Old HMS Daring (1:600) build

[KiwiKev]

A look at building the old 1961 Daring class destroyer kit.

[KiwiKev]

I wasn't looking for this kit but purchased it as part of a combined auction bid. Since my experiment with the Leander 4.5 inch turret upgrade, I was interested to use that technique on this kit with its 3 similar turrets.

Having put the hull and main superstructure parts together quickly, I have to say I am very impressed with the quality of this old kit. They have managed to give quite a detailed impression to this molding, which I will further add to, but it won't take much to get this model looking really good.

First mission is to upgrade the turrets to close to Micro-master standard. Sadly the barrels, unlike those with the Leander kit, are massively over-sized and can't be re-used. Otherwise the process is very similar.

[KiwiKev]

The hull and decks went together well. I was impressed with the apparent detail in such an old kit. I've seen a few made up that look quite plain though so will add some random details. I'm not going to go for absolute accuracy here, just to make it look the part.

The turrets on the model have all been modified from the original, one of which is shown in front it.

You can refer to my Leander build for a rough idea of how to modify the turrets if you want. The difference here is that the Daring ones only need 0.5 mm styrene added to the outside, but they need about 1 mm taken off the bottom all round, so they are quite different to the Leander turret. The barrels are also too wide and can't be used so new ones would have to be fabricated.

All in all this looks like quite a nice kit. I toyed with converting it into an Australian Daring but on closer examination there were quite a few differences, and I wanted a nice relaxing build rather than one requiring hours poring over photos and designing changes, so I'm building it largely out of the box with a bit of PE thrown in.

I'm sufficiently impressed with the kit though to decide to keep an eye out for another one as a future project. HMAS Vampire resides in Sydney as a museum ship so perhaps one day visiting her, taking lots of photos, and building a model of her would be fun.

[KiwiKev]

Have to admit I'm quite captivated by this old kit. I was looking for a nice relaxing "easy" build, which it certainly is, but at the same time it's crying out for some additional detail.

Here is a profile shot of progress so far. I've chosen to model the cabin boats inboard, which is usually where they were stowed, but if acting as a carrier plane guard they would probably be carried outboard.

There are narrow walkways fitted above the torpedo tubes. These are not supplied so I'm currently peering at indistinct photos trying to work them out. Looks like they were off-set to starboard to miss the higher sections of the aft superstructures.

The 40mm mounts are currently off being painted separately.

Shot from aft shows the Squid launcher which is pretty basic. It could certainly do with an upgrade but I decided to leave it largely as is. The Australian ships had Limbo instead, which would require the slightly larger mounting and a loading deck-house alongside.

I also detailed the aft director, a CRBFD. The original was a perfectly smooth cylindrical section with a smooth dome. It's actually a slightly faceted cylinder, with a Type 262 radar antenna, and the top is segmented canvas that folds down. I've tried to add this to the original item. It's a bit rough, but I'm happy enough with the result.

Looking down on the model the WEM PE lattice mast and some other PE can be seen. I stole PE sections from the Seaslug launcher for the Devonshire kit to act as the bracing for the life raft platforms. The replacement MRS3 Director can also be seen behind the bridge. Unlike some other older Airfix kits where the screen shields were 1mm thick, the ones on this kit are about 0.5 mm. That is still too thick for scale, but it's not as bad as many so I have happily left them in place.

Bow on shot, definitely looks the part, especially with the modified 4.5 inch turrets.

[KiwiKev]

Almost complete. This shot shows the graceful lines and clipper bow.

The modified turrets take up a lot more room in the front section of the ship, but are far more authentic looking than as supplied. The MRS3 Director replaces the original that was also replaced on the real ships quite early on. The lattice mast is part of the WEM "post WW2 RN" set. Very fiddly to build.

Aft section shows a little bit of the detail added to the aft Director. This could direct the aft 40mm or act as a second fire control channel for the 4.5's. Note the walk way above the aft torpedo tubes. There was no easy covered fore-aft access as the engine room went up to the main deck, so in a sea way you needed to be a bit higher up for safety. An additional short mast was mounted on the front of the aft superstructure block to allow the HF aerials to be strung from the fore-mast.

This overhead shot shows the added walk-ways over the torpedo tubes. Not sure how accurate they are as I just looked at photos and tried to work out something logical.

[KiwiKev]

Finished product on a quickly hacked up sea-scape, blue plastic on the top of a shoe box, but beggars can't be choosers!!

Another view from more abeam. It's a very nice subject ship for a model, pleasing lines and balance, and the old Airfix kit scrubs up very well. I have tried to avoid an overly plain and toy-like appearance and quite pleased with these photos.

The WEM photo etch mast is included in the post WW2 RN set. Very fiddly. I try to build little jigs to help hold things in place. You should take your time with this stuff, it is frustrating at times, but always seems to end with a good result if you hang in there.

The other small mast for stringing the HF antennas from the foremast is shown here. I just created it out of styrene tube, so there's no way it would support any rigging, and neither would the PE main mast I suspect.

[KiwiKev]

Parting shots. The completed model. Highly recommended kit for upgrading if you can find one.

[Mark Downey1707820148]

You made an excellent job there.

I too liked this kit, just the detail included in this scale. You put mine to shame since I built out-of-the-box but I am still proud of it.

Got this along with HMS Tiger and what a contrast. I had made HMS Tiger many many years ago and didn't like it. So I thought I'd get the dual box set and have another go. What an utter disappointment. It's awful, lacking in detail. I put it alongside my HMS Belfast as my aim was to compare the two since they are closely related designs. The lack of detail is shocking whilst Belfast just looks good. HMS Tiger looks so bad. Kept it for a while and then binned it.

