With the constraints of the Washington Naval Conference firmly in place, the UK was faced with some tough decisions when it came to new warship construction. The Nelson and the Rodney rolled off the quays and into Fleet service, with the three strong King George V class soon to follow. But in the interim, in those days when no one really new what the future was to bring, they decided to hedge their bets with a "Coastal" battleship. Designed to be armed and armored against 14" plunging fire, but on a much shorter citadel than the still developing KG V class, the new Duke of York and Duke of Wellington were supposed to fill a niche no one really had considered. Fast enough to at least threaten the famous Germans twins (Scharnhorst and Gneisenau) and fully capable of pounding them or the Panzershiffs into scrap, the "Duchy" class allowed for some extreme flexibility at a time when the empire truly needed every ship and every man.
The basics of the ship were simple: a beamy ship with a citadel that would be a repeat of the Nelson/Rodney, and the turret design that would be used in the upcoming KG V. Without the additional twin turret, the Duchies were considered to be inferior, but in many ways, this very mindset led to them being employed in ways that helped free other, more powerful surface vessels. Also, they built faster than the KG V, meaning that as the Prince of Wales was just starting to fit out, the Duke of Wellington had already seen trail by fire when her surface action group managed to surprise the Graf Spee. The ensuing Batlle of the River Platte was short, and brutal. Unable to damage the Duke, the Spee was hammered until she finally went under, battered and aflame, just outside of Montevideo.
So that's the story in rough form at least. Now for the ship.
I started with a Tamiya HMS Nelson.
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FNelson1.jpg&hash=1ac30f21cdded296bbbc5ec2f5ef52de4f5c7993) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/Nelson1.jpg.html)
And then I started cutting. I removed the superfiring "B" location to use on an upcoming project, and then I started moving things around and truncating the hull.
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FWP_20140623_001.jpg&hash=11a374b4c5bb8fcbca389d4ec6c357b2a47f8b48) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/WP_20140623_001.jpg.html)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FWP_20140623_002.jpg&hash=47a3d9e41036747a3af3dba56551f147e3ea1187) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/WP_20140623_002.jpg.html)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FWP_20140623_003.jpg&hash=8805269fb4faa536ec9b5702d067208da2cd9654) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/WP_20140623_003.jpg.html)
And then came the PSR...
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FWP_20140629_001.jpg&hash=8dcf2fe9c06ac23c15f9f4a7a621ef30214ee099) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/WP_20140629_001.jpg.html)
Followed by general construction of the superstructure and weapons.
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FWP_20140629_002.jpg&hash=a469767c005c45d6da6cac73ca13c83caf4a7baf) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/WP_20140629_002.jpg.html)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FWP_20140629_003.jpg&hash=39c42b36381f3afd5ed27f56e399b72d1bac2b6c) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/WP_20140629_003.jpg.html)
And here we are today. Nothing is glued in place yet, this is just the dress rehearsal, but man, I dig it. This is it for a little bit as it is WAY too humid to even consider my rattle-cans at the moment. This is what happens when you build most of a state on swampland my friends. :banghead:
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FWP_20140629_006.jpg&hash=656f1ce94acdc3dbe1b500c0b965c052f2169d03) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/WP_20140629_006.jpg.html)
Wow, I like the look of that. :thumbsup: :bow:
I always liked the Nelson and Rodney, just odd-ball enough to be interesting. Plus I can tell them apart from other battle wagons too, but with the four gun turrets it looks AWESOME!
This I have to draw! Or at least kitbash from someone's Nelson
Great idea. A pocket Nelson.
Lovely work
Very interesting! :thumbsup: I am slightly concerned about the hull-form: Nelson and Rodney were pretty slow anyway, and a shorter (and therefore proportionally fatter) hull is not conducive to high speeds. Maybe add another, or a larger funnel, to show an improved powerplant? She'll need a fair bit more grunt to get up to anything close to a Scharnhorst-bothering speed.
I really like this idea, and look forward to seeing it progress when your humidity calms down a bit... :cheers:
I realized I should have clarified the line about the twins. In the hull form I'm working on, it looks like I have space for some version of the KG V propulsion (110,000 shp) as opposed to the Nelsons (45,000 shp) and while the single funnel is slightly problematic, it's also thicker by a bit than the KG V double stacks. So my thought was to settle on 6 boilers, which would get me 82500 shp, on a displacement of less than the Nelsons (roughly) 34,000 tons. So with almost double the shp on a reduced displacement, I think we'd be looking at something comparable to the KG Vs 28 or so knots as opposed to the 23 of the Nelsons.
Very little is going to be gaining on those 31 knot monsters, but at 28 or so knots, and if you manage to get them within range after the initial detection, you'd at least get some time to beat on one of the twins before they could scamper off to safety.
So my next thought is since I may not see a truly low humidity day until September, I may sand the decks flat and rescribe the wood planks. I'm not sure if I'm feeling quite that insane however. I may settle for something in the middle where I rescribe enough to get the point across properly. ;)
Also, last bit, I'm thinking a need Base Ring for the 6" secondaries...they look a little sitting flush with the deck. Thoughts?
Sheet styrene?
Probably, and with many, many failures at making a circle since I tend to wing it and not use my darn compass. ;)
My opinion is "yes" but only if they are minimal in height .... & use the bl**dy compass, OK! ;D
Pocket Nelson....I love it !
:cheers:
Wonderful stuff - great idea and it really looks the part.
No 5.25" secondaries available?
Quote from: JoeP on October 14, 2014, 04:04:41 AM
No 5.25" secondaries available?
