Hi All.
During lockdown I received a call from a distant acquaintance who said he had something that I may be interested in.
After a long and interesting conversation I have acquired the following sad but incredible restoration challenge...... HMS Repulse, in desperate need of a total strip down and rebuild at the hands of HM Dockyard in Devon.
This is going to be a long and time consuming refit.
I immediately had to put in place some strengthening crossmembers as the sides of the hull were becoming distorted and bowing inwards.
I put a speed controller in just to test the motors and they all work but everything is going to be removed rebuilt and replaced.
Lots of bits broken off and missing.
So..... Long refit but will keep the Refit Blog running.
Regards Bill.

Just added a classic picture of HMS Repulse in her Heyday.
I have been doing a lot of research on her life and tragic ending so it will make her rebuild all that much more relevant.
Sorry Nerys I forgot to reply to your question.
She is 6’ 2 long with an 8” beam or 189 x 20 cms in this new fangled metric measurement.
This makes her 1/128 scale I think.
I am going to start detailed photography soon to compare with life style pictures as I feel that some of the fittings as fitted are not where they should be.
I think I will refit her to her paint configuration as at the time of her loss.
Regards Bill 👍

Today I decided to take a good look at the entire Boat to gauge where to start.
I have taken a great amount of photography so that she will go back in the same or more realistic fashion.
Having taken off all the removable superstructure sections I decided that I will concentrate on the main hull both structurally and the mechanical components.
Starting at the bow I removed the two turrets
Underneath I found two screws which having undone revealed a turret rotation mechanism hidden away.
Repulse is giving up her secrets!
Taking off the gun barbette’s below decks hidden away is a handmade turret rotating mechanism and servo.
Removing this I find a quite crude but effective unit and servo.
This is suitable to dismantle and rebuild whist at the same time improving its design.
What I am discovering is that whoever built this model previously had some good ideas but was not that tidy in executing them.
If you look closely at the pictures shown you can see that finishing leaves a lot to be desired.
Sorry if the pictures are not in chronological order.
While I am here can I ask if anyone knows of a reliable deck planking supplier.As you can see the existing deck is poor and needs replacing.
Regards Bill

Hi All.
As previously stated I decided to refurbish the two forward guns rotating mechanism in the first instance.
The original builder had some very good ideas, but sadly was a bit of a bodger and the finished product was leaving a lot to desire.Could be a case of out of site below decks so no one will see it.
Firstly I took the entire system apart as the mechanism was binding.This was being caused by the use of brass 3mm shafts which were slightly bent so as the system rotated it was binding.
Using and old 4mm prop shaft I enlarged the bearing holes and replaced the entire shaft system.
The servo was also at an alarming angle so I repositioned that.
The biggest problem was making a new linkage system from servo to sprocket and chain.
The old Harry Tait chain system was poor so I devised a new system using a good old tried and tested push pull rods on the servo linkages.
This works a treat and I am getting a good rotation from both guns.
It just remains for me now to do the finishing touches to the linkages in terms of fine tuning.
I will then clean and prepare both turrets and barbets prior to painting.That will be in another blog.
They will be put away until the hull is ready to take them again.
I am afraid that the pictures are not in the correct order as taken and seem to have got jumbled up.
The pictures of the single servo mechanism is the rear turret which I removed to do the same refurbishment.
As I thought,it’s going to be a long job
Regards Bill.👍

Dear All.
Today I rebuilt the aft gun rotation mechanism.
It was a lot simpler than I thought it would be and only took an hour.
Please see the photographs,but once again I am sorry as they are not showing in sequential order.
As you can see the old system had a makeshift chain pulley system that was failing miserably.Each time I turned the turret the chain was catching or coming off the sprocket.Not ideal when the system is buried below decks and difficult to get at.
I decided there was not enough room to use the same principle as the forward turrets as previously described in an earlier blog.
This time I decided to use a cog system,so off to EBay I go and bought the cogs as shown
(They are red in the pictures bought from northnottsmodel item number 291146278370 priced at £2.99 for 5 cogs)
I took the old chain system off the servo and replaced the larger cog onto the servo head and secured it with two small nuts and bolts.
For the small cog on the turret drive shaft I had to turn a small brass sleeve to slide over the spindle shaft and attached the cog ....Perfect fit and we have a new safe drive system.
As you can see from the pictures it is quite compact and fits nicely in the stern section in between the inner prop shafts.
Tested and works fine with a good turret rotation.
So that’s all the turret rotation systems done and put away.
Next job will be to strip all the deck fittings and take off the awful planking.
Then to remove and refurbish the drive system and rudder servomechanism.
Regards Bill.👍