Thankfully, the surprise was HMS Daring which is pride of place.

Similarly, I bought the Falklands three box set 10+ years ago. HMS Leander - excellent kit, HMS Antelope(?) - excellent kit BUT HMS Devonshire! Well the latter is like HMS Tiger, just awful. Appreciate the age but these two kits should be either totally re-tooled or their mould destroyed. Awful.

[KiwiKev]

You made an excellent job there.

I too liked this kit, just the detail included in this scale. You put mine to shame since I built out-of-the-box but I am still proud of it.

Got this along with HMS Tiger and what a contrast. I had made HMS Tiger many many years ago and didn't like it. So I thought I'd get the dual box set and have another go. What an utter disappointment. It's awful, lacking in detail. I put it alongside my HMS Belfast as my aim was to compare the two since they are closely related designs. The lack of detail is shocking whilst Belfast just looks good. HMS Tiger looks so bad. Kept it for a while and then binned it.

Thankfully, the surprise was HMS Daring which is pride of place.

Similarly, I bought the Falklands three box set 10+ years ago. HMS Leander - excellent kit, HMS Antelope(?) - excellent kit BUT HMS Devonshire! Well the latter is like HMS Tiger, just awful. Appreciate the age but these two kits should be either totally re-tooled or their mould destroyed. Awful.

 

 

There is a lot of variability in these kits. Some of the more popular subjects are not done so well. So far, judging from what I've seen out of the box, KGV, Rommel, Prinz Eugen, and Belfast are all much better than the rest.

 

 

There are some genuine surprises, such as the old Daring kit. Scharnhorst too, although somewhat lacking in detail, compared amazingly accurately to the detailed drawings, and so was an excellent base for upgrading. When I saw little nooks and alcoves in the superstructure on the drawings I thought that they weren't there on the model but when I checked they were, so no major mods for any of that needed to be done.

 

 

For me part of the fun is the challenge of upgrading these kits to something close to the best modern kits. Tiger is plain, but it's easy to add detail to the superstructure walls, and the PE sets from WEM really help too. That kit also needs an extra pair of prop shafts, the only time I'm aware of them making that error.

 

 

I have exercise books full of deck plans and superstructure wall maps of the extra detail I'm going to add. It actually would be nice if Airfix included a sheet such as this for anyone wanting to upgrade, as the research can get a bit tiring unless you have something like "Anatomy of the Ship" on hand.

 

 

But anyway, it is what it is and still lots of fun to be had for a reasonable price.

[Mark Downey1707820148]

And here is my effort. By no means perfect and built from the box.

[Sailorman]

HI Mark, Your image was upside down so I rotated it. however I can delete the one that is upside down.

[KiwiKev]

And here is my effort. By no means perfect and built from the box.

 

 

Nice job Mark. Looks quite good even out of the box, and certainly a great subject for upgrading. I didn't bother scratch building replacement 40 mm mounts, as the ones supplied weren't too bad with a little tweaking, although I have scratch built twin 40 mm mounts for Melbourne, and STAAG mounts for Royalist and Vanguard, so do have the templates. Your decals also came out quite good whereas I stenciled the numbers on as my decals were a bit yellow with age.

[Martin-377992]

Hello all,

Can you let me know the colour you painted HMS Daring? (Daring class).

Cheers

[KiwiKev]

Hello all,

Can you let me know the colour you painted HMS Daring? (Daring class).

Cheers

 

 

I used the old fav, Humbrol Matt 64 enamel. Deck was either Matt 252 or the very similar Matt 78. My kit was very old, probably the original edition, the instructions just say "battleship grey" and deck "Dark Grey Green" but don't give any paint numbers.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Kev, This is only my second post on this forum, I only managed to join about an hour ago, and I'm very interested in what you've done with this kit.

My younger brother had one of these about 50+ years ago and I did one OOB about 45 years ago. And as a coincidence to your comment in your fourth paragraph second post re the Australian version, I've recently done exactly that. Starting November 2022 and finishing in January 2023 I converted a kit into HMAS Vampire as after her mid-life refit. My models are a bit basic, I don't do PE or other AM stuff. If I need something I make it myself, not as good as PE or AM but I enjoy it.

As with Mark Downey above I got mine as a Tiger/Daring set. Two in fact, the other Daring kit will become an Australian Battle class one day. And I think I agree with Mark's appraisal of the Tiger kit if done OOB. Mind you, it can make an interesting Whiff.

Anyway, I should be talking about your model. I'm very impressed with it. The turrets look very good, and the guard-rails and lattice mast take the model to another level. In fact I think it's superb.

I hope to be able to communicate with you about Airfix model ships through posts more often here, because I like the Airfix scale and have done quite a few of their models. Thank you for your time. Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday again, since you mentioned your interest in converting one of these into an Australian vessel may I add some photos of my version of it. If this isn't the procedure here then feel free to ask the moderators to remove this post, I won't be offended. But I'm still feeling my way around here. If you do visit HMAS Vampire in Sydney bear in mind that she spent her last few years as a training ship. One of the alterations for such was the removal of the Limbo A/S launcher and the aft superstructure extended further aft into that vacated area.

Here is my take on HMAS Vampire II as I think she appeared after her mid-life reconstruction. There are a few discrepancies I've found (platforms halfway up the fwd funnel I didn't notice) and the antennae on the masts are my approximation. I don't do PE or AM stuff although it looks superb on your model. Some of the alterations I did, besides the obvious superstructures etc include the reshaping of the bow, two rudders instead of one and I scratch built the screws.

Anyway, here she is.

HMAS Vampire II jm7

HMAS Vampire II jm6

Many thanks. Regards, Jeff.