it is literally the forerunner of the Kevlar vests worn by our Troops and Law Enforcement Officers today

Derek
Logged
Derek Warner

Honorary Secretary [Retired]
Illawarra Live Steamers Co-op
Australia
www.ils.org.au

roycv

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,389
  • Location: S.W. Herts
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2017, 07:20:28 am »

Thanks Derek, nice to know something new!  I remember reading Neville Shute's autobiography as he was involved with the plastic armour used in WW2. That was right down to the quarry where they found the best size stones to deflect shells.
regards Roy
Logged

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2017, 08:03:29 pm »

Hi Derek,

The plan is to find the dazzle scheme as used on M19 for a time. I remember the reference to Kew archives in Nick's (RAF Launches) topic on HMS Kent in the Warships research section.

Therefore, the blast bags will probably be at least the basic grey or in part of the dazzle scheme. The Perkins book on monitors and support craft may have this information as well.

The blast bags are sculpted from Milliput and can also be seen on the bridge of my M class HMS Ready project.

Like Derek says Roy, the bags were splinter protection. They were not thick enough to do more. I have a picture in a book on Battlecruisers showing the bridge of HMS Australia which is almost spiffing except one corner bag is missing and another has a flopp bit, so either they were being repaired, or sometime more important jobs were prioritised above fixing blast bags.
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2017, 07:37:56 pm »

A small update.

I am adding enough detail to the areas that you can see from outside the gun house. I will paint the inteior a light grey to help light bounce out.




The turret was handworked as originally designed, so it seems the builders only removed the armoured gun house and the shell handling equipment from within the platform while they were increasing the gun's range.

The breech (as seen on the right) was a triple action system and can be seen in its engineering glory here:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN1tOVzFrWY



More soon!
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

raflaunches

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,681
  • The Penguins are coming!!!
  • Location: Back in the UK, Kettering, Northants
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2017, 10:48:13 pm »

Nice work Ian :-))


I particularly like your breech mechanism on the 9.2" gun. O0
Logged
Nick B

Help! The penguins have stolen my sanity, and my hot water bottle!

Illegitimi non carborundum!

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2017, 08:49:54 pm »

Do you want some guns?
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

raflaunches

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,681
  • The Penguins are coming!!!
  • Location: Back in the UK, Kettering, Northants
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2017, 09:21:57 pm »

I certainly wouldn't pass up on that offer. :-))
Logged
Nick B

Help! The penguins have stolen my sanity, and my hot water bottle!

Illegitimi non carborundum!

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2017, 09:39:45 pm »

PM sent.
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #11 on: February 05, 2017, 10:11:25 pm »

Latest bulletin. I worked on the turret this weekend concentrating on the gun house sides and roof.
Because the front of the roof slopes, I had to work out how to get the oval shape to match its circular floor so that the curved sides were straight.

In Photo 2 you can see that the roof section has lines drawn on it. I drew round the floor onto paper and then drew straight lines 2mm apart developing a plan. I drew a line above the drawing of the floor at the same angle as the roof would be to get the distance between lines on the roof section.

I then marked out an oblong onto .5mm plastic and marked the lines onto this before measuring the length of each line on the floor and transferring them to the roof section. Once done, I cut and filed the roof section to a half oval shape. I cut out the flat roof section and then glued both in place.

Then I marked and cut out the curved front and side panel measuring the gun apeture. I then glued this in place and once dried, I held it over a boiling kettle to destress the plastic before plunging it into cold water just in case the steam warped the plastic before it cooled.


Next I trimmed the excess side material away givng the basic shape of the gun house. You can see the apeture marked out and the lines I drew.


A quick shot of how the gunhouse looks from the inside at this stage.


Then I cut and filed the apeture.


Before popping the gun in to see that everything looks ship shape.


And from the rear. I think I will cut out the breech pit in the floor rather than cheat and paint it a darker grey.


The breech was painted in Vellejo Oily steel with all the brasswork in a mix of Vellejo Gold and Ochre. They may have painted the breech over in wartime, but a bit of colour never hurts does it.

More soon  :-))

Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

derekwarner

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,463
  • Location: Wollongong Australia
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2017, 10:49:43 pm »

Ian....that look of the composite metals in the breech body then locking gear is superb :-))

[Vellejo Oily steel with all the brasswork in a mix of Vellejo Gold and Ochre]

Could you return the hand wheels to the same Vellejo Oily steel?

Derek
Logged
Derek Warner

Honorary Secretary [Retired]
Illawarra Live Steamers Co-op
Australia
www.ils.org.au

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2017, 10:56:53 pm »

I reckon so. I didn't think of the handwheels being left steel, but it makes perfect sense. Thanks Derek  :-))
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

derekwarner

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,463
  • Location: Wollongong Australia
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #14 on: February 05, 2017, 11:27:38 pm »

 >>:-(....just thinking...the wheels were grey, then Vellejo Oily steel, then grey again......

