HMS Daring 1960's

[jopres57]

Seeing a contribution about the restoration of an Aurora Black Knight on another part of the forum reminded me of this classic kit that I finally finished about ten months ago, having originally bought and started it in 1970!

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It was originally purchased back in the days when boxed kits had no interior plastic bag for the sprues and weren't sealed in cellophane. I think missing parts were more common in those days, partly because some idiots used to pinch them on purpose. My HMS Daring duly arrived minus one of the larger Bofors turrets so I made it without, I wasn't really all that bothered at the age of twelve. I also never painted my 1/600 ship models at that time because it was too difficult.

Fast forward to last year and I saw an HMS Daring kit listed as 'incomplete' for sale online at a reasonable price. I remembered my own effort, which was now distinctly worse for wear, for years stuck in a cardboard box that had survived several house moves. The hull and main superstructures were intact though, so I bought the new parts, located and cemented as required, and finally ended up with a complete model. So, HMS Daring was finally finished; started 1970 and completed 2018. Still, there's no rush!

As usual I did find out that I made at least one mistake. I painted the life rafts yellow, which seems to be a popular choice among modellers and adds a bit of colour. On viewing a Youtube video later it looks like the rafts were actually grey.

[John Symmons]

Hi Jopress

Nice to see your HMS Daring finally made it out of dry dock. Those life rafts might be wrong but they do add some colour. Nice looking model, Maybe Airfix will re-release it in their classic range. Have you any more 600th scale ships? Love to see them if you do.

 

Remember we do this for fun                                                 John the Pom

[Kenneth ONeill]

Well, I've seen both yellow and grey as the colour callout for those "Carley floats". There's no obvious link between period of model and colour either.

[jopres57]

 Have you any more 600th scale ships? Love to see them if you do.

                                                John the Pom

To be honest I haven't really had much interest in ships lately John.I have a few more battered ones in the same old box that HMS Daring emerged from, perhaps a new restoration project is due? I also have about twenty 1/600 ships in my stash, could be HMS Devonshire or HMS Tiger finally get built, I've thought about it a couple of times.

 

[jopres57]

Well, I've seen both yellow and grey as the colour callout for those "Carley floats". There's no obvious link between period of model and colour either.

Could be my colour was right then, perhaps at a different time than when the film was taken? It could be the floats were manufactured in different colours. I think it's more likely that they either left the factory yellow and were sometimes painted grey, or made grey and sometimes painted yellow. I know it's only a small detail but I wonder if any ex-matelots visit the forum and could clear things up. Perhaps they might also like to comment on the deck colour of 1960's ships that was discussed in another part of the forum.

[Kenneth ONeill]

Well, I've seen both yellow and grey as the colour callout for those "Carley floats". There's no obvious link between period of model and colour either.

Could be my colour was right then, perhaps at a different time than when the film was taken? It could be the floats were manufactured in different colours. I think it's more likely that they either left the factory yellow and were sometimes painted grey, or made grey and sometimes painted yellow. I know it's only a small detail but I wonder if any ex-matelots visit the forum and could clear things up. Perhaps they might also like to comment on the deck colour of 1960's ships that was discussed in another part of the forum.

Yeah, that's pretty much my point. Both colours are plausible at any time between the introduction in the 1930s and their last use in the 1970s, so you need specific references including time of photo to say which is correct.

As for "deck colour", since the 1960s steel decks have been a colour usually sold as "deck green" for any vessel I've been on that didn't have grey or red decks. Humbrol 88 is a decent tonal match, and might even manage the silk reflectivity and sandy texture! 

[KiwiKev]

I've got one of these models in my stash. Would like to build it as a RAN Daring. There is one at Darling Harbour in Sydney, HMAS Vampire, and so that would make a pretty good subject, assuming we can get back to travelling soon. The 4.5 inch turrets on the model bug me though, and this is true for the 1:600 Leander and County class as well, they are fairly inaccurate. Barrels need to be closer and lower, and the dividing strip much less prominent. The front face of these turrets is so distinctive in terms of proportions that if wrong they spoil the whole effect. It might be possible to modify the existing turrets, but scratch building from the word go is always an option. I've built these turrets in 1:96 and 1:300. 1:600 will be a lot more fiddly, but these iconic turrets just have to look right even if nothing else on the model does!!

[Sailorman]

That's one great looking turret!