Don’t forget the lower hull detail as well. The Tamiya hull is completely bereft of any hull penetrations and openings; Revell has done an excellent job of replicating the Bismarck and Tirpitz hull. I highly recemmend the Revell 1/350 Bismarck and Tirpitz!
Bill Morrison
Thanks, I will look into updating the hull and scratch building some of the details!
BB, here is a historical YouTube on the KGV. This guy very informative and have many historical vids that you may find intresting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-qY-PB5Z5Y&list=TLPQMTUwNjIwMjC6IPVzeGsZfg&index=2
Thanks for the video link. Found it very neat and interesting. I have noticed from a few pictures of the KGV included with the instruction booklet from Tamiya a few small details that I can probably make. Hard part will be getting the scale right. I will have to just eyeball it and hope it turns out well.
I am excited with how my KGV is going so far though. Everything is turning out great thus far, and the build has been fun.
The only annoying part was painting all of the little pieces scattered everywhere on the decking. But I got through it!
Another source of very informitave info from the standpoint of detail are the Kagero series of books. Excelent close-up of just about any ship, plane or tank you want to build
Drawings in 3D or Top Drawings
Looking good Matthew, can’t wait to see how she turns out.
Did you blacken the end of the gun barrel in the first pic? Just making sure my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me.
Yes I added black paint to the tips of each barrel in the main and secondary battery. I attempted to drill out the main guns but I didnt trust myself not to damage the barrell. So I just painted the tips.
First thing I thought of when I saw the black tips is it makes it look like you blackened the barrel to represent the char marks from when shells are fired.
That’s not a thing.
The best way to drill barrels is to clamp them in a vice between thin strips of something resilient like balsa wood.
Now I feel like such an idiot. [:$] Oh well, thanks for the knowledge Bill.
Whats not a thing?
The drill bit (in the pic) looks too thick for your main gun barrels.
Assuming you are using hand drilling (ie with a pin-vise). Before you drill it, use a needle (or anything pointy like a pin) to poke the centre point of the barrel. Sand it flat if there’s a seam, which they typically do as part of molding a cylinder to avoid the seam interfering you finding the true centre, if you need additional help, mark the centre with a pen before you poke it.
That little hole from the needle will act as your guide when you drill with the drill bit.
Yeah I use a pin vise hand drill. And I have a little case all sizes of drill bits. I wasnt using the one shown in the picture. I was trying to use one much smaller. Every time I tried to start drilling the bit would slide and after a few tries I just said screw it because I didnt want to damage the barrel, so I opted to paint it.
Using the method above is a great idea. But I wonder if it is too late. As the barrels are inside the gun housings and already mounted to the ship…
Powder residue on the end of the barrel.
Things have been crazy busy lately. Still working on the KGV when I have time. Down to the little things like AA guns, masts, and stuff like that. Hoping to have her finished up in the next couple of weeks.
Well, there’s also a “thing” where, pretty much, everything with a 3" bore or larger gets a tompion, to keep rain and seawater out of the barrels.
Some secondary mounts only had canvas “bucket” muzzle covers, which were typically painted to match the barrel. The guns are all fitted with compressed air anyway, you you can just “poof” the covers off before firing. Main battery tompions were often popped off with air as well.
But, it would be entirely “in scale” to not drill barrels at all. Even if it “looks funny.” The bores would be exposed before firing, or under drills, but, you’d need a bunch of people on the various decks manning Action Stations and the like.
Of corse, by that same technicality, the AA mounts will all be under blobbly canvase covers. Mix and match, build as you will.
Finally got a little bit of time to work on the KGV. Here are some pics. She is nearing completion. (dont mind the dirty stove, my work bench was a disaster!)
So I wanted the British Flag flying on the KGV. With this ship really only being my second model ever done, I wasnt sure that I was ready to try rigging the entire ship.
But what I ended up doing is using stretched sprue to make a single line to hang the flag on. It took me a couple tries to get the desired size and length right. But I finally got it. Here are the results after painting it and adding the flag.
But the KGV is finally done! Here are some pics!
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr
