Calling all RN County-class fans

[littlewake]

This is slightly off the current discussion but can someone provide any guidance as to where the top and bottom of the boot topping on the 1/350 Trumpeter HMS Cornwall would be located. I would like to get it right the first time. I'm thinking that the top edge of the boot on the model would start at the top edge of the 1st raised strake above the bulge. I don't know how wide to make it; perhaps 1/8" or .125. which would cause the bottom edge to be slightly higher than the bottom edge of the raised strake on the model. I also understand that some boot toppings are not equal in width for the length of the ship. I would assume that with a 1/350 hull this difference in width would not be significant. Any thoughts are appreciated. As always thanks in advance to all who chime in.

Frank Renasiewicz
aka littlewake

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Maybe these two pictures I found are helpful.

Dorsetshire%20Bow.JPG (29.43 KiB) Viewed 10181 times

[Ady]

I'm building the trumpeter Cornwall as she appears in this photo. The vertical black painted stripes at the corners of the aircraft appear to cover the hanger doors too. Is this correct or just a trick of the light as I've seen it in no other photos also would it have covered the rear wall of the hanger too?

[tjstoneman]

In the photo posted by Ady, the hangar doors are open, and the dark area is the interior of the hangar, in shadow. The boxes into which the doors rolled up show the top of the camouflage demarkations. The well-known photo of the ship being sunk shows a lighter coloure trapezoid shape on the front of the hangar (last photo on this page: https://www.world-war.co.uk/loss_corn_dorset.php3). The best (albeit not wonderful!) photo I have seen of the rear of the hangar is at http://www.ianmeadows.me.uk/images/jack ... ip9_lg.jpg.

[Ady]

Thanks for that. I did wonder if the doors were open and it was shadow inside. Looks as though the black just wraps around each corner of the hanger then. Cheers

[SovereignHobbies]

If anyone has Trumpeter's 1/350 HMS Kent in their stash, "dick" from this forum have done the best we can tying up a few inconsistencies between photographs and some written documentation versus previously published resources:



Hope this is useful to someone?

[maxim]

Thank you very much! Very helpful information!

Do you research also the pattern of Kent in September 1940 in more detail? On Steelnavy, Richard (I am not sure if he is the one who contributed to the documentation of the 1941/42 pattern) found a lot of useful information, e.g. that she had the three colour camouflage already before the torpedo hit and likely the pattern covered also the decks.

[SovereignHobbies]

Hi,

It is the same Richard but we have not discussed the Alexandria scheme. I don't know if there are enough images to figure it all out or not. If there are it is easy enough to draw it.

[maxim]

He has access to same IWM movies, which should help.

[ChrisP]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me. I'm thinking of getting the 1/350th Trumpeter HMS Kent, and I wanted to know whether the ship can be built waterline, or if I'd have to 'bury' the lower hull or cut it off.
Also, in the white/yellow East Indies Station colours, is the boot topping for county class cruisers red or black? It appears very dark in photos, but I know that black and white film sometimes causes red to appear as black. Thanks in advance for any help with this!

[SovereignHobbies]

Hi Chris,

The County class kits are moulded full hull without any internal cut line moulded in so you'd either be burying the hull in a foam sea base (or equivalent) or marking and cutting down yourself.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me. I'm thinking of getting the 1/350th Trumpeter HMS Kent, and I wanted to know whether the ship can be built waterline, or if I'd have to 'bury' the lower hull or cut it off.
Also, in the white/yellow East Indies Station colours, is the boot topping for county class cruisers red or black? It appears very dark in photos, but I know that black and white film sometimes causes red to appear as black. Thanks in advance for any help with this!

Hi Chris,
The boot topping is certainly black, not red.
Before WW1, in the German Imperial Navy the 'China Station' cruisers like Emden had white hulls (and yellow superstrucyure/funnels), with a narrow red line along the deck edge. Maybe you have that image in mind, but to my knowledge this was never ever used in the Royal Navy.

[ChrisP]

Thanks both for your prompt and helpful replies!

[KevinD]

For all you three funnel County Class fans , here is a glimpse of what Exeter (and York) would have looked like if built as conceived ca1928. (Pardon if it has been posted earlier, as I did not look through the whole thread.)

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

For all you three funnel County Class fans , here is a glimpse of what Exeter (and York) would have looked like if built as conceived ca1928. (Pardon if it has been posted earlier, as I did not look through the whole thread.)

Yeah, funny isn't it, the York class owes a lot to the Counties... At least York retained the slant funnels, in Exeter they were straight up again, back to WW1 looks!

[dick]

Do you research also the pattern of Kent in September 1940 in more detail? On Steelnavy, Richard (I am not sure if he is the one who contributed to the documentation of the 1941/42 pattern) found a lot of useful information, e.g. that she had the three colour camouflage already before the torpedo hit and likely the pattern covered also the decks.

As Jamie says, that is me. I think there are plenty enough photos to draw the September 1940 camouflage scheme on the hull and superstructure. The problem would be the pattern on the decks. The IWM film shows one small area of the quarterdeck. I have two other photos showing bits of the painted deck elsewhere. How we depicted the deck would be based on a hunch (semi-guess!) as to what these three images might be telling us about the overall pattern.

Richard

[maxim]

Hi Richard,
it is probably a safe assumption that the pattern on the decks is connected to the one on the sides - perhaps that small part of the visible deck can be used to verify that?

Cheers,
Lars

[David Gatt]

This is my build of HMAS Canberra as she appeared in May 1942. She�s not complete, but all of the major scratch building has been completed here. Base kit is Trumpeters 1/350 Kent.

[KevinD]

For all you three funnel County Class fans , here is a glimpse of what Exeter (and York) would have looked like if built as conceived ca1928. (Pardon if it has been posted earlier, as I did not look through the whole thread.)

Yeah, funny isn't it, the York class owes a lot to the Counties... At least York retained the slant funnels, in Exeter they were straight up again, back to WW1 looks!

Maartin, my apologies, I must have missed this when first you posted, only noticing it today when the latest 'post notice' came in, so...............

Yes, nothing like those aft slanted funnels to give the enemy no doubt regards which way you are heading / facing.

[Vladi]

Hello guys,

would anyone have an idea about the object to the right from the 4in ready ammo locker on HMAS Australia, marked by red arrow on the famous photo below of Australia hit by the Betty off Leyte? There are apparently open doors of the ammo lockers and behind them to the right there are some shelfs? or pipes? on the facing side of a large "box". I tried to locate something similar on other class members but to no avail so far.

Thanks!