1/350 Warspite, the Grand Old Lady
The mighty Warspite. From the great naval engagement of Jutland in 1916 to 28 years later, 1944, being the first ship to open fire on D Day, a massive legend of a ship. More honours awarded than any other ship in the mighty Royal Navy. Hit by naval fire, grounded, being rammed and being the rammer, hit by bombs and a FritX guided glide bomb and running into mines, the Warspite saw it all across all oceans. Fittingly, on her way to being scrapped and under tow she was struck by a storm, the lines parted and she was washed onto rocks where she refused to be budged. As Admiral Cunningham said of her in 1943 "Operation well carried out. There is no question when the old lady lifts her skirts she can run."
A ship dripping in history and a project i hope i did some justice to. I was all geared up to do a 1/32 Sea Fury but in my search for the best kit available i stumbled on the Academy Warspite kit. I had a ship planned further on down the line, maybe an old Dreadnought or similar, then i saw the Warspite and had WoW flashbacks, i was sold. At about 55cm long i was hoping it would be an impressive model.
Early on in the build i decided it needed a water type base, unfortunately i had never done one before, man..i had never even built a ship before! So, let the learning curve begin. Plenty of tutorials later, a few test runs with some foam and various products and i jumped on in.
I started with a piece of white packing foam from the bin at the back of a furniture store, carved out the shape of the ship and doubled up the foam so i could hide the hull, two layers of toilet paper over the top of the foam with pva wood glue to afix it and help achieve the wave effect, when hardened it was then painted a home brew deep green mix to act as a base colour. Layers of Vallejo water effects were slowly built up over a week or so with a couple of thin layers of Vallejo Stillwater as a top gloss coat and to help achieve depth. The water was completed by dry brushing some wave tops, the bow waves and stern waves with mixes of white and grey and then all enclosed in a home made wooden frame that i varnished.
Learning curve was decent but interesting and a fun modelling challenge. After seeing ships set in ocean bases online i knew i wouldn't be happy by simply plonking the finished result on the supplied plastic stand. A Pontos deck was used as well as Infini line for the rigging, the rest is OOB. I still need to add a full railing kit as the one i purchased only had enough to do the hangar and rear gun director area. Total build time was four months.
16 additional images. Click to enlarge.
David Mills said on August 13, 2019
Super work Jimmy!
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
Thanks David, she was a fun build!
bob mack said on August 13, 2019
very nice intricate work
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
Cheers Bob, appreciated.
Craig Abrahamson said on August 13, 2019
Stunning workmanship - I never was any good at "floaty things". 🙂
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
I never thought i would either, you just have to jump in and get your feet wet!
Jeff Bailey said on August 13, 2019
Outstanding, Jimmy! It looks beautiful!
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
Cheers jeff, it was worth all the effort.
Tom Cleaver said on August 13, 2019
This is your first ship?
Ulf Lundberg - you'd better watch out here! 🙂
Fantastic work on this. Obviously you're a "fast learner."
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
Yes, i saw a few builds of her online and new i had to give one a shot. Lots of patience:) So many fiddly pieces and a few times i had to walk away and just take a break. I need to do a couple of easy aircraft builds before i tackle another project like this!
neil foster said on August 13, 2019
Amazing job on this Jimmy, just one thing though, I thought HMS Belfast fired the opening salvo on D Day ….
Great job either way.
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
As far as i could find out it is attributed to Warspite from many sources, here's one https://warisboring.com/the-first-ship-to-open-fire-on-d-day/
Others say Belfast or another cruiser immediately before her and still others state an American DD, Fitch, was first. I imagine the real answer is lost in time 🙂
neil foster said on August 14, 2019
I did the tour of HMS Belfast and it was the tour guide who told me that but then I suppose they would wouldn't they ? :), anyhow it's still a great build of an amazing old ship.
N.
Greg Kittinger said on August 13, 2019
Excellent! I'm not a ship guy, but the model and base look very well done.
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
Thanks Greg!
Michel Verschuere said on August 13, 2019
Fab build Jimmy, you have all reasons to be very proud of this old lady that can run!
Jimmy Zed said on August 13, 2019
Lovely old girl, very imposing ship with a great camo!
George R Blair Jr said on August 14, 2019
Awesome! The deck looks especially realistic.
Andrew Alexander said on August 14, 2019
Great build and nice water effects! The Queen Elizabeths were some of the prettiest battleships.
Jimmy Zed said on August 14, 2019
Cheers Andrew and yes, love the QE class.
Eric Berg said on August 14, 2019
Looks terrific! Superb water effects! Totally inspiring!
Jimmy Zed said on August 14, 2019
Thanks Eric, the water base slowed the build down somewhat but was worth it in the end!
Dirk Derks said on August 15, 2019
hello Jimmy,
Thanks for sharing this 1/350 scale old lady with us. Indeed a ship with a long history.
Your skill is demonstrated in the finish of this model. My compliments.
Regards, Dirk
Jimmy Zed said on August 16, 2019
Appreciated Dirk, it is nice to be able to share and talk with people all over the world about our passion for these machines. Give Tomboy a pat for me!