Dunkirk and the 'little ships'

Hi all,

I want to build a small (A4 footprint) sized 1/72/00/H0 diorama of a south coast quayside at the time of Dunkirk and was wondering whether anyone knows if there are any kits of a small vessel(s) that would be suitable to represent one of the ‘little ships’ that helped rescue British and French troops, :thinking:?

Cheers, :beer:,

G

ScaleScenes card model fishing boats might be useful

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Thanks for taking the time to send me the link Donald, it’s much appreciated, :+1:. The site has some very interesting products,:slightly_smiling_face:.

Cheers, :beer:,

G

Lindbergh made some 1/72-ish fishing/shrimp boats which can still be found. Airfix made an RAF rescue launch in 1/72, and a Vosper MTB, although I would check my sources to see if they were used. There are also wooden boat kits, but I don’t think you would want to go there.
:smiley:

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@Donald_Schmitt1; some of those buildings by ScaleScenes look very interesting for 1/72 dios. I take it they are printed on paper (hopefully thick paper!) and glued to a backing of choice? I would prefer 5mm foam core. Have you used any of these products yourself?
:smiley:

Thanks for the suggestions Leo, :+1:. You’re right about the wooden boat kits, I’m too ham-fisted to go there, :slightly_smiling_face:, I’d end up with a lot of wood strip, useful for WW1 trench diorama though, :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.

To be honest, I’d dismissed the two Airfix options, 1) because I imagined they were later in the war, and 2) I always limit myself in any scale to an A4 sheet of paper size as the footprint, which means I’d struggle to fit them on.

The fishing/shrimp boat is more the thing, something less than 30’, or thereabouts, so will see if I can find the Lindberg option.

Thanks again, and cheers, :beer:,

G

Would something like this work?

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000ZVN402/rocketfin-20
It’s actually 1/60 scale, but do-able. Maybe lose the special gear for shrimping and make it look more like a typical fishing boat.
:smiley:

:sweat_smile: :sweat_smile: :sweat_smile: Same kit - different name. Spy boat! Bit of a stretch!
:smiley:

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G-Man69,

A totally different subject, but I used one of the Scalescenes fishing boats for recent diorama project, ‘Low Tide in Douarnenez’. The pre-coloured kit is ordered as a pdf, and downloaded for printing on a combination of paper and card of varying thicknesses. Assembly instructions are particularly well presented, though it it is important to allow certain items to fully dry before proceeding any further. Although the model is a good representation of a fishing boat, I decided to add many scratch-built details (based on my own photographs of lobster boats in my nearby Paignton harbour).

Paul

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Hi G-man
As far as I know only Airfix and Revell had made plastic (as opposed to resin or vacu-form models) in 1/72 ships and boats. Revell has a Flower class corvette, submarines and torpedo boats. They also made several SAR craft but these are German post war. Airfix has, or had, torpedo boats and RAF rescue launch.
Lindberg productions has two or three tug boats but these are American models

Hi all,

A big thank you to Ezra, Leo, Paul and Gil for all the suggestions, they’re much appreciated, :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:.

That’s a great bit of diorama building Paul, especially like the stripped down paintwork effect, very nicely done, :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:. How robust are the paper/card kits from Scalescenes?

Thanks again all, and cheers, :beer:,

G

G-man69,

Thanks for the kind comments.
Although the Scalescenes kit is fairly robust (if you use the suggested card thicknesses),
I played safe by adding internal supports to the hull. If you compare my version with an
image of the model on the company’s website, you will see that I have added various
scratch-built details (using a combination of metal wire and plastic strip). The floats attached to the railings and on the harbour floor are actually made from necklace beads.

Paul

It’s a brilliant little scenario Paul, and wonderfully executed, can almost smell the mud and seaweed as it bakes under the sun, :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:.

G

RNLI used to do small white metal kits of lifeboats and several of those made it to Dunkirk. I haven’t seen those for a while but you might still find one around.

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Thanks for the suggestion Andrew, :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:, I checked the RNLI site, but alas nothing, but I will check elsewhere, :slightly_smiling_face:.

G :beer:.

You need a single engine Liverpool class boat, no 832 Lucy Laver was at Dunkirk and was based in Aldbrough. Company called Dragonbadger does a 3D printed model at 1:72 so about 6” long but I have no idea of the quality. I have seen a set of plans as well at 3/4” to the foot, too big for your needs but could be scaled. Single engine boats were pre-war, twin, post-war, there is a difference in beam. Several still exist

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Thanks for the heads-up on ‘Dragonbadger’ Andrew, :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:, I checked out their site and they have some interesting items, both for vehicles and vessels. however, I’ve no experience of 3D printed items, and I’m not sure my skills would meet the needs of the clean-up of the layer boundary lines that seem to exist in their product images, :roll_eyes: :thinking:.

However, I have bit the bullet and finally settled on the Armageddon/Mach British L.C.A. (see box art below).

I know it’s reputed to not be the best kit in the world, and a tad light on detail, but probably sits more within my modelling capability comfort zone, :smile:…all I need to do now is find some more detailed information/images, :roll_eyes: :thinking:.

G :beer:.

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Airfix did an LCM in 1:76 scale that wasn’t too bad. Either takes you from Dunkirk to pre-Day but could be interesting. A friend of mine who served on landing craft in the sixties said they often used to run the ship onto a beach and head for the nearest pub. LCAs were often used as boats to service larger ships, typically armourers would carry ammo and parts to service 2pdr or Oerlikons on LCTs

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I recall that old Airfix L.C.M. Andrew, I built it back in late 1960s, or thereabouts, I wonder if it’s stood the test of time, certainly can’t be any worse than the Armageddon/Mach 1/72nd British L.C.A., :roll_eyes:, quality-wise, :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.

Thanks for the little bit of background information, especially the unique pub water taxi, :laughing:.

G :beer: