Canarias was built in 1998 using one of my hulls with intermediate dimensions between the Kent Class and licensed Spanish near copy, the Canarias Class (hull, turret and superstructure molds were later sold to Strike Models). Canarias was a useful model because it was from a neutral country so could be used as an Axis or Allied ship and served as both in many NABS battles. After a few years it was sold to Larry Dingle; his son Ben became the captain. In 2015 I got Canarias back in a partial trade for my HMS Hood and intended to convert it back to its original CO2 capsule system. The next year I bought back HMS Suffolk, which I'd started in 1997 and sold incomplete after deciding to build Canarias instead. The plan was to refit both models with identical internal systems. However, with the hobby inactive for nearly a decade in Nova Scotia there was little incentive to do the refits, and I was already working on 2 new ships, Indefatigable and Profintern. A few weeks ago I decided to sell both models after partial resheeting and cosmetic repairs. Larry's son had been asking him to buy back Canarias almost since it was sold back to me and Larry made an offer for both models. I've been working on Canarias for a couple of weeks and making good progress, layers of paint were stripped off the deck and the superstructure (fiberglass) is being cleaned up and BB damage repaired with body fill. For some reason I used 0.25mm thick styrene for the splinter screens - far too fragile, so most of it is being replaced with 1.0mm. Several of the secondary guns were damaged but have been fixed. The bows are being resheeted because the prominent 'knuckle' of the British designed hull was no longer apparent. Sheeting is being taken all the way to the end of the stern and bow for a better appearance. A new 50% larger rudder has been made to conform to IRCWCC rule changes. Since I'm not going to convert the CO2 system back to capsules the internal systems are fine as is and Larry and Ben just need to reinstall the BB cannons. I expect to finish resheeting the hull and painting it this weekend. Within 3 weeks I hope to have finished repairing and painting the superstructure and by early July Canarias should be on the way back to SC. The first photo shows the new rudder. The stern skeg had to be shortened a few millimeters to accomodate it. It was made from the original nylon Robbe rudder being wrapped with several laminations of 0.25 and 0.5mm styrene and trimmed to the new size. The next photo is an overall view of the black gelcoat finished hull and deck (all of my combat models have molded fiberglass decks glassed to the hull). Recesses are molded into the deck to take 1/8" lexan hatches, to which the superstructure components are bolted. Third photo shows the bow area ready for resheeting in a way that will clearly show the 'knuckle', and sheeting is under way in the fourth. This hull has some complex curves and is best sheeted one window at a time so no filler is needed along the bottom edge of longer panels that won't lie completely flat against the hull. If I'd decided to keep Canarias I would have resheeted the entire hull. More photos to follow over the next 3 weeks.
Resheeting of bow and stern over noon hour. The balsa is taken to the extreme bow and stern and a bit of filling and sanding will blend the edges into the ends of the hull. One stern panel had to be removed to access the rudder arm and remove the rudder as the rudder hatch had been ca glued shut. A sharp tap from below sheared the glue and got the hatch off. Some minor gap filling between panels this afternoon and she'll be ready for priming tomorrow. Reheeting the bow 'knuckle' with separate pieces of balsa will make it noticeable again - it was a distinctive feature of the British designed Canarias Class and many WWII British cruisers. Sheeting the bow all the way to deck level with a single piece of balsa had obscurred it.
Resheeting is done. Painting tomorrow, then on to the superstructure repairs. Canarias might be ready to go back to South Carolina earlier than expected.
The hull below the waterline is painted but a high wind has come up and is interfering with spraying. The grey primer I have for the upper hull and deck is quite dark but I found 3 cans of Testor's 'Camo Grey', which is light grey. I think it's the same colour I used for Canarias and Gorgon. The cans are several years old but if OK I'll use them. I have a couple of cans of Testors 'Wood' that I've used for British decks, but I think the decks on Canarias should be lighter than Minotaur's. I'll prime the upper hull and deck if the wind dies down this afternoon, then apply the Camo Grey. I'll try to find a Testors spray for the deck this week; might get the deck done before I leave for a few days of flood repairs at the cottage.
