by Dennis Vella
1/192 HMS Onslow (Scratchbuilt)
HMS Onslow was one of the O class of emergency "intermediate type" destroyers which did not exceed in any specification but in the end proved to be extremely sea worthy, relatively cheap and easy to build. So much so, they spend most of WW2 on convoy duties in the North Atlantic and on Russian convoys although a few did a few runs down the Mediterranean. I chose HMS Onslow because it participated in the attacks on the Hipper and Lutzow and in 1943 was involved in the Scharnhorst chase.
The Model is in 1/192 scale and is based on the A&A plans with additional research from other sources on the colour scheme applied around late 1942. The colour scheme proved very tiring due to variations in photos and I only adopted it after numerous correspondence with a number of experts and reference to books which convinced me that in reality it consisted of only three colours:-507A, White and B55.
The paint is from WEM and the model took nearly 7 months to finish. The hull is built in balsa, while brass was used for the smaller items including gun barrels, tripod mast, railings and torpedoes. I hope to finish a cross section of all British destroyers from 1900 to 2000 and as such I had to include this class. My next model will be of the beautiful "M" class of destroyers which I hope to finish by March 2011.
