Waterline: Tamiya's HMAS Vampire

11 minutes ago

7 min read

Now that I'm hooked on the Waterline Series, it was only a matter of time before I dug into my next kit. HMAS Vampire provided the perfect excuse: a fantastic name and a subtle two-tone paint scheme. The scheme represents an incremental challenge over my first waterline kit, the monochromatic IJN Fubuki.

From a historical perspective, I knew nothing about Vampire. But as this project progressed, I learned that the ship has tons to offer. Her career touched some of the most dramatic naval events of World War II. She served with the famed Scrap Iron Flotilla in the Mediterranean, witnessed the destruction of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse during the Naval Battle of Malaya, and was ultimately lost alongside HMS Hermes during the Indian Ocean Raid.

And that's the thing with these waterline kits. They are small, but they pack a punch. It’s up to the modeler to decide where and how they want to push their project.

Tamiya's HMAS Vampire — Tamiya's 1/700 HMAS Vampire was a real joy to model, Tons of weathering fun to be had, and an incredible story to learn!

HMAS Vampire (D68)

Born in 1917 as HMS Wallace, she was quickly renamed Vampire. Like many of the Admiralty V‑class flotilla leaders, she wasn’t a large ship, but she was quick, sharp, and built for the kind of scrappy work destroyers excel at. At just over 300 feet long and capable of pushing past 34 knots, Vampire could dart between larger ships, screen convoys, and strike with her mix of 4‑inch guns and torpedoes.

Her early years with the Royal Navy were relatively quiet, and in 1933 she was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy. By the time World War II erupted, Vampire was thrust into the thick of Mediterranean fighting as part of the famously hard‑worked “Scrap Iron Flotilla.” She escorted convoys through waters stalked by submarines and aircraft, supported operations in Greece and Crete, and ran the dangerous Tobruk Ferry Service, one of the most demanding naval tasks of the early war. After two trips she developed engine troubles and was ordered to Singapore for repairs.

HMAS Vampire as seen in 1940. Source: Wikipedia
HMAS Vampire in the Indian Ocean. March 1942. Source: Wikipedia

Vampire’s story took a dramatic turn in December 1941 when she joined the British Eastern Fleet. An early assignment involved escorting HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse during their final sortie from Singapore. She survived the Japanese air attacks that sank both capital ships, and rescued survivors from the water in the aftermath of one of Britain’s most shocking losses.

Japanese high-level bombing attack on HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse on 10 December 1941. Source: Wikipedia

Her own end came a few months later. On 9 April 1942, while escorting the carrier HMS Hermes off Ceylon, a Japanese air assault of approximately 85 D3A Val dive bombers attacked. Hermes was engaged by 45 Vals, and lost within minutes. Vampire was targeted by 16 Vals and took many hits. She went down quickly, taking her place among the many destroyers whose courage outstripped their size.

British carrier Hermes sinking after Japanese carrier air attack on April 9, 1942. Photo taken from a Japanese aircraft. Source: Wikipedia — British carrier *Hermes* sinking after Japanese carrier air attack on April 9, 1942. Photo taken from a Japanese aircraft. Source: Wikipedia

The more I learned about Vampire's career, the harder it became to imagine her in pristine condition. This wasn't a destroyer that spent the war tied safely to a pier. She had survived the Mediterranean, escorted convoys under constant threat, and witnessed some of the Royal Navy's darkest days. By the time I reached the weathering stage in this project, a factory-fresh finish simply didn't feel believable.

Tamiya's 1/700 HMAS Vampire

This is a relatively new waterline kit that was tooled in 2008. By contrast, my Fubuki was tooled in 1972. The difference in details is readily apparent, particularly around the bridge and deck fittings. A nice feature is the inclusion of poly caps which allow the gun and torpedo mounts to traverse. Consistent with these waterline destroyers, the parts count is relatively low. You can practically see the end of the build just by looking at the sprues. But that is deceptive. The scale is the challenge. 1/700 requires a lot of delicate work, patience, and precision. Overall, the kit strikes a nice balance between accessibility and detail.

Tamiya HMAS Vampire — Not much in the box, but tons of modelling ahead! I promise,

The build

This is a relatively new kit. And it's Tamiya. This was one of those rare builds where I could focus entirely on modeling rather than fit problems. The kit never fought me. I don't recall using any putty on this build, and only minimal sanding at the waterline was needed. The weather deck and superstructure parts fit was quite good!

