K63 HMS Picotee 1941 1/48 scale early short forecastle Flower Class Corvette

Smithy said:
This is going to be a brilliant model when it's done and I don't often think that about modern vesselsThank
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Thank you for your comments Smithy, I have to confess I preferer building wooden sailing ships but felt a bit stale and in need of a change. Before building the armed trawler Sir Kay this type of ship was all new to me. But I have to say it has been good fun doing some interesting research on ships of this era.
I have been watching with interest your build of Alert and admire your workmanship. I like Vanguard kits and have built a few of them including the Alert a few years back and found them great fun, although perhaps a bit expensive.

Cheers JJ..
 
Marquinius said:
Nice, really nice! And I’m not even sure 3D printed would look better. The rivets perhaps, but those hatch locks … nope. And I love the square stern with those hatches.

About square or round, and just because it’s fun to see if we can reconstruct history, is there any logic in numbering vs square and round? I mean, she’s K63. Would K62 or K64 be similar? Or if numbers were assigned on set up date, would this wharf get more square tails to build?

I also read somewhere that it was mainly for the Canadians, those square tails.

Just rambling, as you should surely not stop or change the stern.
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Hi Marco,
Thankyou for your encouraging and though provoking comments. I don't exactly know how many Canadian built 'flowers' had square sterns. Canada built over 120 of the 294 flowers and modified flowers that served in WW2 and over half the Canadian ships carried M/S gear. In Britain the percentage was lower but exact numbers I do not know and Picotee's lack of M/S gear suggests that not all square sterns ended up as minesweepers. From a few rough calculations, for flowers designed to be minesweepers the distance between the end of the superstructure and the, presumably, square stern is about 33% of the length from the forecastle back to the stern. On round stern boats the percentage is about 28% (all very rough from photos). Picotee works out at 33% so maybe she was initially meant to be a minesweeper.
As for pendant numbers? They are all over the place; K64 HMS Hollyhock was built in Sunderland and laid down four months before Picotee, K62, HMS Widgeon was not even a flower class corvette, but a Kingfisher Class Patrol Sloop launched in Feb. 1938.

Dare I say the whole numbering system is a minefield!

Cheers JJ..
 
Jack Jäger said:
Hi folks,
Things are rolling on nicely I have added the main sub-deck using 1.5mm Finn Board, suitably curved, and it seems stiff enough to support the superstructure, so I have started to add the deck plating. In keeping with 'Flower class' cheapo construction methods their working decks where riveted directly onto there cross beams,(and must have leaked like sieves!). From the limited photographic evidence that I can find the uncut plates where 12' x 9' X 5/8" and I have tried to replicate this. My 'plates' are made from 0.25mm styrene and scribed to look like having double lines of rivets. They are then attached to the sub deck with a clear glue. The deck has quite a few water tight hatches positioned along each side and I have made the first two. Not exactly 3D Printed but they look ok when painted.
A large area of this deck is also covered with wooden planking and that is next.


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Another classic Jack build. The wash-ports, fair leads and rivets are brilliant. I’m with Peter here and I think the hatches are spot on. As always wonderful work. Cheers Grant
 
GrantTyler said:
Another classic Jack build. The wash-ports, fair leads and rivets are brilliant. I’m with Peter here and I think the hatches are spot on. As always wonderful work. Cheers Grant
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Thank you Grant, nice to hear from you. Yea the wee hatches turned out better than I hoped, and with your and the others encouragement I have had a go at the w/t hatch over the emergency steering deck, in an open position this time. All the rest I will keep closed as this one is quite delicate and a Rowntree's fruit pastille might last longer.



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All Blacks tomorrow.

Talk soon, cheers JJ
 
But what a terrific idea. Simple (as in ‘it’s just a hatch and ladder’, I’m sure less so to make it) and immediately effective. It’s those details that make it an interesting object.
 
Marquinius said:
But what a terrific idea. Simple (as in ‘it’s just a hatch and ladder’, I’m sure less so to make it) and immediately effective. It’s those details that make it an interesting object.
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Hi Marco.
I might be shooting myself in the foot but this is the standard of detail I am trying to achieve for the whole build, should I be so lucky.

Cheers JJ..
 
Hi folks,
I have been continuing working on the upper deck and the forecastle bulkhead, also completing the 'plating' and adding the angle pieces between the deck and bulwarks. I have given the deck a tentative first paint coat. I quite like the colour and will now see what it will look like with a bit of contrast. These corvettes really where work horses, ('cheap and nasty', Churchill), and probably not expected to swim too long so if this deck was ever painted at all it would have been the lightest of skims. Take a look at HMS Heliotrope's work deck.1731671012916.jpeg

You can see a lot of pipes and equipment attached to the bulwarks and that is up next.
There a lot of watertight oil tank hatches on this deck and I have made a few of them, but I wont fix them until after the bulwark is completed.


