HMCS Snowberry by Hsae - Revell - 1/72 - PLASTIC

[Hsae]

Lou, 3D printing is the Holy Grail, if you have the money. Although not much modeling anymore. The challenge is to paint it right.

Actually, I played with the idea to build the Sackville, but decided to build the Snowberry instead. Oh well, maybe in 1/144 at one time.

BTW, I have to agree. I will work on lowering the hull. Thanks for your opinion.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

I did cut more from the bottom off the hull. I like it better now.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Hsae

[yvesvidal]

Yes, it sits better on the sea, now.

 

Yves

[Hsae]

The 3D printed anchor chain (11.5 links/inch) vs. the chain from the kit

 

 

[EdS]

Interesting build, here in Halifax we have her sister the Sackville, the last surviving corvette. https://hmcssackville.ca/  Looking forward to see how it goes.

[Kevin]

i was building this and just got bored with it, it now sits on the shelf of doom, i presume it is because i could not live upto the standards i was following by @Toolmaker, and the pure dread that i would have to break out the airbrush

Edited June 20, 2021 by Kevin

[Old Collingwood]

That was looking really nice  - shame you don't continue it Kevin.

 

OC.

[Hsae]

I agree with O.C. 
But you still can finish it. That’s the nice thing with modeling, you can leave it for months or years and finish it later.

[Hsae]

6 hours ago, EdS said:

Interesting build, here in Halifax we have her sister the Sackville, the last surviving corvette. https://hmcssackville.ca/  Looking forward to see how it goes.

Actually, I am still debating if I am not building the Sackville. Didn’t have a chance to come to Halifax yet to see her in person.

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Hermann

Edited June 21, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

On 6/15/2021 at 10:23 AM, Landlubber Mike said:

Fantastic work on the sea - looks fantastic!  

 

Hope you don't mind me following your log.  I have this kit (I think I might have the Platinum edition which includes a wooden deck and some PE upgrades) along with the Parkins upgrades.  I also have the Revell 1:144 version with the Pontos upgrade.  Was thinking of doing the 1:144 as the Snowberry and the 1:72 as the USS Saucy just to mix it up a bit.  Interestingly, I found an electronic copy of the old Matchbox kit instructions which covered the Saucy along with the Snowberry and Bluebell.  Seems that the Revell kit -- which my version only includes the Snowberry and Campanula -- might include the Saucy pieces, which I think were only a few minor differences in the bridge and then a different rear gun platform (putting aside numbering and other decal-type differences).

 

Otherwise, I might try to build both as USS ships.  There are some cool ships like the USS Fury, USS Restless, and USS Tenacity.  Just a matter of doing the research and trying to figure out what the differences are, which is probably easier said than done.

 

 

Mike, at the weekend I visited the Victory ship in Tampa. https://www.americanvictory.org/
They had the Saucy as a model on display. I believe the 4” gun is not correct. If I am not mistake, shouldn’t it be a US Navy gun? Also the mast doesn’t look right.

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Hsae

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks for posting those pictures, really appreciate it!  The model seems to be in the configuration of the Matchbox kit, and from what I can tell, might be consistent with this picture below from May 1942, a month after HMS Arabis was transferred to the US and renamed as the Saucy:

 

 

The picture above is from the link below, a great summary with profiles of some of the US flower corvettes:

 

http://www.cbrnp.com/RNP/Flower/ARTICLES/USN_Flowers.htm

 

 

From that link, a suggestion that the Saucy later was reconfigured as shown in your last picture: 

The first batch of US Flowers replaced the forward Mk.IX 4" gun with a US 4" gun with no shield, and the 2pdr in the bandstand aft was replaced by a 3"/50 in a new location at the extreme end of the engine room casing. US SG radar eventually replaced the RN Type 271 radar. The later ships carried 3"/50 guns both fore and aft.

 

Since I have both the 1/144 and 1/72 kits, I'd prefer not to build both as the Snowberry (I can also build the HMS Campanula with my 1/72 version).  Also, I seem to like torturing myself by not building OOB, so I'd like to convert one (or both) to US corvettes.  The Saucy seems the easiest conversion, particularly with the 1/72 kit which I believe has the extra parts for it.  But, given the relatively lack of pictures and plans, and the need to get lettering and other decals, I don't know if I will go through with that idea.  

