Monday 20 August 2012

Lions and tigers and Temeraires*. Oh my!

Recent additions to my 1/1200 scale fleet are these two battleships of the Lion class.  Six of these were planned, and the first two (Lion and Temeraire) laid down as a planned follow-up to the King George V class.  Unlike the KGVs, the Lions were to be armed with 16 inch guns in three triple turrets.  As the hull was basically a (very) slightly stretched KGV (the difference in length amounts to a fraction of a centimetre in 1/1200 scale), I simply made up the Revell kit from the box, less the main turrets.  Suitable turrets were sourced from a chap on ebay who produces a range of such items  - mostly as replacements for the old Tremo models.  The turret mounts had to be carved out a bit to enable to new turrets to fit. 
An easy conversion then, to produce an only slightly fictional ship!  Or two.

12 comments:

Paul said...

Lovely job Tim, the painting is great as well.

The turrets look like they belong on it.

Tim Gow said...

Paul
Ship painting tips: drybrush over a black undercoat and take the photos from a safe distance!

Peter Douglas said...

TIm

Lovely stuff! Will we see a Graf Zep or RMI Aquila?

Cheers
PD

Tim Gow said...

Peter Douglas
Who knows....

Martin Rapier said...

Very nice looking ships, the triple turrets look much better balanced than the original armament configuration.

More than a match for the Tirpitz I suspect.


Tim Gow said...

Martin Rapier
I agree. The KGV's mix of twin and quad turrets looks like a bit of a lash-up by comparison.

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

I've got to say I really like them Tim especially since I never liked the 14" Revell (I know they are just the latest owner of the molds) quad turrets

I think they look the business ;)

Tim Gow said...

Geordie
They are just nicely different from my KGVs. And with a usefully heavier broadside....

ian drury said...

Funnily enough, I have Lion under construction in Walthamstow. And the Hindenburg has just joined the Kriegsmarine (The planned Bismarck follow on).

Tim Gow said...

Ian Drury
I have a pile of spare Bismarcks, so you may expect some forthcoming Z-Plan silliness...

David Crawford said...

In my usual timely fashion, I'm posting messages on a blog more than six years old. Will anyone even see it?

I was wondering if you know if the guy who supplied you with those triple gun turrets is still casting them, and who he is? I'm looking at a couple of Revell PoW's that I don't really need, and turning them into Lions might be a fun way to use them.

Thanks.

Tim Gow said...

David Crawford
It never does to rush these things! I found the turrets on eBay so it might be worth running a search.