HMAS Australia County-class heavy cruiser

[PacificWind]

Thanks a lot for this link Robert. It seems to be a very valuable source!

[dto]

Hi, Kasper! Sorry for not responding earlier -- been VERY busy lately. Looks like HMAS Australia's camouflage scheme closely copied USN Measure 22, which was widely used in the western and southern Pacific from September 1942 through 1945. All vertical surfaces without exception were painted Navy Blue 5-N, while decks, canvas boat covers and all horizontal surfaces were painted Deck Blue 20-B. However, the difference between the two colors would be barely perceptible in your scale, and apparently HMAS Australia deviated in having light blue tops, so whether they bothered to use any Deck Blue is questionable.

I will ask a friend what he uses to duplicate Navy Blue 5-N, but personally I think the earlier dazzle pattern is more interesting, than the monotone "Chicago Blue" scheme.

David T. Okamura

[PacificWind]

Hi David. Actually I've already got the paint. Today I went to modeler's store and bought Gunze Hobby Color BLUE FS15044 (H326). This one was the closest color to the profile from Robert's link.
I hope it will turn out be a good choice.
Also, whether the truth is, I'll paint the decks in natural wood color. I'm attaching one picture of Australia where the deck looks rather bright. From what I know, all Commonwealth navies had never painted wooden decks. I can't remember any Commonwealth ships with camouflaged wooden deck.
This combination of "Chicago blue", wooden decks and "Sky blue" masthead should turn into an attractive model I think.
I don't want the earlier dazzle camouflage because this pattern has very similar colors(gray & black) to my earlier project, USS Maryland BB-46 from 1944. Now I want to do something different.

Anyway, here's the work-in-progress report. I did the remaining details of the hull. I think that should be enough for 1/1000. In the next 2 days, I'll put a protective varnish and then camouflage the hull. So I guess the next WIP report will be probably on Monday...

[Robert Woolley]

May I share a couple of light hearted stories from my fathers time on the Australia. This was in the early 50s so well after the end of the war.
He wasn’t a very good sailor and was sea sick most of the time. He recalls being in heavy seas and seeing the escort destroyers bing lifted up on huge waves and having the bow and propellers on the stern exposed to the air, and then the destroyers disappearing behind the next wave.
He once spilled a can of black paint on the freshly polished deck, and was ordered to remove it, but he never managed to get it completely off and there after there was always a dark patch where he spilled it.
He always volunteered for mystery assignments. Sometimes it was peeling potatoes, but once it was to polish the officers brass things. It took him an hour but he had the whole day to do it so he spent the rest of the day sun bathing in one of the life rafts that were stored between the funnels.
One night he was on night watch on the bridge. He saw a light dead ahead. He reported it and the Australia changed course to miss it. The light was still dead ahead so he reported it again. The ship again changed course. The light was still dead ahead. It was the light on the flag pole on the front of the ship!
He was an anti aircraft gunner, and remembered being “attacked” by mustangs from the airforce. The shot at them using shells that exploded just after leaving the barrel of the gun. He found that exciting.
Once he was painting the side of the hull on a plank hanging over the side. He dropped a bag of sweets he had into the water. Someone on deck saw the sweets floating in the water and called man over board, and as a result the crew went into action to look for him and rescue him, as he happily painted away.
And one land based story. His gun crew were doing a drill using Bofor guns on mobile carriages for some VIPs. He had to wind the legs of the gun down as part of the drill. He managed to wind it down onto his foot, trapping him, but had to stand there pretending nothing was wrong as the drill continued in front of the VIPs.

[PacificWind]

Robert, stories like these are always welcome. It's nice to see that my project is bringing back memories.

Here's the promised WIP update.
I've painted the hull and changed the deck. The previous deck wasn't good enough in my opinion so I decided to design a new one, digitally this time.

[PacificWind]

I'm trying to find some good pics and drawings so I could design the superstructures. Firstly, I'll need some basic shapes. This is pretty problematic beacause there're not too many models of HMAS Australia where I could be able to see the superstructures in progress in someone's build. Sure, there're other County-class cruisers(in this case a Kent-subclass to be exact) but I've noticed that they had some differences.

So far this seems to be the only useful thing: https://www.1999.co.jp/itbig26/10267811z.jpg
Should be a good starting point but I'm not sure if it's accurate for 1942.
Any help is really welcome.

[Robert Woolley]

I have this photocopy of Australia in 1947. I’m sorry the detail is not sharper. Also here is a model I made from these drawings and other pictures I had. It’s my interpretation of course so I’m not sure how accurate it is.

[PacificWind]

Thanks.
Also, I've just found this: Gallery - Kombrig 1/700 HMAS Australia by Robert Hagger
I think it's enough to start. There're some good photos in that link.

[PacificWind]

Here's the first progress with the superstructures...

[PacificWind]

WIP report.
Here's the rear part of the main superstructure. As it can be seen, it has a small wooden deck. This is a place for the first funnel.

Now I have to paint this whole part and then glue it to the main deck.