1/350 HMAS Melbourne R21 (1982)

[508medway]

Firstly I'd like to tip my hat to all of you on this forum who do so much research on their subjects and are willing to share that with others. The information you are providing me is invaluable and has helped me learn so much about the little things people normally don't think about when they look at these machines. So thank you.

So we have established that since Melbourne only served up until 1982 she was painted BS381C 631. I had a look at Pheonix Precision Paints website and wow what an offering of products but unfortunately a search for BS381C 631 returned no results. Probably wouldn't be able to get it anyway as I'm also in Australia. But if 631 has half the pigments as N42 Storm Grey I could then go to Dulux (Bunnings) and ask for N42 with half the pigments........of course I'll then be stuck with a 500ml can of the stuff , which may not be so bad as I would like to build this ship again in 1/72.

Oh, and I was looking at the park bench under the coat of arms. Luxurious lounging

Just ask for BS381C 631 in Bunnings or Mitre 10. Either can make BS colours. They might be able to do it in 250mls. A 1/72 scale hull will be available from Tim Amos at Southern Cross Models shortly I believe.

[Bonobo_Atho]

Ok so BS381C 631 from Bunnings. How do I make it lighter? Do I just ask Bunnings to do a half tint???? As you can tell I know a lot about paints

[QMG_Waz]

Really enjoying this build I served on Melbourne and was part of final crew paying her off, really looking forward to further updates.

Cheers Waz

[Bonobo_Atho]

Hey Waz, that means a lot to me coming from someone who knew her intimately. You didn't happen to serve with a guy called "Bluey" Templar did you? He was with the airwing on A-4s.

[QMG_Waz]

Hey didnt know him I was Quater Master Gunner QMG of a twin 40mm AA gun haha yeah in the 80's ....Gunnery didnt mix much with the Birdies.

Cheers

Waz

[508medway]

Why do you want it lighter? One thought, Mitre 10 etc do sample pots in small acrylic jars. Not sure if the acrylic could be thinned enough to be of use but would be cheaper.

[Bonobo_Atho]

So finally got some time to spend to the ship so I made the decision to glue the flight deck to the hull so I could start working the last hull sheets up to it. I also scribed a line in the underside of the fantail to aid in bending that little downturn but after checking my refernce photos I can see that it is a curve rather than a sharp angle, which makes sense of course .

[Bonobo_Atho]

Well the flight deck is on and looking pretty level along its width and length. Given how visible that will be I pretty happy. I'm not happy with the quarter deck though. Thankfully it will be mostly hidden. Big lesson there. If I choose to build this ship again I will be making sure that deck 3 is dead flat! I suppose there is still an opportunity to run the razor saw under the quarter deck and try and bring it down a bit?????

[Neptune]

I agree with David. It'll keep bothering you if you don't fix it...

In the end it will take some time, but the result will be much more satisfying.

Great job on the flight deck, not as easy as it looks to get it this straight!

[Bonobo_Atho]

Yeah, you're both right. It'll bug me

[Bonobo_Atho]

Okay. So, the bend has been taken out of the bend in the quarter deck, just needs a little more filling and that should be that. I did manage to stuff up and managed to run the razor saw into those lovely handmade bollards , but hopefull once I've added some more detail to the quarter deck and put the skin on it won't be noticeable.

Other works I've been able to get done include filling the voids in the hull with balsa so I've got something flat to lay the hull skin on and planning and cutting out the last sections of hull skin. The plan here is to cut out any deck opening in these, spray both the cavity in the hull and the back side of the hull skin and then install the skin. I may also try and instal some additional details in those open deck areas but that will depend heavily on what photo resources I can find which is proving to be rather rare.

[Bonobo_Atho]

Soooo five months later . Damn work getting in the way

I've finally found and ordered some 3D printed winches and boats from Shapeways that although not technically accurate will help represent those elements of the ship. ETA for delivery is sometime in June so maybe I'll start doing some work on the island, and HMS Illustrious

[Bonobo_Atho]

The Airfix 1/350 Illustrious. Not a bad kit. Has a few fit problems and the detail isn't that great, it's a bit chunky, and I have probably spent far too much money on Eduard PE detail sets for it

[Bonobo_Atho]

So today I ordered some Trumpeter 1/350 handrails and ladders. Hopefully these, although not absolutely accurate, will help to bring some realism to the Melbourne. Winches, cutters, handrails and ladders! I'm excited

[Fliger747]

When working with both wood and plastic plated hulls I have had really good luck working with auto body repair fillers, both the two part paste, which sands very nicely, and the glazing putty which is good for filling very minor imperfections. The paste sticks to wood quite nicely and I have had hulls with this sort of filler last many decades without issue.

Keep up the nice work! Regards: Tom

[Bonobo_Atho]

Winches and life rafts turned up!

[Fliger747]

Nice boats!

Tom

[Bonobo_Atho]

Yeah they are! Very detailed beautifully finished. I got them from https://www.shapeways.com/product/759LR ... arketplace.

It's almost tempting to see if someone at Shapeways is keen to convert a CAD model to a 3D print and then build the model that way

[Bonobo_Atho]

Managed to install the winches ans some ladders today. The detail on the winches is very nice and I highly recommend them. The ladders are nicely finished too! Although neither of these are authentic to the original ship I think they give a level of detail that will bring the ship to life.

[Fliger747]

Those look a lot like the small winches port and starboard on US Fletcher class destroyers. This same winch was used in the waist of the Alaska�s as well. The currently un plated upper hull mid ships, does some sort of sponson go here?

Cheers. Tom