The Ship Model Forum

Hello,

Here is (one of my) my current project: French WW1 destroyer Mangini.
L: 83m (oa)
l: 8.063m (oa)
Depl: 850t
Guns: 2x100mm & 4x65mm
Torp: 4x450mm
HP: 14,000
Max speed: 30.93kn

Launched: 31 March 1913
Enrered service: 8 August 1914

After the success of it's 300t series (55 ships built: Durandal 1899, last one entering service in 1910), the French navy was long to receive larger destroyer and the gap kept increasing with Bristish navy till WW1
In 1909/1912 the 450t serie entered service (13 units, some of them introducing the turbine for the 1st time in a french Destroyer). Kind of enlarged "300t", these were still much smaller than Royal Navy destroyers.
The first units of the new 800t serie entered service just before WW1, the last of the 21 buit was only completed after the war as the priority was given to ground army industries. They all were powered by turbines and burning oil.
Five of them were lost during the war (by collision: Faulx, mine: Dague & Boutefeu, and sub torpedoe: Renaudin&Fourche). Thet were hampered by their small size and sometimes proved fragile.
Mangini mainly served in the mediterranean, including under Italian command as some other French and British ships after this country entered war in 1915. On Aug 10th 1918, during a night escort of Italian battleships she encountered stearing troubles and collided with la Faux, sinking her.
Like her surviving sisterships whe was removed from the list before mid-1938. More soon

Hi Moomoon building from scratch is difficult at large scale but you are building at 1:700 . Seldom seen as working models yet an interesting subject non the less. Question what type of timber are you using to form the hulls ?
Dave Wooley

Thank you very much. I feel quite lazy with my 1/700 destroyers compared to your 1/144 monster!
Hulls are made with vulgarious pine wood. I just try to find a bit with uniform density. Harder wood would be better but too had for my electric saw. Softer would be too fragile and make it hard to cut "sharp" details. Cost is almost null
Yet on this kind of forecastle it was a bit laborious, probably a full plastic hull would be better, but I enjoy being outside cutting my piece of wood (good substitute for ex-smokers I'd bet).

Hello,

I did the boats as usual: 0.3mm plastic strips over 0.5mm sheet, wrapped with 0.3mm, sanded, electric wire added for the keel. Bye.

TRES BIEN!!!

I love the way you make your boats...

very sharp

JIM B

Merci!

Here are the guns: the ship carried 2x100mm and 4x65mm, but I did much more as I would be lucky not losing a few... Bye

Hello,

Small update: Air vents are plastic tube cut at 45� and glued together again after a 180� horizontal rotation of the upper part. Wood plancs or grating were used as anti-slid ways, I figured these with paper+CA. also added the hull reinforcement with 0.3mm plastic sheet. Bye.

hello,

Update about the bridge and and side guns positions. Bye

Should start to look like a ship now

Wow! Subject & craftsmanship are outstanding. Keep up good work please.

Regards,
Marek

Sharp as usual. Good thing les chats d'inspection are keeping a close look. And of course happy Bastille day!

Thank you guys!

Been working on forward deck details: Bye

Outstanding work!

To what degree do the cats assist?

Cats help by destroying complete models so that I have enought place to put new ones!
I've added eyebrows to portholes (electric wire cut as explained by Edward Pinniger and J. Bauman).
Also did the mast with straitened brake cable, adhesive paper, electric wire and Cyano glue.

hello,

Painting is in progress... as well as the hull of a few other dozen projects
Corticene area (brown) is only guessed... I used humbol enamel paints 164, 165 (dark&light grey), 186 (brown) and 94 (wood planks). bye.

Hello,

I've been encouraged to use PE, so here is my first try...
I'd been generously been offered a GMM railing set but I was so afraid to spoil it that I ordered another one from L'Arsenal (supposed to be for US Destroyers!) Bye.

Nice work! I like the difference between main deck (corticene) and superstructures decks (wood?) colours. Is it typical for the French Navy during WWI?

@ donalyah, superstructures decks we covered with wood grating ("caillebotis").
Wood grating + corticene (linoleum) were probably on all the 800t french destroyers, yet not always at the same place as there were a lot of difference between each ship.
300t destroyers had mainly wood grating, 450t destroyers, I don't know...
I found beautiful examples of 800t dest at the "Mus�e de La Marine" in Toulon (nice place to visit) where you can see two splendid 1/100 models made by a very talented modeler called Jean Bart (!!!): Le Bouclier (prototype of the serie) and La Fourche.

Thank you for the information! My mind is slowly setting to first full scratchbuild in 1:350 or 1:400 scale. I think the one of those 800 t destroyers would be a favourite choice of mine. Especially with wooden grating on the superstructure decks. Le Bouclier looks really nice. Are there more photos of this model?

I do have more pics, here are a few of this superb 1/50 model made by Mr Jean Bart (+1980):
It shows the ship late in the war or after (at least 1917, Bouclier was to first to have his forward funnel rised, most of the others only had some kind of a funnel cap added afterwar). You can find the ship plans here for free:
http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defens ... tebato.php
Others 800t than Bouclier that you can find there:

Cimeterre (sistership Dague)
Commandant Lucas
Commandant Riviere
Enseigne Gabolde
Enseigne Roux & sistership M�canicien Principal Lestin
Protet

French magazine "marine magazine" published a serie of articles on these ships: n�53 to n�58
http://www.marines-editions.fr/boutique ... rayons.cfm

Well, now I'll just wait for a model at the same quality standards as your V105!