Just uploading a video ..... could anyone remind me details of this one please?
Vosper 72 feet-type class MTB 223
https://youtu.be/YTZD6UaBf3M
Via email to Mayhem ....Martin, the Vosper is mine, I built it a couple of years ago and Wicksteed was its second time in the water, mainly because I wanted to try it in more open water, the size of the local canal basin being too restricted to allow it to turn round or open up. I built it as a follow-up to my 1/12 scale scratch Whaleback, having enjoyed the experience of researching a WWII fast launch whose history seems to have been forgotten, producing a hard chine, double-diagonal planked hull and thinking of ways to produce such details as turret moulding. At the risk of boring you stiff, here is the full history:
Vosper Motor Torpedo Boat 233.Built by Chris Ellis.
This 1/12 scale scratchbuilt model represents Vosper MTB 233 between launch in January of 1942 and April of 1943, under the command of Lt. Jamie L Fraser RNVR, who was killed in action against 3 German armed trawlers off the Hook of Holland on the night of 18th April 1943.
This boat sailed with the 21st MTB Flotilla out of HMS Beehive (Felixstowe), CO Captain Peter Dickens DSO, MBE, DSC, the great grandson of Charles Dickens. See Ref.1.
This boat was one of the first Vosper series to be equipped with three Packard V12 marine engines of 1250 HP each (no, not Merlins), plus two Ford V8 engines for silent running at 6 knots. The Packards gave a performance of 38.9 knots at 2400 rev/min or 35.9 knots continuously at 2200 rev/min. Carrying 2683 gallons of 100 octane petrol in two main tanks, the range was up to 400 miles at 20 knots. Overall displacement was 47 tons, 55 tons wet with all armaments.
Vosper, under the Chief Engineer Peter DuCane, designed and built the so-called 70’ MTB just before WW II, but in fact the boat hulls were 70’6” long and revised to 71’0” in 1941. Including the 18” diameter anti-cavitation plates above each propeller, the overall length was actually 72’6”. Boat 233 was built under licence and Vosper control by Berthon Boat Company at Lymington. Originally the design included two transom-mounted rudders and a keel mounted fixed fin, but early in their service, all boats were retro-fitted with a third, central rudder to improve the turning circle, especially at high speed.
Armament: 2 x 21” torpedo tubes fired by explosive charge (fired at a boat speed of 12 knots), 2 x 0.5” Vickers water-cooled machine guns (700 rounds/min each) in a Vickers MkV hydraulic turret, 2 x 0.303” Lewis machine guns, CSA (chloro-sulphonic acid) smoke generator, 2 x standard RN depth charges. Although up to 8 depth charges could be carried, their combined weight adversely affected trim, so only 2 were usually carried, to be dropped in the path of pursuing enemy vessels, usually during hasty retreats!
Until July of 1943, 233 was painted overall grey, but during a refit it was repainted in the Peter Scott designed dazzle camouflage and a 20mm Oerlikon cannon was added to the foredeck.
Boat 233 completed War service mainly in the North Sea and was disposed of in June of 1945.
The model:This was built with nominal reference to a 1/24 semi-scale Model Boat/John Lambert design, but accurate detail, enough to redraw the main frames, photographs and Vosper drawings were obtained from Ref.2.
The hull is planked with scale mahogany planks (1050) over ply frames. Power is supplied by 3 x 380kV 5060 brushless motors running at 25 volts, giving an overall output of just under 2.5 kW.
Every detail of the boat is scratch built with the exception of the gun bodies which are 3D printed by Shapeways.
At 72.5” long the model weighs 26 kg overall, including 8.6 kg of lead ballast and 2 kg of LiPos to achieve the correct waterline. The only drawback to such a large model is transportation and launching!
Built October 2019 to July 2020.
Chris.
Author
Topic: Mayhem at Wicksteed 2022 (Read 79109 times)