ICM 1/700 Koenig WWI German Battleship

[Dave Ward]

As I'm waiting for another gloss coat to dry on my Nissan, I've decided to start on this:

I'm not going to post the sprues etc, as I did an inbox review of this in February here: https://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/icm-1-700-sms-könig-1918-inbox-review.38740/
I've since acquired a wood veneer deck for this, I know some modellers don't care for them, but I find then effective, with care...........
Dave

 

[spanner570]

Nice one Dave.
I do like these WW1 ships.

 

[Valeron]

I've never built ship but will enjoy watching you built this one Dave

Mike

 

[Dave Ward]

One thing about WWI ships is that there aren't any radar aerials, or complicated anti-aircraft guns
The König is configured as 1917 ( post-Jutland ). The torpedo nets and booms along the deck edge were removed, as it had been found that even minor shell damage could cause the nets to potentially foul the propellers. By this stage of the war, increases in torpedo size and effectiveness had rendered them useless, and both The German and Royal Navy removed them
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looking forward to this. Definitely the best period for big battlewagon design…..they had the cleanest lines, from an Edwardian design ethos that allowed art into engineering.
Didn’t know the nets and booms were used like that either Dave . For some reason I thought they were just lowered when the ship was in dock.

Not Koenig, but the same ship class. Did you ever see this?

Bristol garden's WW1 German battleship bell sells for £5,000

The bell from a World War One German battleship sells for £5,000 after 70 years of being used as a garden ornament in Bristol.

www.bbc.co.uk

All I’ve ever found in my garden is buried wooden pallets.

 

[Dave Ward]

Looking forward to this. Definitely the best period for big battlewagon design…..they had the cleanest lines, from an Edwardian design ethos that allowed art into engineering.
Didn’t know the nets and booms were used like that either Dave . For some reason I thought they were just lowered when the ship was in dock.

Not Koenig, but the same ship class. Did you ever see this?

Bristol garden's WW1 German battleship bell sells for £5,000

The bell from a World War One German battleship sells for £5,000 after 70 years of being used as a garden ornament in Bristol.

www.bbc.co.uk

All I’ve ever found in my garden is buried wooden pallets.

The torpedo nets were normally only spread at anchor, the ship theoretically could steam slowly, but I doubt this happened often

Rigging/unrigging them must have been a cold. wet, strenuous job - I bet many sailors were glad to see them go!
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I knew I'd seen a model with torpedo nets spread - this is HMS Dreadnought

Spiders web of rigging....................
Dave
Incidentally the bell was from a sister ship - all these were scuttled at Scapa Flow 1919 ( interesting story in it's own right! )

 

[Dave Ward]

On a personal note - my grandfather served on HMS Monarch during WWI. At Jutland he was a torpedo lieutenant ( yes - these battleships had torpedo tubes underwater ) He only spoke of how boring it was for most of the time & the horrors of coaling ship!
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Very interesting Dave.

 

[Dave Ward]

Construction underway - I'm doing the K as a waterline model..................

I'm going to spray basecoat the hull& decks before adding the deck veneer - I've added the turret barbettes to the decks - they will give a good positive location to the wood.

The foredeck veneer test fitted ............I've pressed out all the cutouts. (The little round circles are the coaling scuttles - there are PE parts to fit over them - Oh Joy!) - it's easier to do now than when it's all sticky. I'll be using a light blue-grey for the basecoat - I'll have to dig into the paintbox to see what I can find - regardless of what it's called. The funnels, turrets all look like they can be assembled as separate modules, which will be a help.
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

After a thorough wash down with IPA, I gave the major bits a basecoat of AK 5035 Admiralty Light Grey ( a WWII colour, but so what? )

All the parts are still dry fitted - I may add the wood decks like this, much easier to manipulate
Dave

 

[Mark1]

Looks like your making good progress.

 

[Dave Ward]

The deck veneer has been added - great care is needed to remove the film off the adhesive backing.

You have to line up the cut outs, before committing to rubbing down for the permanent fit. I'll give the wood a thin coat of gloss varnish, to protect it from inadvertent paints...........
The turrets have been assembled - the guns can elevate, but they are loose, so, I'll be fixing them all at the same elevation ( all bits dry fitted )
Dave

 

[rtfoe]

Progressing well Dave.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Dave Ward]

A bit of a hiatus............ I'm going to add railings, but when I looked at my PE, I found that I only had sets for specific models - rather than cutting into any of these sets, I've ordered some generic 1/700 railings. which hopefully will arrive this week............
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Typically, after ordering some new PE railing - I found a generic fret lurking in another box......................... Oh well, I'm certain that the ones in transit will be used!

Those chains are overscale, but smaller links are hard to come by. I find I can only do a few lengths of rail, before my hands start shaking & I have to stop. Paint never adheres to these rails very well, so I'll have to go round and touch up the bare patches
Dave

 

[BattleshipBob]

I believe the nets were taken off after Jutland, there's a lot of photos showing them damaged by shell fire and therefore in danger of coming off the ship and wrapping themselves around the props and possibly the rudder

 

[Jim R]

I do like the look of these WW1 ships. Looks like you're off to a good start.

Typically, after ordering some new PE railing - I found a generic fret lurking in another box......................... Oh well,

Ain't that so often the case!
Fitting railings is, on the fiddly scale, only one step down from rigging.
I know some don't like wood decks but I think they look great and certainly make painting all the little sticking up bits on the deck easier.

 

[rtfoe]

Looking good Dave. The runaway railing just needs a bit of teasing to get in line. I've had to re-glue some of my railings over and over again having nudged them with my clumsy fingers. Always good to prop the ship on a hand held pedestal so as not to knock things off.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Dave Ward]

Managed to finish the railings on the foredeck & main deck - then knocked off parts when I nearly dropped the whole thing.................

It's easier to repair bits, than it is to attach the rails in the first place - a lot of re-attachment, then touching up the paint needed!
Dave