the Leutonian naval fleet (1/144 project)

[Spey_Phantom]

as i once said a long time ago: "im not a boat builder".
but when it comes to 1/144 ships combines with aircraft & helicopters, thats the exception.

i did build a couple of ships that i bought on a rumage sale either completed, incomplete or unbuild.
theye turned out horrible and most of them ended up being scrapped or used for spares.
but i always kept the hulls just in case
after building my 2 scratchbuild 1/144 aircraft carriers (the Belgian "BNS Dendermonde" and the Leutonian "LNS Amanda Peet") i decided, after BlackOps (i think it was him) made a suggestion about adding escort ships to the carrier(s) i would go ahead and build them.
i have 2 hulls, one old scratch project and a submarine and im gonna build them for the Leutonian Navy  .

now lets review the 4 planned ships.

1. the gunboat "LNS Pjotter".

this old ship i made about 1 or 2 years ago, it isnt much of a looker i know 
this ship will be completly rebuild, refit, upgraded and repainted, but will still be named Pjotter with serial M-204.

type: Light patrol Gunboat, patrol boat
armament: 2 x Sea Sparrow, 1 x 70mm turret
features: PRIME system in a rotating radome
crew: 12
displacement: 212 tons



2. Minesweeper "LNS Hannigan"

named after that hot redhead Alyson hannigan , this ship is currenty being build from a scrapped revell 1/400 glasgow oil tanker hull, im gonna look for reference photo's of the Belgian Tripartite class ships.
the hannigan is one of 3 Willis-Class minesweepers for the Leutonian Navy, the other 2 being the LNS Willis and LNS Weaver (named after Signorey Weaver, cause you guys like her so much  )

type: Minesweeper & anti submarine vessel
armament: 1 x 70mm turret and 3 x 50. machineguns
features: specialised anti-submarine warfare suite, mine detection, Seafox remote submarine for high risk sweeping.
crew: 60
displacement: 665 tons



3. Submarine "LNS Halycon"

this is the first time im gonna build a submarine. at first site, it looks pretty easy. i bought a 1/144 revell type206A submarine fo this. mainly because it is the cheapest 1/144 modern sub available (about 10 euro's).
im gonna build this kit straight out of the box, but with custom made decals for the LN.
the Leutonian navy bought 2 of these submarines from germany and renamed them "LNS Halycon" and "LNS Connery" (after Sir. Sean Connery, hunt for red october)

type: Attack Submarine
armament: 8 Mk15 stingray torpedo's + 24 mines (to be upgraded to operate Harpoon ASM's)
features: upgraded for silent strike, new advanced SONAR system, an ECM suite.
crew: 22
displacement: 498 tons



4. Frigate "LNS Westkerke"

after renaming the harrier carrier "Amanda Peet", i decided to re-use the name "LNS Westkerke" on the new frigate.
the Hull im using is the old 1/350 bismark hull (original plan to build a 1/144 WW1 carrier has been cancelled).
the ship is one of 2 Westkerke-Class multipurpose frigates, the other being "LNS Remini" (after Leah Remini, AKA Carrie Heffernan in "King of Queens")
compared to the earlier frigate "LNS Valkenier" (converted defiance gunboat) the ship is at least twice as large and can operate a helicopter the size of an NH90 or SH-60 from its rear deck.

type: multipurpose frigate
armament: Sea Sparrow SAM, 1 x 20mm PHALANX gun, Harpoon ASM and 1 90mm semi-automatic turret.
features: wideband radar antena's, MAD and SONAR equipment, equiped for anti-piracy duties
crew: 215
displacement: 3320 tons
Airwing: 1 NH90, SH-60 or SH-135 helicopter




i plan to build 2 more ships, but that will have to wait after the moving next month.

-"LNS Anniston" (a revell 1/144 german gepard-class attack boat, named after Jennifer Anniston  )
-"LNS Zooey Deschanel" (a revell 1/200 coast guard ETV Waker, named after that hot actress from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie  )

[Spey_Phantom]

update

work has begun on the frigate "LNS Westkerke", today she has recieved the rear hangar for the helcopter.
im still in the middle of the designing of the frigate structure, but the biggest thing im worried about is its gun turret. i dont have any experience in creating my own, although i do have a stealthy looking Leopard 2A turret in mind, with a 105mm barrel.
the rear deck has been measures out, i placed a pre-printed decal on the aft-deck, and it looks quite good.

for comparison i placed the current light patrol frigate "LNS Valkenier" on the side.



a clear view of the larger deck 



and the deck test with an SH-135B 



also in the works is the minesweeper "LNS Hannigan". hasnt changed much 

[Brian da Basher]

Love the little helicopter and flight deck, Nils! You have some serious ship whiffing talent!

Brian da Basher