Britain’s Type 23 Duke Class frigates were originally envisioned as pure anti-submarine vessels, to the extent of being planned with no other armament. The 1982 Falklands War quickly put paid to that idea, however, and the Type 23s would end up being commissioned from 1989-2001 and fitted with a main gun, Sea Wolf short range anti-air missiles, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles to accompany her torpedoes, decoys, et. al. These changes turned the frigates from specialized sub-hunters into versatile multi-role combatants that play a key role in the British fleet.
This is the Trumpeter kit HMS Westminster which I manages to pickup at SMW kit swap for an extremely reasonable £20. Then discovered in the box there was a replacement main gun from White Ensigns also.


The kit has a nice piece of PE, on the left, but I also got the bigger set from Atlantic Models.


Started with the hull and main superstructure pieces. All crisply molded and fit is excellent. So far just dry fitted the superstructure.

Sean,

Im not much of a modern warship kinda guy but im in for this ride. Looking forward to watching this build.

Dave

Looking like she's going together well Sean! Keep up the good work! Nice add-on set too...should make things pop!

More likely to make my eyes bleed 😆 but hope you enjoy the torture sessions David & Todd. All for a GB on IPMS Ireland forum

I used the kit PE for the "nest" but Atlantic Models set for the yard-arms. The AM set is a little easier to work with....but not a lot 😳



This is going to be very slow going....but I trust will be worth it in the end

Primed the enclosed fan deck, added the nets and a missing hatch using the spares on the Atlantic PE set. But once it's closed up nothing will really be visible, but I'll know it's there.....😀Sometimes I wonder at the lengths we go to.

Back at it. 2nd mast:

I'm in too Sean! Watching with interest!

Hope you have lots of patience Russel 😀

Still a few more bits to go on this mast

Sean, I know what you mean! I'm working on an interior space on a build right now that will mostly be invisible. On Westminster's "fan deck", are those screens detachable? Maybe something can be seen in there after all.

Indeed I do

my builds seem to take years, so no need to worry

They are only safety nets which would be taken down when operating the towed sonar. But if I left them off I'd have to scratch build a lot of other detail also like the cradle and winch for the sonar. My scratch building sucks, so I'm leaving it closed up

Looking great so far Sean, and as I'm looking toward making a type 45 sometime in the summer I'll follow your progress with interest.

Hi Sean!

Somehow I entirely missed your new build so far - - sorry! I'm definitely in for this one!! Great start!!

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks Gents, consider yourselves piped aboard for the cruise!

Keltic, I'll eventually do a type 45 also...have you a build log going?

Not yet, I'm planning it for the Airfix campaign starting in June as a gift for my local sea cadets. I'm Looking forward to it and will definitely blog it as I'll try and go all out with photo etch and any other scratch stuff I can think of.

After being adrift for a while I managed to get it primed. Kept the second mast off for ease of painting. Sorry I didn't think of that before doing the first too....



Next up paint and then mask the decks

good to see some paint going on Sean

Thanks Russel,
Masking, the one step in this hobby I really dislike

Ah masking! Not an enjoyable task Sean, but peeling off the masking to reveal all those crisp lines sure makes up for it!

Hey Sean,

Good to see another modern ship project going here. We need more of them, missles, radar masts and helipads are COOL.

I also dislike the masking but as Russell said, its worth it when it comes off.

How did you decide on the build order for your project, it looks like your taking a AFV approach, building then painting. I have also done this and it certainly has its ups and downs. Im curious why you chose this method as well. Most of the guys here kind of build, paint, build, paint etc.

Looking good,
Bryan

I know Russell, but I'm always afraid the paint will lift too....

Thanks Bryan, and I'm normally an AFV guy myself. Just look at my forum name, although I might need to add an extra zero to it 😀
Generally I like to get the bulky items assembled and then painted. I find if I paint the superstructure bits before attaching to the deck there is always some filling needed which then means having to reaping significant portions. However all the smaller bits will be painted before being attached. And I'm sorry I attached those PE masts before doing the hull red and boot stripe. Just means I need to be very careful and build a jig to hold her upside down

Hi Sean,

very nice progress on your Westminster! Your masking looks pretty good, I keep my fingers crossed that the paint underneath will stick...

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks Jan

Decks fully masked and the hull and superstructure painted. Need to build a jig now to hold her upside down to do the hull red and boot line while protecting that mast

looking very nice with the light grey down Sean.

You're a braver man than I turning her over with the mast on! Best of luck!