Airfix HMS King George V

[Worms]

Ok, I'm committing myself to this...I have practiced on a destroyer over Christmas and was quite chuffed with my efforts (more plastic than glue!). So I  am going to attempt this venerable old girl of battle of the Bismarck fame with some of Tom's photo etch...if I fail dismally I have a back up of a Gloster Sea Gladiator 😉

 

[JOCKNEY]

Congratulations Worms ol mate its so great to see something without wings in a GB !

Best of luck with this one

cheers Pat 

[Worms]

Thanks Pat, with 4 months I'm hopeful I can deliver in this GB!

 

p.s. there are wings on the Walrus 😁

[rob85]

King George! Great choice, it acquitted its self well against Bismarck from what I remember? 
 

I’ve noticed the little walrus on my Belfast, I won’t be doing the stencils on that!

 

Rob 

[Worms]

Just now, rob85 said:

King George! Great choice, it acquitted its self well against Bismarck from what I remember? 
 

I’ve noticed the little walrus on my Belfast, I won’t be doing the stencils on that!

 

Rob 

I believe that HMS Rodney was possibly the main contender. KGV had a few issues with her main armament but the two still managed to fire about 700 14 and 16 inch shells at Bismark!

 

Yes, markings on the Walrus are a bit of a worry!

I have a Nelson to convert to Rodney but I feel that with my limited ship experience scratch building is better left to a non GB activity! 😁

[Worms]

I'm getting impatient to start...so impatient in fact I'm doing silly scratch stuff to an old Airfix 1/72 25pdr, limber and quad!!! 🤣

[Robert Stuart]

Know what you mean Worms, I'm itching to get started too.

[JOCKNEY]

On 12/02/2020 at 07:57, Worms said:

I believe that HMS Rodney was possibly the main contender. KGV had a few issues with her main armament but the two still managed to fire about 700 14 and 16 inch shells at Bismark!

 

Yes, markings on the Walrus are a bit of a worry!

I have a Nelson to convert to Rodney but I feel that with my limited ship experience scratch building is better left to a non GB activity! 😁

I knew someone who served on either the Rodney or Nelson and i made the Airfix kit for them as a nipper. He said the turret spacing was wrong, which as that part is moulded into the deck I couldn't change even if I'd wanted to !

His widow who is now over 100 still has it in their display cabinet along with his cap badge.

I believe he was a gunner as he was really deaf which he blamed on the main guns he fired, hardly surprising given that no one even had earplugs in those days.

I really wished i had asked him more about his service days when i had the chance 

 

[Worms]

I've started...should at least get this finished in time! 😁

 

[Worms]

Hull halves are together,  not a brilliant fit, requiring filler.

 

I have accessed loads of photos of KGV including some from Feb 1941 and August 1941....with a light deck!...

 

I know it should have a  dark deck but I can't find any reference to a repaint and she was a very busy ship!

[Worms]

At least the walrus is coming on...even if I have started modifying it.  And I know what colours it's supposed to be 😁

 

[Worms]

The moulding is far superior to any other 1/600 Airfix kits that I remember (superstructure dry fitted)

 

[stevehnz]

Oh hell, here I am wanting to get rid of my old Airfix ships & now this makes me want one of these.  Excuse while I give myself a good talking to. Carry on, its looking good.

Steve.

[nimrod54]

41 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

Oh hell, here I am wanting to get rid of my old Airfix ships & now this makes me want one of these.  Excuse while I give myself a good talking to. Carry on, its looking good.

Steve.

Come on Steve, get a grip. Why would you want to dispose of your ships when they turn out as good as.  Looking good so far @Worms

[PeterB]

Don't know if this is any help.

The book I got it from says that "The ship was completed in an unofficial camouflage scheme based on First World War 'dazzle' styles and utilising angular areas of Admiralty Dark Grey over Admiralty Light Grey, the intention being to break up the outline of the ship Which fits witha B&W pic of her at the time of the Bismarck pursuit). By late 1940 this paintwork was appearing extremely weatherbeaten. From late 1940 or early 1941 an overall medium grey was applied, and in June 1942 this  was superseded by an Admiralty Intermediate Disruptive scheme consisting of four colours, probably MS1, MS2, B5 and AP507C".

