by Peter Fulgoney
1/700 HMS Milne 1942-43 (White Ensign)
My first WEM build, and it’s HMS Milne. This is quite a recent kit, and comes with the familiar WEM style packaging and contents. The kit itself is made up of resin, and photoetch parts, some of these being interchangeable, and a nicely presented set of instructions with accompanying descriptions.
I decided to go for the full camo version, one of two options, and ordered the WEM paints noted in the instructions. Note that the three colour version is the same on both sides. I saw this in my RN camo reference book by Alan Raven.
Because the hull started to “hog” quite quickly, I decided to paint the sides quicker than I would usually want so I could stick it down to the base and thus stabilise the shape. I used pva to adhere the ship to glass having cut out and sprayed artist’s paper as a sea base. Once the ship was in place, and to date, there has been now further movement.
Colouring is quite lurid with this scheme but I was able to subdue this with MIG pigment powders to blend in the otherwise striking scheme. I used the usual rust colours together with “city dirt”, and “copper rust” which always seems to work well.
All the parts fit well together but for the main lattice mast base which needed packing out to make the ensemble look more like the picture. The only other fault was the lantern radar on the early version of the Milne which wasn’t included in the kit. Rob Kernaghan kindly let me have one of his spares.
Finally, I have some parts left over which I can’t find places for on the build but I’m sure I can resolve this with the help of my knowledgeable friends.
The end result is one of my better attempts at ship modelling and I’m pleased to have this kit as part of my fleet, and it will be part of the Telford Atlantic dio this November. I think that the WEM formula is one of completeness, and good research ending with a pleasurable conclusion for the serious modeller.
