Bathtub Navy: Last-minute panic guilt-trip build.

[moramarth]

Somewhat rashly I'd said I'd participate in the “If it floats” group build when it was first mooted, although I hadn't finished anything in over a decade (and hadn't started much either). I had plenty of ideas, and some resources. Many years ago a friend gave up on modelling ships in the smaller scales and gave me his unbuilt or uncompleted kits (mostly 1:700th scale), including the leftover bits from those he had finished. I had many ideas but all came to nothing; the last couple were a Steampunk warship and an easier option, a fictitious Type1936(Mob) in post-war Norwegian service – but even that ceased to be an option as the end-date came closer. Then about the middle of last week life was getting to me, and when I decided to peruse the forums as a distraction I found a post noting that some persons commented on other person's builds but didn’t post their own. Well, the cap certainly fitted me. But could I complete something by Sunday midnight? When having a quick look at the original thread to check what was eligible I noted the end date was 1st May 2017: a Bank Holiday in the U.K. I assumed the dates quoted were inclusive, so I had an extra day... Simply assembling an easy kit was out of the question – and I wasn't sure I was capable of even doing a decent job of that. I knew I couldn't match the quality of the builds on MSC, so I had to do something a bit unusual. The friend who gave me the 1:700th stuff said a while ago he'd started with Airfix and it looked like he was going to finish with Airfix; I remembered even before I got into Airfix as a young child I'd go into my uncle's workshop and bang odd offcuts of wood into things which might (viewed charitably) resemble ships, with nails for guns and masts. I wondered about something similar, but in plastic... I couldn't find my stash of white stuff, but I could remember where an abandoned project might have some bits that might be recycled. Thus it was I started something (I still wasn't sure what) about 3.30 a.m. on Thursday 27th May 2017 by laminating three layers of thick(ish) styrene sheet together.

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The next (equally sleepless) night I smoothed out the resulting block, drew some lines on it (I know there are better ways of doing this) and started carving and sanding it into something resembling a waterline hull. The result was awful – asymmetric and misshapen; but I was stuck with it.

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Saturday was a washout, but I did get a look at the spares box as I knew there were a couple of part-used old Pit Road WW2 USN weapon sprues I could make use of, but there was more - bits of superstructure which could be carved up, and other odd leftovers.
Sunday night through Monday morning was a bitch: tiny bits I couldn't see clearly or handle even with tweezers. I could mostly steady my shaky right hand by grasping the wrist with my left, but trying to use one of those needle-applicator glue bottles meant the stuff went everywhere... Somehow I ended up with three sub-assemblies – hull, lower superstructure and upper superstructure; I suppose we should call these “modules” like they do in full-size shipbuilding these days. For the first time I had some idea what the model would look like... ...CRAP!

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I mounted the “modules” and some weapons on temporary stands, and I then slept from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon before giving the giving the bits a blast of Wilko Grey Primer. I returned home at eight in the evening intending to give the detail bits a wash with well-diluted Payne's Grey oil paint, only to find over the years the paint tube had gone hard and the white spirits had evaporated to a few brownish drops in bottom of the bottle. However, there still seemed to be a soft spot in the middle of the tube, and piercing this let out a little paint – it would have to do. After visiting my Aunt I returned home again at about eleven, in time to paint some of the horizontal surfaces with a darkish grey acrylic. This colour was chosen because I'd bought it cheap some month's ago and it was still lying where I dropped it when I came home then... Fortunately it dried quickly, and “module integration” was achieved just after 2350hrs, 1st May 2017, about eight minutes before the deadline (or my interpretation thereof).
Thus was born the imaginary KNM Andreas Anderssen, an early-post war coastal corvette named for the guy who deep sixed the “Blucher”. I suppose thinking of a Norwegian “Narvik” class destroyer put me in mind of a small ship to hunt things in those deep glacial inlets, you could call it a Fjord Escort...  (Sorry....) Armed primarily with a Mk.15 stabilised traversing “Hedgehog” and three Mk.22 3”/50 semi-automatic guns (a single Mk.34 mount forward and a twin Mk.33 mount aft), the vessel also mounts a 20mm Oerlikon below the bridge on each side.

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I have no illusions about the quality of this build, even before the photographs brought it's many shortcomings into sharp focus I knew it was going to be a pathetic PoS. I doubt there will be any improvement in standards in anything else I create, more likely they will degenerate with me. But I still have a few ideas I'd like to give a physical manifestation to, even though I know the result will fall short of the intent.

Regards,

M.

[Leon]

M,your being to hard on yourself! That's a good looking ship you've built considering the time you had.

[Neo Phyte]

I agree whole heartedly with Leon.
Without a plan I would not know which part goes where.
Only learnt earlier this year what was the stern and bow of a boat.

I am hoping to see more model making from you moramarth.