Heller/Airfix King George V

T16S · Heller/Airfix King George V

Remy says he ‘hate’ to see the photos of this my latest- a KGV- Ex Heller and now Airfix kit. In true Remy fashion I thought to throw in a few photos of the build and then the finished model. Some weird omissions in the kit such as one funnel detailed with the ribbing and the other not. Plus various bits left over that there are no instructions for. It is billed as KGV or Prince of Wales and that might be the answer. For those not in the know the model as built depicts the ship at the time of the Bismarck engagement so Home Fleet Grey overall and no oerlikon guns yet. Minimal radar outfit too. To build a later version omit the UP launchers and fit the additional pom poms supplied on the turret tops instead- that’s why there are SIX in the kit! Plus the oerlikons but depending on the date depicted the number and locations will vary. By 1944 the aircraft catapult had gone and a new boat deck had been built over its location. So this kit has many variations that could be built. Oh and don’t forget in the later versions the degaussing cable had by then disappeared inside the ship. A word of caution to those thinking of making it as Prince of Wales- checking the Profile Morskie book on POW shows a huge number of detail variations from KGV- so a lot of surgery required to get that one right.
Brass etch used is the excellent one from Toms Modelworks and much more added detail. I recommend this fret for other ships too because of the extensive radar outfits supplied- just about every WW2 variation is there. The 5.25 gun turrets each had 15 added pieces of detail and the crane bases- those in the kit are rubbish- are totally scratch built from about 20+ separate pieces of card and sprue etc. New soldered brass wire masts and main gun barrels replaced with ali tubing. Bilge keel added to upgrade the miserable item moulded on the hull.
Cheers Stuart
Ps shipyard closed for a while as I’m now doing a Tamiya Cromwell tank!
pps I think a photo of Gneisenau has sneaked in there somewhere!

Brews

Impressive work.

Ratch

Very nice

NASAAN101

she's cute.. she was what a year-old when she and Rodney got in to it with Battleship Bismarck, who i believe was only still just a baby at 9-mouths if i remember right..
Nikki

orionv

Hello stu, i am sorry i wanted to say"i am in a hurry" to see your KGV photos.....

my english....pfffff

So i will make a global response to your 3 ships building.
It s a beautiful work,realy good ,with a hight level of details

But for me i don t like the "museum style",it s too clean and shiny...

In the real life and in wartime a warship is very dirty and rusty,he lived difficult moments.Attention ,it s just MY opinion ant NOT a criticism.

In the months to come i will try to make a photo report on my way to paint the warships but it will not be evident because of my low academic way to....
See you soon on my 1941 Hood topic.
Amitiés Rémy

daniel7891

Lovely work

T16S

Thanks for all the comments guys- much appreciated.

For Remy, I agree with your comments but in this instance Richelieu is depicted in the colours as she left the New York navy yard just freshly rebuilt, KGV had just been repainted before her action with Bismarck- she was previously camouflaged and had reverted to Home Fleet grey. Gneisenau is in Channel dash mode- repainted after her last Altantic foray- though no doubt by then was going quite rusty. So you see we need your expert demonstration on the weathering and rust! So we know how to do it. By the way for your Hood she had just been repainted not long before her action with Bismarck.

I was of course pulling your leg about 'hate' and knew you meant 'haste'!
Amities Stuart

orionv

For my hood building i ve not yet decided if i made the Hood during his last heroique action against the Bismark or rather during the period of fighting in Mediteranée sea.The latter being more attractive than the first especially in the weathering job.
but X'mas and end years of approaching,i m compelled to slow the building rythm .So i ll beguin to post on the Hood then i ll resume after the holidays.
as i explained to Ratch in pm,to make you happy i will try during the Hood painting job,to explain my way of making the warships weathering.
Ratch try to correct my spelling for a better comprehenssion.
Amitiés,your french friend Rémy.

avro683

Great work Stuart, well done.