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HMS Tiger “Dogger Bank” 24th January 1914

"MSW crew-mate Peter Fulgoney (peterf) shares his latest magnificent build with us, HMS Tiger “Dogger Bank” 24th January 1914, in this MSW Feature!"

HMS Tiger “Dogger Bank” 24th January 1914

The best looking of the “Cats” I believe is HMS Tiger, and so this model is one that we all should try. The story behind the build is the “Dogger Bank” action of World War One, and gives an unusual colour scheme of AP507 a, and c. The darker colour is the side panel and turret tops. There are also white bands around the funnels which make this very distinctive in my Battlecruiser collection.

She was the only type in the class, and as part of Admiral Beatty’s first Battlecruiser squadron was based at Rosyth. Tiger also appeared at the Battle of Jutland 31st May 1916.

Displacement: 36,000 tons fully loaded
Length: 200 m
Beam: 27.6 m
Draught: 8.7 m
Speed: 28 knots
Compliment: 778
8 x 340mm main guns
12 x 150mm
2 x 76mm
4 x submerged torpedo tubes
Laid down June 1912, commissioned October 1914, and sold for scrap February 1932.

The build...

The kit is the Combrig 1:700 scale resin version of the British Battlecruiser, and is complimented by the White Ensign Models photo-etch fret. At first I thought this might be the way of things to come as the instructions also reference WEM colours but I believe this was the first and last project to bring these two companies together, for myself...

I had built the model some time ago but never finished it. I thought I would leave it until I improved, and this is the same for a number of my early kits. I did then replace a lot of the work although the paint scheme could not be revised and remains a little thick in places.

The cage aerial is certainly a new development for me, and is based on Caenis fishing line, and WEM spacers – the little black circles. I built my own fret for building cage aerials and this consists of a plastic base with plastic uprights either ends. The uprights have holes for 5 x lines to go through. The holes are pierced using the spacers as a template.

The line is threaded through, and the spacers stuck on with paper glue at predetermined intervals. There is another mark where a piece of line is tied around the end of the completed aerial and so brings the various strands together.

This is tied off and again glued. The surplus strands are cut off leaving one strand at either end of the aerial to tie onto the masts. All tricky stuff but can be done quickly with patience and experience. You will need an Opti-visor to help with the threading procedure!