1/600 HMS Dreadnought Campaign Steven S. Pietrobon 6 First Avenue Payneham South SA 5070 Australia

phone: +61 8 8332 0319 email: [email protected]

Thursday, 19 August 2010

Airfix Customer Care Hornby Hobbies Ltd Westwood, Margate Kent, CT9 4JX United Kingdom

Dear , In 2006 I started a campaign for Airfix to release a 1/600 scale kit of HMS Dreadnought, the world's first all big gun battleship. When she was launched in 1906, HMS Dreadnought eclipsed all previous battleships. Her all big gun armament of ten twelve inch guns, steam turbine power- plant and 21±knot maximum speed made all other battleships obsolete. She was so important, her name is synonymous with battleships of the WWI and WWII era. However, at the time of writing this letter, no plastic kit of HMS Dreadnought exists! I hope that this campaign will remedy this situation. When the old Airfix forum was closed down in April 2006, I had managed to gather 70 votes for a 1/600 HMS Dreadnought. I then started a new cam- paign at the Airfix Tribute Forum which I present today with 101 votes for a 1/600 HMS Dread- nought. Please find enclosed a 1/600 scale drawing of HMS Dreadnought and the votes and comments of the 101 forum members who voted. Reading the comments, you will see widespread support not only from modellers but also from non±ship modellers. The link to the campaign is http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/ftopic78±0.php The reason for requesting a scale of 1/600 for the kit is simple. To be in scale with the many other Airfix 1/600 ship kits. As shown by the enclosed drawing, the kit will not be too small or too large. Airfix reissued two 1/600 WWI battleships last year, HMS Warspite and HMS Iron Duke. A HMS Dreadnought in the same scale would be the perfect companion. If Airfix does decide to release a 1/600 HMS Dreadnought, the option of making the kit with both a full or waterline would be desirable by many modellers. Also, Airfix may wish to contact White Ensign Models http://www.whiteensignmodels.com who could prepare a photoetch set for advanced modellers. They have photoetch for nearly all of Airfix's 1/600 kits. Thankyou for considering this campaign. Yours sincerely,

Steven S. Pietrobon, Ph.D. 1/600 HMS Dreadnought 1/600 HMS

2 1/600 HMS Dreadnought Campaign List of Votes and Comments 1) Steven Pietrobon (Mon 24 Apr 2006 4:07 am)

As the old campaign on the defunct Airfix forums has been deleted, I'm continuing the campaign here. If you would like Airfix to release a 1/600 kit of the HMS Dreadnought, the world's first all big±gun battleship, post your support here! Since I can't verify the old Airfix names, please repost your vote. A model kit of this ship has never been done in plastic.

Here are some sites on the HMS Dreadnought http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh±fornv/uk/uksh±d/drednt9.htm (see, even the US Navy thinks it is an important ship! This site gives a good summary of why she was so important, first all±big±gun ship with ten 12 inch guns, steam turbine powerplant and 21±knot maximum speed eclipsing all previous battleships.) http://www.royal±navy.mod.uk/static/pages/3514.html (Royal Navy also thinks she's important :±) http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/ (Computer model already available!)

The ship is 160.6 m long and 25.0 m wide, so at 1/600 scale that would give a model 268 mm long and 42 mm wide. This is between the HMS Ajax and HMS Suffolk in Series 3, so the HMS Dreadnought would fit in nicely in that Series. The ship was built in 1906, so its 100th anniversary in 2006 would be a good time to release a kit.

2) BAC (Mon 24 Apr 2006 8:02 am) I'll have one!

3) Ratch (Mon 24 Apr 2006 5:29 pm) Stick my name on your list (again :±)

4) Warspite (Tue 25 Apr 2006 7:14 pm) I would like at least ten!

5) davecov (Tue 25 Apr 2006 7:33 pm) I would certainly like one at 1/600 scale.

6) stuzzar (Tue 25 Apr 2006 8:31 pm) I cannot remember if I put my name on the previous list so I may as well put it to this one.

7) Sailorman (Tue 25 Apr 2006 10:13 pm) Count me in for one!!

8) peebeep (Tue 25 Apr 2006 10:33 pm) I'm up for one.

9) DHDrover (Wed 26 Apr 2006 6:17 am) And it's one more from me.

10) Commodore Rob (Wed 26 Apr 2006 8:59 pm) sign me up again

11) Duck the H±bomber (Wed 26 Apr 2006 9:27 pm) I always liked the name dreadnaught. Count me in again.

12) chippy (Thu 27 Apr 2006 8:11 am) Count me in as well 3 13) Tombo1bo (Sat 13 May 2006 12:12 pm) Put me down for one.

14) Garry (Sat 27 May 2006 1:53 pm) I would've a couple. But if Airfix would not do a full kit why not do some weapons/fittings packs so that we could modify current Airfix kits. This way they could keep the 1/600 scale alive

15) hms belfast (Sun 18 Jun 2006 11:24 pm) count me in as well i,ll have a couple :±)

16) StarTux (Mon 19 Jun 2006 2:06 am) I voted on the old site, throw my vote in too here...

17) MadduckUK (Tue 20 Jun 2006 1:06 pm) id buy it!

18) nr61 (Fri 14 Jul 2006 2:16 pm) I've just bought my first ship model a 1/350 Russian protected cruiser but if a 1/600 Dred was to be available I would be sure to get one. Who could resist such a famous ship?

19) Flash Flash (Fri 14 Jul 2006 3:02 pm) Add me !

20) spudman (Wed 26 Jul 2006 6:54 pm) You can put me down as well steve (if its not too late)

21) Little Kid Falky (Wed 26 Jul 2006 7:26 pm) I'm in. I don't build much but I'd find a time for this if it got released...

22) Challenger (Wed 26 Jul 2006 10:13 pm) ...and me! :±)

23) ejsnotgrass (Thu 16 Nov 2006 1:19 pm) Although not generally a ship modeller put my name down.

24) Brews (Fri 17 Nov 2006 9:02 am) well, I'm still in.

25) frogman (Fri 01 Dec 2006 10:23 am) Put me down as well. No hang on, don't put me down, well, you know what I meant...

26) Docgreen27 (Tue 05 Dec 2006 5:24 pm) Put my name down on that list asap.. I've always wondered why they never did one. Cheers

27) Owen (Wed 20 Dec 2006 11:53 pm) Presuming that the list of voters on the first page is up to date, I don't think I've put my name down. I swear I did, but if I have already, put me down again for the Dreadnought!

28) dutch_nzer (Thu 21 Dec 2006 11:21 pm) put me down to :±)

29) Graham Hall (Sun 25 Feb 2007 5:49 pm) OK, having just seen a programme about Jutland on Discovery Ill sign up for one of them thar ships.

4 30) Bigglesworth (Thu 01 Mar 2007 7:44 pm) Put me in too...

31) skipperjjt (Fri 02 Mar 2007 12:59 am) I'm not a ship builder except on odd occasions ,but you can have my vote steven

32) ricman (Wed 09 May 2007 10:56 pm) You can add my name to the list I would definitely have a couple.

33) shannonman (Tue 31 Jul 2007 6:18 pm) Count me in. :±)

34) Digs (Fri 03 Aug 2007 9:27 pm) I'd buy one for sure.

35) 299_paul (Thu 11 Oct 2007 11:29 am) Haven't built a ship yet but I have about a dozen in my stash, put me down for a vote to make it a bakers dozen!!

36) Hawk (Fri 12 Oct 2007 8:30 am) Im in !!!

37) Beaufighter (Fri 12 Oct 2007 9:56 am) I would be interested to understand the thinking behind the development process generally. The TSR2 seems to have been a fairly penny±ante project ± they made, what, 10,000 of them? As I have noted before that is not a lot of gross revenue to Airfix. If it sold for £17 that's £14.50 before the VAT and I would guess the retailers would pay not more than a tenner. So assuming Airfix wanted a modest 10% return on effort then they had £90,000 to spend on researching, designing, and tooling the kit, then creating decals and instructions for it, and finally producing, packaging and distributing 10,000 of them. That's ignoring any contribution to overhead costs it was ex- pected to make.

So I'd be surprised if 100 signatures would convince them (which hasn't stopped me adding my vote!) The product development challenge must be to work out what will sell from the pool of potential subjects that either has not yet been done, or has been done but badly, or has been done but at prohibitive cost.

