1/600 HMS Amazon (Airfix)
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by Kevin Dekker |
1/600 HMS Amazon (Airfix)
This old kit appears to be based on pre-production drawings of the class and so a few corrections were required. Boat davits and torpedo tubes were moved further aft and turbine inlet housings needed to be scratch built. Life-raft stowage was also changed to reflect the in-service positions. References used only seemed to show the port side so I made the mistake of assuming the starboard side would mirror it, but this turned out to be untrue for the CORVUS launcher which on the stbd side should be further forward. This is not something I will correct now but anyone hoping to make a more accurate model from this kit should take note. The original pennant number decals supplied for the ship's sides were too large. I attempted to create individual figures with painted paper and gluing them on, but have to concede that the results weren't the best and will probably try to source after market decals next time. The Seacat launcher was replaced with a scratch-built item. The Excocet launchers were based around the parts provided with the 1:600 Leander kit. These were very basic but provided a core around which other details and platforms were added. The fore-mast was modified to reflect the extra radar antennas carried on the actual ship. The most pleasing aspect of this build was the bridge windows. I took the time to add the wiper housing "brows" above each pane. Window panes were individual squares of painted paper glued into place. The bridge windows of most post war ships are an iconic part of their appearance and taking the time to get them right pays dividends in terms of the final effect. Various PE items from the White Ensign Model post WW2 sets completed the details. Quite a bit of extra detail was required, but the small size of this model meant that it wasn't too onerous a job.
