HMS Cumberland: For Sale

Thank you, I will try and contact him through email.

 

Hi Larry,
I'm meeting with Brechin this week to view the Cumberland and decide whether to buy it back and refit it to be indentical internally to the Canarias, as their hulls and combat stats are identical. I plan to take both models to the cottage next summer for some 1:1 battles, and maybe to 2016 NATS.

If you're still interested I've stopped waffling and decided to sell WWI 3.5 unit armoured cruiser HMS Minotaur because it's to be replaced by an Indefatigable Class BC - Ralph Coles loaned me his beautiful Indefatigable mould (one of our joint projects like HMS Nelson/Rodney) and I'll be making a hull next week.

 

Hello Bob,
What I would really like to know, would you be interested in making a deck and superstructure for the canaias that I could buy. I bought one of you canaias hulls, but I've only had time to install the drive shafts and rudder due to my work schedule. I do have part of the forward superstructure and smoke stack. My son loves the Hood but really misses the canaias. That is why I was looking to buy Cumberland. Thought she would make a nice replacement for Canaias, until we had time to finish our build. I am still interested in Minotaur too.

 

Hi Larry,
Unfortunately I can't help you with the superstructure, having sold the moulds for the streamlined tower bridge and the trunked funnel to Strike Models. The rest of the superstructure elements are easy to build from styrene. Except for bridge and funnel I'll be replacing the fiberglass superstructure on your/my 2000 Canarias with styrene this winter.

Maybe Stephen Mogret will make a bridge and funnel for you. Strike also has the mould for the Spanish 8" turrets, which were slightly different than the Kent Class turrets.

I think I sent Strike all of my drawings for Canarias/Baleares, including the one for the fiberglass deck outline with locations and sizes of the moulded-in access hatches. Though all of my models have fiberglass decks they were made from single use balsa moulds that did not survive production of the first deck. Strike makes wooden decks for most of their hulls - they look pretty slick and should be fine for Canarias.

Work has kept me from progressing on several RC warship projects - I'm on call for 2 of 4 weeks this month. Having nowhere to fiberglass except on the covered front porch, I'm running out of time with cold weather a few weeks away. If you decide against a wooden deck from Strike and I can find a copy of the deck plan for Canarias I might be able to make another mould and deck in early October - no guarantee.

Will try to box HMS Minotaur and get a shipping quote in the next 2-3 weeks.

 

Hell Bob,
It is just as well you don't have time. After I got home today my son told me he didn't care how long it took for us to complete Canarias, he wants us to do it. Now I really have to make time to finish this build with my son. No hurry with Minotaur. We can work out the details once you know shipping cost. Let me know if you decide to pass on Cumberland. I'm looking to ad two more ships to my fleet. Thanks

 

By the way, how much were you asking for Minotaur?

 

I bought HMS Cumberland back from Brechin Piper this morning. It's already been gutted, the interior cleaned of old silicone and hot-glue and sanded, and layers of paint removed from the fiberglass deck. With the paint removed I was surprised to see I'd started to scribe deck planking in the gelcoat but it was only partly done when I sold the model around 1998. The drive train is still in excellent shape and identical to that in the Canarias, which I built a year later. Brechin said my BB cannons are still shooting well. He generously donated extra gear and equipment for any new members that are recruited.

Cumberland and Canarias are side by side on the workbench and will be rebuilt simultaneously with identical interior equipment. I was happy to see that Cumberland had a Camurati pump, probably the first of several pumps I bought from Carl. The fiberglass superstructure has been removed from Canarias for cosmetic work to repair BB damage to the gelcoat. Cumberlands's superstructure will be replaced with a new one made of styrene, representing the ship in 1945 with only three 8" turrets. The fiberglass decks of both models will be scribed to represent planking.

Cumberland had bow and stern guns but will be converted to independently firing dual stern guns like the Canarias. Canarias was successful using 'run and gun' tactics and targeting damaged ships. Cumberland's stern guns will be able to depress further due to the cut-away stern and can hit the water at much shorter range. I'm considering pivoting the aft turret in the stern arc, using the same geared mechanism as in HMS Hood but turning only 30 degrees vs 180.

 

Cumberland is being reconstructed, more than 2 1/2 years later than planned. The new balsa it came with hadn't been glued on securely - it wasn't attached to many of the ribs and stringers and could easily be popped off with pressure from inside. The hull has been stripped and the old ca glue removed. The next steps are to build a completely new styrene superstucture, resheet and paint the hull , then install the 'guts' exactly as they were in Canarias which used the same hull.

Cumberland will have another heavy cruiser as a squadron mate: HMS Effingham (Hawkins Class). I've just started construction of the hull plug.