HMS Ajax Plans

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

I’m looking to build a model of HMS Ajax to get back into the hobby. Does anyone know if there are any plans of the ship available, please?

Cheers

Dave

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Dave,

If it is the WW2 Cruiser then the ss Great Britain has the Norman Ough drawings:

https://ssgbt.adlibhosting.com/ais6/Details/museum/11003

Colin

 

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

<p style=”text-align: center;”>Thanks Colin. Yes, it is the ww2 light cruiser, I’m after.</p>

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

Hi ya there

The Norman Ough plans of HMS Ajax are of her after her major refit in USA, during WW2.  There was / still may be a set of plans around by an English Company (I cant recall their name) but, I believe the plans were purchased by an American Company – Loyal Hanna Dockyard (if you Google it – and do a good search) I am sure they have the plans.

I built the model of HMS Ajax from Norman Ough’s plans at 1:96 scale – also a lot of images I used were from The Conway Books ‘Warship’ plus I did a lot of research before I began my model.

Couple of pictures here.

Good luck with your build.

John

 

 

 

 

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

Hi the other  set of plans for HMS AJAX,  is Sambrook Marine , 2 sheet set 1/192 scale

 

john

https://www.taubmansonline.com/

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

The Leanders were pretty good ships for their time and gave good service. The loss of HMS Neptune was a dreadful tragedy.

Colin

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

Thanks to everyone for the links and information. I am now sorting out getting the Norman Ough plans from the SS Great Britain collection.

John, like your thumbnail. I remember the crash. The newspapers were full of it the next day. I am pleased they were able to find and rebuild her.

Colin, Yes, it was a tragedy. The Sydney was also a tragedy. I’m surprised that the captain wasn’t court martialled. getting that close to a possible enemy ship was unforgivable. Having said that I understand there is a possibility of a Japanese sub helping the Kormoran, even though they were not at war with us. That would help explain the loss with all hands and only one person getting into a life raft.

 

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

hi there Dave

Slightly off topic – Bluebird 1/8 scale – powered by an 80 mm ducted fan – I believe there are a few photographs of her being built on here and Mayhem – my model of Bluebird achieved about 31 mph on its test runs – we have to take her to a bigger lake though, so I can just let rip.   The real Bluebird ?? about it being found and rebuilt.  Yes, pleased they found her and retrieved her as there were speculations that ‘souvenir hunters of the pirate type’ were looking for Bluebird as well.  I think that is what swayed Gena Campbell to give the go ahead to salvage her, along with finding her father’s body as well.   As far as rebuilding her, and this is my personal view – they should have left her as she was and stabilised her to stop deterioration any more – and – spend monies made on a new record breaking boat which Mr Richard Noble is currently pursuing.  Maybe renaming the new boat Spirit of Donald.

But hey ho, get on with your Ajax build – are you going to try and trace a pre-made hull or build your own plank on frame.

John

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

Hi John,

Thinking about it, I can see your point about rebuilding her. There is, or at least there was, a replica at a museum at Coniston water. it was 30 years ago when I visited, so it may not be there anymore. Having the remains of the original preserved as is, would have been fitting.

As for Ajax, I am not sure. I will not be looking for a pre-made hull and I do not think I am good enough to go plank on frame. This is my first model in many years (at least 10), so I may ease myself in with a Glynn guest type construction. As for superstructure, I will be building a lot of it using my 3d printer. I use Blender as modelling software, so I actually get to build it twice lol.

I have just received the David MacGregor plans from SSGreatBritain, so I could technically 3d print the whole ship. But where is the fun in that.

 

Cheers

Dave

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

PS. Lovely model of BlueBird. I wish you all the best when you find somewhere to let her rip.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

No need to go full plank on frame or use Glynn’s simplified method. Just use composite construction. Use ‘bread and butter’ layers for the bottom of the hull up to and including the turn of the bilge and then sheet for the amidships as far as possible above it. The extreme bow and stern can be tackled with a mixture of plank on frame and block construction. Very straightforward for this type of model but few people seem to realise it.

Colin

 

n

 

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

hi there, as Mr Bishop has said, the hull need not be plank on frame.   It can be simplified as in Glyn Guest’s models and still have a good representation on the water.

Many moons ago I built HMS Penelope from Mr Guest’s plans – using his method of a simplified hull out of balsa wood and a bit of cardboard which, on the water, looks really respectable.

3D printing is one part of the hobby that I have yet to indulge in – although I have used some 3D fittings in the past.   No doubt in the near future I will have to pick up the educational booklets and teach myself about 3D printing.

 

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

hi there, just one last thing

Norman Ough’s plans of HMS Ajax doesn’t show the bilge keels.   You may possibly have to use an Airfix model as a reference for their positioning and size, or use photographs.

The other thing which may be of help to you is a Website called The Dock Museum.   Work your way through all of the information until you come to The Dock Museum | Collections

You will find under Cruisers images of HMS Ajax being built.   Although rather small, one can copy them and enlarge them for ‘own use only’ or you get telt off .

John

 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

As John says, you can use the Glynn Guest method if you are only interested in the above water appearance. I have always used my composite construction to give an accurate underwater profile without the complications of full plank on frame which is a much simpler alternative.

Each to his own and that is fair enough, but I have always wanted the whole model to look right, not just the bit above the waterline! Just my preference.

Colin

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

Colin and John,

Thank you both for the information. I have the Glynn Guest plans for the Penelope, which I will use for reference etc. The scale is slightly wrong for my model, but still very useful. I’m building 1/160 scale which will give me a hull length of 42.5″. My intention is to also build HMS Queen Mary, the battlecruiser which will be just over 50″. 1/160 allows me to build both at the same scale and get the Queen Mary in the car lol. The Ajax is a return to the hobby.

