Revell Benledi H-315

[skinflint]

Bought this old Revell GB kit some time ago and kept it stored. Decided to make a start and the first part with an old kit is to inventory all the parts. The kit was in a heat sealed bag which just seemed too new for such an old kit (1968 on the box). Anyway upon carrying out the inventory two small parts are missing, a lifeboat and a mast, these will have to be scratch built (someone with better computer skills than me would 3D print them). Always inventory the parts upon receiving an old kit - lesson learnt! The fore deck was heavily stained which I thought was mould release agent, upon looking further, it would appear someone has spilt their tea (or coffee), this won't show after a wash and paint. Despite these minor issues, it looks a lovely kit and I will thoroughly enjoy building it.
The kit was originally made by Revell, when they had a design and manufacturing plant in Great Britain. It was later sold by Revell of Germany as Benledi then the later model Da Noli.
The scale of the kit isn't given on the original kit, but when later sold as Da Noli, this is given as 1:480. The kit's original number of parts was 74.
I found and bought a postcard of the original ship on ebay and bought this as further help with the colour scheme.

 

[spanner570]

Looks a nice kit, Tony.
That's a good reference photo too.

Great to see something different on here - and a ship to boot!
I look forward to watching progress.

Ron

 

[skinflint]

Thanks Ron,
There just aren't too many cargo vessel kits made today, which is a great pity as they have interesting colour schemes.

Tony

 

[Dave Ward]

Tony,
I spent my time in the Merchant Navy on general cargo ships very similar to the Benledi ( although some were a lot older & less stylish! ). My first real modern ship was this:

The MV Beaverbank - Andrew Weir & Co Ltd ( Bank Line ) She was built in 1974 - probably rebar in some Chinese skyscraper now!!
Dave

 

[skinflint]

That must have been a good career Dave and that's a lovely photograph of MV Beaverbank. I can only guess, containers and the shipping companies registering their ships in other countries (for financial purposes) must have brought on the changes to the industry. I don't have any such connection, just enjoy building model ships, cargo vessels seem to catch my eye. In the cargo vessel range, I've previously built the Imex Trinidad, Revell Hawaiian Pilot, Revell nuclear ship Savannah and the Revell oil tanker Glasgow.
As previous, I don't have any connection with ships, but must say we thoroughly enjoyed a trip along the Manchester Ship Canal, back in 2013. Run by Mersey Ferries, it was a good trip to take photographs of the shipping which still uses the canal. Next trip on a ship, I would like to take is on the paddle steamer Waverley.

 

[Dave Ward]

Tony,
when I joined Bank Line (1979 ) as an engineer officer, they had 25 ships, and when I left in 1985, there were 9, so the MN was disappearing - that, and health issues caused a career change. It feels now that happened to another person, it was so different to my later employment. It was extremely hard work, stressful & not without danger. I often wonder how much my later health problems were due to this. There were good times, and bad times ( and when they were bad, they really were bad!!), in recompense we were paid well , and fed well - I learned a lot of things - not all useful.
Dave
ps the photo of Beaverbank is of her leaving Durban, South Africa

 

[skinflint]

The first of four stages in the build of the model is where progress is now at. Deck cranes, four at 5 ton and one 20 ton are movable items, which I'm unsure whether to stay with and now consideration is being given to gluing them solid at a later stage. Revell say the deck colour is black, yet looking at the postcard it's a dark grey which I've gone with. It's always better to go a shade or two lighter with a model colour as against the full sized. Reading on the internet, the deck on the full sized ship was a black gunk, which was easy to paint on but an awful job to take off.

These early Revell instructions brought back memories of when the kit manufacturers would write a step by step construction guide. Nowadays it's just a series of letters and numbers.

Thanks for looking,

Tony

 

[stillp]

Next trip on a ship, I would like to take is on the paddle steamer Waverley.

