Calling all Royal Navy "R-Class" Battleship fans!

[Quaestor]

Well ...
Alan Raven's 1942 RN camo book shows RS in " ... an unofficial black and light grey ..." scheme.
His 1943-1944 volume shows RS in a very different three color design during 1943. "The colours are dark, medium and light grey."
In neither case does he identify the colors beyond the descriptions I've quoted.

Take your pick

[Mike W]

Check out Kostas' 1/1200 Royal Sovereign in the gallery, that's what got me thinking MS 1. Maybe he knows something we don't!
thanks
Mike

[Player]

I have some questions on this battleship class:
1) What color / paintscheme was used on HMS Revenge when WW2 started? It is the leading ship of the class?
2) What is the correct color of the wood deck?
3) The HMS Resolution is the only one of the class with an extra rudder?
4) The turret design/dimensions are shared with other battleship classes?

[Mike W]

I have some questions on this battleship class:
1) What color / paintscheme was used on HMS Revenge when WW2 started? It is the leading ship of the class?
2) What is the correct color of the wood deck?
3) The HMS Resolution is the only one of the class with an extra rudder?
4) The turret design/dimensions are shared with other battleship classes?

1) Not sure, RA Burt's book on RN battleships has a pic of Revenge in August 1939. It's either in APC507B or A with a light grey (or maybe white) Fighting top, I suspect APC507B as she was part of the Home Fleet (Channel Patrol). Depends on your source, RA Burt calls them the Royal Sovereign (my late Grandad's 1st ship) class for example.
2) Unless you have evidence otherwise, the wooden decks should be in natural wood.
3) Drawings in RA Burt's book suggest both Revenge and Royal Oak had a smaller rudder forward of the main rudder.
4) The Turrets should certainly be similar to twin 15inch turrets on other battleships. Bear in mind the turrets on the other classes were modified to give the guns 30 deg of elevations. The Royal Sovereigns only had 20 deg of elevation.

thanks
Mike

[Player]

1) Not sure, RA Burt's book on RN battleships has a pic of Revenge in August 1939. It's either in APC507B or A with a light grey (or maybe white) Fighting top, I suspect APC507B as she was part of the Home Fleet (Channel Patrol). Depends on your source, RA Burt calls them the Royal Sovereign (my late Grandad's 1st ship) class for example.
2) Unless you have evidence otherwise, the wooden decks should be in natural wood.
3) Drawings in RA Burt's book suggest both Revenge and Royal Oak had a smaller rudder forward of the main rudder.
4) The Turrets should certainly be similar to twin 15inch turrets on other battleships. Bear in mind the turrets on the other classes were modified to give the guns 30 deg of elevations. The Royal Sovereigns only had 20 deg of elevation.

thanks
Mike

Thanks to reply, about rudder is interesting because Profile Morskie Royal Oak dont include that rudder but on the same series Resolution the rudder is present.

[drdoom1337]

Out of curiosity, can ONLY Royal Oak be built out of the Samek kit? I'd be interested in doing some of the other ships with more interesting camouflage schemes.

[Mike W]

Out of curiosity, can ONLY Royal Oak be built out of the Samek kit? I'd be interested in doing some of the other ships with more interesting camouflage schemes.

In that case look at the models from HP Models, they do the whole class, so you don't have to worry about making the Samek Royal Oak into anything else.

thanks
Mike

[drdoom1337]

I already have the Samek kit. I don't want to buy another if I can build something else out of this one

[drdoom1337]

I'm not picky about the time period, just a ship that had disruptive camouflage. Royal Oak, as far as I know, is only in standard grey.

[warspite63]

One other consideration if converting Royal Oak is the configuration of the anti-torpedo bulges - Royal Oak's were very large, a feature shared with only one of her sisters (Ramillies?). Converting the hull to the smaller profile would not be for the faint-hearted...

[Haijun watcher]

HMS Resolution 1942 uses at least 4 different colors.

Would you please elaborate further on which colors? The color sheet that came with my 1/700 HP Resolution 1942 kit does not say much:



Should I assume the lightest grayish color on this sheet is 507C while the darkest is 507A/B?

[RNfanDan]

Royal Oak, as far as I know, is only in standard grey.

Royal Oak was sunk while at anchor in Scapa Flow, VERY early in the war, with practically no time to have painted into an alternate color scheme. At the time of her loss, she was arguably the best-equipped of all the R-class battleships, having only just returned to service following a major refit.

A most handsome warship, IMESHO.

[Dave29]

Hi everybody, this is my first post. Hopefully it is in the right forum!!

So I am not sure about everybody else, but to me the complete lack of models relating to this (in my personal opinion) wonderful, amazing looking and totally undervalued class of ship is incredibly irksome.

Now I know they were slow, anti air was not great to begin, but they did the job wonderfully that they were assigned for, apart from their seemingly awful fresh water storage. I am not here trying to make out they were anything other than tired old workhorses, slow, vulnerable in many ways but as a class they actually had a very active war.