Oh dear.
Don't you just wish that sometimes you hadn’t started something, but then reflect and think.......It will all come good...I hope !!!
Having sorted the main armaments it was time to strip all the deck fittings ready to take off the the awful deck planking.
Lots of photographs to record the numerous fittings that I have removed.I do think that I am going to have to get some plans as some fittings are different from actual photographs of the ship.
As you can see from the pictures it’s a bit of a mess.
One of the problems I have to rectify is that the upper deck has been laid directly on top of the hull with no cross members to support it.
This is causing the whole deck to bow inwards.
I am looking at trying to strengthen from within, or in a worst case situation I will have to remove the whole deck and start again 😢.
Time will tell,as we progress.
Keep you posted.
Regards
Bill.

Dear All.
This afternoon I continued to remove the decking that I started last week.
Having been very meticulous and using a fine modelling knife I found that it was taking so long that I reverted to mans best friend .....the hammer and chisel to gently lift the planking off.
Some came off in chunks but most of it was held on firmly with I think Evo stick.😢😢
It was at this point in time that my worst dream came true.As I thought the deck had just been glued on to the side of the hull and had only some very flimsy plastic for support with no substantial support.At some points on the hull there were some quite large gaps that didn’t even have any glue.
Plan B... remove the entire deck.
On reflection the best thing that I could do as I can now totally refurbish the interior, of the hull And at the same time use the space to have easier access for the motors and other fittings.
With all the space I have I have decided to activate at least one anchor and will use sail servos for that aspect.
I will be fitting smoke generators as work progresses.Not sure If I will fit one or two.
However back to the deck and I continued to remove all the fittings and off it came with no problem and more importantly no broken sections along the edges.
I found lots of filler from the original builder which is sanding down nicely.
So now to sand and strengthen the hull interior for repositioning of the deck when the interior is finished.
Repulse is on the mend and will be a much better ship for the work involved.

NOW ....for the eagle eyed amongst you, have you spotted In the pictures what the original builder used for the bilge keels....... You got it car windscreen wiper blades.Could be a first in a self cleaning hull idea 🤓😮.
At that point the boss said if I didn’t come up from the shed now,dinner would be in the dog 😂.
Take care and stay safe.
Regards Bill.

Dear All.
Today I assessed the pro’s and cons re the propulsion system fitted.
It is a good plant drive system with four motors and attached gearbox drives.
Although running,there was a lot of vibration and what I call hesitation in the system.
Decision....take it out and refurbish.
Having removed all the shafts carefully and ensuring that I clearly remember which shaft is which I saw clear signs of bearing wear on the port inner and starboard outer A frames.
Not bad enough to think about replacement, just a little care and attention along with a good running grease to pack the shafts/A frames (not a problem for my running speeds)
I hope that this weekend I can refurbish the engine room area and return all the running gear in a more favourable condition.
I am unable to remove the rudder because of the way in which it has been fitted,but,it’s fine and will only require a new tiller bar for the servo connection 🤔.
Will update the results soon.
This is a great project and thank to all those who are giving your input.
Regards Bill.🍷🍷

Dear All.
Having had a short break from building for various reasons today I finally managed to remove all the remaining sheet decking thank goodness 😅.
Next I removed all the old component housings from within the hull and carefully sanded the upper lip of the hull to start taking the wooden supports so the deck will sit nicely.
One of the problems I previously identified is coming true as you can clearly see in the picture showing the deck resting on the stern support that the hull has opened up and I am going to have to put in quite a few crossmembers to reduce the evident gaps. I will get the side supports in all the way to the bow and tackle the crossmembers in due course.
Much bigger job than I thought it would be, in fact almost bigger than building from new, but I like a challenge.
The last photo if they come out in the correct order is of some of the old decking.
Now,I know I asked a while ago and had a good response from a few of you, but can anyone suggest where I can get this decking.The planks are 2mm in width approx 1/8”.
I have spent hours searching the globe and really am struggling although I can find some in the states.
Any help once again would really be appreciated.
So, moving on for now, and once again thank you for all your messages.
Regards Bill