Hull painting: 1) marking the waterline at 21.5' for standard displacement, this was the location of the actual waterline when I built Canarias in 1998. 2) using painters' tape to mask the line, then more tape to attach newspaper 3) paint lower hull (no photo) 4) same process to mask the painted lower hull and paint the upper hull and deck
The hull's painted. Last night I sanded the old paint off the turrets and fixed 3 of the scale brass 8" gun barrels that were loose. The turrets have been repainted. Now on to the superstructure components. Other than making an internal change from CO2 bottle to capsules, this is the entire refit intended when I bought Canarias back in 2015. With the refit nearing completion after ~20 hrs work I'm feeling bad about selling Canarias again without using her. (Canarias was my second favourite combat model after HMS Warspite.) That said, I have Suffolk/Cumberland to rebuild, based on an identical hull but with cut down quarterdeck height. She'll be a bit superior to Canarias due to more down-angle on the stern guns. With CL Profintern/Krasni Krim under construction and a plan to build a Frosbisher Class CA it doens't make sense to keep the Canarias.
Repainted hull and turrets. The bow knuckle is more prominent after resheeting it separately from the rest of the bow. On to the superstructure next week. (Larry Dingle has just bought my 3rd RC combat model HMS Courageous from someone in SC. It was built in 1996, sold to Plato Avramides in 2001, and has had at least one other owner. Presently in very bad condition with the fiberglass deck separating from the hull. I'll be advising Larry on the repair process.)
The forward superstructure after scrubbing and light sanding prior to applying body fill to areas of gelcoat damage. The lower level and the tower bridge are fiberglass, with styrene platforms and splinter screens. I sold the molds for the bridge and trunked funnel to Strike Models, but the rest of the superstructure molds were one-use and made of waxed balsa. Several missing styrene doors will be replaced; sections of damaged 0.5mm thick styrene splinter screens on the platforms have been removed (along with the opposite sections even if undamaged) and will be replaced with 1.0mm thick styrene. It will take too long to replace the undamaged splinter screens on the fore and aft superstructure sections with thicker styrene; Larry and Ben would like to have Canarias back in SC ASAP.
While de-cluttering my basement today I found the wooden masters for the Canarias and Kent Class 8" gun turret molds; I'd forgotten I still had them. The turret molds were made in 1997 and later sold to Strike Models. The masters are in good condition so I can make a new Kent Class turret mold; 3 of the 4 turrets received with HMS Suffolk/Cumberland are in bad shape but now I can make replacements. Although the Spanish Canarias Class were a licensed near-copy of the British Kent Class (with a modernized superstructure) the turret designs were quite different. The Spanish turrets were shorter in length and had a flat instead of curved rear wall.
All damage to the styrene superstructure components has been repaired and about a dozen missing doors replaced. The shock of BB impacts can shear the ca glue holding them to the fiberglass superstructure. Canarias was one of the last models I built with fiberglass superstructure components. I've found that styrene superstructures 2.0 mm thick are as BB resisitant and easier to repair. I make a detailed outer shell from 1.0 mm styrene and reinforce it on the inside with with another layer, which prevents splitting from BB hits. The cylindrical structure aft of the funnel was intended to be the base of the aircraft catapult, but it was never installed. On the model it's a float with a reel of line installed on the underside of the deck; it was made from a 35mm film container which was readily available 20 years ago. The next step in the repairs will be to body-fill numerous chips in the gelcoat and fiberglass from BB hits. The top section of the mainmast was broken off and the middle had a slight bend forward from a past repair. I didn't think the mast was repairable but discovered I hadn't glued all of the sleeved components together in 1998, probably with repairs in mind. The mast is made of brass and styrene tubing, with a brass rod inside the latter as the central component. The styrene tubing inside the lower brass section is a tight fit and gives more resistance to BB hits. I was able to take the mast components apart and fix the upper section but couldn't straighten the kink lower down where the mast had been broken off and glued. The problem was that the brass rod at the center was bent. I cut off the damaged section and reassembled the mast. It's 1/2" shorter than before but looks fine. (In the photos the mast hasn't been repaired yet.)
