In 1935 the Admiralty settled on two cruiser designs as part of an overall re-armament program, the larger Town Class (HMS Sheffield), competitive with US and Japanese designs; and a significantly smaller ship that could be rapidly built in large numbers. It was hoped that this smaller design would address the numerical shortfall in Royal Navy cruisers. The Dido Class was the result. Dido, Euryalus, Naiad and Phoebe comprised the 1936 program, Bonaventure and Hermione the 1937, Charybdis, Cleopatra and Scylla the 1938, and Argonaut the 1939 program. The 1939 program also included Bellona, Black Prince, Diadem, Royalist and Spartan, all of which were to become the modified Dido Class. The modified Dido’s differed from the earlier ships in their forward superstructure and funnels, straight on the modifieds and raked on the earlier ships. It should also be noted that Charybdis and Scylla differed significantly from their sister ships. They carried eight 4.5" guns rather than the ten 5.25 inch guns more commonly found on Dido class cruisers;  and the forward deck house was much larger in order to accommodate  flagship staff.

Iron Shipwright (IS) recently released a 1:350 scale kit of the Dido class AA cruiser HMS Sirius in her 1942 fit. I chose to build the model as her sister ship HMS Naiad,1940. The kit is beautifully cast and very clean. It requires minimal cleanup. In common with other IS releases there is a narrow resin overpour sprue along the keel. This was easily removed and the bottom sanded smooth. There were a few air bubbles on the bottom of the hull. They can be filled and sanded or left as is since they do not show on the finished model, unless you like to display your ships bottom up. IS instructions are still rather sparse, but there is a template for the tripods and yardarms. The location of the parts is straightforward. I always use other references in building any resin model. If you do not care to purchase an expensive out-of-print title, the Profile Morskie:HMS Scylla (subtitled The British Cruisers of the Dido Class Part 1) is more than satisfactory.

Why Naiad?  In 1940 she sported an unusual camouflage scheme- green, brown and 507C light gray (click the image to view the scan from Ensign #2). This scheme seems to have had more in common with woodland pattern BDUs than conventional warship concealment schemes. The colors used were Model Shipways RN paints that match the Snyder and Short paint chips. The 507C light gray was Pollyscale, and it provided a good base for the Model Shipways paint. Thinned with alcohol, Model Shipways paints were easy to spray, but when tested on bare resin rubbed off. When I sprayed Model Shipways over a Pollyscale base, the problem went away. Since Model Shipways (www.modelexpoinc.com) has such an extensive color range - all based on Snyder and Short paint chips - I am determined to find the right thinning formula. These paints work fine when brushed, but spraying is problematic.

Another reason for selecting Naiad was my desire to build a Dido class cruiser with all five 5.25" turrets. Due to their being completed at the same time as KGV class battleships, there was a shortage of 5.25" mounts. The battleships, which used these guns as secondary armament, had priority, so not all Dido’s initially received the full complement of 5.25" turrets. Dido and Phoebe completed without Q (#3) turret and Bonaventure without X (#4) turret. They carried single 4" starshell guns in place of the missing mount. And Scylla and Charybdis had different armament entirely, due to the complete unavailability of 5.25" turrets.  Naiad, Sirius, Euryalus, Cleopatra and Hermione were completed as designed with all five 5.25" mounts.

