Building of GREMIR HMS Onslow

B-Manic

Peripheral Visionary
beejay said:
Hello jnyoun,
I hope this link helps you to understand the naming of gun mountings as fitted to "O" Class Destroyers:

http://hnsa.org/doc/br224/pl3.htm

Please persevere with the build - it is very good indeed

Hello B-Manic,
Good Morning Chief!
The letter 'Z' was never used in the R.N. to identify turrets or main armament mountings as this was used for a cruising state, Condition Zulu. Letters used were 'A', 'B', 'P', 'Q', 'X' and 'Y'.
Additionally the letters P and S in conjuction with a number, ie P1, P2, S1, S2 etc, were used to identify secondary armament mountings in some Battleships and Cruisers, but P and S indicated either location on the Port or Starboard side of the vessel.

The 4" AA mountings of a "Fiji" Class Cruiser illustrated in this link:

http://hnsa.org/doc/br224/pl1.htm

will show what I mean with P1 and S1 being the mountings furthest forward, port and starboard.

For a unique use of the letter 'Q', please see the attached link:-

http://hnsa.org/doc/br224/pl2.htm

Usually 'P' and 'Q' were used to identify midships turret fitted to many classes of WW1 Battleships and Battlecruisers.
In WW1 one R.N. Battleship had seven turrets,all on the centre-line, HMS AGINCOURT, the only one of her Class and days of the week were used to identify them - not letters!
Yours aye
beejay

Thanks beejay. Alpha, Bravo, and Yankee are also damage control conditions. In the Canadian Navy all equipment, off centre-line guns, power panels, etc are odd numbered on the Starboard side & even numbered on the Port side. This convention is explained in the 'Admiralty Manual of Seamanship (BR67-1 Ch1)'.

When I went through 'Cannon College' in the 70's we were taught that gun mount Z (not necessarily a turret) was a designation for a experimental or temporary, mission specific, fitted weapon.
 

jnyoun

Member
Shoki200,

Thanks for the reply. This is a great information. I think I already have several piano wires at different diameters. They had been used in my RC airplane. :)

One quick question:

Do I need to paint the wire to White? Right? The picture has white mast, so I guess.

Thanks

JN
 

beejay

New Member
Hello B-Manic
Sorry but I did not make myself understood. I meant the turret or mounting nomenclature that was in use at the time that ONSLOW was in service.
KGV Class Battleships had a secondary armanet of eight twin 5.25" mountings and they were called P1 to P4 on the port side and S1 to S4 on the starboard side. Cruising states at that time were X-Ray, Yoke and Zebra (sorry not Zulu-wrong phonetic alphabet!!)/
Your point about 'Z' being used in the RCN for an experimental mounting is very interesting as I had not heard that term before.
I served briefly in a 'Weapon' Class Destroyer, based at Portsmouth, that was doing trials with an experimental gun shield made of fibreglass on 'A' gun. It was not a success and 'Z' gun was certainly not what the Chief O.A. called it at the time!!
yours aye
beejay
 

beejay

New Member
Hello JN
Re : Mast Colours
Your model of ONSLOW shows her painted in the Special Emergency Fleet scheme of 1942.
I have a very clear black and white photo of one her sister ships, OBEDIENT, She was painted in the same scheme and her fore-mast looks to be painted medium grey not white.
VBR
beejay
 

shoki2000

Active Member
jnyoun said:
Shoki200,

Thanks for the reply. This is a great information. I think I already have several piano wires at different diameters. They had been used in my RC airplane. :)

One quick question:

Do I need to paint the wire to White? Right? The picture has white mast, so I guess.

Thanks

JN

It's good not to throw anything away :grin:

Mast - I don't know, but I would go with what you see on the photos
 

jnyoun

Member
Hi Shoki2000,

I have a question. I happened to see 'Gremir HMS Badsworth' at Kartonbau.de. It was amazingly well-built ship.

Just looking the ship (badsworth) closely, I had an impression that the complexity(?) of the 'Badsworth' is less than 'Onslow'. In other words, the 'onslow' has more details, right? If so, does it mean that the 'onslow' is more difficult to build?

Last few days, I have been frustrated on my current work. So far, I made too many mistakes. Whenever I see the ship, those mistakes are the first things on my eye. The edges were not well painted, so I can see the paper(?) all the times. And, there are too much of glue residue. I cannot take it anymore. Finally, I thought I could not accept the current result. It is far below my standard. I am wondering whether 'onslow' may be too much for beginner.

