In 2007, a visitor to our website brought to our attention that with all the ships we had built over the years, we had not built a model of any of the RAN’s Hydrographic vessels. He asked if we would like to correct this by building a model of each of the vessels currently in service with the Navy’s Hydrographic fleet. The models would be of one of each of the Hydro ships HMAS MELVILLE (HS-246) and HMAS BENALLA (SML-04).
Work began when APS Models finally had the reason to complete the mould for the Hydro Ship which had begun many years ago. Work stopped when there were no takers for the 1:72 scale fibre-glass hull. Now that there was a customer for her, the mould was completed in quick time and the models begun.
The BENALLA model was also built to a scale of 1:72, however with the configuration of the ship being a catamaran hull, it was decided to build this hull in our workshop. The entire hull for this model was constructed of Evergreen styrene as was the superstructure for both this model and the MELVILLE. Bridge structure windows were drawn up and then laser cut by TJM Laser Engraving, here in Tumbarumba. This method allows for beautiful even looking windows and saves hours in cutting out these features. We have since purchased this laser engraver and formed a new business that trades as Thunder Graphics.
The models of MELVILLE and BENALLA were completed in June and driven to the RAN Hydrographic Office in Wollongong where they were ecstatically accepted by the officers there.
