1/600 HMS King George V (Aurora)

I built this a few weeks ago for nostalgia.  When I was 10 years old I started building model ships, and the Aurora HMS King George V was one of the first I bought.  Even though I was disappointed in the shape of the 5.25-inch mounts, the lack of the catapult, and Aurora's substitution of twin anti-aircraft mounts for the 8-barrelled 2-pounders, it was one of my favorites.  The box painting was realistic and intense, and I had seen "Sink the Bismarck" on TV a few months earlier.   After a couple of years I put the model in a pond, set it on fire, and took pictures.  A couple of years later I built two more, but they were lost when I went to college.

A few years ago I bought the kit online, and I decided to build it as closely as possible to the way Aurora intended: minimum painting, no modifications, and no after-market parts.  After a while I was unhappy that I did not paint the wood deck.  A few months ago I found this kit for sale online, and I bought it, hoping to correct my mistake.

Almost no part in the kit is completely right, but the whole kit really not that bad except that the AA guns are completely wrong, and the 5.25-inch mounts don't have enough volume near the gun barrels.  It was so tempting to make it more accurate (boats, rafts, guns, etc.), but I wanted it to look like one Aurora would use in a photo in the instructions. Eventually, I did give in, and omitted two AA-mounts on the main deck behind B-turret.

The boot stripe and funnel screens are Testor's flat black enamel.  The hull is Testor's acrylic rust.  The deck is a mix of acrylics.  The wood on the boats is Testor's flat brown.  Over the years, I have tried darker and redder browns, but I though this would be best here.

For comparison, included are photos showing the model with an Airfix version and a version with black gun barrels and the unpainted deck.

Gallery updated 10/17/2018

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