 

Would be fun to also do the USS Fury...

 

 

 

...or the USS Tenacity in either of her camo schemes:

 

 

 

The USS Intensity would require a lot of scratch building given that the ship was based on the modified endurance version of the flower class corvette:

 

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[Hsae]

I received today a package from Great Little Ships.

- Flower Class Corvette Deck and Fittings Set

- Flower Class Corvette Type ‘C’ Bridge Set

 

I am amazed about the “white metal” quality. I was looking forward to it with mixed feelings.

Keeps me busy for a while. Lol

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Hsae

[kurtvd19]

9 minutes ago, Hsae said:

I am amazed about the “white metal” quality. I was looking forward to it with mixed feelings.

Were you disappointed with the poor quality of the cast parts or are they what you expected?

 

[Hsae]

I had in the past ‘white metal’ parts, which frankly, we’re not usable at all. With the parts of Great Little Ships I am pleasantly surprised. They do need work, OK, but they are mostly usable.

[Landlubber Mike]

I have the package too and was pleasantly surprised about the quality.  

[Hsae]

 Tonight I was starting to “pop out” the rivets. First I tried a rivet tool, but that was a little bit too tricky. After that I did it with an automatic center punch tool. You can see the results below. The lightly rivets were made with the rivers tool. Top row. Unfortunately not very good visible.  I do think that the rivets with the punch are a little bit too heavy.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Hsae

[mtaylor]

Given the scale of the model, I think the smaller the rivets, the better.  But, that's just me. 

[Kevin]

i used the same punch but removed the spring and just used my palm to push down

[Hsae]

Mark, I have to agree.

 

Kevin, since you are way ahead of me, I appreciate your input!

To remove the spring might be the solution. I did put the spring on the lowest tension though, but it is still too much. Live & Learn!

 

I did try the rivet tool again this morning and I think it looks much better.

Edited June 22, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

I think I got it now … with my old homemade punch …

and one is always out of line …

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Does anybody know if the Snowberry was carrying degaussing cables 1942? Or, was the hull already “wiped” (external degassing, good for several month).

I see a lot of photos from other corvettes who were carrying it.

 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

I was experimenting with a real wooden deck today, because I didn’t like the photo etched one.

The top one is raw, the bottom one weathered.

Btw, the saw is a Japanese saw with a 0.1 mm kerf and 0.3 mm pitch. Comes in handy for fine cuts.

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Thank you for all the likes and comments!
 

Tonight I was working on cutting more deck planks. I have 3.25 mm wide x 0.5 mm thick cherry strips which have been to wide for scale decking. I had to cut them down to roughly 2.5 mm wide planks. Which was easier than I thought. I stuck them together with tape to cut the whole bundle. Worked fine for me.

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Finished the planking of the forecastle.

 

 

[RGL]

Love it. 

[Landlubber Mike]

I love the look of the natural wood - nice job!  My kit is one of the later editions which includes a wooden deck.  I asked Parkins about using it, and he thought it would be better to paint the PE deck instead.  Personally, I would prefer actual wood rather than trying to replicate it at this scale with paint.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[Hsae]

Mike, I agree. The only problem with wooden decks is, to find wood with very fine grain.

 

Btw, I think the brass deck is not accurate because according to my sources (photos) there was only one plank next to each other, not multiple in line like at the brass deck. Which actually makes sense considering the corvettes have been built in small shipyards under deadline pressure. They for sure didn’t have time for fancy woodwork. As you can see in the photo, there is only one plank running from front to back. At least how I see it.

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

I was trying some soldering today. Haven’t done it for years …

The problem I had, was that the forecastle was blended a little bit and I didn’t get it completely resolved.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

After cleaning up with steel wool & Alkohol, I primed the deck with AK gray primer and pre-shaded it with AK black primer.

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Next step is to paint the deck with RN Dark Deck Gray (NARN54) from Colorcoats

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Hsae