38) feanor (Fri 12 Oct 2007 3:37 pm) In light of Ratch's comment, Consider me signed up too. I think i'll start a 'Big Ship' collection.... :±)

39) VMA131Marine (Sun 14 Oct 2007 2:39 am) I voted for this on the old forum, but add my name to this campaign as well.

According to Wikipedia, the Bellerophon class (Bellerophon, Superb, Temeraire), St. Vincent class (St. Vincent, Collingwood, Vanguard), HMS Neptune and the Colossus class (Colossus, Hercules) are nearly identical to Dreadnought. If Airfix were smart, they would tool the kit so that all these ships could be built from the same basic tooling.

40) cliver (Sun 14 Oct 2007 9:16 pm) yes I would certainly vote for an HMS Dreadnought on the shelves ! (and on my shelf too) !!

41) The Rat (Tue 13 Nov 2007 1:17 am) I am an aircraft person.

Given a diagram and an explanation I have a 50/50 chance of telling one end of a ship from the

5 other.

I have horrid memories of traveling from Liverpool to Montreal on HMS Carinthia in '62, a trip on which even the stewards got seasick.

BUT...

This is an injustice I have harped about on other boards ad nauseum, and I have signed on here specifically for this noble cause. There is no excuse for not having a model of one of the most important ships in history.

C'mon Airfix, PONY UP!

#1 son is the ship guy in the family, I'll send him over.

42) Sgt.Squarehead (Fri 07 Mar 2008 12:35 am) I can't for the life of me recall whether I've placed my vote in support of the Airfix Dreadnought or not.....If I haven't it's an omission on my part, consider it duly placed. If I have, consider this a 'Come on Airfix where's our Dreadnought' rant.

Even though I don't build warships, I am impressed no end by the skill that our nautically minded members demonstrate in building them. After seeing some of the contributions in the Belfast GB I shall never moan about Sherman headlight guards again!

43) miller (Fri 07 Mar 2008 7:58 am) You can add my vote, I think Airfix should do more ships from ww1, British and German. Is there any ww1 German ships in 1/600 out there?

44) FrankS (Fri 07 Mar 2008 4:35 pm) Just noticed I'm not listed yet ± please count me in, Steven!

45) puttyfinger (Fri 07 Mar 2008 6:51 pm) I thoght I'd added my name, which I definitely did on the old Airfix forums ± but apparently I haven't! Please tack me on!

46) do_not_cement (Sat 08 Mar 2008 8:47 am) ...and one for me. Haven't built a ship in years...

47) golfnut (Sun 09 Mar 2008 12:26 am) Add my name too please Steven. A worthy subject if ever there was.

48) airfixteen (Mon 10 Mar 2008 10:27 am) Although im not a Floaty builder, considering that the dreadnought was a great piece of British- ness, add my name please Steven!

49) richellis (Mon 10 Mar 2008 1:00 pm) count me in!

50) ginger75 (Mon 10 Mar 2008 2:27 pm) Please add me to the list.

51) neilºhº (Sun 13 Jul 2008 9:44 am) you can add me to your list

52) agtwalrus (Tue 15 Jul 2008 11:48 pm) I would take at least one also

6 53) orionv (Wed 16 Jul 2008 9:25 am) A good thing,a dreadnought in 1/600 ,i want one too :±)

54) T16S (Thu 17 Jul 2008 9:15 pm) Though I don't build at 1:600 these days I have built many in the past and the Dreadnought is a brilliant subject. You have my vote± if only to see what my friend Orionv would do with it!

The Warrior started the modern arms race and the creation of the Dreadnought started it all over again± a landmark ship.

55) Spookycat (Sun 10 Aug 2008 8:33 pm) I'm not a big ship builder. Just like to build what I really like, but I'll have one when we've got them to make one.

56) rhysduk (Sun 10 Aug 2008 8:47 pm) Me too! Good looking battleship with a hefty load to suit.