I didn't think so, but I found a PoW weaponry sprue, so I'm in the process of making mounts. :)
Knightwing crates, barrels and sacks might give you some turret rings.
So yeah, this is a thing again. :)
Pics by the weekend. Most of the primary paint is done, just have to highlight the details and get the ship's boats in place.
Well, it only took two years, but it's done. :)
In 1925 the Royal Navy was trying to figure out how to answer the future threat of a rearming Germany. Designed as a half measure against the possible failure of the KGV class, the Duchy was intended as a compliment and possible replacement for the excellent Queen Elizabeth battleships. Upgrading the ships to a more modern standard was proving costly, and a new design ship would be able to incorporate all of the new ideas and research into a younger hull with longer life.
Built as beamy ships on a smaller hull than the KGV, the Duchy would have a smaller power plant, but one that would still allow it to marginally outpace the QE battlewagons. Sticking strictly to the same terms as the KGV design, the Duchy would mount 8 - 14" cannons in two quadruple turrets. While seen as a risky investment in terms of location, it allowed the Royal Navy to use these faster building battleships as testing grounds for innovations in the newer and more powerful KGV. As the threat of war loomed ever closer, the efforts and resources of the Royal Navy shifted to convoys escorts and "Real" battleships like the KGV. Curtailed at two hulls; the Duke of Wellington and the Duke of Westminster (Known as "Wellie and Westie" among the fleet) they went into service as the war started, and almost immediately, some of the very design elements that had gone into the planning for these ships came to bear fruit.
Ordered into a hunting group with the Exeter and Ajax, the Duke of Wellington was in the right place at the right time to confront the infamous German surface raider the Graf Spee. The ensuing Battle of the River Platte, was decisive and one sided. The cruisers acted to herd the German pocket battleship, and the Duke of Weillington dismantled it in short order. While the German raider did manage to score some telling hits in return, the heavier armor and the speed advantage of the Duchy won through.
Not even the lucky 11" shot that took out the front gun director was able to stop the Wellie for long, and soon the rear 14" turret was raining down accurate fire as the ship turned away to make temporary repairs. In the end, the 14" shells of the Wellie proved devastating to the Spee, and she sank out well outside of Montevideo harbor as she began a last dash to safety.
Back in England, this staggering and mostly one-sided victory provided a strong boost to morale. In Germany, it led to Hitler's first recriminations about the surface fleet as he ordered Doenitz to step up U-boat production.
Final Armament (1944 fit)
8 × BL 14 in (360 mm) Mark VII guns
4 × QF 4.7 inch (120mm) anti-aircraft guns (4 × 1)
32 × QF 2-pdr AA (4 octuple mounts)
28 × 40 mm AA (7 × 4)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FIMAG00527.jpg&hash=9c79be9f64efe42de8df714b257a4653af18d854) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/IMAG00527.jpg.html)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FIMAG00530.jpg&hash=6a003565c857e17e652be6c8acd18a77a29c5a97) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/IMAG00530.jpg.html)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FIMAG00529.jpg&hash=9009298308bdb7836e3381428bd498c5963bb986) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/IMAG00529.jpg.html)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi298.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm270%2Fproditorcappela%2F1946%2520GB%2FDuchy%2520Class%2FIMAG00528.jpg&hash=682f726115489e321c93e7faf972f118ffd6e2c7) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/proditorcappela/media/1946%20GB/Duchy%20Class/IMAG00528.jpg.html)
Nice work! Great background. :thumbsup:
That looks pretty darned awesome, and I know NOTHING about ship plastic modelling. :thumbsup:
Nice twist on the Battle of the River Plate too.
Nice one - the paint looks really good: 'tired' enough to be believable, but not over-weathered. :thumbsup:
I like the story too: that scenario is exactly what Langsdorf was worried about of course, which explains his tentative engagment with the British cruisers.
Nice looking ship! :thumbsup:
Oh that is good.
Love what you did with the deck.
:thumbsup:
Thanks guys! The paint is part plan, part lucky happenstance. For the grey, I painted it, well, grey, and then hit it up with some ink. After that settled, just siome dry brushing to leave the ink shadows in places I wanted them, or some small touch-ups if it was too much.
The wood decking is like, 4 different colors. I started with sand, then inked it, but that was way too dark and drastic, so dry brushed some more sand, but that didn't get me the highlights I wanted, so then I mixed some sand and white, and now it's too light...
So more ink, then back to the sand/white mix, and then I let it all dry and looked at it the next day and went "Huh, I actually really like that" and I declared victory. ;)
Is it correct that due to the bridge configuration restricting the helmsman's visibility, Fleet standing orders were that these ships were only to be overtaken to port?
The Pass the Duchy on the left hand side rule...
;D
Great job on this one ! Love the details and the weathering...great stuff !
:thumbsup:
Quote from: zenrat on September 26, 2016, 05:23:53 AM
Is it correct that due to the bridge configuration restricting the helmsman's visibility, Fleet standing orders were that these ships were only to be overtaken to port?
The Pass the Duchy on the left hand side rule...
;D
Oh, my giddy aunt! :banghead:
(As my dear ol' mum used to say many moons ago.)
Quote from: Old Wombat on September 26, 2016, 07:21:59 AM
Quote from: zenrat on September 26, 2016, 05:23:53 AM
Is it correct that due to the bridge configuration restricting the helmsman's visibility, Fleet standing orders were that these ships were only to be overtaken to port?
The Pass the Duchy on the left hand side rule...
;D
Oh, my giddy aunt! :banghead:
(As my dear ol' mum used to say many moons ago.)
Yup it's been duly noted :rolleyes:
Fantastic work Proditor :thumbsup: :thumbsup: