DragonBadger Model
Curates egg.
Harbour Defence Motor Launch
I sent for this kit out of curiosity. As I had built a 1/25 motorized model of this type and really enjoyed the building and sailing days out, I thought it would be nice to make a 1/144 scale model of it. So, what do you get? First it was 3D printed in one piece. No guns or depth charges, masts or handrails are included, so quite a bit of scratch and detail building to be done to complete the model. From out of the box and from a distance it looked very nice. However, on closer inspection it showed lots and lots of printing layers and the hull had chine like marks on the hull when the original is a displacement type hull. Also, the rear deck has detail placed straight onto the deck when there should be an engine room structure.
<
<
So, what to do? First off, I tried to cut the waste off the bottom of the hull.?? The plastic it is printed with is strange. I found that it is VERY hard to cut or sand. I eventually found that most of the base could be snapped off. Once the base was off (or most of it) I use P39 car body filler to reshape the hull and increase the hull depth slightly.
<
The detail on the rear deck was then cut off from the stern to the bridge area. Using a razor saw, I managed to cut it off in one piece so I could use some of the parts for detailing after building the engine room structure. The model was then given a coat of Halfords Grey Primer and the filling of the printing layers started. (Long job!) never got rid of them completely. Now started to add detailing to the hull by adding the missing rubbing strakes around the hull top. Engine room structure built up and a replacement gun base added and some of the parts cut off earlier used to start the detailing. (The 3D printed plastic parts used for the detailing were compatible with liquid Polly glue). Model was added to a sea base. Utility boat made; handrails made from stretched sprue. Crew painted and fitted. The 20mm Oerlikon guns were obtained from “Blackcat models” Wow Really nice. The forward gun base should have been replaced but I wanted to see what it looked like on the finished boat. (It should be the same as the stern gun platform).
<
<
<
<
Was it worth it? Yes, under the camera's magnifying eye it's ROUGH but at normal viewing distances it's not too bad. 100% for enjoyment and testing modelling skills so much so I've decided to send for a Fairmile “D”. Now looking for armament for the dog boat.
