1/700 HMS Dido 1942

WEM K 702

Dido Class Cruiser

Click on any of the photo's for a closer look

First Released in 1995, master patterns were completely rebuilt at the hands of Brian Fawcett in early 1998.

H.M.S. Dido was in fact the sixth of the class of light cruisers that bore her name, launched on 18th July 1939, and completed in September 1940. The class was derived from the Arethusas, and was intended to boost the number of cruisers as quickly as possible. The ships were designed to mount 10 x 5.25" dual purpose guns in twin turrets , as used as secondary armament on the King George V class of battleships, but due to supply shortages, a number of the ships did not receive their full number of these guns before commissioning. Dido entered service with only four of the turrets fitted, mounting a 4" starshell gun in place of Q turret. Her fifth turret was eventually fitted during her refit in Brooklyn Naval Yard in late 1941. The ships proved to be an adequate compromise, excelling against neither surface nor airborne targets, but able to engage either with reasonable effectiveness. They handled well, almost destroyer like, but pitched heavily due to the weight of the three turrets forward. Some of the class had Q turret removed to save on the ever increasing topweight. Dido served with the Home Fleet 1940-41, then sailed for the Mediterranean. She was bombed off Crete in May 1941, resulting in her repairs and refit in Brooklyn. She returned to the Med, being involved in the sinking of three enemy supply ships off North Africa in December 1942, before rejoining the Home Fleet in 1944. The surrender of Copenhagen was taken by Dido in May 1945. She joined the Reserve Fleet in 1947, before being finally broken up at Barrow in 1958. Dido’s battle honours were as follows: Crete 1941, Sirte 1942, Mediterranean 1942-44, Malta Convoys 1942, Sicily 1943, Salerno 1943, Aegean 1943, Anzio 1944, South France 1944, Arctic 1944.

The Kit contains the following etched brass parts, the main fret having been drawn by Tom Harrison, with the rails and ladders having been designed by Peter Hall:

Prop guards, boarding ladder, gunnery radar, mast top aerials, mainmast starfish, various platforms and braces, yardarm footropes, funnel cap grilles, 10 x 20mm Oerlikons and gun shields, davits for 27’ whalers, davits for motor boats, davits for boarding ladder, stream anchors, main bower anchors & chains, 3-Bar Rails, 2-Bar Rails, Vertical Ladders, Inclined Ladders.

In these two etched brass frets

Resin parts are very finely cast by Brian Fawcett.  Here is a selection of photos showing some of the details such as the in-scale 6 inch cruiser planking. These photos are magnified considerably.. consider, for example, that these planks are only 0.25mm wide!

 

Finally, here are a couple of photos of a built-up kit, actually built from the earlier release, out the box, full etched brass used but no rails or ladders added.

The Kit comes complete with a comprehensive and professionally designed set of instructions

The Price of this kit is 40.00 Pounds Worldwide, with POST FREE air shipping included. EU customers must add 17.5% V.A.T.

1 Pound equals approx. $1.55 US

ORDER FROM THE ONLINE SHOP

(The kit is currently out of production, but watch the news pages for its return to the shelves)

 Check out the other WEM 1/700 Kits

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