C2 transporter ship : Santa Anna.
Here’s another very fine kit from BattleFleet Models, and after having seen Rob Kernaghan’s, and Mike McCabe’s
build of the C2, I was inspired to build one myself. What made this an easy build was that I could ask Rob, and Mike about
the details of their construction but perversely, what made it slightly more difficult was that I had to come up with a different
configuration, and cargo.Looking through the many references on the net, there is no definitive study of a single ship I had
found but the number of images give a good idea about the general detailing. It was a question of either picking a name or
just portraying the generic type. I thus settled for a variation to show 7 x sets of derricks, noted as the Santa Anna, and
then to further make changes with the types of cargo, and then the barrage balloon. Like most resin kits there is a good amount
of extra detail that can be added to the build to give it a busy, and alive look, which is especially relevant to a working
ship like this.
I used Humbrol 27 spray paint to get started, don’t forget to wash the resin first, and this gives a colour that
isn’t too light, or dark and thus shows off the detail better. Basically, the build is fairly quick but the real fun
comes when you choose the cargo. There are trucks and tanks on the market at 1:700 but seeing as my friends had already used
these, I decided to go for the aircraft, and the Lockheed Hudson was favourite, although mine had to be custom made. I don’t
know about the cargo boxes, and whether they are in the right place or the right size but they give a good overall effect
to busy-up the decks. The 1:700 men, Eduard, have been painted in “paynes grey” acrylic to give them some 3D effect
rather than the raw flat pe. The faces are little taps of flesh coloured paint.
Another routine I like is adding the colour in terms of weathering, and general use. I always use MIG pigments as they
are easy to apply, and there’s a great range of colours you can experiment with. You can also remove some if you think
you’ve overdone it.
The rigging is little-cars.com : silver, and black metal thread. These have been painted over in the Humbrol 27 to make
them blend in better and the overall effect is right. The great thing about this media is that it’s easy to fix onto
the build, and won’t break like stretched sprue with the slightest touch. Again, I think the rig for the derricks should
look that much more sturdy so the sprue wouldn’t have looked as apt.
So, go and get yourself a Battle Fleet Models C2 “Sea Witch” and have some fun. This kit is probably the largest
ship they sell, and comes with the standard set of helpful, and understandable instructions as well as various well formed
and detailed resin parts, and a fret of pe to temp your imagination. BTW the resin is solid top quality media giving an overall
value for money kit.
Getting others involved is my idea of fun, and again Geoff Rogers has come up with the goods with his Lockheed Hudson twin-engine
bomber that forms the main show piece of the cargo. Also I have again used his balloon model but this time as a barrage balloon
attached to the winch abaft. Thanks, Geoff, really nice work.The good thing about this particular build is that it is part
of a plan to bring together a number of 1:700 model enthusiasts at Telford UK this year to present an Atlantic convoy circa
1943. The important thing was to work together to place the ships, and to co-ordinate this together with the sea state, base
size, and sea colour. I thought Mike’s C2 could be the starting point for the build, Rob’s is shown in port, and
carry on around it. This is why base size is important. There will also be a number of blank bases to give the spread of ships.
Although not accurate, it should have the right effect.I like the idea of modellers displaying their builds together and this
year I started with Rob Kernaghan’s HMS Howe together with my HMS Vanguard. Again the sea colour, and speed of the ships
had to be the same, and the time frame but other than that the brief was fairly flexible.If the Atlantic dio works out to
everyone’s satisfaction then I would like to go a lot further and get more people involved next year in an international
multi build – should be good!
Peter F, Chatham, UK October 2007.
Kits used:
BFM-709 C2 Transport "Sea Witch"
BFM-722 Observation/Barrage Balloons
