Hello fellow shipbuilders. I am thinking of building my first ship, Trumpeter HMCS Huron for the DDay group build. I am trying to figure out what camo she had and her armaments on June 6th 1944. How do you guys typically source this kind of information?
Google first, FB for veterans or pages dedicated to the subject, Modelwarships forum is a great source of info.
Model builds of the same subject in other forums are also a good starting point of info.
Also archives of various institutions, Time magazine, libraries, imperial war museum etc.
use simple term e.g. hmcs huron 1944, destroyer huron 1944 etc. Use both ww2 and wwii in searches.
Usually by following google image search you visit many pages that provided further links and information or helpful insights on what term to search for.
Sometimes the captain’s name or an important event help when used in the search.
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This is only of concern if you’re a nit-picker, like me…Trumpeter made the same obvious mistake on all their Tribal class, both in 1/350, and 1/700. They made the forecastle completely level when it should have a sheer line that raises up to about 6’ higher at the stem, and gradually levels out just forward of A turret. It’s a bit of a PITA to correct as you also have to increase the bow flare as it curves upward and outward to meet the new height of the deck. The deck, itself (bow only), also needs to be widened and lengthened slightly as a result.
The kit is in a 1944 fit and the supplied camo scheme may be correct for D-Day. How much AM, and correction you wish to invest in is up to you!
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Ahh, but did Trumpeter use a top view to define the shape of the deck?
If they did the flare in the hull would be too sharp (larger deck at a lower level) so the flare needs to be smoothed out to meet the same size deck 6 feet higher up at the stem
I’m not saying what Trumpeter did or did not do but I strongly suspect that they used a top view of the deck and placed it too low resulting in a too sharp flare.
Following the curve of the flare upwards/outwards would result in a slightly too large deck.
But, this is most likely the easier solution for those who do not suffer from Nitpicker Syndrome.
Reshaping the whole flare sounds like a serious PITA.
Extending the curve of the stem would result in a ship that is slightly too long.
Was it really 6’ though??
Looks more like 3’ to me if the railings are 6’ (unless the railings are 12 feet tall).
Waist high railings, HMCS Haida post war (50’ies??)
Railings are more like 3’ plus, if those sailors are 5’ to 6’ tall …
I think you’re right. I raised mine about 4 mm, so that would be about 4’. Extending the bow about 2 mm became a necessity, although maybe not entirely correct, as the entire bow would have to be re-shaped and shortened to compensate. The extra work does make it look more like a Tribal. My corrections:
As you can see, I didn’t modify the line of portholes, and hawsehole!
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Yup! Definitely. A straight and horizontal foc’s’le is so very wrong for the Tribals.
Pity about those portholes 
Thanks all, I think I’ll be passing on this kit. Sounds like a lot of work for my first ship
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Don’t want to discourage you from this kit. Build it OOB if you like. But it is a Trumpeter kit, and (almost) all Trumpeter kits have niggly little errors (and sometimes glaringly obvious big ones). If you consider 1/700 ships, I highly recommend Flyhawk kits.
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Oh don’t forget to chuck the 8 barrelled pom-pom, no Tribal class carried them as they were too heavy they only carried the quad version. I believe although I could be wrong as I’ve not looked into every class but no British built destroyer of the pre and wartime builds carried the 8 barrelled version, weight or more correctly top weight was a big concern on destroyers.
Trumpeter carried this mistake across all their Tribals in both 1/350 and 1/700, although the AM companies do have you covered with much better 4 barrel pom-poms.
I did notice this. One of the first things I do when considering a ship model is tack inventory of which guns look oaky and which need AM. I noticed the 8 barreled pom pom and then spent too much time trying to decipher what if Huron carried one. I came to the same conclusion, it’s an error on trumpeters part
Honestly researching this stuff can be a real chew and the most modeller-friendly resources are often exceptionally badly research (read - entirely made up). You also can’t trust anything at all that Trumpeter suggests either in terms of structure or fit and certainly not camouflage - they simply haven’t got a clue about RN painting practises.
I would second the suggestion to go to Modelwarships.com and the Calling All Ship Fans section, or ask on Britmodeller where a few genuinely knowledgeable people with access to a load of reliable resources they’ve collected from archives over a long period of time can be found.
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Contact museums directly. I’ve contacted a few for a build and it’s paying off handsomely.