In reality they probably would have been bronze cast wheels....so how about Vellejo Gold and Ochre? to match the bronze in the breech body?

Derek
Logged
Derek Warner

Honorary Secretary [Retired]
Illawarra Live Steamers Co-op
Australia
www.ils.org.au

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2017, 02:20:59 pm »

Afternoon all.

The gun house gig continues......

The lack of breech pit was playing on my mind whenever I looked at the work so far, and so decided to add it. Looking at the plan and images more closely showed it to be more extensive than just a simple box. It has a slope that ends at the rear of the working platform which explains why the crew seem to be standing to one side of the breech but not in the middle where the slope might cause men to slip towards the breech.

So, I cut the middle of the platform out.


The sides and slope of the pit were made from .5mm plastic.




The front of the gun house has three openings. The first we covered last week where the barrel pokes out. The second is for the gun sight and is on the left of the gun and the third is an opening for what I assume is part of the elevation gear to protrude.




I painted the handwheels in Oily steel and then got lunch.

More soon!
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #16 on: February 12, 2017, 05:53:09 pm »

Last progress report this weekend.

Having added some electrical(?) cables to the gunhouse sides the gun was finally installed and the sides of the working platform were added.






The next job is to make the ammunition crane and do a few final details.

Images show that there was no blast bag on this gun so I will leave the apeture breezy.

More soon.
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

raflaunches

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,681
  • The Penguins are coming!!!
  • Location: Back in the UK, Kettering, Northants
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2017, 05:58:24 pm »

Nice work Ian- looks exactly what I think the 9.2" turret would look like  :-))
Logged
Nick B

Help! The penguins have stolen my sanity, and my hot water bottle!

Illegitimi non carborundum!

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2017, 09:45:02 pm »

A little update.

I turned the barbette from chemiwood and this is the result.


I have made a start on the ammunition davit using one of four small davits provided in the kit. I cannot see where they fit in the kit so Hope that they are an unexpected bonus. I cut one down and added some detail. There is some more work to do to this piece.


Here it is loosley placed on the platform.


I added the rear blast mats to the bridge as well as a frame to hold an awning, the ladder is an etch piece from the kit and will have handrails added from wire. Then there are just the doors to detail.

Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

raflaunches

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,681
  • The Penguins are coming!!!
  • Location: Back in the UK, Kettering, Northants
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2017, 10:55:32 pm »

Hi Ian


Lovely work, I've never heard of chemiwood, it almost looks like plastic- is it easy to work with?
Logged
Nick B

Help! The penguins have stolen my sanity, and my hot water bottle!

Illegitimi non carborundum!

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #20 on: March 01, 2017, 10:05:07 pm »

It is like cured car body filler to work with but has no grain. It can be carved and finished by hand and as you can see works well with machine tools.

As it has no grain, it is brittle when put under duress but we are not talking plaster here. There different grades and assume they are different densities. I have used the Pink stuff on and off for twenty years while I bought a block of the orange denser stuff about seven years ago.

The Orange 'Modlab' I bought from 4D Models in London but when I looked for it a few years ago I could not see it listed but know there are suppliers of the material. It is not cheap, but it is versatile.


Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

raflaunches

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,681
  • The Penguins are coming!!!
  • Location: Back in the UK, Kettering, Northants
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #21 on: March 01, 2017, 10:08:03 pm »

Thanks Ian


Looking for different materials for future projects and chemiwood looks like a good alternative material.
Logged
Nick B

Help! The penguins have stolen my sanity, and my hot water bottle!

Illegitimi non carborundum!

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2017, 10:41:45 pm »

Here are some suppkiers I have found looking for 'Chemiwood'

http://www.fighteraces.co.uk/product/chemiwood-modelling-board/

http://www.alchemie.com/?cat=22&page=3

4D does not seem to do it these days.
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy

Lvlol

  • Shipmate
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3
  • Model Boat Mayhem is Great!
  • Location: Dover
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #23 on: March 03, 2017, 09:27:47 pm »

Hi,


Thanks so much to admin allowing me access to this site.


I have read this article and am amazed at how intricate this model is turning out to be - superb. I have been doing a bit of research on the M19 due to an incident at Salonika in 1916 and so was pleased to find someone making a model of her. I maybe help with further information etc if needed - Let me know if you need anything.


In the meantime I will sit back and watch her being built 😊
Logged

ballastanksian

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,447
  • Model Boat Mayhem inspires me!
  • Location: Crewkerne
Re: Small Monitor M19
« Reply #24 on: March 03, 2017, 09:49:26 pm »

Hi Lvlol.

What a coincidence. Thanks for the offer. Apart from Dazzle camo details, I think I am ok for information so far, but you can never say never regarding references.

What incident are you referring to? I know we were involved in that area.
Logged
Pond weed is your enemy
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up
 

Page created in 0.118 seconds with 22 queries.