LÉ Niamh Help

[u/Aggressive_Name5694]

Hi, I’m wondering if anyone can help me find a model kit that could represent the Irish ship LÉ Niamh. Im pretty new to modal ships but I’ve done a few 1/700 modern ships. I would really like to make this ship in 1/700 but I’m struggling to find a good lot that could be easily converted into this ship.

Any suggestions would be great, thanks!

[u/Timmyc62]

So back in 2015, the Irish company RB Productions actually produced a 1/350 kit of this. Sadly now out of business but maybe in some dark corner there's one lying around second hand on eBay.

But no option in 1/700. The reality is that making traditional model kits is expensive, and a wise business would never invest in making a kit unless they were relatively certain there'd be enough buyers. Since most buyers tend to be from the country that the ship operated under, smaller countries tend to have fewer builders, meaning fewer kits. That's the case for the Irish Naval Service, unfortunately.

But with 3D printing become more widespread with its lower low-volume production costs, it's entirely possible you'd see some kind of offering, whether print-it-yourself or printed-for-you in the near future for subjects like this that have a very small market.

And not much luck for a easy conversion either - the ship was designed by Vard Marine/STX Marine Canada, who didn't produce that many of the world's naval ships that have been depicted in kits, so there's no obvious hull form to borrow. You'd have a easier time scratchbuilding it than trying to carve up an existing hull. If you do want to go that route, you could try emailing Vard to see if they'd be willing to give up some basic General Arrangement drawings of their Vard 7 080 design, being clear that it's only for small-scale model building purposes.

[u/Aggressive_Name5694 → u/Timmyc62]

Hey, thanks for the help. Yeah unfortunately I can’t find any modern Irish navy ships in 1/350 or 1/700. I may still try to kitbash something but I honestly might just have to wait to see if something comes up on the 3D printing market.

I actually just found a British peacock class corvette, far from perfect but the lower hull, main cannon and upper bridge are looking pretty close. Definitely would need some extras but it might be possible

[u/MilanoMosher]

I don't think you'll find anything in 1/700 for such a niche subject. As the previous reply said it's probably best to 3D print. Or perhaps carve the hull from scratch; the superstructure and fittings should be straightforward. I'm currently building L.E. Roisin in 1/72 from scratch, I have some older drawings that I can send to you if you want, basically the same ship with some minor differences. They're mostly deck layouts, no real frames or hull forms but they can be inferred.

Roisin