#614 HMS Prince Of Wales
Remembering Force Z with a build of the HMS Prince Of Wales from the Tamiya 1:700 waterline series. No electronics for this one.
Notes
As we approached the 80th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, I noticed that Tamiya have a representation of all the vessels in their 1:700 waterline series.
Will I make them all? Perhaps! I completed the Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire and have now added HMS Prince Of Wales to the collection. Perhaps I’ll keep HMS Repulse for next year?
Force Z
Force Z sailed from Singapore at 1710 on 8 December 1941 after receiving word of a Japanese convoy bound for Malaya. It consisted of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, battlecruiser HMS Repulse, with destroyer escorts HMS Electra, HMS Express, HMAS Vampire and HMS Tenedos.
On 9 December 1941, Japanese submarine and reconnaissance aircraft reported on Force Z without their knowledge. HMS Tenedos was also detected to return to Singapore as she was running low on fuel. Overnight, flares dropped by Japanese aircraft alerted Force Z to their discovery. Having lost the element of surprise, the force was ordered to return to Singapore.
On the return voyage, the force was intercepted by land-based bombers and torpedo bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk by Japanese aircraft on 10 December 1941. Destroyers Electra and Vampire moved in to rescue survivors of Repulse, while Express rescued those from the Prince of Wales.
Occurring just a few days after the Pearl Harbor attacks, this was Britain’s turn to learn how vulnerable capital ships were to air power. There was no attempt to alert or scramble RAF air cover for Force Z, though it is likely to have made little difference as the number and vintage of the planes on hand were totally outclassed by the Japanese forces in play.
HMS Prince Of Wales
HMS Prince Of Wales was the second of the King George V-class battleships. She was commissioned on 19 January 1941 and had a short but storied career.
In May 1941, she accompanied HMS Hood in the hunt for the Bismarck. She scored three hits against the German battleship, forcing it to return to port for repairs and abandon the attempt to break out into the Atlantic.
In October Prince of Wales and a destroyer escort left home waters bound for Singapore, arriving 2 December. Force Z was her first action out of Singapore. The wreck in the South China Sea about 260km NNE from Singapore
The wreck lies upside down in 223 feet (68 m) of water at 3°33′36″N 104°28′42″E (about 260km NNE of Singapore). The wreck site was designated a Protected Place in 2001 under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
The Kit
The Tamiya kit No. 31615 is a in 1:700 waterline rendition of the HMS Prince of Wales. Thi sis an old tooling from 1975 but it still stands up to scrutiny. Later boxings I think included the extra detail sprues.
Photo-etch Customization
While the Tamiya kit is a reasonably well detailed, I think it needs some PE to bring it to life, even if just for the railings.
I’m using a pretty wonderful photo-etch set from White Ensign Models (PE 738, 1:700) that caters for all ships in the King George V Class.
Here are my notes on how the PE was applied:
| PE | Name | Used |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20mm Single Oerlikon | 3x stern, 4x midships |
| 2 | 8 barrel pom-pom | replace A25+A26 4x midships |
| 3 | 4 barrel pom-pom | replace A25+A26 on 2nd and 3rd turret |
| 4 | 20mm twin-barrels for Mk5 | n/a |
| 5 | KGV degaussing cable | n/a |
| 6 | Foremast top (later fit) | n/a |
| 7 | 32’ cutter davits | replace A4 (not used in the end) |
| 8 | Waffle pattern doors | replace molded detail and add doors where missing |
| 9 | assorted hatches | added over hatches |
| 10 | 27’ whaler oars and rudder | add to A20,C22 |
| 11 | 32’ cutter oars and rudder | add to A24 |
| 12 | 27’ whaler cradles | not used |
| 13 | forward ER vent grilles | added to B30 |
| 14 | aft ER vent grilles | wrap around under B11 x2 |
| 15 | vertical and inclined rails | 2nd turret |
| 16 | Mainmast aerials (Anson/Howe) | n/a |
| 17 | Crane top cables | add to crane |
| 18 | crane jib | replace B16, B17 |
| 19 | 284 gunnery radar | added to C1 |
| 20 | bridge front DF aerial | added to front B7 |
| 21 | crane cab | replaces B18 |
| 22 | crane jib a-frame | replace B14 |
| 23 | ESM aerials (late fit) | n/a |
| 24 | Walrus fittings | added to Walrus |
| 25 | 279 radar & platform | added to fore and main mastheads, replacing top part of molding |
| 26 | 281 radar aerials | n/a |