You'll enjoy it - I took my family on the Waverley from Penarth to Weston-Super-Mare, back in the eighties.
Pete

 

[skinflint]

Thanks Pete,
I will probably look at the schedule next year or 2022 depending how things go.
The other sailing paddler, Kingswear Castle would also make for a good trip, it's just too far from where we are. Not sure when the Medway Queen or Maid of the Loch static paddle steamers will complete their restorations and see a return to service.
I only ever sailed on a paddler once, the Austrian diesel powered Kaiser Franz Josef 1, which sails on the Wolfgansee.

 

[skinflint]

Making slow but steady progress, a few more photographs now the hatches have covers, the cabin superstructure has been fitted as has the foredeck. Next is a job which isn't going to be easy, the rear superstructure cabin needs the front and side pieces fitting. It's in two halves with a joint along the middle, which will need to be neat as it's such a prominent feature. These cabin halves also have the windows moulded out at the sides, yet at the front they are only markings in the plastic. I guess the best way will be to mask and paint these front widows. The front windows have been later modified and moulded out when the kit was later released as Da Noli.
After the cabin works, the hull can be painted, the paints and masking tape have arrived safely, thanks to John and the shop.

Thanks for looking
Tony

 

[skinflint]

Slow but steady progress with the cabins. The windows at the front as raised indications in the mouldings are nothing like the ones in the real ship. The top row are ok except for one window which is shown as a double and should be a single. For the other rows, I filed the raised indications off and will just mask and paint the windows. In this latest photograph the two cabin halves are just held in place with blutack, as it will be best to paint as many windows before cementing the two halves in place. The central windows can be painted after the joint has been made good.
Made a rough sketch of the window layout from the boxart, which was accurate to the photographs of the real ship.

 

[spanner570]

Good to see this is still on the chocks, Tony.
Neat work going on too.

On re-reading the thread, I see you did the Manchester Ship Canal 'Cruise'. My wife and I travelled on it last year. Very interesting and a surprising amount of wildlife. We disembarked at Salford Keys in Manchester and came back to Birkenhead on the supplied coach. Excellent day out.

Ron

 

[Dave Ward]

Tony,
one way to ease the window problem is to use black trim film - solid block sheets of black decals - ideal for cutting loads of identical squares/oblongs.............
Dave

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

Tony,
I spent my time in the Merchant Navy on general cargo ships very similar to the Benledi ( although some were a lot older & less stylish! ). My first real modern ship was this:
View attachment 397444
The MV Beaverbank - Andrew Weir & Co Ltd ( Bank Line ) She was built in 1974 - probably rebar in some Chinese skyscraper now!!
Dave

My father was on the ''Birchbank'' , http://sunderlandships.com/view.php?ref=101562

 

[skinflint]

Dave, thanks for the tip to use black film trim, unfortunately this time work had progressed too far with painting. Next time it will be a must do.

Been making slow but steady progress, the windows are finished and the hull has had the red, green and white at the top painted. There is still a grey section to be done which will tidy up the edge and any overpainting with the green. All at a stop now until after the festivities.

Thanks for taking a look, Tony.

 

[Mini Me]

She's a beauty.....and quite a modern hull. Rick H.

 

[Steven000]

Nice progress Tony!

 

[JR]

Hi Tony,just had a read through. Great thread enjoyed reading about the various photos shown by everyone.
You certainly have a steady hand painting , very neat .

 

[spanner570]

Nice, tidy build, Tony.
Looking good.

 

[Dave Ward]

The Benledi was quite a stylish ship.............
Sadly, modern cargo ships don't have much aesthetic appeal - they seem to be bought by the metre & chopped off - and some look like the designer was from kindergarten ( large ro-ro carrier )

The advent of the container & their huge carriers meant that utilitarian took first place - if you're carrying boxes, whats the best shape for a ship? No need for cargo handling gear, automation means less crew, which means smaller accommodation, fewer lifeboats - getting to minimalist designs now!
I'm glad I was in the MN in the 70s-80s, the end of the era of the traditional way of carrying cargo - I don't think you would have the same experiences today!
Dave