1:600 Suffolk to Exeter conversion

[KiwiKev]

Airfix gave us two thirds of the Battle of the River Plate protagonists in 1:600. Graf Spee is still available and HMS Ajax kits may be found second hand,

I had a spare HMS Suffolk and so it seemed ideal to try to convert to Exeter and complete the set.

The hull is not completely ideal, being a bit too beamy, but if some 27mm is cut out of the length, and the quarter deck level aft is extended to approximately midships, it will be close enough. Previous experience has taught me that trying to change the beam can be more trouble than its worth, so I'm going to accept a slight error in the beam.

Being at a loose end, I decided to make the first cuts, and so this is what I have so far.

[Sailorman]

Very interesting. I'll be following this thread.

[Ratch]

This is a conversion I'd like to make one day. I too will follow with interest.

[KiwiKev]

A bit of work to get to this stage but not too bad. There are a few gaps to be filled with soft filler, however at this stage I'm happy that this is easily doable.

The forward half of the ship looks surprisingly similar to Exeter. Main change there was to remove the two square deck houses, and splice in some of the surplus lined decking to give it a flat area where the 4 inch AA will go.

The quarter deck was cut off and attached to the aft main deck. Main amount of work was sanding down the aft deck line to give it a very subtle sheer. You need to keep checking by eye that it looks right. Not very scientific but if it looks right then that's all we're aiming for.

I glued extra tabs for the aft deck to ensure a positive location inside the hull, since the top edge that did contain the original "ledge" for the main deck was cut away aft of amidships. The shelter deck that extends aft and over the torpedo tubes appears to be steel so plain styrene sheets will be used for that. happily there is enough plank lined decking to do the rest of the decks that require it.

So what we have here is basically a complete hull and decks that should make a passable Exeter when tidied up some more.

[KiwiKev]

This photo shows the various deck house arrangements amidships, and the funnels modified to be upright. The spare forward funnel from the Suffolk is used to provide part of the trunking for the thicker forward funnel on Exeter.

The triple torpedo tubes need to go just behind the break in the fore deck and under the over-hanging deck one of the funnels is sitting on. I looked carefully through the original parts for the Suffolk and there don't appear to be any torpedo tubes provided which is strange as apparently she had two quadruple sets, so these will need to be scratch built.

Some aspects of the hull I have decided to live with. The Suffolk hull has slight bulges that weren't on Exeter. You could try removing them, but that would be another major piece of surgery.

I have added slightly more rake to the stem, as it seemed far too upright. The gun turrets will be re-used, but had some strange features, such as a skirt at the rear that protruded below the level of the rest of the gun house. That had to be cut off and filed smooth.

The funnels were reused. Both the caps and the skirting around the bottom were carefully cut off with a very sharp blade. The main funnel then had the ends squared off, and the cap and skirts glued back on. This seems to have worked OK.

You can get 3D printed 1:600 parts for Exeter from Shapeways, such as funnels, turrets and superstructure, but the total price would be a bit eye-watering so my approach here will be to work as much as possible with re-cycled and scratch built parts.

[Ratch]

Can you please explain what you've done and how you did it.

[KiwiKev]

Dry fit of most of the major items and superstructure blocks. I revisited the aft funnel which was initially one of the circular Suffolk outer funnels, and split it apart again to insert a 1mm styrene sheet to make it slightly elongated, as in fact it should be. It might even have been better with 1.5 or 2 mm inserted, but I'm happier with it now than before. I'd recommend doing this when assembling the funnel, but I think I got away with it after the initial gluing without butchering either it or myself with the razor blade.

Scratch built triple torpedo tubes are shown in the shot with the midships weather deck removed. Suffolk should have carried something similar but they aren't supplied with the kit. They would have been largely hidden by the over hang but for the sake of completeness I modeled a set.

I've built up 4 of the open life boats supplied with very fine bulwarks and crosswise seats, and also glued on some boat brackets. Very fiddly stuff, and a few choice words turned the air blue but we got there in the end. The motor launches also looked fairly ordinary off the sprue and I may tidy them up a bit more but will probably use them. Single 4 inch AA mounts were scratch built using those of HMS Hood for inspiration, and they seemed to turn out OK.

You can judge from these shots whether this conversion is worthwhile. It seems many people have converted Ajax to Exeter and certainly the Ajax hull is more suitable. I will probably complete this now as most of the work has been done, and see how it turns out. Maybe with a decent coat of paint it will be passable.

[Ratch]

Looking good Kev

[KiwiKev]

My least favorite part is the under water sections. Bilge keels have been fitted. I've replaced the massive propellers supplied with 4 smaller scratch built ones. The outer prop shafts needed to be moved in and further aft. The solid block supporting brackets have also been replaced with some thin styrene strips.

Some surplus PE was used to fashion the two fixed aircraft catapults. The braced sections aren't quite right but close enough, and better than trying to scratch build the things. This is definitely a project on a budget so whatever is at hand will have to do. The Walrus aircraft is quite a nice little model in it's own right so I'm happy to be able to mount it on a half decent catapult, though the servicing platforms around it still need to be fitted.

