Merit 1/35 Royal Navy X Craft
Hi Everyone,
Having now got to grips with all my pictures on my laptop, I thought I would share this recently built model with you all.
This is a really nice kit, very simple, but very detailed, and is built OOB. Not a lot else to say about the model really, but i do have some family and historical links to the real vessels.
My family, including me, have worked in the shipyard where the original X Craft were built. At the time of their build during the war, my great uncle was a young shipwright. Though no longer with us, he told me once that the X Craft were built in complete secrecy and seclusion from the rest of the yard, in an enclosure in a work shop which is still there today.
Apparently they were built during the day, unbeknownst to most people there, and then at night, under cover of the blackout, they were wheeled out on railway low loaders to where the 150 ton dockside crane lifted them into the dock where they conducted commissioning, sea trials and crew training during the hours of darkness.
Then they were lifted back onto their railway wagons and hidden away again before dawn broke, and anyone saw them.
Anyway, for anyone who has seen my other submarine posts, this goes some way to explaining my congenital interest in these machines. I have several other models with links to the yard that i will post in due course, and give some history on.
Oh no...maybe I can feel another U Boat coming on...D,oh!
Happy modelling everyone!
Great finish you achieved on this, Ian...impressive build.
Very good finish, and yes it is easy to build very relaxing about six hours to build mine and about three-four hours having fun with different shades of gray !
great job !
Looks like it belongs in a museum, beautiful. Interesting family background. Didn't one help sink the Tirpitz?
They didn't sink her, but they damaged her badly. The entire ship, some 45 000 tons, was lifted about two meter by the explosion. Turret Dora was pushed out of its bearings and the engines were shaken out of their positions. It was deemed impossible to tow the ship to a drydock in Germany, so instead a thousand shipyard workers and spare parts were sent up. Despite their best efforts, the Tirpitz was never fully seaworthy again. She was still a threat to the Allies though and was finally sunk by British Lancaster bombers on the 12 November 1944.
Nice build Ian!
You have the weathering down pat,looks very realistic, beat family ties to her also. Someone needs to build some sub chasers with yer sub build up
Very nice - very authentic-looking finish and weathering.
Like everyone else has said, very good finish, is it 50 shades of grey?
Haha! About five or six shades i think!
Thanks for all your comments and feedback folks!
Ian, you've caught the look of this boat superbly. I recall the old saying, By what name does the submarine service refer to the rest of the Navy? (Targets).
Excellent weathering .