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Tamiya 1/350 King George V Build

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  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Tamiya 1/350 King George V Build
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 17, 2020 8:19 PM

So for those that have helped me out, and seen my initial thread here, knows that I am currently working on my Trumpeter 1/350 Queen Elizabeth. I am rounding 3rd on that build and have literally learned countless, and invaluable things from several guys here, and online sources, like youtube.

 

There have been some mistakes and hiccups along the way but those mistakes have been drilled into my own head as to make sure I dont do them again.

 

This thread will be focusing on updates of the build of my KGV once it starts. And right off the bat i will be doing things differently than i did with my QE.

 

I bought a can of Tamiya surface primer. I plan on priming all pieces prior to starting any assembly or painting. I feel this will help the paint go on better, and highlight any imperfections in the plastic molding that I may need to address before i start painting and such.

 

I plan on starting this build in early June. so updates will be coming soon.  

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Sunday, May 17, 2020 8:48 PM

Excellent plan. Now, when you do that, you cannot glue together pieces using solvent glue where there is paint.

Your choices are: Sand off the paint from the gluing surfaces; or:

Use CA glue.

There are pros and cons to both.

Solvent glue is a true welded joint. A good plan for major stuff like hull halves where strength matters. But sanding is required- a few swipes with the nail stick.

CA sets fast and will adhere painted parts togethr. But the joint is no stronger than the adherance of the paint to plastic. A good plan for sticking on small pre-painted part, but not strong.

Another thing I like to do.

Photo copy the sprue diagram in the funny pages. Circle parts or groups of them and label the final color. It helps when you set up to pre paint things.

You wil love this kit. It's a little older, but it builds up very nicely.

 

Bill

 

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 17, 2020 9:23 PM

Thanks for the tips as always Bill. I will do my best to not prime areas where glue goes. And for the parts that do get primer on it, I invested in some 320 grit nail files that will do a fine job for this.

 

Thanks, I cant wait to start on her!

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Monday, May 18, 2020 2:04 PM

BBorBust

Thanks for the tips as always Bill. I will do my best to not prime areas where glue goes. And for the parts that do get primer on it, I invested in some 320 grit nail files that will do a fine job for this.

 

Thanks, I cant wait to start on her!

 

One can also scrape off paint. If it is a long seam, I just draw an X-acto blade along the seam at 90 degrees.  Also, if the edge is really bad- flash or curvature, I put a sheet of sandpaper on benchtop and slide the pieces around to both straighten and remove paint from seams.  However, it is a very visible seam I like to glue pieces together first and sand and fill before priming, and the priming reveals bad spots in the seam. 

For gluing small pieces to a big section like a deck, I sand or file paint off the small part, then drill a series of shallow holes in the deck or whatever in the footprint of the small part to remove enough paint- drill down till you can see a shallow cone of plastic.

For removing paint from small part joining areas I tend to use a needle file- it stays flat and is handier than sandpaper IMHO.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    July 2014
Posted by modelcrazy on Monday, May 18, 2020 2:39 PM

Steve

Building a kit from your stash is like cutting a head off a Hydra, two more take it's place.

 

 

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Thursday, May 21, 2020 1:16 PM

Does anyone have a good paint guide to the KGV? The paint instructions arent the best in the tamiya instructions that I have seen. I am doing the 1945 scheme. So no more crazy camo like the Queen elizabeth, phew, needed a break on that.

 

So I need a good paint guide to the 1945 KGV. I know the hull and superstructure markings, but my main issue is the main battery turrets and other guns are showing that they are to have the tops painted blue. I have looked up some other model pics with the 1945 paint, and most have the guns painted the same gray as the superstructure and stuff. A couple did have the tops of the guns painted blue though....

 

So historically, what is accurate?

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Thursday, May 21, 2020 1:29 PM

Take a look at my first reply to your QE thread. I found a link to late war colors that would be a good place to start. It does not answer your question directly, but seems to be a good place to start.

Buy this book. It's about $ 15 on Amazon.

