| After the fun of building the model of HMAS ADELAIDE, I decided that another of the Royal
Australian Navies modern warships should join her. So, in 1986, the keel of BRISBANE was laid and her
construction began. Once again, the hull was produced by building plank on frame in ply and balsa and
then fibre-glassed. The deck was made from a single piece of 3mm Perspex sheet and the superstructure
from styrene.
She was to have a lot more working features than that of ADELAIDE, so a 6-channel radio was used to
run the throttles, rudders, both Mk42 5 inch guns, the Mk13 GMLS and both Mk74 Fire-Control Directors.
Navigation lights and both SPS-40 and SPS-52C Radars would operate from switches hidden on the
superstructure.
The model was originally built as the ship was at the end of her “Half-life” refit completed in
1988. Then in 1991 the model was refitted with the new Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats (RHIB) and two
Mk15 Phalanx Close-in Weapon Systems as she appears now. The model’s electronics and other systems
were also upgraded during this period.
Unfortunately in early 2001 the model was destroyed in an accident when on loan to a Defence
Display. It has been decided that a new BRISBANE will be built using a moulded fibreglass hull. |
