by Luis Crespo
1/700 Spanish Armada Frigate F81 Santa Marķa (Fujimi Kitbash)
The real thing:
The Santa Marķa, named after Christopher Columbus“ flagship, is the first ship of her class of six vessels. The Santa Marķa and her sisters formed the backbone of Spanish Armada from the late eighties when they were first commisioned. Although built in Spain, the Santa Marķa class frigates are actually "long hull" OHPs with minor changes. Last year the Armada started a MLU programme for this class so they will be updated to serve well into XXIst century, keeping their Mk 13 launchers but upgrading electronics. Unlike Australian Perrys, they will not receive VLS's. The Santa Marķa was commisioned in 1986.
Her statistics are:
| Displacement: | 3,982 tons full load (F-85, F-86: 4,107) |
| Dimensions: | 138.1 x 14.3 x 7.8 meters (453 x 47 x 25.5 feet) |
| Propulsion: | 2 LM2500 gas turbines, 1 shaft, 40,000 shp, 29 knots |
| Crew: | 225 |
| Aviation: | aft helicopter deck with RAST and dual hangars; 2 SH-60B |
| Radar: | SPS-49(V)4 2-D air search ((V)5 in F-85 & F-86) |
| Sonar: | SQS-56 hull, SQR-19 towed (-19(V)2 in F-85 & F-86) |
| Fire Control: | Mk 13 weapons control, Mk 92 and SPG-60 STIR missile control, SQQ-89 ASW |
| EW: | Nettunel (F-85 & F-86: Mk-3000) intercept, SLQ-25 Nixie |
| Armament: | 1 Mk 13 missile launcher (40 SM-1MR/Harpoon SSM), |
| 1 76 mm OTO DP | |
| 1 20 mm Meroka CIWS | |
| 2 triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes | |
The model:
There are several models of the Oliver H. Perry class frigates in the market. Fujimi“s USS Gary was the only I was able to find in Spain. It is not a bad kit, with correct measures and nice surface support. It is somewhat expensive though. I built her basically out of the box, applying some changes here and there. I used a Revell 76 mm OTO DP, as the original piece supplied with the kit is way too small. The Meroka CIWS comes as well from a Revell weapons sprue. The SPS 49 radar comes from an Eduard PE set, and railing is from Tom's Modelworks. Rigging is made of my usual 6-0 surgical silk.
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