 

This is the earlier picture in the dazzle camo she is said to have been wearing in May 1941. Can't vouch for any of this and maybe Jamie from Sovereign may want to join in as he already has with the HMS Belfast build as he knows a lot more about RN paints than I do - in fact I would suggest looking at the info pages on his website as their seems to be quite a bit of potential confusion over the naming of the colours etc. She was repainted in the simplified Pacific scheme by the end of the war.

 

Incidentally I gather this kit is regarded by many as the best of the Airfix 1/600 ships with the possible exception of their HMS Repulse ( or was it Renown).

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 17, 2020 by PeterB

[rob85]

4 hours ago, Worms said:

At least the walrus is coming on...even if I have started modifying it.  And I know what colours it's supposed to be 😁

 

So your drilling holes for the rigging after painting?

 

Rob

[stevehnz]

19 minutes ago, nimrod54 said:

Come on Steve, get a grip. Why would you want to dispose of your ships when they turn out as good as.  Looking good so far @Worms

Because they're old & tatty & taking up space. I'd like to do a couple of bigger scale smaller craft, 1/144 Flower & 1/72 MTBs/S-boat type of thing & maybe a 1/350 HMS Maori Tribal class  & scratch built HMS Saracen whif. That'd keep me happy amid the hundreds of aircraft kits I have. Meantime, I like watching builds like this.

Steve.

[Worms]

1 hour ago, stevehnz said:

Because they're old & tatty & taking up space. I'd like to do a couple of bigger scale smaller craft, 1/144 Flower & 1/72 MTBs/S-boat type of thing & maybe a 1/350 HMS Maori Tribal class  & scratch built HMS Saracen whif. That'd keep me happy amid the hundreds of aircraft kits I have. Meantime, I like watching builds like this.

Steve.

Shall I send you my address to post them too? 🤣

[Worms]

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

Don't know if this is any help.

The book I got it from says that "The ship was completed in an unofficial camouflage scheme based on First World War 'dazzle' styles and utilising angular areas of Admiralty Dark Grey over Admiralty Light Grey, the intention being to break up the outline of the ship Which fits witha B&W pic of her at the time of the Bismarck pursuit). By late 1940 this paintwork was appearing extremely weatherbeaten. From late 1940 or early 1941 an overall medium grey was applied, and in June 1942 this  was superseded by an Admiralty Intermediate Disruptive scheme consisting of four colours, probably MS1, MS2, B5 and AP507C".

 

This is the earlier picture in the dazzle camo she is said to have been wearing in May 1941. Can't vouch for any of this and maybe Jamie from Sovereign may want to join in as he already has with the HMS Belfast build as he knows a lot more about RN paints than I do - in fact I would suggest looking at the info pages on his website as their seems to be quite a bit of potential confusion over the naming of the colours etc. She was repainted in the simplified Pacific scheme by the end of the war.

 

Incidentally I gather this kit is regarded by many as the best of the Airfix 1/600 ships with the possible exception of their HMS Repulse ( or was it Renown).

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Thanks for posting this Pete,

 

I have found some info that when she got back from the USA from her Feb '41 trip 5 tons of grey paint was used to rejuvenate her...I firmly believe she was in 507A at that time but still not quite sure about the deck. Seeing as there is evidence that she was repainted I am erring towards believing that her deck would have been darkened at the same time....happy to be proved wrong though!

[nimrod54]

1 hour ago, stevehnz said:

Because they're old & tatty & taking up space. I'd like to do a couple of bigger scale smaller craft, 1/144 Flower & 1/72 MTBs/S-boat type of thing & maybe a 1/350 HMS Maori Tribal class  & scratch built HMS Saracen whif. That'd keep me happy amid the hundreds of aircraft kits I have. Meantime, I like watching builds like this.

