Model of HMS ANTRIM 1982 Falklands. Scale 1:600

 Recently I was commissioned to make a model of Hms Antrim as she appeared in the Falklands conflict of 1982.
 The only small scale model currently available is the veteran 1:600 scale Airfix kit of the Batch 1 County Class Destroyer HMS Devonshire.
I managed to track down a couple of boxes of this old kit on ebay,  having two kits is very handy for airbrush testing ,spares and templates etc.
The painting of HMS Devonshire on the Box is a cracking piece of marine art and well worth some examination, I think it is probably by Roy Cross, a very talented commercial artist who started working for Airfix in the early 60's. He really did create some quality compositions that were packed with atmosphere and a sense of movement.

The model inside is what you expect from an Airfix kit from the 1960's, detail is basic,plenty of thick edged, over scaled parts that will all have to be replaced with scratch built or commercially available alternatives. The Wessex 5 suffers from a large sink hole, the hull fits together poorly and the raised planking deck detail will have to be removed.
Numerous alterations will be required to change this Batch 1 ship into the Hms Antrim of 1982 and bring the model up to an exhibition quality standard.
Plans and Drawings have been ordered and I look forward to studying them over the next few weeks.

RESEARCH
Excellent sets of plans for many modern Royal Navy ships are available from
www.jecobinplans.com

I ordered the 1:192 plans of HMS Glamorgan in 1984 to help with my build of HMS Antrim in 1982. These excellent drawings really do help with the build and save a lot of time.

 I will cross reference these plans with Ross Wattons excellent 3D cut away picture of a county class destroyer that is still available from
www.navynews.co.uk

This information is supplemented by and checked against photos of HMS Antrim from the Falklands in 1982. There are many of these on the internet , but I also got a copy of "Bomb Alley" by David Yates, this has a some useful black and white photo's and is a good read giving some insight to the nature of a modern naval warfare.

 I also got Chris Parry's "Down South", which is more useful to the model maker as it has some colour photos of a higher resolution.
 I have not read this one yet, but it looks like it a good account of  the conflict detailing the role of the Wessex helicopter on HMS Antrim.

I also found some nice drawings of Humphrey for free on the internet.

HMS Fearless 1:600 scale more photos

 A few more photographs of the super detailed 1:600 HMS Fearless model. I think they are an improvement on the previous set.
They were taken in natural daylight with an oil painting I am currently working on as a backdrop.
 I plan on using models to help with the composition of some of my marine paintings in future.
Watch this space !

HMS Fearless photographed with a backdrop of one of my unfinished seascapes,the landing craft to the right looks particularly convincing 

Shot of the LCVP's being lowered

Close up detail of the Seakings and flight deck area

Diorama of HMS Iron Duke Type 23 Frigate in 1/700 Scale

Recently  I was commissioned to make a diorama of HMS Iron Duke as she appeared in 2009 off the coast South America.One of her roles on this deployment was the seizure of narcotics.

The kit chosen for this diorama was the excellent White Ensign Models 1/700 scale, resin and brass etched kit of  HMS Norfolk. The detail is good, but it needs some alterations to represent  Iron Duke as she appeared in 2009.

Firstly I needed to replace the Vickers 4.5 inch gun on the HMS Norfolk kit,  it is of the older rounded style gun housing and can be seen here in the background.  I replaced this with part of the Dragon 1/700 kit of HMS York, this has the newer angular Gun housing, shown above in the foreground.
The gun barrel is ok for an injection moulding of this scale, but is not suitable for a model of this quality, so I shall be replacing it with 0.3mm or 0.4mm diameter brass micro tube. This will greatly improve the scale feel of this component of the ship.

This Project is on pause at the moment whilst I await the release of the new 1:350 type 23 kit from Trumpeter and decide whether to make the larger model instead.