HMS Naiad Buildup

The prominent open galleries on both sides of the bridge also attracted me. Most Dido’s had these galleries. Apparently they could be closed via shutters. Ensign Two has pictures of Dido taken in 1940 and 1947 clearly showing open galleries and a picture of her taken in 1945 with the area closed off with a series of vertical lines or panels at the appropriate location. However, three of the cruisers, Argonaut, Sirius and Cleopatra, apparently never had the open galleries. I have not found any picture of those three showing the galleries or any indication of panels indicating the presence of shutters. To the contrary, all pictures and artwork seem to indicate these ships had completely enclosed bridges. The kit comes with open galleries. I  like this feature and wanted my model to include it. None of my documentation mentions this variation in bridge design among ships of this class. Since I wanted five turrets and open galleries, that limited my selection to Naiad, Euryalus and Hermione. I loved the Naiad 1940 camo scheme and Euryalus has a wonderful First Admiralty disruptive scheme. However, there does not appear to be any evidence of the pattern on Euryalus' port side. With the First Admiralty disruptive pattern the patterns on the starboard side would normally be different from the port side. Ensign Two was not clear on the paint scheme for the Hermione. The author suspected that she might be painted in Mountbatten Pink. Hopefully, the upcoming WR press release of Royal Navy camouflage 1939-1941 will provide the answer to this and other vexing questions. HURRY UP WITH THE PUBLICATION ! I WANT IT AND I WANT IT YESTERDAY !

Converting the Iron Shipwright kit to HMS Naiad, 1940, required very few changes. 20mm mount were not shipped on Didos until the end of 1941. The kit comes with 20mm gun tubs molded into both sides of the after superstructure and at the stern.  Removing the gun tubs and sanding smooth was easy. In 1940 the class carried quad Vickers MG mounts on each side and at the rear of the forward superstructure. The Sirius kit did not include these quad mounts. I had just finished the IS kit of the Tribal class DD, completed as HMS Eskimo,1942 in a Western Approaches scheme (another truly beautiful British camo scheme). As a result, I had two spare quad Vickers MG mounts. I scratch built ammunition canisters and mounted the quads on Naiad.

The major difference between the Iron Shipwright HMS Sirius and the 1940 Naiad is not in the additions but the subtractions. The kit includes brass Yagi radar, appropriate for 1942 but not 1940. The circular Yagi platforms on both sides and the front of the aft funnel needed removal. The masts required a minor amount of scratch building. The sides of the platforms where the three tripod legs come together were simulated with thin brass cut from the perimeter of the PE fret. Mast details varied from ship to ship and year in service. It is advisable to study photos of the ship being modeled. 

On the rear of each 5.25" turret I added access doors and what I believe to be shell ejection ports. I used doors from the Gold Medal Models RN door fret and scratch built the ejection ports using resin scrap. Additionally I added  hose reels using the new GMM brass reel fret, an outstanding accessory that is heavy in IJN reels but limited in its coverage of RN and DKM reels (four each). This gripe aside (and it is a very minor gripe), the GMM brass reel fret will be indispensable to my future modeling projects. I also added additional Carley floats and scratch built  platforms and steam sirens on the fore stack. Other additions included scratchbuilt framework on the pom-pom mounts (the kit included pom-pom mount railing).

Two photo-etched brass frets come with the IS kit. One of them has more than enough railing and ladders for the model, with plenty left over. The other fret contains items specific to the Dido class. I encountered no problems in installing any of the etched brass parts..

The Iron Shipwright kit was so straightforward and easy to assemble that it practically built itself. And it lends itself to modeling other Dido class ships with minimal effort. The open bridge galleries can be enclosed with plastic panel to model Sirius, Argonaut or Cleopatra. If you wish to model an early version of the class, Ted Paris (web site www.commanderseries.com and E-Mail dparis@ eznet.net) will no doubt provide free of charge the quad Vickers mounts of early war Didos. Iron Shipwright's customer service is the best in the hobby. 

Those of you wishing to model one of the Didos carrying the 4" starshell gun should be aware that it was the standard 4" gun on a Mk 19 mount. I believe this is the same gun carried on Flowers Class corvettes. IS produces a Flower class model as well, and no doubt will provide the 4" gun and mount on request. You would have to scratch build the splinter shield, however.

Be careful if you are modeling one of the late war Dido class cruisers. As the war progressed, more and more light AA guns were added. Cleopatra, Euryalus and Argonaut all had Q turret removed in 1943/44 in order to augment their light AA fit. The locations and quantity of the 20mm mounts varied from ship to ship. Ensign 2 has an comprehensive section covering AA fit on each ship.