¹⁄350

Leander Class Cruiser, HMS Ajax

"Crew-mate Andrew Ayling (jester_ara) shares a super scratchbuild image gallery of his 1/350 scale, HMS Ajax!"

The vessel...

HMS Ajax was a Leander class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during World War II. She was made famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Malta, as a supply escort in the Battle of Tobruk.

Class and type: Leander-class light cruiser
Name: HMS Ajax
Builder: Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down: 7 February 1933
Launched: 1 March 1934
Commissioned: 3 June 1935
Decommissioned: February 1948
Fate: Sold for scrap in 1949

General Characteristics

Displacement: 7,270 tons standard, 9,740 tons full load
Length: 554.9 ft (169 m)
Beam: 56 ft (17 m)
Draught: 19.1 ft (5.8 m)
Propulsion: Four Parsons geared steam turbines
Six Admiralty 3-drum oil-fired boilers
Four shafts
72,000 shp
Speed: 32.5 knots (60 km/h)
Range: 5,730 nm at 13 knots

Armament: Original configuration:
8 × 6 in guns
4 × 4 in guns
12 × 0.5 in machine guns 8 × 21 in torpedo tubes In 1945:
8 × 6 in (152 mm)
8 × 4 in (102 mm)
16 × 40 mm
8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (quadruple mounts)

Armour
4 in (102 mm) main belt
2.5 in (64 mm) ends
1.25 to 2 in (32 to 51 mm) deck
1 in (25 mm) turrets

Aircraft carried: One catapult-launched aircraft ,br> Original type was a Fairey Seafox
catpult and aircraft later replaced with Supermarine Walrus
Pennant number 22

The Model...

The model of the Ajax represents her in early 1943, after her main 1942 refit...there are significant changes from her early war appearence, including various radar aerials, the sided HA directors, twin 4" mounts, removal of aircraft fittings, and additional light AA gunnery.

Most of this build is completely scratchbuilt (including the hull assembly). Details that were not scratchbuilt included boats and fittings from Trumpeter (HMS Hood) and MHM (KGV), brass and accessories from WEM, Resin Shipyard and L'Arsenal. Most of the etched brass came from three seperate WEM sets - KGV, Sheffield and Hood.

Paint colors are MS2, MS4a and B6, G10 wood decks, and teak wood decks. All the paints are WEM colourcoat enamels.

Main references used were Sambrook Plans HMS Ajax, and R&Rs British Cruisers with the Morskie (with reservations) for some of the structures