One problem I am having, is sourcing balsa wood. I’m in Great Yarmouth and there don’t seem to be anywhere this side of Norwich that has more than one sheet of each size in stock. Are we now limited to mail order for things like that? I used to like going through stock to select sheets with the right grain and hardness.

Colin, I am very interested in the composite construction. Is there any more information out there, please?

Thanks again

Dave

 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Dave,

Few model shops will carry a lot of balsa tnese days

. You will almost certainly need to use mail order. SLEC carry good quality stocks and you can specify the degree of hardness you want. They also pack it very well.

https://slecuk.com/product-category/balsa/

There is nothing special about composite construction, as my photos show, you just build the model using a combination of methods. It lends itself to flat bottomed ships as everything can be built up on a flat bottom sheet. It is pretty similar in many ways to Glynn’s method except that it doesn’t involve horizontally bending the side sheet to any great extent. I use planking for that.

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Hobbies are also a good supply of materials including wood products:

https://www.hobbies.co.uk/materials/wood

Balsa here:

https://www.hobbies.co.uk/balsa-stripwood-bundles-of-10

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

Hi there

A thought came to me whilst pondering again – Vic Smeed was a great pioneer for simplifying hulls – and building vessels from balsa wood.   He must have 100s of plans out there in the world for boats, planes, cars you name it.   He is also was an author of several good books.   One of the books, ‘Boat Modelling’ written by him has a short description of how to produce a composite hull.   One of the best plans which I have seen to date by him was for a model HMS Harlech Castle.   This was a free plan way back in Model Boats December 1969 and the article ran for about four months.    Every now and then these magazines turn up on Ebay and also Magazine Exchange.  Although you arent building this particular model – it will give you an excellent guide for building the hull.   No doubt someone can help you out with that article/magazine if you wish to go down that route.

I am afraid you will have to get on the bus with the rest of us about sourcing and buying materials on line 🙂 as it is so hard these days to find a model shop with all your needs / supplies.

John

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

Yes, mail order seems to be the way forward. I was in Norwich yesterday so visited Langleys (no wood at all), Pegasus Models (very helpful, but virtually no wood in stock.), and then on the way home I called in Hobbies at Raveningham. Hobbies were the most disappointing. The shop was empty while I was wandering round, but somebody did eventually come through from the back. When they saw me, asked if they could help. I asked if they had balsa wood and they pointed to the room where they had just come from, and said it was all stored in there. and asked what sizes I wanted. I asked if I could look at it, and they simply said “No”. We looked at each other for a second, so I thanked them and walked out. I cannot remember the last time I went into a shop to be faced with somebody who really couldn’t care less if I bought anything or not. Based on that, I’m surprised they have a shop at all. So, I will compare prices with them and Slec and buy from the best value. Given that Slec have grades of balsa, I will probably go there. OR… I might just try using hard wood and see how I get on. LOL

Vic Smeed, yes I remember that name. I will have to look at his book and see if I can get a copy.

 

Dave

 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I definitely recommend SLEC. I have bought balsa and other woods from them and found it all top quality. Buying the right grade of balsa is very important. Medium is OK for most purposes.

If you can run to it Bass/Lime is lovely to work with.

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

A sad report of customer service from Hobbies.  In this day and age of ever increasing competition from on-line only sellers you would expect retail outlets to try that bit harder to offer the customer service that on-line can never achieve.

I agree with Colin, bass and lime are superb woods to work with.  Very soft and easy to cut while still having a relatively fine close grain to give a realistic varnished finish.  I have used lime for deck planking and found it to be a pleasure to work with.

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

hi ya, I hope this link will work – it is to John R Haynes’ portfolio – it is John’s build of HMS Ajax.   This may help you with a bit more information for your build.https://www.johnrhaynes.com/hms-ajax/

 

john

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

Colin, John and Richard, thank you all for the information and help.

I am going to try Bass/Lime, even if it is slightly more expensive. It does seem to be more consistent than Balsa. I have always selected my own Balsa in the past and being forced to buy it sight unseen is not something I am happy with (Although, SLEC does seem to offer the better selection of Balsa and grades).

I have ordered a copy of Vic Smeed’s book and his plan of HMS Cossack to have a look at composite construction. It looks like the best way to get a good hull shape without the skill level required for plank on frame.

Thank you for the link, John. It is now in my bookmarks lol

I agree Richard. I was really disappointed by the total lack of interest shown. Still, it is easily rectified, I just will not go back there.

 

Cheers

Dave

[Dave CookParticipant @davecook56253]

One further question, please. What paints do you use for RC models. Humbrol seems to be really hard to get hold of. (The 50 ml tins, that is. 14ml is not any good for model hulls etc.)

 

Cheers

Dave

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Humbrol Enamel is still available but not used so much these days. Acrylics are now the way to go in either brush or spray form.

If you are building Ajax in naval grey and not obsessed with exact shades then you can get away with using Halfords spray Grey Primer for the hull above the waterline and the superstructure. Their Red Primer is equally good tor the below waterline hull. There is also a black spray for the boot topping or you could just brush paint that. I  used this combination for my Fishery Cruiser which has a similar colour scheme.

For other details I have been using Vallejo Modelcolor acrylics but you can buy Tamiya, Revell or other makes.

Whist the acrylics are technically waterproof they are not always abrasion resistant and benefit from a protective coat of transparent varnish. I have been using Halfords Matt lacquer spray but you can also use various acrylic varnishes or traditional polyurethane varnish such as Rustins:

https://www.rustins.ltd/rustins/our-products/indoor/polyurethane-clear-varnish

Use the interior type as the exterior version has UV filters which give a slightly yellowish finish.

Colin

 

[Author]

Posts