Received this fine 1915 postcard showing HMS Chatham, leader of the HMS Chatham sub-class of Town class light cruisers yesterday;
I'm looking at picking up the HP Models 1/700 HMAS Sydney for conversion to HMS Chatham, as she was during the Gallipoli Campaign overseeing the Suvla Bay landings in August 1915. Is anyone aware of any major differences between the two? I'm also looking for any photographs showing HMS Chatham during the campaign, have only found one small photo so far, here (but not available to purchase)
I'm a fan too
Yet I prefer the early serie with 6in. main artillery: HMS's Bristol, Glasgow, Gloucester, Liverpool and Newcastle.
A very long time a go I tried to make HMS Bristol: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=40650
HMS Glasgow is a Bristol class and HMAS Sydney is a Chatham class light cruiser. The BL 6" Mk XI was used in most of the 'Town' class cruisers; Bristol class, Weymouth class, Chatham class, Birmingham class . The Combrig 6' is the correct length but the breach is 8.6% to wide and the barrel is 52.6% to wide at the end. So it looks like a short 12" gun. Master Model SM-700-010 is the IJN 15cm 41st Year gun that is the equivalent of the 6" Mk XI. This will give you the correct barrel.
Hi George,
apparently the Birmingham class had different 6 in guns, the shorter Mk XII (L/45 instead of L/50 of the Mk XI).
@ all:
The funnels of the Bristol class were raised after the first trials. How much they were raised or to which hight?
The funnels in the Glasgow kit by Kombrig match the drawing in Friedman's book about British cruisers and many photos (and a bigger than in a photo of Newcastle during trials with short funnels). But on some photos of sister ships the funnels appear to be taller. In addition, according to a drawing of Bristol in Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921 her funnels were c. 1 m taller compared to the hight depicted in the kit.
The funnel height for the Combrig kit is consistent with the NMM plan of HMS Bristol. The drawings in Conway's are to small, in my opinion, to be used for comparison. Funnels were raised 6 feet, you can see the insertion in clear photos.
The funnels as provided in the Combrig kit are the funnels as modified after trials. I have not read went this modification happened but as it is rare to find a photo with low funnels I assume very soon after trials.
My Glasgow is still not finished, but I have finished a model of HMS Southampton (Chatham class):
She is built using the HP Models kit of HMAS Sydney in 1/700. I replaced the 15.2 cm gun barrels with brass ones made by Master (IJN 15cm/50 (6in) 41st Year Type), the 3-pounders with PE parts by Artist Hobby, most boats by parts from Kombrig, new masts, new davits and some other parts (PE set for HMS Chester by WEM).
Glasgow was built in 1/700 from the very good Combrig kit. The main problem was the warping of the hull - which I could only fix temporarily and it bended itself back to the banana form The 6 in barrels were replaced by Master IJN 15cm/50 (6in) 41st Year Type and the 4 in by ones from Aber for RN WW2 ships. One of the boats was replaced by a steam launch from the British Harbor Set by Combrig.
Because of the non-shielded gun, it could be a scout cruiser - if this is a 4 in gun. But how many funnels do it have? 3 or 4?
If there are 3 funnels, it could be one of the cruisers of the Pathfinder class - or, if there are cowl vents, Sentinel class. Both after rearming with 4 in guns. The cruiser appear to have camouflage, i.e. late World War 1. It could HMS Patrol - because I have not seen this kind of superstructure on the Sentinel class.
):
The 6 in barrels were replaced by Master IJN 15cm/50 (6in) 41st Year Type and the 4 in by ones from Aber for RN WW2 ships. One of the boats was replaced by a steam launch from the British Harbor Set by Combrig.