Shipcraft 2 - King George V Class Battleships Paperback – February 2, 2016

 

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Thursday, May 21, 2020 2:57 PM

Yeah I remember looking at that link. And although it was good for color comparisons, you are right, nothing really helping on the question at hand.

 

But I did take the leap, just ordered that book you mentioned above. I want my KGV to be perfect!

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Friday, May 22, 2020 1:32 PM

Well, the foremer WEM Colour Coats, being British, for British subject material, are often cited as the best starting place.

You want the published references, though.  First off, you will always learn something new, whic his good for your mental health overall.  And, you often get a more personal view of the ship you are researching, too.  And, in general, you get a definable starting point for which colors were actually used.  (The Admiralty might have decreed a color scheme, but a fleet flagship might have varied from those for various reasons-like having an Admiral aboard.)

Once you can list out the various colors you actually want, you can go online to places like IPMS which will have "equivalent" paint formulas so that you can start from the brand you have to get the result wanted.

Or, you can just go by the box art with what is closest to hand, too--this is your model, not ours, after all.

You could paint the thing pink and lavender and violet if you wanted--the rest of us would be confused a bit, but that would be our problem, not yours.

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Friday, May 22, 2020 4:50 PM

There HAS been some speculation that at some point in her service in the Atlantic, USS Juneau might have been painted Mountbatten Pink...

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Friday, May 22, 2020 4:55 PM

The recommendation of Chesneau's KGV book previously mentioned is a good one.   Another name you should know and follow is Alan Raven.    He is a known author on naval camouflage, particularly the Royal Navy practices.    His four volume Warship Perspectives [Royal Navy] Camouflage covers the pre-war to early post-war period.    He describes the Standard Patterns beginning in mid-1944 through the end of the war. 

Standard Scheme A for use on all stations  included B20 on the hull panel,  G45 on the remainder of the hull and superstructure, masts were white, and steel decks were G10.   

See Sovereign Hobbies of the UK for Colourcoat Paints and RN Admiralty painting instructions (1945)

https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/collections/royal-navy-documents/products/royal-navy-camouflage-c-b-3098r-1945-edition-the-camouflage-of-ships-at-sea-ship-painting-guide-extract

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 24, 2020 2:34 PM

Got my book! I flipped through it real quick and looked at a few things, havent had time to really sit down and read it yet.

 

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 24, 2020 2:36 PM

I also got to spend a little bit of time working on the hull of the KGV. I drilled out the port side porthole's, and sanded down the seam on the bottom.

 

I cant believe how much bigger the KGV is next to the QE. It is 3+ inches longer!

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Sunday, May 24, 2020 4:16 PM

BBorBust
I cant believe how much bigger the KGV is next to the QE. It is 3+ inches longer!

That's three decades' of ship design and technology improvement, at a time when such technology as evolving at a blur.

Part of that was how Dreadnught changing thinking about armament, which changed how armor belts were used, and how much ship you needed to keep all that afloat.

3" at 1/350 is about 90'

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 24, 2020 5:45 PM

CapnMac82
 
BBorBust
I cant believe how much bigger the KGV is next to the QE. It is 3+ inches longer!

 

That's three decades' of ship design and technology improvement, at a time when such technology as evolving at a blur.

Part of that was how Dreadnught changing thinking about armament, which changed how armor belts were used, and how much ship you needed to keep all that afloat.

3" at 1/350 is about 90'

 

 

Yeah the Queen Elizabeth is just over 22 inches long. The KGV is a little over 25 and a half inches long.

 

I have in my cart right now the Tamiya 1/350 Tirpitz and man i want to pull the trigger on her bad! She over 29 inches long. I feel like i need to slow down and finish up the QE, and start on the KGV. i am hoping to have the KGV done by July/August. The Tirpitz will more than likely be next, or the Missouri, if I can ever find it in stock.

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Monday, May 25, 2020 3:23 PM

So while waiting on the last couple of paints to finish up my Queen Elizabeth, I decided to work a little on the KGV. I drilled out all of the portholes in the hull, and then put down tamiya 6mm masking tape on the inside edges where the deck is glued to the hull. She is ready for primer now.

