Euromodel Como Kit Discussion

[Johncclark]

Stern castings a little heavy. Rebuilt the windows and added some edge pieces. Looks a little more like it should.

[Johncclark]

Ships stove will be painted. Probably not black so it doesn't disappear ! All in all a lot of fun. Not museum quality but all mine. Next will be finishing off deck area then running rigging, sails, etc.

[wq3296]

Greetings Cabrillo,

 

I built the frigate Ajax by Euro Model several years ago. The Ajax that fought at Trafalgar in 1805 was really a 74 gun ship, not a frigate as indicated in the history of the ship as told by Euro Model. Note that EM specifically states that their Ajax fought at Trafalgar. It is possible that there was an Ajax frigate, but it did not fight at Trafalgar. As a result I did a little modification of the kit and came up with the 32 gun frigate HMS Juno. I bought some carronades and mounted them fore and aft on the spar deck and got rid of the beakhead bulkhead. In my opinion, Euro Model makes an excellent product, although they ought to update the history of the ship, if there ever was a frigate Ajax.

 

wq3296

[piratepete007]

Quite some time ago, Euromodel DID update their introduction to the Ajax. View their website.

Pete

[Johncclark]

The history of the ship has been under discussion for a long time. In the end the kit , for me, was a good starting point and learning platform. This is my first full blown plank on frame ship model. The plans are very detailed and very well done. Also you get to learn Italian! What could be better! I will post again when I get into rigging the sails. Hold fast.

[piratepete007]

Cabrillo - wish there were more like you. A refreshingly positive attitude goes a long way in encouraging others,..

Pete

[mtaylor]

Cabrillo,

 

I'd like to suggest you open a build log.  Bring us up to date and carry on from there.  I think there's lots of folks who would like to see your log.

[Johncclark]

Thank you very much. I will go ahead and open a build log and post a few photos to bring it up to date. Probably will be able to do that in early November. Travel schedule right now is a little heavy. All the best and thanks again.

[wq3296]

Pete,

 

Update seems to create more questions than answers. Trafalgar happened in October 1805, and there was an HMS Ajax at the battle according to three books I have that detail the entire engagement. According to the EM history the Ajax fell off the radar screen at the end of 1802. If the original Ajax was lost/decommissioned shortly thereafter, is it possible the Brits could have commissioned a 74 gun and named it Ajax in time for it to participate at Trafalgar? In my opinion possible, but is it probable? I don't know how long it was taking Britain to build, outfit, and commission a 74 gun ship in those days. Is it possible that Britain had two ships named Ajax at the same time? Are the accounts of the battle wrong and there was not a 74 gun Ajax at Trafalgar? To me it is more probable that EM somehow screwed up the history or simply fabricated a history, not realizing that the real Ajax was not a frigate nor that it was at Trafalgar. Let's not forget that EM's history says there is no more information on Ajax after 1802. Apparently, their research was faulty. Regardless, the kit is a great product.

 

wq3296 

[GuntherMT]

According to Wikipedia (yes, I know it's not exactly a 'research' source):

 

HMS Ajax was an Ajax class 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Randall & Co of Rotherhithe and launched on the Thames on 3 March 1798.^[2] Ajax participated in the Egyptian operation of 1801, the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805 and the Battle of Trafalgar, before she was lost to a disastrous fire in 1807 during the Dardanelles Operation.

 

This is corroborated by multiple sources on the web via a quick Google search, including the book -"A history of the sailing ships of the Royal Navy by Michael Phillips" and Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present.  by Ben Warlow, Naval Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 0-87021-652-X.

 

Edit:

As to the question of whether there was a different ship - a frigate - bearing the name of Ajax at the same time, the book listed above by Ben Warlow from the Naval Institute Press says:

 

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ajax after the Greek hero Ajax:

• HMS Ajax (1767) was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1767 and sold in 1785.
• HMS Ajax (1798) was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1798. She fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and was burned by accident in 1807.
• HMS Ajax (1809) was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1809. She was converted to screw propulsion in 1846 and broken up in 1864.
• HMS Ajax was a 78-gun third rate launched in 1835 as HMS Vanguard. She was renamed HMS Ajax in 1867 and was broken up in 1875.
• HMS Ajax (1880) was an Ajax-class ironclad battleship launched in 1880 and sold in 1904.
• HMS Ajax (1912) was a King George V-class battleship launched in 1912 and broken up in 1926.
• HMS Ajax (22) was a Leander-class light cruiser launched in 1934. She took part in the Battle of the River Plate and was broken up in 1949.
• HMS Ajax (F114) was a Leander-class frigate launched in 1962 and broken up in 1988.
• HMS Ajax (S125) is planned as the seventh Astute-class submarine.

Edited October 13, 2014 by GuntherMT

[piratepete007]

What an impressive amount of research. Well done Gunther. However, I have seen all those references before. I must now get back to some actual ship building.

Pete

[puckotred]

As some of you know I had a dispute with a retailer over a Euromodel kit. The retailer never sent me anything and I had to get a refund from Paypal. Euromodel heard about this issue through Pete who runs their helpdesk and although Euromodel was in no way part of this dispute they offered me a discount on the kit as a compensation for my trouble with the retailer!!!!

 

This is really an example of extraordinaire customer care I never have experienced before, and it shows how much Euromodel values their customers.

 

Thank you Euromodel and thank you Pete.

[Ponto]

Just a quick heads up to EuromodeI fanboys...I found an Easter greetings email  from the manufacturer this weekend. Nice gesture, I thought and a sneaky way to direct you to the website which is offering another discounted sale.

I started my Le Renommee so someone kick my behind to kickstart my build log...LOL.....

 

JP

[mtaylor]

Ok. JP... START THE BUILD LOG!!!!!! 

[NMBROOK]

Come on JP,not enough Euromodel logs on this forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Keith_W]

GO START YOUR BUILD LOG NOW!!!!!!!!!   

[piratepete007]

Enough of the words JP ... let's see this French frigate abuilding !!! Its unfair to suggest and not show.