1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

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Expand view Topic review: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by HMS Zulu » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:24 am

Is this kit available at all anymore? Tried searching for TC Models but couldn't find them

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by roy allen » Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:06 am

The number of times i nearly added this kit and that of Turbinia to my stash years ago are countless.
Seeing this finished has made me regret it even more.

Nice build Ed well done :thumbs_up_1:

Roy

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by coaster » Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:56 am

I'm really impressed with this. I'd love to have one to go with my other torpedo boats, built and in progress. Wish someone would do an injection moulded kit in 1/72nd. I have a feeling it would sell surprisingly well.
Fraser

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by M�LDERS » Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:02 am

Congrats to comissioning! A beautiful model indeed!

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by JIM BAUMANN » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:52 pm

EP

nice model!- glad to see it built!!

but... The ensign.... the Union Jack should be at the hoist end( adjacent to the flagpole!!! )

I would also have it hoisted higher up the staff....

Best Wishes

JB

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by JWintjes » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:01 pm

That looks really, really nice! :thumbs_up_1:

Jorit

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by Edward Pinniger » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:24 pm

Detail closeups:

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Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by Edward Pinniger » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:22 pm

Finally done! The paint is Revell acrylic "Medium Grey" (actually more of a light grey), and rigging is with dark grey "invisible mending thread". The White Ensign was printed out on paper and is rigged on a silk thread halyard. I put one of the torpedoes on the base, as it wouldn't fit on the boat (the torpedo trough casting is slightly warped, which I only discovered when I tried to fit the torpedoes in place)

Hopefully my CMB will be appearing at the Nationals (on the "Earley Risers" club stand) though I will not be attending as I'm going to the Model Boat Show (Warwickshire exhibition centre) on the same weekend.

I definitely enjoyed this build despite the kit's deficiencies, and will keep an eye out for the 40-footer kit!

Overall views:

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Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by coaster » Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:11 am

I am completely green with envy. CMBs, MTBs, MGBs and HDMLs are my favourite classes... Really nice work
F

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by Edward Pinniger » Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:41 am

Finally got the PC working again with the help of multiple "anti-malware" programs, so here's the next update:

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The Lewis gun mounts are now in place, along with the torpedo aiming sight and cabin hatch windshield.

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Boathooks are made using the kit PE parts on poles made from styrene rod.

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Nearly complete now! Weathering and rigging (including the ensign flag + halyard) are the next and final stages.

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by Edward Pinniger » Sat Oct 09, 2010 7:04 am

Thanks to all for the positive comments.. the CMB is now virtually finished but I haven't been able to post any updates as the PC with the photos on has been hit by a particularly nasty virus/worm/trojan (Win32/Ramnit/A if that means anything) - so have spent the last couple of days trying to get rid of it.

The tubes in the cockpit are for the torpedo launching pistons, not the prop shafts - but as they were fired with cordite charges, would still have been alarming for the "pilot"! I suspect the seat wasn't directly mounted on the tube, but I couldn't find any references for it, and assembled it this way as the area under the seat isn't really visible once the cabin is in place.

Totally forgot about the TC Turbinia kit, I remember now you (JB) had it on your sale list a few years ago in the trading post forum. Regarding the props, if it's anything like the CMB the propellors aren't resin but individual etched brass blades which you're supposed to glue onto short bits of brass tube... bad enough with 2 let alone 9! I substituted plastic props from the spares box, but definitely don't have enough matching ones for Turbinia!

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by JWintjes » Thu Oct 07, 2010 8:33 am

Ho-Hum!

A Turbinia kit???

Jim, put me as no 2 on the list... :big_grin:

I've spent quite some time with her last year, right down to touching her hull when noone was looking (yeah, ok, so I was a bad boy... :big_grin: ).

Jorit

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by M�LDERS » Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:06 am

beside the shape of the hull, i really love this kinda "hot rod moment" with the pilot seat directly upon the propeller shaft. :smallsmile:
I guess after three missions with that boat, one does not need the revmeter anymore... :heh:
Its really a cool subject.
Thanks for digging it out!

PS:
@jim
if you should have any problems to empty your stash, regarding "Turbinia"...drop me a line. :cool_2:
I will not fear to clean up and sharpen 9 resin propellers....:-)))

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Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by JIM BAUMANN » Thu Oct 07, 2010 1:59 am

I am so really glad to see this kit being built!!

its not very common--and these days really quite rare!


As an interesting aside--I have in my stash, from the same company

the TURBINIA kit!!

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I have no idea when if ever I shall build it--its rather a large scale for me-- but a nice thing to have!

EP- your models looks really interesting!


JIM B :thumbs_up_1:

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by M�LDERS » Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:13 pm

This is a very sweet kit! I really love it!
Please paint it the very best way you can.
It derserves to be morphed into a true gem.
I wish you all the best during this endevour, Edward!
Veeeery interesting!

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by JWintjes » Wed Oct 06, 2010 4:06 pm

Wow. That is seriously impressive. :thumbs_up_1:

As for the CMB, if I remember it correctly it was stashed away on the side where now the RNLI exhibiton is. That must have been in, oh, '87? Something around that date; Chatham was fairly new back then.

