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

Great progress and fine workmanship. BTw, the capping rails don't look too heavy - in fact I think true scale at 3mm would have looked too narrow. I have been pondering the two companionways, one either side of the funnel. I suspect they were added to provide a quick exit route for engine room staff from below, the lack of easy exits were the reason they always figured heavily in casualty lists. The very reason my Grandfather trained himself to be a ship's baker/cook, as he told me the galley was not only warm but always well placed if you needed to make a quick exit. Or make some potato whisky.
 
Alan Smith said:
Great progress and fine workmanship. BTw, the capping rails don't look too heavy - in fact I think true scale at 3mm would have looked too narrow. I have been pondering the two companionways, one either side of the funnel. I suspect they were added to provide a quick exit route for engine room staff from below, the lack of easy exits were the reason they always figured heavily in casualty lists. The very reason my Grandfather trained himself to be a ship's baker/cook, as he told me the galley was not only warm but always well placed if you needed to make a quick exit. Or make some potato whisky.
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Thank you for your sound input Alan. The companion ways have been bothering me and your suggestion makes good common sense, but this was the Royal Navy! Picotee was an early build and I think this first batch may have came out of the yard with this type of companion way as standard, but since I have never seen them on any of the (many) other Flowers I have looked at they may have been one of the first of many modifications, perhaps Skippers getting rid of them for taking up too much space. Unfortunately there are not many photographs of early British built Flowers. All very interesting though.

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This is a photograph of the forward hatch on HMS Heliotrope an early Flower build by John Crown, Sunderland 1940.

Did your grandfather serve on Flowers?
Kind regards JJ..​

​

 
Alan Smith said:
No- The old rascal was strictly Merchant Nany and Pub.
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Reminds me of my Grand could drink like a fish, he worked for the head line out of Belfast, left for the Far East 1940 came home 1946 before I knew this I wondered why I had three uncles and aunt who where six and over years older than the other three. I remember him very fondly. JJ..
 
Hi Folks, I have been working on a couple of areas this last few days. First of I have added a pair of shackles to each side of the mast to support the mast back stays. I have put them as far back towards the stern as possible without fouling the bridge. The plans of Agassiz shows them further back, but she has a narrower bridge, it also seems to show them fixed to the deck but a lot of photographs show them attached to lugs welded on to a reinforcing plate, itself welded to the bulwark capping rail and that is what I have run with.
I have begun to add some detail to the stern of the engine room casing, principally a watertight door into the casing and a non-watertight door into the galley. The w/t doors are 3D printed from Micro Master in New Zealand. Micro Master produce great bits but are hugely expensive and only used as a last resort for an old pensioner like me. The rest I made up from styrene. I have never been happy with the ladder I made for the compass house,(shown in some pics of the stern), so I had a go of making one out of brass and it turned out much better. Only trouble is I now have to make another five and that was the only piece of 0.25mm x 1.0mm brass that I had, so I will have to find something else for the rest.
Engine room sky light next.

Some Pics.


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Cheers JJ..
 
Jack Jäger said:
Hi Folks, I have been working on a couple of areas this last few days. First of I have added a pair of shackles to each side of the mast to support the mast back stays. I have put them as far back towards the stern as possible without fouling the bridge. The plans of Agassiz shows them further back, but she has a narrower bridge, it also seems to show them fixed to the deck but a lot of photographs show them attached to lugs welded on to a reinforcing plate, itself welded to the bulwark capping rail and that is what I have run with.
I have begun to add some detail to the stern of the engine room casing, principally a watertight door into the casing and a non-watertight door into the galley. The w/t doors are 3D printed from Micro Master in New Zealand. Micro Master produce great bits but are hugely expensive and only used as a last resort for an old pensioner like me. The rest I made up from styrene. I have never been happy with the ladder I made for the compass house,(shown in some pics of the stern), so I had a go of making one out of brass and it turned out much better. Only trouble is I now have to make another five and that was the only piece of 0.25mm x 1.0mm brass that I had, so I will have to find something else for the rest.
Engine room sky light next.


Cheers JJ..
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Great details and parts, Jack. And the ladder is much better!
Regards, Peter
 
She’s becoming a real ship. Lovely details! And masterful modelling.

In the meantime I have gone through hundreds of Flower class corvettes, hoping I’d find just one more (viable) image of her. Apart from the one we already shared and which is doubtful: zilch, nada.
 
dockattner said:
I agree with Peter. That’s a nice improvement on the ladder. The realism of the whole build is rather remarkable. I feel like you can step into the photos and be on a ship.
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Thank you Pau.
Unusual for me, but I am quite proud of the little ladder, twenty soldered joints inside about 40mm I surprised myself! Try as I might I could not make it so small in styrene, it would take a master like Peter for that.

Cheers JJ..
 
Marquinius said:
She’s becoming a real ship. Lovely details! And masterful modelling.

In the meantime I have gone through hundreds of Flower class corvettes, hoping I’d find just one more (viable) image of her. Apart from the one we already shared and which is doubtful: zilch, nada.
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Hi Marco, like you I have looked everywhere with the same result. I am sure there is a lot of information stored, but not catalogued at the Ulster Transport Museum. I haven't talked to any one there for a while, might give them a call to see if there has been any progress. Thanks for looking.

All the best JJ..
 
Jack Jäger said:
Hi Folks, I have been working on a couple of areas this last few days. First of I have added a pair of shackles to each side of the mast to support the mast back stays. I have put them as far back towards the stern as possible without fouling the bridge. The plans of Agassiz shows them further back, but she has a narrower bridge, it also seems to show them fixed to the deck but a lot of photographs show them attached to lugs welded on to a reinforcing plate, itself welded to the bulwark capping rail and that is what I have run with.
I have begun to add some detail to the stern of the engine room casing, principally a watertight door into the casing and a non-watertight door into the galley. The w/t doors are 3D printed from Micro Master in New Zealand. Micro Master produce great bits but are hugely expensive and only used as a last resort for an old pensioner like me. The rest I made up from styrene. I have never been happy with the ladder I made for the compass house,(shown in some pics of the stern), so I had a go of making one out of brass and it turned out much better. Only trouble is I now have to make another five and that was the only piece of 0.25mm x 1.0mm brass that I had, so I will have to find something else for the rest.
Engine room sky light next.


Cheers JJ..
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Good morning Jack. What they all say. This is "classic Jack" modelling. Cheers Grant
 
Jack Jäger said:
Back to the wheel house and an exercise in futility but great fun non the less. No denying the W/H looked kind of bare so I have added a few bits and pieces, the highlight being the bridge telemotor unit. It is more a generic telemotor than anything specific, information gathered from online pics. I can find no information on the type used on HMS Picotee. I made it from scrap styrene and a few odd bits that were lying about. I didn't think it was worth any more than a monochromatic paint job as, if seen at all, everything will be in silhouette when the lid is put on.
Well it passed a bit of time.

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amazing work
 
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