DONE @p.2 +++ 1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22) during the Falklands War, 1982

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, it's early for a post, but another submission for this GB will be a (very) small scale ship model.  I am treading on hazardous terrain with this one, but I like the challenge. I have built some ships in the past, including some of Matchbox' waterline models in 1:700, but that was decades ago.
I have never built Matchbox' HMS Tiger before, though, but I found the concept of an outdated/unfinsihed WWII cruiser turned into a (kind of) modern heli carrier so absurd that the ship lent itself as basis:



This looks so wrong... My initial idea was to create a fictional Royal Navy Tiger-class ship, but with Sea Harriers on board, and part of Task Force 317 that took part in the Falklands conflict. For that purpose I not only had a Matchbox Tiger (Revell re-boxing) already stashed away long ago, but also shot a Revell HMS Invincible on ev!lbay, primarily for the Sea Harriers that come with it, because these are not available as separate aftermarket sets (e .g. from Trumpeter – you only get AV-8Bs, and the difference is quite visible).

The current GB is the ideal occasion to tackle this build. However, for a what-if model, OOB is never enough – with the Invincible kit at hand I quickly considered some transplants and detail changes, and finally I wanted to enlarge the landing deck for more traffic and operational security. This calls for a hull extension, and this is where the adventure and the birth of HMS Cerberus begins... 

[Old Wombat]

Hoo, boy! This should be interesting!

[PR19_Kit]

We won't have to wait long I'm sure, at Thomas' usual build speed the Cerebus will be afloat by next weekend. 

A fascinating idea and I'll be watching closely too. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Sssh, it's a ship - not an 1:72 aircraft, so I have no idea how things will turn out. 

I already found a good place to make a cut for the hull plug: under the hangar. There's a section that's actually straight, but the cut will have to be L-shaped because the hangar is right above it. Insert will be ~3cm long. This does not sound like much, but in real life that's already 70'/21m, and I want to keep overall proportions plausible. I also considered widening the rear hull section, but that would have looked awful, and the deck parts would not fit anymore. I guess that I will have to replace the whole flight deck, though.

BTW, does anybody know a good Humbrol tone for a modern RN ship? Old Matchbox instructions call for 64, but I find this rather yellow-ish? I rather tend to 167 (Barley Grey), 165 (Medium Sea Grey) or 127 (FS 36375)?

[Dizzyfugu]

Cerberus started moving, faster than expected - even though this might also be based on the fact that my current home office situation offers a short connection to the work bench. However, things started with "the cut" through the hull - there's actually a straight section under the hanger section which is perfect:


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The plug is a 1.5mm styrene sheet, 3m long. From there I added internal stiffeners and then additional side plates, here hidden under fresh putty:


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

This is what Cerberus looks like after some PSR and with the front deck in place, as well as the internal rear structure under the heli deck:


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Next came the carrier deck section; I had to level out some "steps" and replaced the OOB deck (in the picture, the edge is actually the deck's end and where the hangar doors are located) with a new piece cut from 0.5mm styrene sheet:


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Quite a gain of space for aerial traffic!

Next came the middle section between the hangar and the command structure. On Tiger, there's just blank space with a funnel rising from it - and this looks really weird. I wanted a high structure there, so I used parts from the Invincible donor kit to create another "plug". In order to mount it, the Tiger kit's deck had to be cleaned thorroughly. As a bonus, the Invincible funnel replaced the two singe funnels of Tiger, with a more modern/compact look, too:


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Here's yesterday's status, with some dry-fitted sections to the hull and the first masts attached - either modified OOB with Invincible parts, or Invincible donors:


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[PR19_Kit]

Delete what I said about this being done by next weekend.

Perhaps Wednesday would be more like it. 

[Dizzyfugu]

I'm actually already painting it... 

[PR19_Kit]

I'm actually already painting it... 

See? Told you. 

Maybe by THIS weekend then? 

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, I got reminded why I am not a fan of ship models. While the building phase went relatively smoothly, painting is hell... all those tiny corners between the hull and the deck, then the paint for the deck is not properly opaque, sh!t. 


1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[Dizzyfugu]

Not much visible progress in the dry dock: I fight with painting the deck details, and lots of small bits like the aircraft, armament and lifeboats take a lot of time.

1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:700 HMS Cerberus (C22), Tiger-Class Cruiser of the Royal Navy, during deployment to the Falkslands/Malvinas conflict (Southern Atlantic), 1982 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


I am also already wondering how I can take some suitable pictures of the waterline model? Challenges, challenges...

[PR19_Kit]

I am also already wondering how I can take some suitable pictures of the waterline model? Challenges, challenges...

You need some water............ 

Or just a pic of some water anyway.

[sandiego89]

I am also already wondering how I can take some suitable pictures of the waterline model? Challenges, challenges...

Dizzy I have had some good luck with making several water surfaces with a bit of paintable caulk spread over a wooden shelf or other material.  The paintable caulk remains tacky enough to sculpt into wave patterns to give the water surface enough interest.  I sprayed with shades of hardware store blue spray paints and a bit of white foam dry brushed on. 

I have re-used the same board numerous times for several 1/700 and other scale projects.  I have a larger one also which is a bit smoother, but enough painted caulk to show water texture.     

My smaller board with scratch built 1/700 Atlantic Conveyor, 1982 Falklands

 

1/700 Liberty ship as WHIF Pogo VTOL training ship.  On my larger water surface.  Paintable caulk.



1/700 Saratoga in post war Vietnam service.  Same smaller board, with light blue foam board behind. 



Scratch Ashland class as WHIF Sea Master support ship. One my large water surface.   

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you for the tips! For side shots I might try clear cling wrap over a flat board, and for shots from above the caulk board looks fine - I might also try to find a good photo and experiment with a simple printout, this works surprisingly well from this perspective.

[Weaver]

This is a good idea.

That flat space between the main mast and the aft funnel originally had a pair of twin 3" Mk.6 gun mountings (same as the one in B pos). During the hrlo conversion, they were replaced with twin Seacats, but their aft fields of fire sucked.

The thing that always struck me about the Tigers was that they should had the hangar one 'interval' further forward, i.e. the doors level with the main mast and the front end wrapped around the aft funnel. That would give more deck space without lengthening the hull. It would put the hangar(s) over the former 3"/Seacat mountings, but the latter could be relocated to the hangar roof. This would give them a better field of fire, although it would need a more elaborate hoist arrangement to get missiles from the former 3" magazines up to the hangar roof. If that increased topweight too much, then they could always lose the B-pos 3" Mk.6 and replace that with a third Seacat. it might look a bit exposed there, but I bet it would still be a hell of a lot dryer than the forward Seacat on an Exocet Leander.

Why didn't they do any of this? Probably because they always knew that these were a sub-optimal stopgap solution until the new 'Command Cruisers' (Invincibles) came into service. The Tigers were in poor shape even before the conversion: Lion was originally going to be converted too but it was cancelled, partly because she was in poor condition, partly because the cost & timescale of Blake and Tiger shot WAY over budget, and partly to increase the spares holdind for the other two.

[Dizzyfugu]

I think the problem was the engine deck below the mid section, preventing that the hangar structure could be move further forward. The rear funnel would have ended up in the way, and I am also not certain about the ship's center of gravity?

BTW, on Cerberus, the Seacats are replaced by Phalanx gatling gun stations, plus another one on top of the hangar, and the 3 in gun mount on the front deck is replaced by a bigger Sea Dart twin launcher.