discussion Flower Class Corvette paint schemes.

[Windy]

Hi all. I've never built a ship before but recently picked up a 1/350 Flower Class Corvette from Mirage Hobby. I'd like to build it as a representation of my Great Uncle's ship HMS Salvia but there is only one confirmed picture of her. She was lost with all hands Christmas Eve 1941 and I imagine most pictures ever taken of her went down with her at the same time. Can anyone hazard a guess as to the colours? After a bit of research I'm guessing Admiralty Dark in 507A and 507C but the information is all a bit sketchy.

 

[prichrd1]

Alex,

Not a floatie thingy modeller me self, but this may be of interest to you!!

Sovereign Guides

No doubt one of the shippy mates will turn up with the correct answer for you.

HTH,

Paul.
:smiling:

 

[boatman]

HI Alex these 1/350 Flower Class Corvette make into some very nice models as my boaty m8 has one built an painted in his cabinet in his livin room but i cant help you on the colours im afraid but if i was you ask again on here as i would think someone like Jakko or Dave Ward could help you find the right colours as they are very knowable about these things an know where to research these things
ATB chris

 

[Tim Marlow]

Might be of interest
https://www.navyhistory.org.au/royal-navy-colours-of-world-war-two-the-pattern-507s-g10-and/
https://www.navyhistory.org.au/royal-navy-colours-of-world-war-two-standard-camouflage-colours/
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.models.scale/c/5ZbRhqn9NKE
http://www.cbrnp.com/RNP/Flower/PROFILE/Profiles-01.htm

 

[Tim Marlow]

Another site of interest…
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theflowerclasscorvetteforums/hms-salvia-t646.html

 

[boatman]

Another site of interest…
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theflowerclasscorvetteforums/hms-salvia-t646.html

WELL DONE Tim you hit the nail on the head there
chris

 

[Dave Ward]

Alex,
without any good pictures, it'll be difficult to pindown a certain camo scheme, you might have to settle on a scheme carried by a sister ship.................

The Flower class were subject to modifications throughout their lives with regard to radar, armament etc, the early Flowers like HMS Salvia had a short foc'sle. The Mirage models are long foc'sle, but I wouldn't worry about that!
I'll have a dig around to see if I can find any further information....................
Dave

 

[boatman]

Alex,
without any good pictures, it'll be difficult to pindown a certain camo scheme, you might have to settle on a scheme carried by a sister ship.................

The Flower class were subject to modifications throughout their lives with regard to radar, armament etc, the early Flowers like HMS Salvia had a short foc'sle. The Mirage models are long foc'sle, but I wouldn't worry about that!
I'll have a dig around to see if I can find any further information....................
Dave

AN WELL DONE to you also Dave for finding this reseach up an hopefully that should help Alex no end. See with help like you guys are givin we are getting more floaty builds on here which is great
ATB chris

 

[Dave Ward]

After a bit of poking around - I've found nothing concrete about HMS Salvia! That picture does seem to be the only one in the public domain.
I've found several illustrations of what the early Flower class looked like:

You can see that the foc'sle finished in front of the bridge, the later ones, it finished by the funnel. Early Flowers were modified to the longer foc'sle as they came up for overhaul, but I think HMS Salvia was lost before this happened.
As to camouflage - I don't think that there was any specified pattern in the early years of the war, but the colours were.

There certainly seem to be a lot of variations!

AK do 2 sets to cover all camo colours ( John has them in stock in the shop ).
Good Luck with your project!
Dave

 

[Windy]

Wow! Thanks guys. There's some really useful stuff there. I haven't had a chance to make a start yet as been pretty busy at work. I reckon it'll be a good project for the winter!

Salvia was definitely an early Flower with a short focsle, one of the first batch I think, so I may have to do a bit of surgery.

Here's another picture I found. It's an early Flower Class during the evacuation from Crete. There's no pennant number visible but she's likely to be either Salvia, Peony or Hyacinth as they were all involved. She seems to have two Anti-aircraft tubs, one just aft of the funnel with a quad .50 and another aft of the galley. Can anyone shed any light?

 

[Tim Marlow]

Not sure if it’s Salvia Alex. Do the tuba shaped vents rotate? If not, the port one by the funnel is pointing the wrong way.

 

[Dave Ward]

Not sure if it’s Salvia Alex. Do the tuba shaped vents rotate? If not, the port one by the funnel is pointing the wrong way.

The vents can be rotated, to face into wind, or away - there's usually a rack & pinion turning gear at the base.......
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

That’s something I’ve always wondered about Dave, thanks for that….

 

[Dave Ward]

Hi all. I've never built a ship before but recently picked up a 1/350 Flower Class Corvette from Mirage Hobby. I'd like to build it as a representation of my Great Uncle's ship HMS Salvia but there is only one confirmed picture of her. She was lost with all hands Christmas Eve 1941 and I imagine most pictures ever taken of her went down with her at the same time. Can anyone hazard a guess as to the colours? After a bit of research I'm guessing Admiralty Dark in 507A and 507C but the information is all a bit sketchy.

Alex,
I knew I had seen a better reference - in the Anatomy of the Ship Series:

Short foc'sle - a huge range of drawings! You might be able to get a loan from your local library ( if you have one! ), as it's not exactly common, and the retail prices ( and ebay ) reflect this, but I'd say it's the definitive work..............
Dave

 

[Ian M]

At the time of her sinking, Saliva was in the Mediterranean så the light blues and greens over white are not in the game.
There is only that one known photo of her. Others are speculative, Also the IWM one. No Visible pennant number.
To narrow the search she was laid down sept '39, launched aug. '40 and completed in september '40. met her demise dec. '41.
Built at Williams Simons & Co (Renfrew) Other pennants built at the same time: K91 Primrose and K14 Primula.
As to the colour of her war-paint? Could have been many things. Not a lot of info to find, Maybe Admiralty Dark Disruptive. Could have as easily been Light disruptive. In as you say 507 A and C.
McKay and Harland's book is a great reference book regarding build details and is full of engineering drawings but, alas, very remis of notes for colour use.
Lambert and Brown's "Flower class corvettes" is a great Allround book with many drawings, photographs and colour profiles. Alas the three ships that could help you the most are not included !!!.