Great fitment
Use nippers
Small parts!

There are two challenging parts of the build. However, neither is specific to the kit. First, the scale requires careful handling of parts and gentle cleanup. Nippers are a must. So are sanding sponges. Second, the build-and-paint sequencing needs to be thought through for ships. Working a paint brush around all sorts of masts, davits, guns, and boats is not easy! It's best to leave those finer fiddly parts off until after painting the main hull and upper works.

Painting

This ship calls out two key colors. Tamiya XF-80 Royal Light Grey for the vertical surfaces and XF-53 Neutral Grey for the horizontal surfaces. Because I was brush painting this, I decided to use Vallejo Model Color 70.907 Pale Grey Blue for the vertical surfaces and 70.905 Blue Grey Pale for the horizontal ones. I matched these paints by eye. A wet palette was used to keep the paints the proper consistency, and my favorite brush, Tamiya's HG II Medium Flat Brush 87215, was used for the broad area applications.

Color swatching
Initial paint down...
...start tidying it up...
...even more to do...
There it is!
AK Marker for small details

Editor's note: Several in the online community pointed to this reference document detailing paint conversions.

The combination of a two-tone paint scheme and the countless nooks and crannies found on ship models results in a nearly continuous cycle of painting and touch-up work. Just go slow. And remember that at this scale, there is no avoiding multiple thin layers for a smooth finish. The last thing you want to do is have a gloopy paint job obscuring the wonderful molded-on surface details. Touch-ups are inevitable and should be viewed as part of the process, rather than mistakes.

Editor's note: I used AK Markers for small details. They are super convenient and speed things along.

Decals

No problems to report! Just the standard gloss varnish, decal, gloss varnish application process. As always, just a few spots of color make an incredible difference to the build’s overall appearance.

Weathering

A transferred World War I-era hull, service with the Scrap Iron Flotilla, and wartime repairs in Singapore all made this a natural candidate for weathering.

I started off dabbing my house brew oil wash onto the kit. The goal isn't to do this evenly. It's really about texture. What starts off looking like a mess is quickly cleaned up with a Tamiya Craft Cotton Bud dampened with mineral spirits. I'm careful to let the paint stay in the recessed areas, and I'm also careful to blend and feather. I don't want stark transitions where there is no surface detail to contrast.

Lather on the oils...
...And take them away

Next was to add more texture and highlights with white oil paints. I applied these in a relatively dry manner. I leach out the excess oil on cardboard, and then gently stipple tiny amounts onto the ship and feather as needed, or line corners and edges to make them pop.

Weathering HMAS Vmapire — Add highlights to increase the depth! Oils make this all super easy.

Together, these techniques are forgiving, versatile, and highly effective at bringing life to an otherwise grey ship model.

The last phase of weathering was to add rust with AK Weathering Pencils. I let the pencils leach into standard painter's palette wells filled with water. Then I used a fine brush to apply the water-pigment solution to targeted areas of the build. The water-based mixture requires a bit more care because it tends to cling to surfaces and form tide marks as it dries. But it's also an easy fix with a damp paint brush, to again, feather everything together!

HMAS Vampire weathering — I made a simple slurry to brush on using AK Weathering Pencils.

Rigging

I wanted to incrementally practice my skills over my first waterline build. So instead of one simple bow-to-stern rigging line, I decided to add several rigging lines, including shrouds. For this I used Gorilla Super Glue Gel, applying tiny amounts with a needle and wooden cocktail stick. For the rigging material itself, I used AK's Mega-Thin Rigging Bobbin. The rigging is forgiving in terms of length because it is elastic, but it is so thin and light, that breathing causes it to move! Tamiya side cutters were used to cut the excess rigging line as close to the attachment points as possible. Just use tweezers to slightly pull the line taut and then cut!

The process was occasionally frustrating, but seeing the rigging gradually transform the silhouette of the ship made the effort worthwhile. I added 15 different lines over the course of one evening. This is a significant improvement to my first waterline build, but it is still just a reduced representation of the real ship's.

Final thoughts

HMAS Vampire reinforced why these small Waterline Series kits are so rewarding. What begins as a simple project can quickly become a deep dive into naval history modeling skills. For such a small form factor, Vampire offered lessons in brush painting, weathering, and rigging while introducing me to one of the Royal Australian Navy's most remarkable wartime ships. If this build is any indication, my journey through the Waterline Series is only getting started.