Tamiya 1/700 'O' Class Destroyer

[Dave Ward]

Just fancied a wee small build & this is it:

It's so small there are two complete models in the box - they end up being 150mm long x 15mm beam.
Parts for one come on one sprue

The decal sheet carries pennant numbers for all of the 'O' class.
a few detail shots


There is an option for building the model as one of the 4.7" gun armed hulls

OR, one of the 4 ships that were armed with 4" HA guns................
However, I'm not convinced that you can build the 4" ships, as they retained both sets of torpedo tubes ( the others had the aft set replaced by a 4" AA gun ), and were fitted for minelaying. Anyway, 4.7" guns it is!
The colour guide is singularly boring
Especially when the box front shows a much more interesting camouflage pattern ( which I will attempt )
As a small waterline model, this will need a base - I think a small seascape............................
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Starting with the base - I used a piece of 0.75mm plastic card, normally I'd use 6mm MDF, but this is so small I used the card. The model has a waterline baseplate - which means I can make a start on the seascape........................

With MDF, I'd use DAS, or similar modelling clay, but I elected to use Perfect Plastic Putty. This is applied where the bow wave, intermediate waves & wake is needed. It looks a little rough, but the advantage of PPP is that when dried, it can be smoothed & shaped by a wet paintbrush. I mixed some of the PPP with water to a slurry & applied this as the boundary layer along the plate. I'll have to refine this when the hull is added, otherwise I'd end up with a perfectly flat waterline. It's tricky to do the 1/700 sea, just because of the scale. If you do a wave too big, then that would actually move/lift the ship, so I have to limit the wave height to one which wouldn't affect the attitude of the ship.
Dave

 

[mikegr]

My own is almost finished

 

[Dave Ward]

After life getting in the way of the hobby - back to the 'O' class............................

Drilled portholes - there are none on the model, due to the way it is moulded. I'm going to paint it as HMS Onslow ( G17 ), or HMS Oribi ( G66 ). Both were 4.7" gunned destroyers and had similar camouflage schemes applied. The kit has pennant numbers for both. I need to get my OO brushes out!. The sea has it's final basecoat applied & now needs thin washes of darker & lighter tones. I'll do his before permanently fixing the hull. I'll then be able to add the boundary layer of sea/hull and start adding a few wavecrests................
Dave