¹⁄400

King George V

"MSW crew-mate Russell Eames (RussellE) shares his first submission with us, a fine build of Heller Models King George V, in this MSW Feature!"

This is my first ship model I have built in twenty years...I chose the Heller 1/400 kit of the King George V, as being quite cheap it was a good kit to cut my teeth on. Also I think the Royal Navy is sorely under represented, especially in larger scales.

This model was a HUGE learning curve, not only about the techniques that have evolved over the last twenty or so years, but also all the great products that have come about, especially photo-etch.

This model is by no means correct, and it has taught me how to research a ship, and also to pick a specific time period that you wish to model. The most obvious mistake of course is that the colors aren’t quite right as they are mixed straight from the color guide contained in the kit’s instructions.

From now on it’s White Ensign’s Colourcoats all the way or it’s nothing at all!!! God bless ‘em! The photo etch is by White Ensign and the paints are Humbrol.

Most of the tinlets are what were in my stash from twenty odd years ago. The model itself had lots of mismatch, hence the filler in some of the shots.

I chose to represent the KGV as she appeared between June 1942 and December 1943, for operation Husky in Sicily. A great ship (and class) with a great service record, that perhaps deserves a bit more attention in the modeling world.

The finished product took about two years to complete, in between house renovations. Hopefully I can do much better next time, and in less time too!