Steve.

Hi Steve,

I apologise if my flippant remark has caused offence, it wasn't my intention - hence the laughing emoticon. I found the thought of you giving yourself a good talking to amusing. 

 

And my apologies to Worms for the thread hijack.

[stevehnz]

4 minutes ago, nimrod54 said:

Hi Steve,

I apologise if my flippant remark has caused offence, it wasn't my intention - hence the laughing emoticon. I found the thought of you giving yourself a good talking to amusing. 

 

And my apologies to Worms for the thread hijack.

No problem at all, no offence taken. Fair comment in a way but sorry if I appeared to take it too seriously, I tend to the literal. If nothing else, it may have firmed up on how to get rid of them. A PM or two to go out.

Steve.

[PeterB]

Sorry,

 

Don't seem to have posted 2nd pic so here it is.

Now there seems to be some confusions over dates as this is supposed to be the scheme she was in when she met the Bismarck in May 1941 (I think) and yet the other source suggests she had gone back to plain grey before that which may fit with your comments about loads of grey paint. It clearly depends on what period you are modelling but you should be safe with the disruptive scheme from mid 42  till the end of 1944 unless anybody knows better. As to deck colour Jamie lists a couple of greys and also teak in his RN range but I do not have any overhead pics to show if and when the teak was overpainted - I know the USN used blue stain/paint on their wooden decks.

 

Pete

Edited February 18, 2020 by PeterB

[Worms]

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

Sorry,

 

Don't seem to have posted 2nd pic so here it is.

Now there seems to be some confusions over dates as this is supposed to be the scheme she was in when she met the Bismarck in May 1941 (I think) and yet the other source suggests she had gone back to plain grey before that which may fit with your comments about loads of grey paint. It clearly depends on what period you are modelling but you should be safe with the disruptive scheme from mid 42  till the end of 1944 unless anybody knows better. As to deck colour Jamie lists a couple of greys and also teak in his RN range but I do not have any overhead pics to show if and when the teak was overpainted - I know the USN used blue stain/paint on their wooden decks.

 

Pete

Hi Pete,

I'm going for May'41, the Bismarck action. In theory the wooden decks should be darkened to a dark grey. She definitely hax her decks darkened in October '41.

 

Oddly, this is the second Bismarck action ship I have attempted that was a little inconclusive regarding some colours!

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Hi everyone, my ears were burning.

 

The geometric scheme shown above I don't think was worn outside the dockyard, or for sea trials at most. HMS King George V commissioned into the Home Fleet wearing the same Dark Grey, Home Fleet Shade as all other capital ships in the Home Fleet. She wore "Home Fleet Grey" through the Bismarck action, with her wooden decks stained dark (possibly using a turps-thinned Japan Black stain to effect an overall very dark greyish appearance).

 

She received her first Admiralty Disruptive Pattern camouflage scheme in summer 1942, and there are both colour photographs of various parts of that scheme on the Imperial War Museum website and also aerial observation reports from Scapa Flow conducted by some of the individuals who designed the camouflage schemes to learn about their effectiveness. From those photographs and observation reports, we know for certain that Roger Chesnau who's book the above colour illustrations come from got the schemes wrong. A pity, as they're nicely drawn. Prince of Wales is believed to be wrong too.

 

Here's how we understand HMS King George V looked from commissioning to summer 1942

 

Here's how she looked from summer 1942 until some time later - her paints probably were overpainted with the G&B series some time after April 1943, but we've no proof. For 1942 though, we have a good degree of certainty that we're correct with this one:

 

 

When she went for refit and lost the catapult and gained the new deckhouse between the funnels to serve as a boat deck, freeing up the aft superstructure for more AA weapons, she left the drydock wearing the 1944 Admiralty standard scheme A as follows:

 

[PeterB]

Thanks Jamie,

 

As ever most helpful. Once again it shows how difficult it can sometimes be to find accurate info, whether it be ships or planes, and probably tanks as well.

 

Cheers

 

Pete