The repair of fiberglass superstructure damage from BB hits was finished on the weekend. While I was sanding the body-fill with wet and dry sandpaper the top layer of paint started lifting off the funnel and separating from the primer, leaving a rough edge that kept extending and couldn't be feathered. Fortunately this didn't happen on the fore and aft superstructure elements, just on the funnel, which has to be completely sanded down to the primer. Another couple of evenings should see the repaint completed. Then some minor repairs to the secondary and tertiary guns and the refit will be done.
After two more evenings of scraping and wet sanding most of the problematic top layer of paint has been removed. A lot of the top layer couldn't be feathered to a smooth edge around repairs because it was extremely hard and brittle. The worst areas seemed to have a clear matte topcoat, like the stuff that had been used on the deck and required many hours of sanding to remove at the start of the refit. Superstructure repairs and prep for repainting are done.
The superstructure was just sprayed with Rustoleum light grey primer. The top of the funnel will be painted black and a 1/4" black band applied beneath the cap. I don't remember whether the deck around B turret was planked. If so that'll be masked and sprayed with Tamiya Deck Tan. The secondary and tertiary guns need some minor repairs after which Canarias will be ready for shipping back to SC. I hope it'll be back in Larry and Ben's hands by mid-July.
FINISHED! Canarias will be off to SC in July; Larry Dingle will have 4 of the RC combat models I've built since 1996: HMS Hood, Courageous, Minotaur (WWI AC), and Canarias. The next ship to be completed will be HMS Cumberland.
I noticed in the photos that the grey band between the black ones on the funnel was slightly wider at the rear on the port side. On measuring it was 1mm wider aft - after a few minutes of masking and applying GW Chaos Black spray it's even. The starboard side was fine. I got Canarias back from Larry more than 3 1/2 years ago in partial trade for Hood; after I finally got to work on it the total time for cosmetic refurbishing with superstructure repairs, partial resheeting, and complete repainting, and making a new 50% larger rudder was 30+ hours. For the internal refit I was going to re-install the original 36 gm CO2 capsule system, go back to the original power source of two Panasonic 6V3.6Ah gelcell batteries for more capacity and a lower centre of gravity, and install another pair of my BB cannons, this time with Strike Models stainless steel barrels. Unlike the model's current Battlers Connection cannons which were installed with the barrel and barrel nut outside of the aft turret, my cannons would have only the barrels protruding. Probably another 10-12 hrs work would have had Canarias back in original condition from 20 years ago. If Larry's son Ben wasn't so eager to have Canarias back I'd keep her; she's a unique looking ship and was my most enjoyable model after Warspite. I liked having the choice of fighting on either the Axis or Allied side because Spain was officially neutral. Canarias and the similar County Class cruisers are good in a running and gunning role, equipped with dual stern guns, and have a lot of reserve buoyancy (one of the reasons Canarias was never sunk when I had her).
Packing in progress. Canarias will soon be on the way to Larry and Ben Dingle in SC. Black foam has been added to the deck as a spacer to protect 2 barbattes and the aft pair of secondary guns that were glued into the deck and couldn't be removed. Their barrels are supported by the foam and a thin layer of white foam protects their paint. Note paper towels under the tape to protect the hull paint. The next steps are to wrap the hull in bubble wrap and build a cardboard box. The mainmast, catapult support (recovery float), turrets and 6 secondary guns are bubble wrapped and inside the hull. The fiberglass superstructure and cannon components are in the box. I regret sending my 2nd favourite combat model south again, but with 2 cruisers under construction, another planned, and all likely to be better combat models I can't justify keeping the Canarias.
Very nice work indeed. Who is Larry Dingle, he never comes to Statesboro that I remember? Just across the border in Georgia.