57) daniel7891 (Mon 11 Aug 2008 7:05 pm) count me in for one of those

58) viperstickbomb (Sun 31 Aug 2008 2:13 pm) if i ever get a spare part of piece No. 101 for hms hood build my nelson and find the top half a bismark then i'd buy more ships if this was available for the same price as these mentioned un- built/finished kits and i had the money i would definitly buy one

59) DJBlackburn (Sun 19 Oct 2008 1:52 pm) Please add my vote for a 1:600 scale Dreadnought. Although I model within a very narrow time range and equally narrow ranges in scale and subject matter, I would very much appreciate an HMS Dreadnought in the classic 50'/inch scale.

Her importance is such that I feel it would be only proper that Airfix±±the ultimate Royal Navy company of all time±±should produce not only a kit of her, but perhaps even one with special packaging to include an historical booklet, etc.

60) Clashcityrocker (Sat 08 Nov 2008 6:46 am) Add me to the list. Looks like it would build into a nice kit.

61) Robcomet (Sat 08 Nov 2008 11:06 am) Add me too.

62) RogerP (Fri 14 Nov 2008 10:38 pm) Yes, even though I'm more of a coastal forces fan BIG TIME I agree a model of this ship would be very nice indeed, count me in please.

63) captainzlog (Mon 15 Dec 2008 12:58 am) Yes please! In a 'big box' format that includes a destroyer escort too......

64) Ray Scofield (Sun 04 Jan 2009 8:38 pm) I would get a couple. My grandfather served on the Dreadnought 1915±17 and I would be proud to do one for myself and my parents.

65) smithcorp (Mon 05 Jan 2009 10:22 am) Add me please ± I'd love Dreadnought!

66) Bob(K) (Mon 05 Jan 2009 11:30 am)

7 Add me to the list. It would be interesting to see how a 'modern' tooling of a warship would com- pare with those already in the range from the 50s and 60s.

67) Paddy O'Irishman (Wed 14 Jan 2009 11:04 pm) Make it 68 votes, why no one has done a plastic Dreadnought is beyond me, especially consider- ing her importance in battleship development. And while your at it, why not push for a WW1 Queen Elizabeth class, a Royal Soverien class and maybe a couple of German WW1 battlewa- gons, such as Konig or Seydlitz and even a Tennesee class battleship, love those cage masts, and they could even chuck in Vanguard, that would make a nice little collection, yep count me in.

68) russ (Mon 26 Jan 2009 10:31 pm) I have made a few ships over the years, so Yes, count me in. My preference would be for 1/350 scale , but, hey, any ºDoughnutº would be good.

69) jRatz (Wed 18 Feb 2009 1:38 am) I voted also, at least I hit the button, I'm not sure what happened after that.

You should interpret my vote to mean I support Airfix doing Dreadnought and others of the pe- riod, although I'm not hard and fast on scale.

I have Combrig's 1/700 Dreadnought on the bench now, being brought up to its 1914 configura- tion. I'm not a shipbuilder by preference but I do like to break up the stream of aircraft kits with other things.

70) XN923 (Thu 19 Feb 2009 10:37 am) I don't see my handle on your list Steve, but I'd be very happy to see a new Dreadnought in this scale.

...As long as we get parts for Bellerophon class ships as well!

71) Badwolf (Fri 20 Mar 2009) I'm amazed there is no kit of Dreadnought, as it was one of the most significant advances in war- ship design in the early 20th century. Please add my vote to the list.

72) chrisbh (Thu 30 Apr 2009 12:44 pm) ºYes pleaseº to a 1/600 HMS DREADNOUGHT. Then maybe WARRIOR? Maritime techno- logical heritage and all that....

73) Buzzard (Wed 24 Jun 2009 3:04 pm) I'll have a couple. It's not my usual area (72nd aircraft), but it would be new, AND it would be Airfix.

74) Arpie (Fri 28 Aug 2009 8:31 pm) Would definatly like to see one of these. I'm primeraly a a/c modeller but a model of the Dread- nought would shoot straight to the top of my list. Must say I assumed that a model of such an important ship would already have been produced.

75) matchstick (Sat 29 Aug 2009 7:43 am) I'm up for getting a dreadnought if they make one and i hope they do. just gotta build my stash first so i have somewhere to store it after the purchase/during building. problem is my stash is expanding not shrinking

76) mrdj (Sat 12 Sep 2009 9:33 pm) I'd be up for one if it would keep the 1/600 line open. Is there any data on how well the re±released

8 ships are doing? That may be the information most relavent to the future of the scale.

