Calling all RN Town-class (1936) & Fiji-class (Crown Colony-class) fans

[Martin H UK]

I am working on building HMS Sheffield in 1/600 with the Airfix Belfast as the basis, using the article in Airfix Magazine from 1977 - I started this in my youth (when that article was the cutting edge!) and have recently, many years on, brought it out of mothballs to try to complete it. Apart from this article, (the drawing in which is pretty basic) and the Ensign No5, my main sources are photographs. So some queries about various details inevitably arise. This one is going to sound a bit obvious, but anyway. The issue concerns the boats stored behind the aft funnel. Do they have their bows or sterns facing forward? The Airfix mag drawing appears to imply they are stern-first (and not aligned fore-and-aft either, but at an angle). High quality models I have seen on the internet also have the boats stern first, Photos of this part of the ship are hard to come by, since in profile the boats are hidden by the crew shelters for the HA), but the ones I have found that show tantalising glimpses of the boats look like they are bows forward. Ensign 5 has a profile of Sheffield but no plan drawing. Does anyone know of a plan drawing, or of definitive photos that can settle this niggling little issue for me?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Martin

[tjstoneman]

I can't help with SHEFFIELD; however, there's a plan of a near sister,MANCHESTER, of the GLOUCESTER group, at http://dsmithdale.net/manchester/m01.gif. Not sure how accurate it is, but it shows that all four of the visible boats in that location are bows aft, at an angle to the fore'n'aft line. There are photos of NEWCASTLE, a sister of the SOUTHAMPTON group, under repair in the USA, which don't show the boats themselves, but do show the crutches on which they would be stowed, on this webpage: http://www.mo-na-ko.net/galerie/real_va ... /Page.html, photos 1 and 3.

[MatthewB]

Why do they have an Anchor stored in the middle of the deck?

MB

[Martin H UK]

David,
I'm am building her as during her service with Force H in 1941.
I found a photo on the IWM site, photo A6866 at http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205140955
among the many excellent photos they have taken on board Sheffield in 1941, from later in the year in the Soviet Union, where the boats are shown covered in tarpaulins, but the shapes under them seem to be bows forward.

Martin

[dick]

Not tremendous quality I'm afraid but this should answer your question: Sheffield 13 Aug 1941

[tjstoneman]

The anchor stowed upright aft of NEWCASTLE's after funnel is probably a kedge anchor. It would be lifted onto one of the ship's boats, such as a motor cutter, which would then lay it astern of the ship to reduce the swing when anchored with limited riding space.

[PetrOs]

I always liked the lines of the Town class cruisers, and as my shop got a record sales day yesterday, I decided to get a Town-Class resin kit. My question is, I probably want to build one of the Town first series cruisers prewar in Mediterranean or early war in Norway. Which of the kits (WEM/Atlantic or L'Arsenal) would be better suited to build an early war Town?

[maxim]

The L'Arsenal kit of Sheffield is likely much better - and I do not think that to convert it into an earlier fit could be difficult. For sure, only the Southampton class can be built without bigger changes.

http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php?op ... 0&catid=38

[PetrOs]

Thanks! Just ordered one - lets see how good it is. Else, I always can opt for a later fit

[Vlad]

If the L'Arsenal Southampton is anything like their Jamaica (which I expect it would be), it is an amazingly detailed kit with a lot of cool stuff packed in (fine resin parts, full PE, metal barrels), but it is also an absolute pain in the *edited* to build. Good luck, you'll need it!

[tjstoneman]

Vlad is correct!
The following changes should be made to convert the 1942 SHEFFIELD kit to earlier fits of her immediate sisters (not BIRMINGHAM, whose hull did not have the "knuckle" forward):
For SOUTHAMPTON 1939-41, omit all Oerlikons and associated splinter shields, all RDF (radar) and mountings, barrage director and substructure for'd of bridge, radar offices aft of bridge and on after superstructure and splinter shields outboard of twin 4" HA mountings, remove after HA.DCT and replace with square non-revolving control position, add quadruple 0.5" mountings on for'd corners of after superstructure and rangefinders for'd of the forward HA.DCTs. Rearrange Carley Floats.
NEWCASTLE was very similar, until mid 1940 when UP rocket projectile mountings were fitted on "B" turret and the quarterdeck.
SHEFFIELD was similar to SOUTHAMPTON, but was fitted with the third HA.DCT from completion, although it was not on the high pedestal provided in the L'Arsenal kit, and was fitted with RDF Type 79 at the mastheads before the war. In late 1941 she was fitted with 6 single 20mm Oerlikons, and given a First Admiralty Disruptive camouflage scheme; the configuration provided by L'Arsenal matches her appearance after mid-1942 with more Oerlikons, different camouflage, and a full RDF fit.
GLASGOW was similar to SHEFFIELD as completed, but did not receive RDF until much later, and then only Type 286. She had UP mountings fitted from mid 1940.

