HMS Starling
by Stephen Allen

1/350 HMS Starling (WEM)

This is the WEM kit of HMS Starling, suitably modified and painted to depict Captain Frederic ‘Johnnie’ Walker’s famous Group leader in early 1944, when the 2nd Escort group made its famous ‘six in one trip’ cruise in the Atlantic in February 1944. The Group sank six U-Boats on this voyage, for the loss of HMS Woodpecker. In all Starling was directly involved in sinking or assisting in the sinking of 13 U Boats.

The WEM kit provides an excellent basis to depict Starling or any of her sister vessels. An out of the box build will depict Starling in ‘as fitted’ appearance when first commissioned in March 1943. Soon after commissioning, Starling swapped Type 291 Air Warning radar for HF/DF at the masthead, and by 1944 also had altered boat arrangements. In common with many Western Approaches escorts in the later war years, Starling had lost her earlier disruptive camouflage scheme in favour of a simple overall scheme of light grey.

Alterations and additions to the WEM kit include:

• Depiction of the ‘in and out’ strakes of hull plating using the paint and masking tape method.
• Rigols added to hull and superstructure scuttles from copper wire, along with the ladder rungs to the harbour boat boom positions (the booms themselves were carried at main deck level while at sea, presumably to avoid weather damage).
• Alterations to the bridge and bridge wings to better depict Starling’s configuration, including wind deflectors, sky lookout stations, and chart table.
• Borrowing the brass 4” barrels from a Trumpeter accessory kit for the Hood. These were a drop in replacement for the white metal barrels contained in the kit.
• 20mm single mounts from L’Arsenal for the bridge wings, mounted in stepped circular elevation bases.
• Scratch building the steam windlass on the forecastle.
• Opening out the passageways in the ‘A’ gun shield to the forecastle.
• Scratch building an open Director Tower MKIII(W).
• Scratch building an octagonal Type 271 radar ‘lantern’ and adding a roof to the radar office at the base of the lattice mast.
• Boat and Carley Float stowage to match photos of Starling in this period. A second set of Crescent Davits were carried aft on the port side, with a 27 foot whaler carried over the 14 foot motorboat.
• Mast and tripod supports replaced with brass rod and tube, scratch built crows nest, with the HF/DF aerial coming from a WEM accessory etch set.
• ASDIC dome added to the hull – it’s really odd that the main ASW sensor of WW2 is never included in a kit!
• Replacement of the kit supplied ‘Parbuckle’ depth charge stowage with items built up from 1/400 etched railing. The kit supplied stowage contains three depth charges, while Starling in ’44 had six-charge stowage racks.
• ‘Foxer’ paravane floats stowed above the depth charge rails aft.

Paints used were from the WEM range, with a number of different techniques – dry brushing, washes, stippling and art pencils, used for weathering from keel to mast head.

Like all of the WEM kits I have built or have under construction, the resin components were flawless and major assemblies such as the upper and lower hull and major deck houses fitted extremely well, and the photo-etch was beautifully detailed and complete for the ship as commissioned.

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