77) AUTHENTIC (Sat 14 Nov 2009 7:25 pm) Count me in for a couple at least

78) Stout Bulldog (Mon 23 Nov 2009 4:13 pm) Saw your excellent HMS Dreadnought campaign and thought what a splendid idea! It is quite surprising that this iconic warship has been overlooked my mainstream pro- ducers.... so far.

I must confess that it is some time since I made a model warship, in fact the last one came in a papyrus box, but this one would sorely tempt me.

Put me down for a couple!

79) diddyman (Mon 23 Nov 2009 6:23 pm) Please add my name to the list, I am no great historian of fighting ships but I am a Tynesider so is in my blood and realise how important this vessel was.

80) wayfarer1993 (Tue 24 Nov 2009 4:18 pm) Put me down to :±)

81) Liam2009 (Sun 28 Feb 2010 2:37 pm) Count me in i'd like one in any scale.

82) Torchy (Fri 05 Mar 2010 11:58 pm) me too,any scale.....1/350,1/350,1/350 ooooh, thinking out loud again

83) eurofighter23 (Mon 15 Mar 2010 5:14 pm) i dont know how to sign up but yeah id like one you can sign me up

84) Tim_UK (Wed 07 Apr 2010 11:31 am) I have just started on a couple of models ± the first since childhood many years ago ± and was surprised there wasn't a model of HMS Dreadnought about so please add me to the petition !

85) Vesper1957 (Tue 04 May 2010 11:52 am) Hi everyone I am new to this forum and I would like to put down for Airfix releasing a 1/600 scale dreadnought. WW1 ships rock :±)

86) battleships1941 (Wed 16 Jun 2010 3:45 pm) I would definitely love if Airfix began to sell the HMS DREADNOUGHT, the mother of all battleships, she was the first, and it would make me proud to have one of the most famous war- ships in my collection. So come on airfix pull your finger out and listen to the masses......

87) Frischling (Fri 18 Jun 2010 10:52 am) Count me in. (And I say a German WW1 battleship/cruiser in 1/600 also would be well received on the market).

88) sloop (Tue 22 Jun 2010 2:23 pm) I don't think I've voted in this so, yes please. I'd buy an armful.

89) mike95 (Tue 22 Jun 2010 3:28 pm) Could put me up for it too. It might persuade me into building ships.

90) tangfastico (Fri 23 Jul 2010 1:41 pm) Of course Airfix should do a kit of HMS Dreadnaught! It's an iconic ship! Include me as a yes,

9 Steven!

91) DaveB (Sun 01 Aug 2010 7:08 pm) I will vote for this, You never know if it comes to fruition I might even build it.

92) Barwick64 (Sun 01 Aug 2010 7:34 pm) I've started to aquire Airfix 1/600 ships and this would be a great addition to the Airfix range. You get my vote

93) danim (Sun 01 Aug 2010 11:38 pm) add me in for a vote, would be nice to have sitting next to hms invincilble, belfast and rms QE2 in my ship collection

94) ian skinner (Mon 02 Aug 2010 11:15 am) If I haven't voted already, put me down

95) Paolo Silva (Sat 07 Aug 2010 4:20 pm) I would like to build HMS Dreaudnought in 1/600 scale. I vote yes!

96) joshdaarmyboy (Thu 12 Aug 2010 6:53 am) Yeah that will be interesting, count me in :±)

97) spaceman (Fri 13 Aug 2010 8:50 am) Count me in, this is an iconic battleship. A big YES from me.

98) Polaren Per (Fri 13 Aug 2010 7:50 pm) Aye. You have my vote.

99) ynot (Sun 15 Aug 2010 12:28 pm) count me in for this

100) alex3410 (Tue 17 Aug 2010 10:44 am) put me down as well :±)

101) MrT (Tue 17 Aug 2010 11:24 am) Put me down too, I finally got round to watching the last part of BBC's Empire of the Seas the other day, which covered HMS Dreadnought, along with the 1:48 scale plans that the National Maritime Museum still possess.

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