Out on the ocean white

I finished the conversions to make HNLMS Java and De Ruyter this past week. Now I have 'launched' all of the Dutch ships that I require for the battles involving the 'ill-fated' American-Dutch-British-Australian Command (ADBA) of early '42.

L to R: De Ruyter, Java, Tromp and two Admiralen-class destroyers. All except for Tromp are only undercoated so far—'fitting out' (aka painting) will occur at a later stage.

Tromp, which I scratch-built and have featured in a post previously, is the only one of these ships that is completed. I built the two Admiralen-class destroyers late last year, simple conversions of the Tamiya kit of HMAS Vampire.

Looking more closely at the Admiralen-class destroyers

Photo of a simple 3D model of an Admiralen-class that I downloaded from the web. Prior to realising that I could adapt the kit of HMAS Vampire, I thought that I'd used this a a guide for a simple scratch-built version.

The real thing, in this case HNLMS Everston in 1942 (netherlands navy.nl).

I'm happy with the conversions to represent the destroyers as well as those of Java and De Ruyter. The former look better than that 3D-printed model and the latter two hold up pretty well against contemporary photos of the ships.

My version of HNLMS Java, from the port side.

From above. I am particularly pleased with the look of the 'wings' around the fore-funnel, which mounted anti-aircraft machine guns (you might have to zoom the photo to see them).

A photo of Java in 1942 from the website of the Australian War Memorial. Those 'wings' are clearly evident.

A photo of Java viewed from the starboard side (netherlands navy.nl).

Box-art of HMS Penelope, the kit that I adapted.

My version of HNLMS De Ruyter, from the port side.

And from above.

Box-art of HMS Ajax, the kit that I adapted.

A photo of De Ruyter viewed from the starboard side (from netherlands navy.nl).

There are now 57 of the 70 ships remaining to construct (or 69 of the ultimate target of 82). I have six that I am building at the moment. Enterprise, Nagato and Kyokuto Maru are nearly completed and I expect to finish within the next couple of days—the latter is the first of the five Japanese fleet oilers that I am scratch-building. USS Pensacola, the first of three conversions of kits of USS Indianapolis (and the one involving the most alterations) is about 50% completed. The other two, which will represent Northampton-class cruisers, are in the early stages of construction.

I am quite obsessed with making these ships at the moment and spending more than a few hours a day on them. The combination of the target, challenge, interest and pleasure are driving me on. Added to this I am finding it really enjoyable and rewarding, with tangible results at every stage!