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Ulf Lundberg
73 articles

Schlachtschiff König

December 28, 2014 · in Ships · · 19 · 4.1K

I finished the König in August 2003. She was my first battleship build in 1:350 and a very important step for me as a modeller.

Although 's kit is some fifteen years old now, it's still a good kit and in one respect a better kit than recent releases from Dragon, Hasegawa, Tamiya etc.
The ships boats are very well done, especially the cutters that are made in two pieces. A lower piece for the hull and an upper piece for the gunvale and the thwarts.
None of those one piece cutters with thwarts looking like big boxes instead of the planks they really are. All other manufacturers could learn something here.

ICM should also get credit for issuing a model of a german WWI battleship. It's still the only injection moulded kit in 1:350 of a capital german ship of that era. It's about time the other manufacturers picked up that trail.

I intentionally abstained from weathering the model, though I did apply some washes and did some drybrushing to bring out the details.
I wanted the model to look like a smaller version of those beautiful ship models shown in the "Vom Modell zum Original" books by Koop & Schmolke.

(From the pictures in these books, it appears, that at one time, models in 1:100 of the entire german fleet of WWI and WWII were displayed at the Küstenmuseum in Wilhelmshaven. I travelled to Wilhelmshaven in June this year, to see those models, but although several great models were exhibited at the Marinemuseum and the Küstenmuseum, most of the models are stowed away somewhere. I was unable to find out where.)

I detailed the model with PE from Tom's Modelworks. A straightforward enough PE set. The upper masts and the yardarms are made from piano wire and I rigged the model with stretched sprue. It was the last time I did that. The rigging is so fragile, that I dare not breathe on it, and with one exception, I haven't taken the model to exhibitions.
Cleaning dust away from her is also quite scary.

I entered the König at my first ever model competition in Stockholm in April 2004, where she got two special awards; IPMS Norways award and "In memory of Jan Michols". That was a great inspiration to me, not the least since I didn't expect it.

The model is currently displayed at "Modellbau-Meile" Karl-Marx-Allee 138 in Berlin.

Reader reactions:
14  Awesome

11 additional images. Click to enlarge.


19 responses

  1. Very nice Ulf, superb modeling,
    Steve N.

  2. Ulf you are definitely a master when it comes to ship modeling!

  3. A master shipwright to be better put.
    Great work Ulf.

  4. A looker as usual Ulf. Two fleets in 1/100 scale. Not only would that be a huge undertaking to build but the area to display them would need to be large as well. Sure it wasn't 1/1000th?

    • I believe the models in the Küstenmuseum and Marinemuseum were contemporary models, possibly shipyard models. I've seen pictures of models of all major german ships from both WWI and WWII. Presumably they were built by several people over many years. The exhibited models show signs of ageing.
      And yes, they were in 1:100.

  5. Hi Ulf, another great one from your ship yard and with well deserved awards for it.

    The ICM kit is not an easy build, did this one in the same time frame, out of the box without pe extra detailing but with self made masts and rigging from stretched sprues, sadly this didn t last long and my König is in a bad shape.

    Its strange that no other company nor ICM came out with other WWI capital ships.

    There is another great place in Germany for inspiration, the Marine Ehrenmal and musuem in Laboe/Kiel with huge and perfect made ships from every german navys. It was an awesome moment to stand between S.M.S Scharnhorst and the WWII Battleship with the same name !

    There is also a chance for running the head against a steel bulkhead, visiting the U-995 submarine inside.

    Will visit the museum in Wilhelmshafen at some time, you can find also good photo sources in the "Waffenarsenal" books, written by Sigfried Breyer, these well written books can be found quite cheap in the WWW.

    This author is also responsible for my navy interest...

    • Hi Bernd.

      I visited the Ehrenmahl in Laboe a few days after I was in Wilhelmshaven. Yes, it is impressive, and very moving. To see the commemorating plates of sunken ships, placed there by the survivors, gave me a lump in the throat and a knot in the stomach.

      I was also moved by the way the Ehrenmahl had been transformed from a nationalistic monument to a monument commemorating the killed and drowned sailors of all nations.

      Germany is a country that has learned from its history. I wish more nations would do that.

  6. Only one more of these superb models and articles and I swear, I'll do my first ship model since 33 Years.

    Another great museum, especially - but not only - in terms of models:
    http://www.internationales-maritimes-museum.de

    • Thank you Halvar. Do have a go at a ship model, but don't start with a battleship in 1:350.

      Yes, the Hamburg museum is good. The Deutsche Schifffahrtsmuseum in Bremerhaven http://www.dsm.museum/ is also a great museum. Great models of all types of ships and some of those classic german maritime paintings also to be seen.

  7. Ulf, I think we recognise your special talent for ship subjects, and this is another in that line of fine models.

  8. Yet another beautiful entry, Ulf...just curious, though - why did you advise Halvar to "... have a go at a ship model, but don’t start with a battleship in 1:350..." ? I've only done a few 'select' ship models (all of which can be seen here with a search), and I, too, was thinking maybe trying a 350th BB next time.

    • Thank you Craig.
      The reason I don't recommend starting with a battleship or large aircraft carrier, is the amount of work involved. It takes me at least six months of concentrated effort to finish a battleship. I would recommend starting with a destroyer, or even a sub in order to gain your first shipbuilding experience.
      Of course, it depends a lot on what type of person you are. If you know, that you have the persistence to finish large projects, by all means, have a go at a battleship.

  9. A work of art Ulf. I agree with you about the cutters & boats; what a difference.

  10. Very nice work, great attention to detail, especially the photoetch.

  11. Great modeling skills Ulf. Just as good as it gets. See now I know the difference between my gunvale and thwarts! And the two piece boats look great. Fine modeling.
    California Steve

  12. I always enjoy looking at and admiring your models, Ulf, and this one is no exception. Fantastic!

  13. Your first big boat! The rigging does look fragile but very convincing non the less. Maybe one day I will be posting my first boat!..

  14. Don't know how I managed to miss this the first time around, Ulf., but this is really beautiful.

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