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.