Airfix

[Weaver]

One for the 1/48th guys:

1/48th Scale Fighter Bundle at 58% discount (last few only)

That's £240 worth of kits for £100...

Link: https://uk.airfix.com/products/148-scale-fighter-bundle-bundlea41?

[Weaver]

So I've had a good look at my SR.N4 now, and these are my immediate impressions.

CAVEAT: I never had this kit when it was new, so I don't know what it's "supposed" to be like.

1. Box is about 20-25% too big for the contents in every dimension.

2. Moulded in dark grey plastic, which seems an odd choice for something which is predominantly white.

3. Lots of parts off the sprues.

4. I can't see any mould defects like sink marks or short-shots, although I haven't gone over it with a fine toothcomb.

5. LOTS of flash. It's all well-used-mould stuff around the joint line. Nothing that'd be difficult to remove, just fiddly and tedious. Some small parts have a complete halo of flash.

[PR19_Kit]

The old boxes were pretty large too, lots of spare space in there, and they were moulded in white originally.

Even then there were lots of parts free from the sprues, which makes finding which bits are which difficult. And they had loads of flash too.

[Weaver]

I've been giving some serious thought to the minesweeper proposals. The trouble is:

a) There are several different configurations in the various pictures I posted up-thread.

b) I don't know nearly enough about 1970s minesweeping/hunting to pick all the gear needed to fill up the interior (and it does need filling up, given the clear roof).

c) None of the craft the minesweepers are based on are "pure" SR.N4s: they have things like extra walkways and railings around the sides and rear, different skirts, modified exhausts (presumably so they don't roast people on the rear walkways) and (sometimes) a fin-like mast with radar and aerials on it.

If I do it, it might be a composite of them all, which will be a compromise between what I like the look of, what makes sense, and what's possible/easy to source.

I do like the one with 20mm Oerlikons in cut-outs either side of the bow...

[PR19_Kit]

If I do it, it might be a composite of them all, which will be a compromise between what I like the look of, what makes sense, and what's possible/easy to source.

I do like the one with 20mm Oerlikons in cut-outs either side of the bow...

That'd be fine H, this is WhiffWorld remember. 

[Weaver]

I've just noticed that there's a guy selling masking sets for the SR.N4 on ebay. Handy if you're doing the many-windowed passenger version, and don't forget, the entire bridge and the cars are clear plastic, so they'll require fiddly masking too.

LINK

[Weaver]

If I do it, it might be a composite of them all, which will be a compromise between what I like the look of, what makes sense, and what's possible/easy to source.

I do like the one with 20mm Oerlikons in cut-outs either side of the bow...

That'd be fine H, this is WhiffWorld remember. 

Yep - the other thing is that, all other things being equal, their "moment to shine" as minesweepers would be off Kuwait in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, so by then they'd be on the other side of Gulf War UORs, and 15 years of in-service mods, and 20+ years on from the concepts in those drawings.

Things that occur to me:

IR shielded engine exhausts, a bit like those on a front-line helicopter. These could extend over the rear walkway, as per the drawings, but I wouldn't need to build upswet tube exhausts for them: just Apache-esque boxes.

The 20mm gunners, standing on open platforms at vehicle deck height at the front, are going to have a pretty miserable time of it when the craft is trapping on at 60 kts in any kind of seaway. Things to mitigate that might be to replace the deck-edge railings at the front corners with 4-5" high solid screens, and fit windscreens to the 20mm shields.

Decoy launchers.

Extra GPMG positions (rear corners?)

Javelin MANPADS LML positions on either side.

(I don't think you can stand on the roof when it's moving can you? Surely the prop pylons need HUGE safety clearances.)

[jcf]

'Twas ever a flashy bugger and the white plastic trended towards the brittle end of the scale.
Fit is also challenging.

[PR19_Kit]

(I don't think you can stand on the roof when it's moving can you? Surely the prop pylons need HUGE safety clearances.)

Definitely NOT!

Don't forget those props are the largest ones ever made. (yes, really) I've walked across that roof more than a few times (to get to and from the APU bay at the stern) aboard the Princess Anne, and they didn't even let me do that if the main engines were running at all!

[Weaver]

(I don't think you can stand on the roof when it's moving can you? Surely the prop pylons need HUGE safety clearances.)

Definitely NOT!

Don't forget those props are the largest ones ever made. (yes, really) I've walked across that roof more than a few times (to get to and from the APU bay at the stern) aboard the Princess Anne, and they didn't even let me do that if the main engines were running at all!

What I thought - cheers.

[Rick Lowe]

(I don't think you can stand on the roof when it's moving can you? Surely the prop pylons need HUGE safety clearances.)

Definitely NOT!

Don't forget those props are the largest ones ever made. (yes, really) I've walked across that roof more than a few times (to get to and from the APU bay at the stern) aboard the Princess Anne, and they didn't even let me do that if the main engines were running at all!

You'd likely be in danger of getting sucked into the intakes... or the props... Ewww.

Would they still have the manned Oerlikon positions at that time frame? Or closed turrets, either manned or remote controlled?
What about something CIWS-like instead?

[Weaver]

(I don't think you can stand on the roof when it's moving can you? Surely the prop pylons need HUGE safety clearances.)

Definitely NOT!

Don't forget those props are the largest ones ever made. (yes, really) I've walked across that roof more than a few times (to get to and from the APU bay at the stern) aboard the Princess Anne, and they didn't even let me do that if the main engines were running at all!

You'd likely be in danger of getting sucked into the intakes... or the props... Ewww.

Would they still have the manned Oerlikon positions at that time frame? Or closed turrets, either manned or remote controlled?
What about something CIWS-like instead?

Yep: they had manned light gun mounts well into the 21st century, and minesweepers were not at the front of the queue for the good stuff. As Mk.7 Oerlikons (similar to the WWII guns, but on a slightly different pedestal) were replaced in their primary positions by modern GAM-B01 mountings, they were often reinstalled elsewhere on destroyers and frigates, or cascaded down to beef up the light AAA of other ships. In 1991 it's entirely credible that a minesweeper would still have 20mm Mk.7s if it was fittied with them from new in 1977. The only reason RN MCM vessels didn't have them was that they had WWII-style 40mm Bofors instead.

[PR19_Kit]

You'd likely be in danger of getting sucked into the intakes... or the props... Ewww.

There's a clearly marked walkway to the areas you needed to get to, I think there's a decal for it included in the kit, but if there isn't it's marked quite clearly on the diagram that shows where the decals go.

[Weaver]

You'd likely be in danger of getting sucked into the intakes... or the props... Ewww.

There's a clearly marked walkway to the areas you needed to get to, I think there's a decal for it included in the kit, but if there isn't it's marked quite clearly on the diagram that shows where the decals go.

Can't see it in the kit to be honest. Maybe it was added to the real craft later, after the kit had been produced?

[Weaver]

Good info page on the SR.N4 here: https://www.jameshovercraft.co.uk/srn4#