by Andrew Ayling
1/350 HMS Ajax (Scratchbuilt)
HMS Ajax
The real HMS Ajax was the last of the Leander Class Cruisers and is probably amongst the best known ships of WW2, British Flagship at the Battle of the River Plate, she went on to spend most of the War in the Med, and was present at Taranto, Crete, Cape Matapan and Malta. Later, she was at D-Day, The South of France Invasion and then the Aegean. Post was she went into reserve and was broken up in 1949.
My Model
My 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.
The vast majority of of the build is scratchbuilt and I've included a few in progress shots - for now at least, more detail can be seen in the Scratchbuild Forum. The elements which were not scratch 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 was from three WEM sets - KGV, Sheffield and Hood.
