Got Round-2’s repop of the old Lindberg “Q-Ship” last Christmas, and in a fit of nostalgic juvenile enthusiasm, decided to give it a little love. As a ship model it’s pretty atrocious—it’s Lindberg, after all, so not only is there little (or wrong) detail, but the hull and decks are bizarrely truncated, with what should be the ‘hold’ areas largely missing—but I decided to do what I could to ‘dress her up’ as the sort of nondescript workaday pre-WW1 freighter of the sort that genunely furnished the bulk of the Royal Navy’s U-Boat-hunting ‘Special Service vessels’—better known as ‘Q’ ships—during the Great War.
I give you the 3200 GT collier Atholl Star (of my own made-up ‘Green Diamond Line’), laid down about 1905, and with a hard-used but completely unremarkable career before being caught in the waters off the west of Ireland in 1917.
Period-style ‘coal-burner’ tall funnel made from the barrel of a freebie bank pen. I scratchbuilt the bridge to give a little more antique/rustic feel than the kit’s single-piece ‘box.’ The kit’s molded poop-deck had an odd raised platform; it was easier to just replace that deck section in its entirety then to hack off the unwanted bit and fill and sand. Most of the rest of the kit is stock, just re-worked (or parts moved around) to suit.
Tricked out with Tom’s Modelworks etched railings, doors and ladders, and Alliance Modelworks’ gorgeous etched ratlines. Rigging a combination of EZ-Line and good old-fashioned stretched sprue.
Then there are the weapons. Did I mention the weapons? The trick is to lure the U-Boat to attack by appearing to be a ‘helpless’ solitary merchantman…
Launched as Atholl Star, ‘my’ ship was re-christened HMS Burnham Wood when taken into RN service. Weapons depicted are pretty ‘typical’ of real Q-ships fitting-out, based on historical accounts. All weapons positions…and the ‘ruses’ depicted to conceal them…are based (some broadly, some precisely) on authentic accounts and /or photographs. (You can’t make this stuff up…)
(Armament mostly courtesy of Mirage 1/400 Wickes-class ‘spares’)
Thats an understatement! That kit doesn’t really even qualify as a scale model. I am working on one, by the time I’m done about all that’s left is the hull.
Great job. I actually kinda prefer the civilian side of her.
Naw ! I don’t think it up to my standards . LOL.LOL.LOL.
Of course that is B&^%% S&*( too . It’s innovative well done and I think it spells " Q " ship in even it’s smell ). It is an old seasoned ocean warrior . Well done , well weathered and a lot like a lot of tramps that plyed the oceans back then .
Think , now , You see why I recommend Lindberg ships for starter projects ? They allow you to drift along inventing constantly . Think again . How many decks and bridges like this did Humprey Bogart , Edward G. Robinson and Charles Laughton and the " Duke " Walk as in some cases , Besotted old rummys trying to make easy money while Staying away from authorities in many ports .
Yup , Lindberg , the old trustworthy incorrect company does provide a service , Starting with it’s is poorer offerings , which transport one to many different ways and times and types . Gotta Love Em . T.B.
Tankker, You forgot to mention John Wayne. This Q-ship is amazing, I really love it. I have this kit and you given me a some great ideas on how to modify it to really look like a real Q-ship.
Love the shroud/ratlines. Who is the Vendor for Alliance Modelworks?
I have that kit, and intend to build it as a Great Lakes freighter- there was a line of lakers with ships very similar- will need to cut off and modify one deck, but other than that it is pretty close.
I checked a number of ‘hobby’ suppliers—all of whom seemed to be out of stock—then found them on Amazon at the same price. Had 'em inside a week.
I grew up on the shores of the Great Lakes…and also saw your mention of the type on an earlier ‘Q-Ship’ thread in the ‘what ship is this based on?’ discussion…so the GL freighter was in the running. But about that time I ran across the memoir of VAdm Gordon Campbell (VC), who successfully commanded a number of such ships during the war (and sank a number of U-boats doing it), so the ‘Q-ship’ route was the only way to go for me.
Purely coincidentally, today is the 100th anniversary of the battle with and sinking of SM U-83, for which Campbell was awarded his VC. Worth recalling a bunch of brave men who went to sea knowing they were supposed to be targets.
Thanks, Fred! I drew a lot of inspiration and many good ideas from that ‘stretch the Lindberg hull’ thread you were part of a year or so ago. But I didn’t have the gumption to turn it into something ‘real’ (plan-wise, at least) like you guys were doing—I just basically ‘put a dress on the pig.’
Still, it was loads of fun, and I certainly appreciate the kind words!
It’s the perfect ‘project’ kit: dirt-cheap (relatively speaking), and you don’t feel the least bit hesitant about cutting or poking holes—pretty much any change is an improvement!
I have to admit that I kind of like many of these older kits for the same reasons. With some newer more detailed kits I sometimes get a little reluctant to make the 1st “cut”/glue the 1st piece/or in any other ways just start the kit, because I’m not sure how best to proceed etc and what might be the best way to make any changes. And/or, sometimes I’m just too intimidated to try to make any big changes at all and maybe mess everything up.
With older Lindberg, Airfix and Revell kits though I’m much more comfortable cutting things up and just trying random ideas.
Right now I have an 85-90% complete “Eastern Express” model of the Battleship Potemkin done that I hope to experiment with PhotoEtch and rigging on, a 60% complete Lindberg Q-Ship that I am in the process of trying to convert into a generic WWI era cargo ship, and a 40% done Lindberg USS Shangri-la that I ahve completely hacked down to the bare hull and am making a whole new ship out of.
On the other hand I have larger scale kits of USS Oregon, USS Olympia, the Kniaz Suvorov, a Flower Class Corvette, the Heller kits for the carriers Foch, Clemanceau and Colossus, plus a 1/700 scale kit of the light carrier HMS Invincible and somw Mirage Hobbies Polish vessels that I just haven’t been able to bring myself to start yet. [:D] (And I’m really tempted to also pick up a copy of the 1/350 scale battleships Tsesarevich and Gangut or Sevastopol, but I’m trying to hold off on them for now)
For now though old Lindberg, Airfix and Revell kits are filing a useful nitch for my, giving me a chance to play around with stuff, practice on techniques that I don’t have a lot of experience with (like photoetch and rigging etc). Plus they also give me a chance to just kind of freehand ideas and try different things.
Couldn’t agree more, Pat. The ‘cheapies’ make it a lot easier to experiment or try that ambitious mod that may not quite work out. It’s a good bit more daunting to take the hobby knife or saw to a kit that approaches a three-figure price tag.
Here’s an in-process picture of my Q-ship model, along with the image off the internet that I have been using as a rough guide for painting.
The painting is going very slowly, in part because it’s been a bit of trial-and-error on how best to do it, and also in part because I usually put a coat on in the morning before work, and then a 2nd coat when I get home, and let it dry till the next day (with a lot of small touch ups along the way).
Anyway, I hope the other side might go a bit quicker.
Very, very nice. Looks well-worth the patience it requires. (I’ve done similar ‘dazzle’ schemes on small ships, including a 1/400 four-stacker destroyer; slow and careful is definitely the way to go!) Thanks for posting the pic.
Don’t mean to hijack this thread, but on the topic of cheap models, I picked up a $5 little 1/25th scale plastic modern Ford Mustang car model (that came in a plastic bag/no box) at my local hobby store that looks like a perfect start for a “what-if” project.
Maybe I’ll post pics on the Auto subforum once I start it.
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