In late September 2013 I decided that I would like Steve Park to build for me the yet another ship. I had already commissioned Steve Park to build the Agamemnon and Victory, but my interests had moved since then to modern, or at least relatively modern warships. The ship I had in mind was a ‘batch 2’ Type 42 Destroyer. I particularly wanted a version of the class that had been modified ‘post Falklands’ to reflect the hard lessons learnt. HMS Southampton in its 1983 post refit configuration was chosen, but this did represent a particular challenge for Steve, as while plans for the Sheffield did exist, it was not possible to locate post refit (1983) configuration plans. Thus Steve had to build virtually from scratch, using photographs, and other reference material an accurate 1:196 scale model in all its glory. This would have additional light antiaircraft guns, with special platforms, and the new style 1022 radar, and extra chaff launchers associated with the batch 2 ships of the class. The end results were stunning, as those who access Steve’s blog will see. From the perfectly crafted Sea Dart launcher to the very difficult construction of the type 1022 radar the work was perfect. I strongly recommend those who have not seen them to see pictures on the blog.
Well done Steve for another fantastic build.