After long thought, I decided to restart the building. However, before I start again, I wanted to check whether 'badsworth' is eaiser. If so, I hope to try it first.

By the way, I will make an order anyway. The 'Badsworth' looks so good. The price is also good at $12 where 'onslow' is $16. Where does this price difference come? Is it due to the complexity?

Thanks

JN
 

shoki2000

Active Member
Onslow was designed by Adrian Kacz, Badsworth by Grzegorz Nowak.
I don't think there is big difference in complexity and approach to the design since Adrian was actually learning from Grzegorz :grin:
Badsowrth is probably a bit simpler only because she represents totally different class. Badsworth is a destroyer escort, while Onlsow is a regular destroyer. As for the price difference, if you look closer at the Onslow model, you will notice that there are actually TWO full models included - difference being the camouflage :wink:
 

B-Manic

Peripheral Visionary
Why don't you restart ONSLOW, applying all you have learned so far. It takes a long time to build a nice looking ship model.
 

jnyoun

Member
Shoki2000,

Thanks for the quick reply. I see your point.

B-Manic,

You are right. If there is no much difference, I will start 'onslow' again and then try 'badsworth' later. :)

Just to remind myself of the most important skill in building a ship....

Patience, patience, patience, and patience...and more patience....

JN said:
"The patience is 99% of the skill that needs to build a nice paper model ship and the remaining 1% of the required skill is patience too" :)
 

jnyoun

Member
This time, I am going to build 'super structures' first. Also, I will use 'Ink-jet' printed parts so that I can compare it with laser-printed version (that I built so far).
 

beejay

New Member
Hello jnyoun,
I agree wholeheartedly with B-Manic.
The build was progressing well and you knew where you were making mistakes, which were very minor.
I served once under a very eminent Captain R.N. who had many favourite expressions, one of which was " I might make mistakes, but being wrong is not one of them!!!"
I am so looking forward to seeing your model of ONSLOW complete, so please do not give up.
If you need an incentive, I can give you the full history of this ship.
Also please keep in mind that she was engaged in the Battle of the Barents Sea, in defence of Russian Convoy JW.51B, 31.12.1942, when she engaged the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. 'A' and 'X' Guns could not be brought into action due to icing and she suffered extensive damage including hits on 'A' and 'B' guns, the forward superstructure being set ablaze, radar and radio aerials brought down and her engine room holed. 17 of her crew were killed and 20 wounded, including her CO, Capt. R. St. Vincent Sherbrooke who was awarded a Victoria Cross for bravery.
Gremir Models also has another 'V.C. ship', the 'G' Class Destroyer HMS GLOWWORM. Her Captain, Lt.-Cdr. G.B. Roope was awarded a posthumous V.C. for single-handedly engaging and ramming, by an amazing coincidence, the same German Heavy Cruiser, Admiral Hipper, during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940.
VBR
beejay
 

jyduchene

Member
Hello jnyoun, I applaud your work. First to take on such a complex build as a first timer. Most of us started with simple models, ships are a "special class" which most of us consider "for the gifted". Second for starting over and for a third time. Your determination will be rewarded. Think of how many problems you have already solved. I have learned much from you in this build and hope you will continue your efforts and keeping us informed.

With much respect, John
 

jnyoun

Member
Thanks for many encouragement.

I will not give up. I will keep fight(?) until the victory....:-D

Ok.... Now.... it is time to be ready again....

I just printed all the parts again today.... Deep breath..... I can do it... I can do it... I can do it.....
 

jnyoun

Member
As I mentioned, it is 'INK-JET' printed version. I wanted to check with 'LASER' printed version side by side later. What I felt so far about 'LASER' printed version was 'it is a little bit shinny'. I was expecting to spray 'dull coat' later, but still I was concerned about this 'shinney'. I will see what is going to happen later. :)

This time, I wanted to try 'coated' one. So, I grabed 'Kroylen Matte Finish' and coated the papers. In this way, I may be able to avoid 'color wipe-out' mistake if happened..
 

jnyoun

Member
I received a 'Fly Model's Portland' last week. The parts look HUGE....:grin: So, I tried to build some... Here is what I did so far... I tried to do 'edge-coloring' which I learned from 'onslow' building...
 

jnyoun

Member
I compared it to the old one. Looks like my skill is improving. :)

It is quite interesting to realize that ,before I made the new one, I thought the old one was not bad. Now, I can see how bad the old one was. Happy to restart the building. :-D
 
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