 

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 4:55 AM

Here is the KGV hull sitting in front of the QE to give an idea of the size difference. Sorry for the bad pic, I didnt realize how much the QE blended in with the box behind her when I took it.

 

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

  • Member since
    July 2010
  • From: Tempe AZ
Posted by docidle on Thursday, May 28, 2020 11:30 PM

 

 

I have in my cart right now the Tamiya 1/350 Tirpitz and man i want to pull the trigger on her bad! She over 29 inches long. I feel like i need to slow down and finish up the QE, and start on the KGV. i am hoping to have the KGV done by July/August. The Tirpitz will more than likely be next, or the Missouri, if I can ever find it in stock.

 

[/quote]

Matt,

If you haven’t purchased the Tamiya Tirpitz yet, I would hold off. Personally, I would recommend the Revell 1/350 Tirpitz over the Tamiya. The detailing is much better, except for the clunky plastic railings, the fits are good and the molding is newer. The main deck is one piece too which means no cross section seams to deal with.

One of the main drawbacks of the Tamiya Tirpitz and the Bismark is the total lack of detailing of the lower superstructures. The Eduard PE sets spruces it up a bit but why not start with a better model.

Eduard sells a really comprehensive PE set for the Revell model and a railing set too. 

I hope this helps.

Steve

       

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Friday, May 29, 2020 12:53 AM

The KGV's were 33% greater displacement than the QE's.

The loss of Prince of Wales is one of the more fascinating, dips head to those lost; epics of modern naval warfare.

She lies in 250 feet of water, is dived on often, and has been extensively studied for the cause of her loss.

 

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    July 2014
Posted by modelcrazy on Friday, May 29, 2020 12:55 PM

Bill, here is an extensive report on an official dive of the POW, intresting read.

https://pacificwrecks.com/ships/hms/prince_of_wales/death-of-a-battleship-2012-update.pdf

If you think the KG V is big, look at the Hood, Iowa, Yamato or even that beast Akagi I'm working on in 1/350, but those are nothing in comparison the the Enterprize kit.

Steve

Building a kit from your stash is like cutting a head off a Hydra, two more take it's place.

 

 

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Friday, May 29, 2020 11:53 PM

I have not bought the tirpitz yet. As a matter of fact I came across the revell Germany platinum edition tirpitz and decided that I will be buying that one once my KGV is nearing completio. 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Saturday, May 30, 2020 12:05 AM

Meh, overated battlecruiser design that was out of date by 1939.

Build this.

HMS Rodney.

9 16" naval rifles. Firing at flat trajectory, one hit to the face of Bruno turret on Bismark blew it out and the resulting splinters killed most of the personnel on the bridge of Bismark.

 

Bill

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 31, 2020 3:37 PM

The Queen Elizabeth is done. I spent some time the last couple of days starting on the KGV. As mentioned above I have already drilled out all of the portholes and primed the hull. Yesterday I masked off the upper part of the hull to paint the lower red/brown section. I used 10mm tamiya masking tape for along the edge, and then added 3m blue painters tape over top of that.

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

 

Then I started painting away!

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

 

 

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 31, 2020 3:39 PM

Here is the lower section of the hull completed.

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

 

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

 

 Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Sunday, May 31, 2020 7:07 PM

There are countless models in museums with brass shafts to the propellors.

On some capital ships a tube connected the shaft struts to the hull boss, which would be painted in hull color.  Others had the shafts pained in bottom color.  Some were in bare metal--which wants finding photos to decide.  KGV could put about 27,000 shaft horespower per shaft, so you needed steel to deliver that 230 rpm to the screws.

Not my kit, not my pick--not a bad way to add color to the fairly anonymous bottom of a ship kit.  (Which ought to have all kinds of aperatures, like the condenser intakes and outputs, for just one example.)

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 31, 2020 7:20 PM

CapnMac82

There are countless models in museums with brass shafts to the propellors.