[KiwiKev]

Building out of the box is always an option. I think trying something special with these old Airfix models is a bit of a niche hobby that a few of us really enjoy. You can make a fairly unique model in 1:600 scale that no one else has. If we get close to the same quality as more recent kits that's a feather in our cap. But as some have said on another site, sometimes they like just banging out a basic Airfix kit as is as a quick "fix" because some of these projects take forever, so they still enjoy a nicely made Airfix kit, warts and all as a fast build. If the base model is reasonably accurate you can always add photo etch and extra detail and really go to town.

[KiwiKev]

These photos show the dry fit of all the major components. When completely detailed it should turn out quite good. If so I'll provide some plans for what I've made here in terms of outside dimensions for superstructure, and where I've cut the hull etc....

[Ratch]

Looking good.

[KiwiKev]

Almost done with this project. Far from perfect but it proves the concept, and with a bit more care a really nice model could be produced. Still need to complete detailing of lifeboats, touching up paint,and creating anchors as the ones provided look far too small. But it turned out OK I think.

[KiwiKev]

Completed model on a simulated seascape:

[Ratch]

Well done

[KaleuNW]

Excellent conversion!

What I miss is the rigging.

Given your effort and ability, this would be a must.

Apart from the fact that the model would be convincingly upgraded.

From the shipyard on Lake Lucerne

Wilfred

[Peter-373791]

Hi Kiwikev. What a good idea, I never thought of converting Suffolk to Exeter, I've wanted an Exeter in 1/600 since I discovered I had a relative who was a marine on her when she was sunk (fortunately he survived to be a POW)

You did mention in one of your posts that you might provide some plans, if you did that would be great to start me off following your brilliant idea?

Peter

[KiwiKev]

Hi Kiwikev. What a good idea, I never thought of converting Suffolk to Exeter, I've wanted an Exeter in 1/600 since I discovered I had a relative who was a marine on her when she was sunk (fortunately he survived to be a POW)

You did mention in one of your posts that you might provide some plans, if you did that would be great to start me off following your brilliant idea?

Peter

 

 

I'll see what I can do. The main part to get right is where you cut the hull section out and rejoin. Otherwise, you can probably glean most of the process from the earlier photos. You need to retain any surplus deck to try to fill in those areas on the Suffolk deck with matching lined deck where you need to cut away deck houses.

[Peter-373791]

Thanks for your reply, I'd done a rough scale on the amount to cut out and realised the location was crucial and I need detailed research to get it right so would appreciate any help.

Peter

[KiwiKev]

1. Remove the small cylinder fitting at bow.
2. Increase rake of bow (if desired, I cut it back about 3mm back at the base of the bow and filed it to a straight stem at the original deck line).
3. Cut the forward hull 147mm back from tip of bow, ensuring cut is vertical and equal both sides and all way round.
4. Cut the aft section 140mm forward of the aft most point of the hull.
5. Once edges are fully smoothed glue both halves together using any suitable method, I usually glue styrene plastic tongues inside across the gap between both halves. Obviously getting the alignment right is critical.
6. The aft half hull plating must lose 4.5 mm height either side of the hull plating at the joint, which forms the break in the forecastle deck. It pays to use masking tape to get the line for the cut all the way aft marked, and make sure you are happy with the sheer and the alignment of the deck lines, they should look parallel. I DID NOT follow the original line of the quarter deck and extend it forward, as it appears to have an aft slope which I'm sure is wrong. So be prepared to file down even that section to give a nice even deck line from the break in the forecastle all the way back. Visually check carefully the look down the hull before cutting.
7. Measure the forecastle deck cut point so it runs only as far as the new break in the forecastle deck and will be a good fit. Don't glue on just yet.
8. Cut the "step" out of the quarter deck break and glue the aft deck onto the aft section of the upper deck. If you take care you can get a good joint with the plank lines on the deck joining up reasonably well. Keep any left over planked decking as you'll need it as filler when you remove the two square deck houses on the forward deck either side of the funnels.
9. I added an armour belt of 0.25mm thick styrene, its top edge about 3.5 mm below the quarter deck level. It is 5mm x 90mm and extends 20mm forward of the joint. Also helps to cover the joint. Now you may need to chamfer the edge where it meets the bulge in the hull, which Exeter didn't have, and if you fair it in carefully you also hide the bulge a bit.
10. Fitting the aft deck will take some patience. Since you will have cut out the ledge that supports the deck, it is recommended you file down the inside of the hull to give a thickness around it that equals that of the forward deck, about 0.5mm. You may have to carefully glue tabs inside the hull to support the aft deck and it pays to file a bevel inwards on the lower surface of the decking to help give a nice tight fit.
11. If you are brave enough to get that far let me know and I'll see if I still have the sketches for the aft superstructure dimensions and detail to upload.

 

[Peter-373791]

Thank you for those very helpful detailed steps, they will give me a good start but I won't pluck up the courage till after new year when Christmas distractions have died down.

Many thanks