Some photographs of my progress.

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Cheers JJ..​
 
And again you raise the standard ... but that makes for good following the example.

About the deck itself: just think about walking (stumbling) around in a force 7 gale, everything covered in ice. Tough life!
 
Jack Jäger said:
Hi folks,
I have been continuing working on the upper deck and the forecastle bulkhead, also completing the 'plating' and adding the angle pieces between the deck and bulwarks. I have given the deck a tentative first paint coat. I quite like the colour and will now see what it will look like with a bit of contrast. These corvettes really where work horses, ('cheap and nasty', Churchill), and probably not expected to swim too long so if this deck was ever painted at all it would have been the lightest of skims. Take a look at HMS Heliotrope's work deck.View attachment 484245

You can see a lot of pipes and equipment attached to the bulwarks and that is up next.
There a lot of watertight oil tank hatches on this deck and I have made a few of them, but I wont fix them until after the bulwark is completed.


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A nice color on the deck, good looking hatches with the bolds and bulkhead with the 2 size rivets, Jack.
Regards, Peter
 
Marquinius said:
And again you raise the standard ... but that makes for good following the example.

About the deck itself: just think about walking (stumbling) around in a force 7 gale, everything covered in ice. Tough life!
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Don't know what a sailor had to do to get sent to a convoy protecting tour on a flower but I bet it was nothing good. Mind you reading the reminiscences of past crew members it sure seems to have produced a strong bond among them, or maybe that is rose tinted. No matter I enjoyed their words and they have given me a great insight.

Cheers JJ..
 
Hi folks.
While waiting for the paint on the bulwarks to harden I turned to the forecastle to work out where and to fix the hawseholes. This proved tricky as the position in the plans and the actual position on the hull are different so a compromise was needed. I made a small section of the deck showing the spot where the top of the hawsehole should meet the deck, bearing in mind a straight run to the steam winch. Once I found the spot it was a case of blu tack and a lot of trial and error! I will epoxy them in overnight. The bit of deck, originally was to be just a guide' but I might keep it as a sort of sub deck to give a bit more support. That far forward the curve has gone from the deck.
Before the bulwark stanchions are fitted there is some pipework to fix and running tight to the sides there are a lot of ventilation points. Sixteen 'goose neck', mostly 4", eleven 'mushroom', all sorts of size and one cowl vent at the starboard stern corner. I spent a while making and painting them. I n my last 1/48 build I turned the vents in wood but they took a ton of paint coats to get them not to look like wood, so this time I have had a go with aluminium. The problem now is that it ain't easy to get paint to stay stuck to aluminium so I have used a single pack pvb 'etch' primer for a bit of bits... we'll see. I will mark and drill where the vents go but not fit them for a while.

Some pics. for now.

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Cheers JJ..​
 
Hi folks.
A mixed sort of few days with some good progress and a lot of rethinking. Despite all my foreplaning, (minimal) I have been dogged by not foreseeing unforeseen consequences. ( I know, I am in that sort of mood!) I can tell you there are more 'chicken and eggs' in this build than in Colonel Sanders back yard.
But anyway I have completed the little alcove below the forecastle deck and although mostly it will not be seen in the end it looks ok. I was going to add the wooden deck in there next so as to hide any gaps between bulkheads and deck but these planks have also to butt up against the main super structure, (ward room and captain's cabin and not yet started). So I jumped ahead and made the ply-wood shell thinking that would do for now, but realised that will still not be enough as it is to be 'plated' down to deck level. So that's next. Of course, even then, I cannot permanently fix this cabin as that will leave little room to fit the fore mast, witch is supported by a bracket attached to the face of the forecastle bulkhead, and I was not even thinking about making it yet, oh dear.

On the other hand my latest attempt at making the degaussing cable that runs around the bulwarks behind the b/w struts and looks awkward in the extreme to fit has turned out ok. There is always a silver lining (yea!).

That said it is all great fun and I love it.

Some pics..

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Cheers JJ..​
 
I'm interested how you made those doors: they are really sharp and similar. Well done. On another note: what's with three doors in such a small space? Ammo lockers? Just wondering and learning about these workhorses.
 
Marquinius said:
I'm interested how you made those doors: they are really sharp and similar. Well done. On another note: what's with three doors in such a small space? Ammo lockers? Just wondering and learning about these workhorses.
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Hi Marco, the three doors to port lead to the crews, (around 65 in early flowers) three W/C's and four wash hand basins, to starboard the first door is the PO's W/C and wash hand basin. The officers 6-7 had to make do with three baths and four W/C's. The Royal Navy a true democracy!
The doors are 3D printed by Marks model boats.

All the best JJ..
 
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