This isn’t a series of questions intended for Monty Don, , they’ll actually be related to Flower Class Corvettes, .
I’ve started to build, in a separate topic, the Revell (Ex Matchbox) 1/72nd Corvette, however, I know nothing about ships, or modelling them, so I’m hoping that the experts, especially those knowledgeable in all things Flowers, on this site will be kind enough to help answer any questions I have, .
I’ll also apologise now for any incorrect terms used when trying to ask my questions, .
First question relates to the bow, the kit has a rather blunt prow, however, in many of the images of such corvettes they give the impression of a much sharper meeting of the two sides. Is it just my imagination, or do I need to reshape/sharpen the front slightly, and if so, what shape should I be trying to achieve?
Remember the Flower’s were based on the hull of a whaler, also what looks sharp in the below photos doesn’t have anything to convey scale. You may want to also choose which Flower you are going to model before you get to far into the build as there was a lot of variety in equipment fit between the Flower’s.
The Revell (Matchbox) kit dates back to the early 80’s, and being Matchbox (originally), a lot of the details have been simplified. For a start, each ship was different - Canada alone built over 170 Corvettes during the war, and each was different, with the differences depending on the year they were built, and what modifications based on war-experience were incorporated into each ship, either during building or refits.
For your first question, I’ve got this kit myself, and have started it. That blunt “seam” running down the stem and along the keel was (from what I can see) used to reinforce the joins between the hull sections, to add strength, as the hull is in four pieces. Once my hull had been assembled, and the glue allowed to cure for a week or more (and I used LOTS of glue here), I took a large file/rasp and removed most of that bluntness to give the stem and keel a more correct shape. Take your time doing this.
There are a number of books available that are invaluable to anyone building this kit, along with lots of after-market sets, to help bring this kit up to modern standards. Here is a web-site that might help as well: The Flower Class Corvette.
For books, I recommend:
“Warship Perspectives - Flower Class Corvettes in World War Two”, by John Lambert;
“Canada’s Flowers - History of the Flower Class Corvettes of Canada 1939-1945” by Thomas G. Lynch;
Shipcraft Special “Flower Class Corvettes” by John Lambert and Les Brown:
Anatomy of the Ship “The Flower Class Corvette AGASSIZ”, by John McKay and John Harland.
I can wholeheartedly recommend book nr 4 in the list provided by Chris.
The hull detail drawings in the Agassiz book claim that the stem bar was 1 inch by 7 inch (25.4 mm / 72 = 0.35 mm, i.e. make it as thin as you like/dare).
HMCS Agassiz as built:
My way, if I were to attempt modifying the stem and the hull bottom.
First some photos, HMCS Sackville in drydock with proud dock workers.
Note that the blunt edge (sharp as a knife, relatively speaking, in real life) has a cutout for something (red arrow):
The Agassiz drawings show that the stem bar ends where the keel becomes straight. There a short piece from the aft end of the straights up to below the propeller shaft Drawing of one of the short forecastle ships
I would strengthen the hull from the inside, basically adding frames to tie the halves together. Sand down all of the thick edge to get smooth hull lines, fill in the resulting slit with styrene strips, with a 0.5 mm strip extending to represent the stem bar, possibly use brass glued with epoxi for this strip. Shape the fillings to meet the stem bar and then shape the profile of the stem bar.
Or ignore the discrepancy and pretend that it doesn’t exist.
The hull plating replication is also way overdone. Sand down and rebuild the plating with thin styrene sheet. Or ignore …
This is a great ship and shame there is only one variant of it in 1/72. David Parkins did several detail sets for this ship under the name Great Little Ship. I have read folks have mix feelings about these sets but they until 3D came along these PE detail sets were it.
Wish I had the words to suitably express my gratitude to everyone above for taking both the time and effort to provide such a comprehensive level of support regarding my initial question, .
I need to trawl through all the data/links you’ve provided me with, but to answer Luciano’s (Littorio) question about choosing which ‘Flower’ to model, I’ve read that some late war Flowers were more heavily armed, e.g. HMS Poppy and Mallow. The latter sporting 6 Oerlikon 20mm, and by 1945 an additional 2 Hotchkiss 6pdr.
But to do this I need to try and find details of where the additional armaments were located, and what I’d need to do to replicate this, .
http://www.cbrnp.com/RNP/Flower/ARTICLES/Poppy/Poppy.htm
The service history mentions removal of minesweeping reel,
some/many/all? of the corvettes built for minesweeping had a more squared off stern (seen from above) than the “normal” corvettes.
Like this:
I am NOT saying that HMS Poppy had squared of stern but I am NOT guarenteeing that she had the same stern as the Revell plastic kit.
The shape of the square/mineseeping stern is shown in the Agassiz book.
Same side view profile as the round sterns but different when seen from above:
The main difficulty will probably be to obtain references.
Reshaping the stern, if it is indeed needed, is “just” a lot of work but not exactly rocket science
Thanks for the links and other information Robin, it’s all grist to the mill, though I’m beginning to realise that I might end up regretting this, . It seems that no two vessels were the same, .
Maybe the approach should be to incorporate some interesting features within a generic boat, as opposed to trying to replicate a specific vessel, .
There were identical ships, it’s just a matter of comparing them at the correct dates.
Getting complete references for a specific ship at a specific date could become a serious challenge.
On the other hand, nobody will ever know if you make a ‘best guess’
Mallow seems to have two gun platforms on the port side:
while whoever built this model of the Poppy decided that there was only one such platform on the port side:
I may have seen a photo or drawing of the real Poppy somewhere which also indicated only one port side platform.
Maybe the service history for Poppy has something to say about it.
The Mallow had two platforms and a rounded stern so it may fit better.
Alternatively just invent a new Flower name and let the imagination fly free.
Ships keep getting adapted, changed and modified all the time.
There is also the option of a post-war Flower in service in some other navy with their adaptations.
Can I suggest a name? Please?
Cockscomb or Cock’s Comb, latin name: Celosia Cristata
There is also the plumed cockscomb or silver cock’s comb (Celosia Argentea)
but the name plates would get stupidly long
, they’ll actually be related to Flower Class Corvettes, 
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. It seems that no two vessels were the same, 
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