The Ship Model Forum

Hi all,

My great grandfather served on a Suffolk (1930-'33) and London ('37-'38).

Which of the 1/700 kits is going to give me the best starting point? Suffolk would almost be in her commissioned state and London pre reconstruction. Finding it hard to work out which kit would be the best based.

Thanks

Suffolk: the best kit would be probably Kent by Aoshima or Trumpeter. But a lot of conversion would be needed, e.g. the bridge, anti-aircraft armament, removing the the armor belt...

London: there was a kit of Sussex by WEM and there is one by Snake (likely a copy of WEM), which probably has to be modified in regard of the anti-aircraft armament and some other details

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For London, would Aoshima's Dorsetshire or Norfolk be a feasible option? At least these have the straight-walled hull in common already.

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"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

I do not know how similar the London and Dorsetshire class were. At least the bridges were very different and there were other difference in regard of the superstructure - and also the 8" turrets were of a different model. The hull could be very similar.

The Sussex kit is already a London class kit, featuring e.g. the old bridge structure.

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The hulls were similar between the London and Norfolk sub-classes. Both had the armour inside, as opposed to the Kent sub-class.

About the difference in the 8inch armamant you are correct: the visible difference is that later Mk.2 turrets were 2 feet longer than the original ones. That's a little under 1mm on 1:700 scale to be removed. Also their sighting ports (periscopes) were differently arranged.

Another difference I spotted in the drawings that in the Norfolk/Dorsetshire the funnels were moved slightly together, just one frame less spacing between the funnels than the Kent class. So that's another one to be checked, whether the Londons had the Kent arrangement maintained or followed already the closer arrrangement of the Dorsetshire/Norfolk. I have to break out my Sussex plans to do that check.

And for the superstructure: these varied widely amongst the entire County class, and individual modifications were many. So for a project of building HMS London pre-restructuring you could go by any kit and work out all the required modifications. Finding the kit that requires the least mods is already a search in itself.

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"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Hi guys,

I recently acquired the SS-model 1/700 London kit. It's in late war fit and beautifully printed - crisp and clean.

However - for those who are sticklers for absolute accuracy - it is off scale, the hull is approximately 1/2 cm or more longer than the Trumpeter and corrected Aoshima kits. Also, the freeboard is noticeably lower (though London had overweight issues after reconstruction, so maybe that's not too bad?) and the deck forward of the breakwater is printed as wood planking rather than steel.

In any case, It will build into a great-looking model.

But question: Does anyone have any ideas as to what colours she wore in her post-1943 refit camo scheme as per the photos below?





MS1 is there almost for sure, plus B5, MS4 and MS4A maybe?? (Pure guesswork on my part).

I know 1945 Eastern Fleet is G45 with the B20 hull panel. Easier to do certainly, but I'd like to use the disruptive camo if feasible.

Any help would be much appreciated!

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Hard a starboard.......Shoot!

full hull or waterline?

The one I got is waterline, but they do have a full hull version.

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Hard a starboard.......Shoot!

& there is issues with the full hull as most files to do the 3d printed full hulls come from war games not naval drawings.

Yup I know....World of Warships models.

I actually got the kit by mistake. I had ordered a Bretagne to build as Provence, but the seller joined the reciprocal club and mixed up the last 2 digits of the kit number - Bretagne ends in 26, while London is 62. When I got the package, suprise! London it was. I decided to keep it and the seller agreed. (Who knows when Flyhawk will get around to theirs?!)

I'll have to live with what I can't fix! LoL!

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Hard a starboard.......Shoot!

what time period does the model represent?