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Ralph Clements
43 articles

H.M.C.S. Huron

November 8, 2015 · in Ships · · 15 · 6.7K

My first model ship since my age was single digits, many, many moons ago...

Trumpeter H.M.C.S. Huron, '1944' per package. I think that may be true as many features of the superstructure are more complex or not shown at all on the box cover art. I often use the box cover art for a reference and noticed, "wait a second that's not what the parts looks like..?". So maybe the Huron on the box is the 1943 model.

Anyway this was a test of patience, hand-eye coordination and small part handling abilities for sure. The main deck rails were PE add-ons made by an outfit called Alliance Model Works, a challenge in themselves, but nicely made. The rest is out of the box, except for the rigging. I was unable to find any real clear pictures of the rigging, all photos I could find of the Huron were old and unclear and small. I imagine there is more rigging.

Bottom was spay painted, the rest bushed on using various brands and shades...

Reader reactions:
8  Awesome

9 additional images. Click to enlarge.


15 responses

  1. Much, much better than MY attempt at ship-building. Nice work!

  2. Nice looking ship, Ralph. I did the Indianapolis in this scale and also with a lot of etch, so can sympathise with you re the complexity of the build.

    One thing if I may - I think it would be unusual to see the White Ensign flying from the bow - usually seen at the stern or from one of the main mast spreaders.

  3. Looks good Ralph. Why did you pick this subject for your return to ship building? Just curious.

  4. Thanks folks,

    Rob, I put the ensign where the instructions showed it, not knowing any better. Maybe I misread them

    Tom I chose it because I have two other larger ship kits in my stash and wanted to start with something smaller.

    Oh, one other thing - the stand is something I made out of matte board just to raise it up a bit

  5. Nice build i like British ships from wwII

  6. Great looking ship, nicely done. I love the straight line camo schemes on some of these ships.

  7. Ralph, great work, looks like you've got the shipmaking thing down. The photoetch looks really good! So does the rest of the ship. There's something about destroyers, just draws you in.

  8. I appreciate the nice comments very much...but adjectives like 'superb' are not quite applicable in my opinion. Although I do not use soft focus like they do with ageing starlets, I will admit to trying to "accentuate the positive" in my photos.

    Building this did teach me a few things I need to keep in mind going into the next ship model. Among them make sure the deck houses fit correctly onto the deck before adding all the tiny, fragile, detail parts to them. If you have to beat the big parts up to get them to fit, it is better to beat them up first, then beautify them, than the other way around.

    This finished model is only about 12" long by 1" wide, so the density of those small parts is very high, very little room to work around them once they are in place. So a bigger model, at the same level of detail and complexity should, in theory, be easier...we'll see!

  9. Very nice! Nice paint work.

  10. Pretty neat work in this scale, Ralph.

  11. Thank you John and George!

  12. Hi

    really like you work. I can certainly sympathise with what you must have gone through doing this kit. I upon reading and viewing your post join iModeler. The reason was not only your post but because I was working on the same kit. Today I finished her according to the box instructions. About time, most of my hair is gone lol. There is one thing I am missing before truly completed. Question did you kit come with railings all the way round deck? My 05333 Trumpeter 1/350 HMCS Huron Destroyer 1944 did not and are not shown in the instructions. Had to order a set from the States. Cost just as much as the kit. Waiting for them too come in mail then will post my truly completely finish ship. ps: used your stand idea hope it wasn't under copyright Thanks!

  13. Really like this, Ralph. Given the scale and the fact that it’s your first grown up ship I think the superlative ‘superb’ is not far off the mark. I’d be proud to have this on the shelf.

  14. That's really nice. I didn't know of the existence of this kit until recently - I put it on my wishlist.

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