By Max Cosby
1/600 HMS Tiger 1965 (Airfix)
The kit is the recent dual release (along with HMS Daring). Many modifications were made to the kit, including replacing the gun barrels with fine and more accurate brass rod.
The 'Aztec' steps were removed and replaced with WEM photo etch parts, as were the lattice masts. The funnels were detailed with PE ladders and scratch built steam pipes. There was quite a bit of flash on the directors, which were cleaned up. There were also large blocks of plastic along the edge of the deck which were replaced with bollards and fairleads. Her railings, doors and ladders are all WEM. Watercolour and pencil graphite were used to weather her and bring out various surfaces, such as the apexes of the gun turrets and superstructure, and to highlight the knuckle bow. The flags are tissue paper and she was rigged with stretched sprue. I experimented with the sea; instead of acrylic gel on a painted base I used bathroom sealant ( for tiles, sinks etc). The result was not as good as the acrylic gel. The sealant was too viscous to mold easily, trapped air bubbles and attracted dust due to its several day drying time.
The kit need a little work to make her look repeatable, which I feel I have just about achieved here, though, I'm sure, there are many errors and mistakes. The photo-etch set was very good value and I enjoyed the results of my labors. She was started in the Autumn half term break and was continued and completed just after Christmas (about three weeks in total).
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