Jorit

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by Edward Pinniger » Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:43 am

johndon wrote:Nice to see you back Edward and some very nice work there, I see you still haven't lost your interest of the more 'unusual' naval vessels.

John
Thanks! I know it seems like I build all sorts of weird stuff, but this is more to do with my preference for larger scales than anything else - the available plastic kits in 1/200+ scale cover a very eclectic and random selection of subjects. I've rather gone off building in 1/350 and 1/400 scale because of the high cost of all the new kits and the necessity of buying equally expensive PE sets to finish them to a decent standard (it's easier to scratchbuild detail in larger scales).

The CMB fits in with both my main areas of ship modelling interest, smaller "coastal forces" type craft and vessels from the earlier periods of powered warship development (mid 1800s to WW1). I'd like to build a larger scale R/C CMB one day - and have a set of plans and a magazine article on building one - but the unusual hull shape makes it very difficult to scratchbuild (more like building an aircraft than a ship!)

More progress photos:

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Cabin interior details - instrument panel, seat, compass, wheel, chart table and torpedo launcher rods. All are scratchbuilt other than the wheel which is a modified spare from an Airfix 1/72 Schnellboot.

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Cabin parts painted (Revell Leather Brown drybrushed with craft acrylics) and ready for assembly.


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Assembled cabin interior. This is as close as I could get to the photos of the NMM model. The latter has a different shape for the front of the "cockpit" (smoothly curved, rather than 3-sided as on the TC kit), whether this is a design variation or (most likely) an inaccuracy with the TC kit, I don't know, but I didn't attempt to modify this as it would be very hard to fix (involving carving out a lot of solid resin) and isn't particularly noticeable anyway once the cabin is in place.

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Cabin assembled in place. The U-shaped frame at the front will have a clear windshield added later, the socket next to it is for the torpedo aiming sight.

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The completed cabin.

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by johndon » Sun Oct 03, 2010 11:44 am

Nice to see you back Edward and some very nice work there, I see you still haven't lost your interest of the more 'unusual' naval vessels.

John

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by Edward Pinniger » Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:38 am

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The kit provides brass wire in various gauges to make the masts (but no dimensions or drawings!). However, the masts on the CMB were not the usual solid cylindrical spars, but were pylon-like structures, made from two thin strips (not sure whether these were metal or wood) with 3 solid spacers in between.
I scratchbuilt these using thin strips of brass (leftover PE "sprue") with spacers from Evergreen square styrene. The yards on the real boat had the same structure, but I simplified things and made them from thin brass strip.


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Rather than attempt to mask the cabin, I decided to first airbrush the hull, then fit the cabin and interior details, and brush-paint the grey cabin exterior. Here you can see the airbrushed model. The paint I used was Revell acrylic Medium Grey, which seems to be a reasonable match for WW1 RN "battleship grey"; looks OK to me anyway!
CMBs appear to have been painted entirely grey, even the hull below the waterline. The NMM model has a varnished wood cabin interior, which may not be historically accurate given that the model also has polished brass fittings, rudders and guns, but I decided to paint my model this way anyway to give a bit of visual contrast.

Re: 1/48 World War 1 55-foot CMB (TC Models resin kit)

by Edward Pinniger » Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:03 pm

JWintjes wrote:Ok, now I'm really, really envious. :big_grin:

Ever since I saw the Chatham CMB back in my salad days I wanted one but always thought they were unavailable in a larger scale.
If you can afford the 320-euro price tag, the YS Masterpieces 1/35 kit looks to be a much better option than the old TC Models one (though it isn't an original RN boat, it can be converted):
http://www.ysmasterpieces.com/custom_se ... ycroft.htm

What was the Chatham CMB (this is a 72-footer built in the '20s) like when you saw it? Last month when I visited Chatham they appeared to finally be making some progress on restoring it. I took a few photos, will get round to posting them in the CASF thread (viewtopic.php?f=52&t=42223) later.

Next build update:

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The torpedoes were built completely "out of the box", they have a resin body, 4 seperate fins and two-part props in PE. The ends of the warheads will be hidden by the launcher pistons, so the lack of any detonators/arming vanes etc. isn't a problem.

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One of the torpedoes in its launch trough. The other one wouldn't fit (the resin insert for the torpedo troughs was slightly warped, I only discovered this after assembling the hull + adding the PE torpedo guide rails) so will be displayed next to the boat on the base.

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CMBs usually carried at least one twin Lewis .303 MG mount for anti-air defence, the kit provides two PE mounts and at least four guns (mine had eight guns, but I'm not sure if this is standard for all kits!) The kit instructions only show one gun mount, in front of the cabin; based on the museum model and contemporary photos, I'm going to put one on the cabin roof and one aft between the torpedo cradles.

The kit PE mounts are rather two-dimensional looking, so I replaced the lower part with a length of brass tube and an eyelet. The result matches the mount on the NMM model fairly closely.

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