ManCave Modeler presents...
SMS König

The Ship, (a brief history)
Named in honor of King William II of Württemberg, SMS SMS König was the first of four König Class dreadnought battleships of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) during World War I.

The König Class ships were involved in most of the fleet actions during the First World. Many of these operations were designed to lure the British fleet out of harbor.
On her first mission in late 1914, Konig ran aground, was then hit from behind by sister ship Grosser Kurfürst causing minor damage, and returned to Wilhemshaven for repair.
From January 1915 through April 1916, Konig took part in several fleet sorties in support of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers, and as II Scouting Group laid mines off the Swarte Bank and raids on the English coast

Battle of Jutland May31 - June 1 1916
König was present during the fleet operation that resulted in the battle of Jutland which took place on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The German fleet again sought to draw out and isolate a portion of the Grand Fleet and destroy it before the main British fleet could retaliate. König, followed by her sister ships, made up the V Division of the III Battle Squadron. As the leading ship in the German line, König was heavily engaged by several British battleships and suffered several large-caliber shell hits.
After the battlem König was taken to Kiel for initial repairs, which had a floating dry dock large enough to fit the ship. Preliminary repairs were conducted there then the ship was transferred to the Howaldtswerke shipyard. König was again ready to join the fleet by July

Operation Albion September 1917
After the capture of Riga, The German navy decided to eliminate the Russian naval forces that still held the Gulf of Riga

Post War König was interned, along with the majority of the High Seas Fleet, in Scapa Flow in November 1918 following the Armistice. On 21 June 1919, the German crew scuttle the ship
Laid down: October 1911
Commissioned: August 10, 1914
Fate: Scuttled June 1919 at Scapa Flow
General characteristics
Class and type: König-class battleship
Displacement: 25,390 tonnes (24,990 long tons) normal
28,600 tonnes (28,100 long tons) full load
Length: 175.4 m (575 ft 6 in)
Beam: 29.5 m (96 ft 9 in)
Draft: 9.19 m (30 ft 2 in)
Propulsion: 3 shaft Parsons turbines
3-bladed 3.8 m screw propellers, 42,708 shp (31,847 kW)
Speed: 21.2 knots (39.3 km/h)
Range: 8,000 nmi (15,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement: 1,136
Armament: 10 × 30.5 cm  guns
14 × 15 cm guns
10 × 8.8 cm guns
5 × 50 cm torpedo tubes
Armor: Belt: 350 mm (14 in)
Turrets and conning tower: 300 mm (12 in)
Deck: 30 mm (1.2 in)
Operations:
Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft
Battle of Jutland
Battle of Moon Sound

The Kit
This is the first extensive kit I had built in many years, and my first experience using Photo Etch parts so it was kind of a tune-up and a testbed. The kit is pretty inexpensive at $70.00 or so including the photo etch. I was happy with the outcome in spite of the mistakes I made and my inexperience with PE, many of which I only saw after looking at photo's I took of the completed ship.

 

           
           

Conclusion:
I really enjoyed this kit. It The instructions were great and there were no issues with fit.
Unfortunately I've lost my build notes and most of the photos I took during construction.
This was also a good kit for a first try with Photo Etch, It's not a difficult kit and there weren't a lot of involved modifications to the kit parts.
The instructions on the PE set were simple to follow but I did need to invest in the correct tools for bending and shaping the parts and some finer tip tweezers than the surgical tweezers I already owned.

I plan on building one of the sister ships probably the Markgraf in it's 1914 fit now that I've become comfortable with Photo Etch and other modern aftermarket parts.

       

Products used in construction

ICM S001, Konig German Battleship

Tom's Modelworks 3524
Konig/Grosser Kurfurst Detail Set

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Last Updated October 15, 2017