The Ship Model Forum

I want to build a late Victorian era RN protected cruiser in 1/350 scale or larger, with full hull. But there are no plastic or resign model kits available. However I did find the Armstrong-built IJNS Takasago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Takasago



How close would this “Elswick” export cruiser be able to stand in for a RN ship? What RN cruiser is close to this?

The RN did not use Elswick cruisers like Takasago. They did have the same fittings though so one can use them for a scratchbuild. The closest thing to an Elswick cruiser the RN built were the Mersey class cruisers of the mid 1880's as Elswicks' former director, George Rendel, was on the Board of the Admiralty at the time. For a Mersey getting two Bronco 1/350 Ching Yuens is probably the beter option as they give you the main armament and two hulls for far less money than your suggestion.

Out of curiosity, which particular ship class or generic look/feel were you looking for, under the rather broad 'Victorian era RN cruiser' category?

If you are into scratchbuilding, there may be some good sources you could use, but that also depends on what specific ship you were looking for. As has been said, Elswick export cruisers are not really a good stand up for RN vessels of the time.

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We can have all of the resources in the world and still get it wrong. Not out of any incompetence, it's just because of how difficult it is sometimes to implement a physical feature without having seen it with your own two eyes. - the Chieftain

I am building Hasagawa's 1/350 IJNS Mikasa as HMS Formidable (see my post below) and want to add a RN late Victorian cruiser alongside.

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=11097&p=1060667&hilit=formidable#p1060667

Anythign in 3D printed category perhaps, I wonder?

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I see. Well, in the case of Mikasa it's relatively easy, because she is modelled very closely after contemporary British battleships. For cruisers that's going to be more difficult.
I have an Excel list I have spent something like 11 years compiling with all the ship classes from the Age of Steam and Steel, and also looked up every single kit I could find in either 1/350 or 1/700 of every single ship, and unfortunately I can confirm without doubt that there is no dedicated RN kit for any of the twenty or more classes of RN cruisers of the late 1800s-early XX century. I may have missed one or two of the latest releases, but if anyone doesn't know, then that's probably that.
I haven't looked at ships you can convert to look like one, but I will check.

It is an interesting niche as a market option under the label 'kits that need making', though.

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We can have all of the resources in the world and still get it wrong. Not out of any incompetence, it's just because of how difficult it is sometimes to implement a physical feature without having seen it with your own two eyes. - the Chieftain

This is driving me to getting a 3D printer and make it myself. It's disappointing that there is so little apparent demand for model kits or even much interest in the period of the RN's global power, the very Pax Britannica. Even in the realm of RN naval fiction I have only found two authors who have focused on this period; Jonathan Lunn's Killigrew series, and Antoine Vanner's Dawlish Chronicles, though both are focused on the earlier Victorian era of steam assisted sailing warships- though Vanner's latest does get us into the 1880s. There's also Douglas Reeman's The First to Land, that covers the Royal Marines and the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, as part of his 150 year Blackwood series.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/45346- ... -killigrew
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Anto ... Chronicles
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29152315

I am not much versed in historical literature or similar, but I do share the sense of frustration that plastic companies seem to ignore that anything outside WW1/2 exists. Some of the smaller companies, usually those making resin models (haven't seen any 3D printed ones yet from this time period), have a few, but they are indeed few and far between.
I believe this is a deliberate market choice on the part of everyone that doesn't see the pre-1900 era as not profitable because they think there's not enough interest to bother putting the money into kit development to find out.

That's just my 2 cents on it though, I could be wrong.

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We can have all of the resources in the world and still get it wrong. Not out of any incompetence, it's just because of how difficult it is sometimes to implement a physical feature without having seen it with your own two eyes. - the Chieftain

I see that Combrig has a few late Victorian-era RN warships in 1/350 scale.

https://combrig-models.com/index.php/pr ... l-navy-350

Even though she’s Edwardian, I think I’ll get HMS Kent to display alongside my Mikasa-based HMS Formidable.

Interesting, haven't seen these before. Good to know that they exist, even though it's the one class in like a dozen different RN cruiser classes of armoured and protected types.

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We can have all of the resources in the world and still get it wrong. Not out of any incompetence, it's just because of how difficult it is sometimes to implement a physical feature without having seen it with your own two eyes. - the Chieftain

If I buy Combrig’s HMS Kent I’ll finish it in the black-white-buff colour scheme of the early Edwardian na y, shown below with HMS Kent passing south sand. Though the painting below can’t be accurate, as it’s dated 1901, and Kent did not enter service until 1903. She was launched in 1901, so perhaps that’s what it means?

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-royal ... 90322.html

Probably. Usually ships with the same name are differentiated by pennant number or otherwise year of completion, though sometimes year of launch is used.

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We can have all of the resources in the world and still get it wrong. Not out of any incompetence, it's just because of how difficult it is sometimes to implement a physical feature without having seen it with your own two eyes. - the Chieftain

Re: modelfunshipyard's last

Matthew in TO

When referring to ships of the same name it is the practice of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich to use the date of launch of the specific ship. This appears to have been done in the case of the original of the Alamy image. Therefore 1901 is correct. I am not sure what other
countries do: I seem to recall however, that Germany uses a Roman numeral to indicate the place in the succession.

It would therefore now be a case of finding whether or not HMS KENT (1901) was ever painted up in the "Victorian" scheme for complete accuracy.

@81542 Thank you for that explanation.

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We can have all of the resources in the world and still get it wrong. Not out of any incompetence, it's just because of how difficult it is sometimes to implement a physical feature without having seen it with your own two eyes. - the Chieftain

Apparently the transition from buff, white and black to overall grey began in 1903, with completion across the RN by the end of 1905. HMS Kent entered service in Nov 1903 on the China Station, so she might well have entered service in the Victorian colour scheme.

I’m still annoyed that I cannot find a 1:350 scale kit of a 19th century RN protected cruiser. Could Takasago pass as an Apollo class? I’d have to remove the overhanging secondaries.

Looks like you'd have to do a lot of surgery on the hull sides of the upper deck level, though with enough work it could be believable.
If you were worried about dimensions and not only looks, you should also shorten the hull since Takasago was 118 mt in real life and an Apollo class was 96 mt. Breath and draft are close enough between the two.

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We can have all of the resources in the world and still get it wrong. Not out of any incompetence, it's just because of how difficult it is sometimes to implement a physical feature without having seen it with your own two eyes. - the Chieftain