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Tuesday 28 February 2012

The unvarnished truth

I have to go out later today to attend a meeting, but before I went I just had time to finish painting (but not varnishing) the prototype 'Monopoly'-inspired model battleship.

It looks like this:









I had hoped to paint some form of bronze or gold ornament on the bow ... but could not find any suitable paint so it will have to go without for the moment.

22 comments:

  1. That is just lovely Bob. A squadron of them will be a sight worth seeing!

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  2. Tim Gow,

    With a bit of luck you might well be seeing exactly that in the not too distant future!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. Very smart! I'd love to see some of that fabulous british corvette style angular jagged edge camo paint on the sides, but obviously wouldn't be "right". It is rather inspirational though - could Mrs H really be expected a new genre of wargame, let alone the dreaded "new period" conversation...!!

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  4. Ken H,

    Many thanks for your kind comment.

    However I wish you had not mentioned corvettes in dazzle pattern camouflage, as I suddenly had visions of building a North Atlantic convoy and escorts!

    The joy of this model (and hopefully those that will follow) is their size makes them easy to build, paint, and store. They did not require any expensive specialist modelling tools, and the raw materials are not too expensive (a bag of assorted basswood off-cuts from Hobbycraft cost about £12.00 and will provide enough raw material for four models).

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. I remember as a schoolboy reading a fabulous series in military modelling about flower class corvettes camo schemes..an up until now latent desire is emerging. I wonder if you can convert the pontoons from an airfix bailey bridge into corvettes at..well whatever scale.
    Right - as I am up in the yorkshire dales - I shall settle down tonight with some old naval books and a couple of Mrs Ackroyd's finest semi skimmed rubbing ale, and plan...

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  6. Hi Bob

    Once you have enough of them I would like to see one of them in the Channel Fleet colour scheme.

    That is black hull, white upperworks and buff funnels.

    Looking good so far.

    Jim

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  7. Ken H,

    It sounds like a great way to spend an evening!

    The Airfix pontoons are very useful as a basis for all sorts of things. I used two as a basis for a couple Soviet armoured gunboats. I decked the pontoons over with Plasticard added a spare T34 turret to each, and built a simple armoured bridge for each from Plasticard.

    I love the 'Flower'-class corvettes ... but my favourite corvettes are the Italian 'Gabbiano'-class (see here and here).

    All the best,

    Bob

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  8. Jim Duncan,

    The next models will certainly have black hulls!

    This model was painted with a white hull in homage to the original 'Monopoly' battlehip's American origins.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  9. Definitely a charming model. It really could use some portholes though. I don't know if the original ships had them but they seem popular on tinplate ones!

    Good stuff.
    -Ross

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  10. Hi Bob,

    Stunning - pure and simple. The best thing about this model is not so much what it represents - rather it is how it represented. It ticks all the boxes as to being a battleship and with the look that means business.

    I cannot wait to see how you expand this concept and I am really looking forward to trying something similar myself - and I have just the idea in mind....;-)

    All the best,

    DC

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  11. A lot more useable and better value than http://waterline-ships.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=72&products_id=12679&osCsid=ab7d1a19aa71ccc790164f8a48474c2c

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  12. I rather think that David Crook has hit the market Bob. It looks the part. It's not about measurements and rivet counting, as he suggests, it looks right. I feel a reopening of the pontoon set awaits!

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  13. That turned out very nicely. Well done, Bob.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  14. Tradgardmastare,

    Hopefully there will be more to follow in the near future!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  15. David Crook,

    Many thanks for your kind comments.

    My next step is to see if I can reproduce the same sort of model again – with some minor improvements. I will then try modelling a cruiser and a torpedo boat … and then try to hone the ability to make several sister ships at the same time.

    Good luck with your own efforts in this direction. I look forward to seeing the results very soon.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  16. Nigel Drury,

    I could make a small fleet of these models for the price quoted for this single 1:1250th-scale model!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  17. Ross Mac,

    You are quite right about the tinplate models having lots of portholes ... but I am not quite sure if my present modelling technique is quite up to reproducing them on my model ships!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  18. Ken H,

    I was very pleased with the end result … and I hope to improve upon it over the next few models as well.

    I say ‘Get that pontoon set open … and get modelling

    All the best,

    Bob!

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  19. Prufrock,

    Many thanks … and keep watching for further developments!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  20. Corporal_Trim (Steve),

    Many thanks. I hope that the next models that are going to come off the production line are as good!

    All the best,

    Bob

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