On some capital ships a tube connected the shaft struts to the hull boss, which would be painted in hull color.  Others had the shafts pained in bottom color.  Some were in bare metal--which wants finding photos to decide.  KGV could put about 27,000 shaft horespower per shaft, so you needed steel to deliver that 230 rpm to the screws.

Not my kit, not my pick--not a bad way to add color to the fairly anonymous bottom of a ship kit.  (Which ought to have all kinds of aperatures, like the condenser intakes and outputs, for just one example.)

 

Hmm, interesting. I painted it according to Tamiya's instructions. Would repainting it into a gunmetal, or a gray be more accurate?

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 31, 2020 11:40 PM

Over the next couple of weeks my main task will be masking off the the fore, center, and aft decks of all accents. My goal is to only leave the decking itself showing for better paint application of the deck paint. This will be a daunting task as the deck of the KGV is littered with small pieces. But i will do my best. I am doing this because on my QE build I noticed that when I went back over the deck to paint the little parts that I got quite a bit of the decking paint on these small pieces. Then I would paint them, and end up geting that color on the wood colored decking, then would have to touch that up. It was a real pain.

 

So my new course of action with the KGV is to mask off as much as i can, leaving hopefully just the decking. Then once it is dry, mask off the decking to paint the small parts scattered everywhere on the deck. To keep my sanity, I will probably tackle each section one at time. So i will start with the fore deck, then once it is done take a break and work on some other parts of the model, then come back and do the center deck. So on and so fourth.

 

I sense frustration and sailor talk in my near future. But i am dead set determined on making my KGV an outstanding model, and correcting as many errors as humanly possible that I made on my first model. (the Queen Elizabeth)

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Sunday, May 31, 2020 11:46 PM

BBorBust

 

 
CapnMac82

There are countless models in museums with brass shafts to the propellors.

On some capital ships a tube connected the shaft struts to the hull boss, which would be painted in hull color.  Others had the shafts pained in bottom color.  Some were in bare metal--which wants finding photos to decide.  KGV could put about 27,000 shaft horespower per shaft, so you needed steel to deliver that 230 rpm to the screws.

Not my kit, not my pick--not a bad way to add color to the fairly anonymous bottom of a ship kit.  (Which ought to have all kinds of aperatures, like the condenser intakes and outputs, for just one example.)

 

 

 

Hmm, interesting. I painted it according to Tamiya's instructions. Would repainting it into a gunmetal, or a gray be more accurate?

 

Red like the hull.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Sunday, May 31, 2020 11:50 PM

BBorBust

Over the next couple of weeks my main task will be masking off the the fore, center, and aft decks of all accents. My goal is to only leave the decking itself showing for better paint application of the deck paint. This will be a daunting task as the deck of the KGV is littered with small pieces. But i will do my best. I am doing this because on my QE build I noticed that when I went back over the deck to paint the little parts that I got quite a bit of the decking paint on these small pieces. Then I would paint them, and end up geting that color on the wood colored decking, then would have to touch that up. It was a real pain.

 

So my new course of action with the KGV is to mask off as much as i can, leaving hopefully just the decking. Then once it is dry, mask off the decking to paint the small parts scattered everywhere on the deck. To keep my sanity, I will probably tackle each section one at time. So i will start with the fore deck, then once it is done take a break and work on some other parts of the model, then come back and do the center deck. So on and so fourth.

 

I sense frustration and sailor talk in my near future. But i am dead set determined on making my KGV an outstanding model, and correcting as many errors as humanly possible that I made on my first model. (the Queen Elizabeth)

 

Full stop, full speed astern. Masking complex objects is difficult, flat surfaces is easy.

Paint the deck. Mask around the base of the furniture and mask the rest of the deck; paint the bumpy stuff.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    April 2020
  • From: Mountains of Western MD
Posted by BBorBust on Sunday, May 31, 2020 11:52 PM

GMorrison
  Red like the hull.

 

 

So the tube that is attached to the screw should be painted the hull red? Just want to make sure i am understanding correctly. After Mac's comment I looked up a bunch of different completed KGV models. Some are like mine, where the tube is painted the same color as the screw. Others the tubes were painted the same color as the hull, and others they were painted in a gray.

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