by Dennis Vella
1/192 HMS Duke Of York (Scratchbuilt)
The subject of this entry is the British battleship HMS Duke Of York. This ship was one of a group of five which were the last class of battleships built for the Royal Navy. This class of battleships were not amongst the most powerful battleships of WW2 but they joined the fleet when they were mostly needed and they gave sterling service in all parts of the world.
I modelled this battleship over 35 years ago but which I hope to "update" sometime during the coming year. The model represent the ship as she was in 1946/7 when she was already in the reserve fleet. The model is to a scale of 1in= 16 ft. and is based on the 1/192 scale plan by Norman Ough which, if I am not mistaken, was the only one available at the time of this class of warships plus a few photos which I managed to obtain from the UK.
The model is scratch built in wood. Being the first model which I made it does not measure well when compared to my present standard but it holds a special place in my collection.
Gun barrels were painstakedly made by sand papering dowels held in the jaws of a small electric drill, burned fingers and all. Paints used were by Humbrol. Railing were made from needles and knotted with nylon thread.