Considering that models have been produced of far less important or active vessels I find it annoying that no model maker has taken the time to produce a line of these ships (come on trumpeter, you have done every queen Elizabeth class in 1 700 already!!).

Basically, the only model I know other than the odd Russian modal which apparently even the great Mr Kostas could not turn in to a masterpiece, is from HP models. Again, there seems to be what I consider an unhealthy obsession with not doing the WW2 Royal Navy justice, HMS Malaya modelled in 1943, when she spent most of her time swinging at anchor in Scapa. Surely a far more attractive model would be her during her time in the Med, which was very active.

The HP models version of royal sovereign is, as expected, based on her 1943 fit. Again this obsession with her in 1943 when she did nothing but sail from Philadelphia to the UK, acted as a storage barge for Royal Marine Landing ship crews really bothers me. She had a really active war up untill that point, surely a version of her in her Med years or on duty in the indian ocean would be more preferable to the inactive hulk she became in 1943 before going to the Russians. Now since I am sure I will never know the joy of a trumpeter 1 700 or (if I close my eyes and dream very hard) a 1 350 offering from her more active war years my only option is taking another model and changing it.

To that end folks, at the end of what must just seem like another fanboy rant, are there any sources available relating to her 1940-1942 fit so I could accurately change the 1943 version to represent this. I ask because although I can find plenty relating to the NUMBERS of added aa, I can find nothing about positioning. This would be the deciding factor on the production of an accurate version as almost no other asthetic change was made beyond camp scheme and aa placement.

Any opinions, help or advice would be most welcome. Or any general views on the ship class to be discussed.

[MartinJQuinn]

Welcome aboard, Dave.

There is a whole thread on the R class ships here: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=35645

That's where any discussion of the type should go. In fact, I'll probably move your post over to that thread in the next few days.

[Dave29]

Sorry, I noticed that after I posted. Many thanks.

[Mike W]

My late Grandfather was on Royal Sovereign around the time of her sailing to and back from the US and he wasn't a Royal Marine. I've been building that kit and I think a good model can be made from it, the light AA needs to be replaced and a set of brass 6 inch barrels is handy. You really have a choice of the HP kit or nothing really and AA isn't the problem with these ships. They had numerous differences in the superstructure and different bulges. RA Burt's British Battleships is a good starting point for info on the class. You'll make very hard work for yourself converting a different ship into Royal Sovereign. I jumped at the chance of getting the HP kit as soon as it came out and I'm happy for one that someone actually produced a kit of her, even if it isn't the best in the world.

thanks
Mike

[JIM BAUMANN]

Dave

R class ships... there are a couple more alternatives...

There is a delicate resin kit from Samek models--along with an alternative kit from WSW

here is Vincent Laus version
http://steelnavy.com/SamekRoyalOakVL.htm


and my own build( 12 years ago-hence 35 mm photos!! ) from the WSW starting point

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

[Dave29]

Hi Jim, sorry for the confusion. I was referring to when she got back to Rosyth. As far as I can tell after research she effectively left the Delaware, did some working up the took some American reporters and children back to the UK then was used by the marines as landing craft storage (effectively). Something to do with her Cordite handling being worn out meaning she was unsuitable for D day bombardment duties. This is taken from the book on the ship (very good book for a read). But obviously with you having a relative onboard you will know alot more than me and I would gladly submit to your knowledge. With regards to the kit, the HP models one I am referring to is Royal Sovereign, but as mentioned in her 1943 guise. Hence the issue with the aa as I would hope they have modelled the bridge structure accurately. The increase in aa was noteable and I think quite important given the changes between 1940 and 1943. The bridgework differences I am quite familiar with since I wasted a considerable sum of money trying change the HP models resolution into Ramillies (I'm just not that skillfull haha)

Jim, thanks for the tips, I have seen many if your works online! I will take every opportunity to pick your brains and get tips in future if that's ok with you I know its not relative to the topic exactly but since your here, how do you choose your colour schemes? I have had several attempts at Malaya, all abortive as i cannot seem to find anything consistent!! Also, what paints do you use haha.

Many thanks guys, should have joined here sooner, could have saved myself alot of money and heartache.

[Admiral John Byng]

It would be nice to have the R class ships in plastic!

I feel I should point out that it is only in the last few years that non-Japanese ships have regularly begun to be produced in 1/350 and 1/700 scales.

Trumpeter is the company that has led the way in this area and they deserve much credit for truly carving out a market for something nobody else bothered with.

Even the Queen Elizabeth's and the US battleships built in the 1920s are quite recent kits. So hopefully they will continue to add more and more over the next year or so.

[Vlad]

Well, the R class didn't change appearance much during the war so the HP kits are good starting points. You can ignore what year is printed on the box, do a little bit of research, maybe buy some AA guns or small fittings that were different, and you can have anything you want.

Or you could really go nuts with the Trumpeter QE kits:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... /index.htm

That's WWI, but I see no reason that kind of conversion wouldn't work for a WWII fit R class using possibly the Barham kit as a starting point.