[PetrOs]

That helps alot! Is there a good book with detailed plans and good photos on the class?

[tjstoneman]

The best coverage of the class which I have come across is in the long-out-of-print Alan Raven & John Roberts Ensign 5: Town Class Cruisers (London: Bivouac Books, 1975) and Alan Raven & John Roberts British Cruisers of World War Two (Arms & Armour Press, 1980). There is a plan of SOUTHAMPTON in Norman Friedman British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After (Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books, 2010) and some useful photos in Neil McCart Town Class Cruisers (Liskeard: Maritime Books, 2012).

[PetrOs]

Hi, thanks! I found all 4 these books orderable as remote lease (coming from other libraries from Germany) over local library, placed orders on them, hope to see them in a week

[Rusty_S85]

I don't know if I would be considered a fan of this class of ship but I do have a important question on a project I am thinking I might want to undertake.

I'm looking at doing a D-Day diorama in 1:350 scale if it permits me to do it all to scale. The main focus was going to be at the southern most curve of Fire Support Area 3 of Normandy Beach where the 1:350 scale USS Texas would be sailing with all her main turrets to port elevated aiming at Normandy towards the viewer of the diorama. But to complete this diorama and make it proper I would like to include a 1:350 scale HMS Glasgow which was a Southampton class light cruiser.

So with that said my major problem is I don't know enough about UK warships to know what kit if there is even one out there that I could purchase and kit bash into the Glasgow in her mid 1944 configuration. I did find the HMS Belfast which is a Town Class cruiser which the Southampton is a sub class of. I dove a bit deeper and found the HMS Belfast is technically a Edinburgh class with her dimensions being 613ft 6in in length and 63ft 4in in beam. Comparing this to the HMS Glasgow I see that she is actually 558ft length and 61ft 8in beam. She is considerably smaller than the Belfast and I just do not know if one were to buy the HMS Belfast if it would be possible to cut her down amidship and modify her to replicate the HMS Glasgow.

So I want to ask does anyone on here know of anyone building an actual Southampton class light cruiser from an existing kit? I tried searching on here but just wasn't finding anything related to my question.

[maxim]

There is a 1/350 kit of HMS Sheffield by Iron Shipwright:
http://ironshipwrights.com/pages/Sheffield.html

This is the correct class, you would only rebuilt her to the 1944 fit.

[Rusty_S85]

There is a 1/350 kit of HMS Sheffield by Iron Shipwright:
http://ironshipwrights.com/pages/Sheffield.html

This is the correct class, you would only rebuilt her to the 1944 fit.

Thanks for the reply. Looks like I will have to save up some money to buy that kit. Really hate to spend that much money but for a diorama of this magnitude I rather have it correct.

the Southampton class was 591.5' oa not 558' as that was her waterline length. https://www.world-war.co.uk/Southampton ... class.php3
will be converting the airfix 1/600 Belfast into the Southampton plus at least 1 ship each of the Fiji, Ceylon & Swiftsure classes. already lengthened & widen 2 airfix 1/600 Ajax into the York & Exeter. in the larger scale I'm kitbashing Revell's 1/429 scale Arizona into the us navy's old battleships from the Wyoming class to the Colorado class.
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=165105

Ah, I was going by the only source I found last night which stated 558' as her length.

[ronhow1]

Does anyone know where I might get hold of a 1/350 plastic kit of HMS Sheffield C24? My dad served on her from 1953 including the Coronation tour of the West Indies in 1954. I bought the Trumpeter model of HMS Belfast but realised that they are just too different, as you have all noted. Also, does anyone know if the Crown Colony light cruisers are a better match; specifically HMS Jamaica as she seems to look more like Sheffield than Belfast does! I tried to get models of his other ships including HMS Morecambe Bay on which he served in the Malayan Emergency and Korea, as well as HMS Duchess on which he saw service in the Suez crisis. I know there's an old 1/700 Airfix based waterline kit of Duchess but I like 1/350 full hull kits. We've built and owned the Airfix Daring kits in the 1960's. Modifying kits is a bit beyond my interest ... my skills are in the paint, and I usually do 1/35 British armour.

Regards, Ron.

[Timmy C]

Belfast is actually the only plastic 1/350 RN cruiser kit available right now, so no, unfortunately.

Your other option is the resin Iron Shipwrights kit of the Sheffield in her 1941 configuration: http://ironshipwrights.com/pages/Sheffield.html

[Guest]

Thanks Timmy C,

The Ironside model isn't available at the moment ... which isn't a problem as I really don't like resin and the price is crazy! Oh well, the Belfast will do ... most people won't know! Thanks for your help.

Cheers, Ron.