H.M.S. Prince of Wales

Great piece of work, and pictures!

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the compliments. Much appreciated !

I saw your thread on PE frustrations. I know what you are going through. I was there myself after I got back into the hobby 3 years ago after a 25 year hiatus. My first project then, and my first PE application ever was a 1/700 Tamiya Scharnhorst model. It scared me at first, and things did not come out as planned all of the time, but perseverance and being patient got me through it. You seem to have gotten all the technical data you need, you just need to build up the experience. You will get it eventually. Trust me. The only other thing I can offer is to get yourself an Optivisor headgear set. They come in various magnification strengths. I got the 2.5X magnification for my 49+ eyes. I got mine at Squadron.com. They made all the difference in the world. That tiny little piece of railing all of a sudden looked like an iron fence.

Just hang in there an keep plugging away, you'll get it. And remember, some days are better than others. One day you'll be saying to yourself: "Why the heck did I ever get into this again ?" and other days you'll wonder why you don't do this for a living. Don't try and push it on the bad days, just walk away from it. On the good days, try and get as much done as you can.

Good luck and hope to see some pics of your ship when you're done.

Ted

Thanks for the encouragement, Ted. The railings at first are still a bit rough, but when I used a magnifier, it got better. Still not close to your POW!

I saw that some folks use blue tack as a temp support while the white glue sets up. I may try this, since my railings have an annoying habit of falling over when I first set them in place. I'm also still learning about folding and spindling - always an adventure.

Steve

Thanks guys ! Much appreciated.

Ted

  Wow, that is a beautiful build !  The figures really add a sense of movement to the whole diorama, also...very, very well done. 

   I think the term is "ice cream made out of horse crap" !    That blows away any Tamiya Hood I've ever seen, and to think it was a minihobby....wow again.

                 greg

Thanks again, guys.

I really like the resin L'Arsenal crew figures over the other PE ones. They're already 3 dimensional and look more lifelike IMHO. The real hero of this kit is the addition of the WEM ulitmate King George V class battleships PE fret. It replaces most of the "clunky" MiniHobbyModels parts. For instance, by the time you're finished adding the 10 or so PE pieces to each of the pom-pom gun platforms, the only thing left from the kit is the gun barrels. Scraping off all of the molded on ladders, chains and "Aztek" steps also goes a long way in the appearence. The cranes especially are a beautiful example of PE work from the WEM set. They fold together very nicely, too.

The application of the whole PE set for the particular King George V class battleship you are building (There is enough PE to do any one of the 5 ships of the class) is a combination of tedium and excitment with a few periods of maddening thrown in at times, but well worth it in the end.

Thanks again,

Ted

Hi Ted,

I got the PoW kit on evil bay for a good price, so it will be my next build. I saw the camo diagrams on the PoW web site, but there was no color description. Can you tell me what the colors were that you used? I also got the Tom's PE set, but perhaps the WEM would have been better!

My Fletcher turned out pretty well for a PE newbie, and I'm learning all the time. I've ordered the Trump BB-55, which I want to make right, so the PoW will be my last warm up.

Thanks for your help!

Steve

Thanks Guys ! I really appreciate the compliments.

MTB70: Yeah, a friend of mine made another observation about the three guys on the bow. One of them is pointing seaward and seems to be saying: "Hey, does that look like a torpedo to you ?" 

Donnie: Thanks very much !

Steve: I used WEM's colourcoats paints. The colors I used were:

MS1(Colourcoats RN 04)

B5 (Colourcoats RN 07)

B6 (Colourcoats RN 11)

MS3 (Colourcoats RN 06)

AP 507C (Colourcoats RN 03)

RN White (Colourcoats RN 10)

Teak (Colourcoats C 01)

Mahogany Flight Deck Stain (US 15)

Colourcoats M 19 Deck Green

These were the colors as given to me by John Synder at WEM, who helped me a great deal on my PoW project. Just go to their web site and look up the colors. If you want, I will also tell you the painting instructions for the First Admiralty Disruptive pattern as John provided me with that as well.

Ted

Thanks, Ted, I'll order these today. I'd appreciate the copy of the painting instructions as well.

Steve

diggeraone: Thanks ! I hope that somewhere, he is.

Steve: Here are the painting instructions John gave me:

"White for the countershading and topmasts, as instructions for the First Admiralty Disruptive Patterns called for:

Countershading (Light type): The following are painted white:

A. Underside of blast shields

B. Underside of flag decks

C. Underside - Pom-Pom decks, other gun platforms and other horizontal projections

D. Undersides of ship's boats.

Masts: Usually the same color as adjacent vertical surfaces.

Topmasts: Either 507C or white.

Matt black for the boot topping.

Mahogany Flight Deck Stain (US 15) for the interiors of open boats, boat booms and jack and ensign staffs. Boat cabin tops, and the hull below the waterline of the admiral's barge were RN white, as were any blast bags and High Angle Director covers. The hull of the Admiral's barge above te waterline was mid-green; use Colourcoats M 19 Deck Green."

For the hull camo I started with Admiralty Light Grey (AP507C), then moved progressively up ending with the darkest color, Dark Grey. (AP 507A)

Hope this helps. Good Luck !!

Ted

Thanks, Ted! It's interesting that they would be so meticulous about the blast shield undersides.

Steve

EPinniger: Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure if you take it slow, step by step, yours will come out just as nice. I have never spent more hours masking a model than I did with this one. But all that tedious work does pay off. Good luck !

Steve: No problem. Happy to be of help. I used the Colourcoats RN White for the countershading. It's a little more subdued than a regular flat or matt white and blends in better with the whole camo scheme. Good luck on your project as well. Be sure to post some pics.