HMS Triffid

[TomZ]

How much did the 1/144 version set you back, Tom?

About GBP 40 I think....


TomZ

[Leading Observer]

Excellent build

[nighthunter]

How much did the 1/144 version set you back, Tom?

About GBP 40 I think....


TomZ

$51.50 USD, OUCH! But probably worth it.

[zenrat]

$AU 80.  Last time I saw a 1/72 Flower for sale it was IIRC $AU 300.

[TomZ]

I updated the links to the pictures as some people were unable to view them.

TomZ

[JayBee]

Some time ago I built the Matchbox Flower Class Corvette, and did her as HMS Asphodel.
Part of the reason I chose that one was the simple colour scheme that she carried. I can not remember what the scheme was called but it was one used in the Western Approaches and the Mediterranean for small ships.
She is almost RW but with a few details that may be more Whify. Such as the ships cat and the Captain's dog.
Oh and yes she was radio controlled, fully seaworthy, and still is. She must also be very scalelike as even in the calmest conditions she will roll dreadfully.

Here she is at sea.




Facing up to an enemy armada, she did escape without damage to either side.



Now just some detail shots.









This shows the crane that I had to scratch build for Asphodel.








The obligatory ships cat trying to get into the galley to steal some food! And over to the left the Captain's dog.







..and of course we have the very necessary seagull (it is an Atlantic gull, similar to the herring gull but considered to be a separate species). There are a couple more elsewhere on the model.



Lastly we have the crows nest. The pennants spell out my initials and the number 1. This being my first RC ship model.

[PR19_Kit]

Jim, I've seen numerous Flower Class ships on the model boat scene, all done from the M'box/Revell kit of course as it's so readily available.

But yours is MAGNIFICENT! And for a first RC model it's amazing, but then you are an accomplished plastic modeller already, and know what you're doing. The extra touches, like the ship's cat and dog and the seagulls are terrific. What running gear did you ft, and which radio do you have installed?

Have you ever entered it in a model boat regatta anywhere? If not, you should do, it'd knock all the other competitor's socks off!

[tigercat]

Flower Class vs Black Swan class

[JayBee]

Thank you so much Kit for your valediction.
I just built this as a scale modeller wanting to do something different.
Hence all the extra bits added. Most were model railway stuff i.e. the cat, the dog, the seagulls, and the extra navy personal. The Navy Personal were Merit, and I bet that gives you a bit of a jolt back into the past.
There is much more I would do now but then I would be looking at this as a scale modellerrs project.
The powertrain, Ye Gods I can not remember that far back, but I will dig it out and take photos.
The one thing I do remember is that the propellor i got, and the wiring for the motor, had it turning in the wrong dirrection for the RW.
The radio gear was a 27Mghz unit that I got with a Monster truck kit. Subsequently painted in US Marine Corps camo as Groom Lake Security but it died afte young relation drove it into our fish pond 

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Both wonderful models = well done!

[zenrat]

Great boat Jim.  Makes me want one even more.
Not RC though.  Knowing my luck with electrics it'd burn to the waterline on its maiden voyage.

[PR19_Kit]

Knowing my luck with electrics it'd burn to the waterline on its maiden voyage.

I saw one do exactly that at the Ellesmere Port Regatta 5-6 years ago. Awful.

[Captain Canada]

Love the Triffid ! Great to see her with different a/c on deck as well. Such a neat idea *click  *save ! Great job on the details and weathering, she sure looks the part !

I'd love to one day build the 72nd scale version RC as well. So nice ! Great job on that one as well JayBee !

[NARSES2]

Really tremendous job on Asphodel Jim, it really is the small details that take it to the next level   

What breeds the ship's dog ? My dad spent some time on Corvettes and he had loads of stories about the West Highland White which was their skipper's dog  He hated their sea keeping and always said the designers should have been made to cross the Atlantic in one as the things could roll on damp grass. He moved onto bigger ships when his was badly damaged in a storm and as he always said "it's an ill wind...." 

[Rheged]

This is an exceptionally fine piece of work.  It has reminded me to put together the notes I made whilst chatting to my godfather, who was an RN regular from 1937 to 1949.  I'll leave a copy on this site