| 27 | Jack staff | added to bow |
| 28 | Ensign staff | replace B44 at stern |
| 29 | catapults cradle | added below walrus |
| 30 | FH3 HF/DF aerial | added to mainmast |
| 31 | 25’ motor boat cradles | not used |
| 32 | 45’ motor launch cradles | not used |
| 33 | 45’ motor boat cradles | not used |
| 34 | Foremast starfish | added to foremast |
| 35 | mainmast starfish (post refit) | n/a |
| 36 | 91 TBS aerial | n/a |
| 37 | 277 surface radar | n/a |
| 38 | mainmast starfish (early) | added to mainmast |
| 39 | funnel cap grilles | replace top of B33, B41 |
| 40 | headache aerials (Anson/Howe) | n/a |
| 41 | Foremast IFF aerials | n/a |
| 42 | Foremast yards | replace part on foremast |
| 43 | Top 86 TBS aerial | n/a |
| 44 | Headache aerials (KG5/DOY) | n/a |
| 45 | Type 285 yagi aerials | add to B3 x 4 |
| 46 | Type 282 yagi aerials | add to B2 x 2 and C8 |
| 47 | 16’ motor dinghy cradles | not used |
| 48 | IFF interrogator aerial | n/a |
| 49 | modified aft funnel platform (DOY) | n/a |
| 50 | fwd funnel siren platform | n/a |
| 51 | sirens | n/a |
| 52 | IFF aerials (Anson/Howe) | n/a |
| 53 | accommodation ladders | added to turrets |
| 54 | mainmast IFF aerial (Anson/Howe) | n/a |
| 55 | Main HACs tower platforms | n/a |
| 56 | 85/86 TBS aerials | added to fore and main masts |
| 57 | 32’ cutter cradles | not used |
| 58 | anchor cable | not used |
| 59 | 2 bar rails | turret and platform railings |
| 60 | 3 bar rails | gunnel rails |
Paint
| feature | recommended | used |
|---|---|---|
| X-11 Chrome Silver | ||
| X-14 Sky Blue | ||
| XF-1 Flat Black | ||
| XF-2 Flat White | 70.951 white | |
| XF-7 Flat Red | ||
| XF-8 Flat Blue | ||
| Plane camo | XF-11 IJN Green | 70.897 Bronze Green |
| XF-12 IJN Grey | ||
| XF-20 Medium Grey | ||
| XF-21 Sky | ||
| XF-24 Dark Grey | ||
| XF-53 Neutral Grey | ||
| XF-54 Dark Sea Grey | ||
| deck | XF-55 Deck Tan | 70.843 Cork Brown |
| XF-56 Metallic Grey | ||
| Plane camo | XF-64 Red Brown | |
| XF-66 Light Grey | 70.990 Light Grey | |
| Camo A: Dark Ultramarine Blue | XF-1:1 + XF-8:4 | 70.839 ultramarine + 70.950 black (8:1) |
| Camo B: Dark Grey Green | XF-24:2 + XF-55:1 | 70.868 Dark Sea Green + 70.893 US Dark Green (6:1) |
| Camo C: Medium Grey | XF-2:1 + XF-54:2 | 70.992 Neutral Grey + 70.963 Medium Blue (8:1) |
| Camo D: Medium Blue | X-14:1 + XF-2:2 + XF-7:smidgeon | 70.963 Medium Blue + 70.989 Sky Grey (1:1) |
| Camo E: Light Grey Green | XF-2:1 + XF-21:2 | 70.870 Medium Sea Grey + 70.893 US Dark Green (6:1) |
| Camo F: Light Grey | XF-2:1 + XF-12:1 | 70.990 Light Grey |
| life rafts | XF-2 | 70.993 White Grey |
Figures
Adding some figures brings the deck to life. I’m using a set from ION Model: Royal Navy - Chilling on deck No. R700-001 1:700
They publish a useful guide to preparing and painting
Construction
Making a start on the Tamiya 1:700 HMS Prince of Wales. This White Ensign PE will keep me busy for a bit! #scalemodel
Yeah just for scale: that’s how big my glass of wine had to be to deal with all that PE
In progress - HMS Prince of Wales (Tamiya 1:700). Doing the PE rails after the dazzle camo and deck turned out to be a good choice. Final stretch now.
Still (always) more to do, but pottering away on my HMS Prince of Wales makes for a quiet meditation on the events of 80 years ago, just a few hundred miles north of my QTH
Rigging and antenna fixups
Itsy bitsy crew from @ionmodel that will be perfect on my 1:700 builds. Painting will be like 1 molecule of flesh tone to 3 molecules of navy;-) Got these after seeing @r.o.hobbypasion post, maybe these were used on his jaw-dropping Juan Carlos I L-61 diorama?
OK finally discovered something more finicky than hand-soldering 0603 SMT LEDs: painting 1:700 figures
Srsly, was the Walrus really worth all the trouble😎!!?… creating a few dramas on deck with these beaut little @ionmodel 1:700 RN crew (on the still-more-to-go HMS Prince of Wales)
Planning a seascape base, the foam on photo-frame technique ($2 from Daiso)…
Planning my seascape for HMS Prince of Wales aka “Time Tunnel 1941”
Making waves today😊 .. HMS Prince of Wales (Tamiya 1:700, White Ensign PE and crewed by #ionmodel)
Oh, I like this stern shot
HMS Prince of Wales (Tamiya 1:700). Faux Movietone News version;-)
Credits and References
- this project on scalemates
- HMS Prince of Wales - wikipedia
- HMS Prince of Wales, Tamiya No. 31615 1:700 - Tamiya
- HMS Prince of Wales, Tamiya No. 31615 1:700 - scalemates
- King George V Class, White Ensign Models - No. PE 738 - 1:700 - White Ensign Models
- King George V Class, White Ensign Models - No. PE 738 - 1:700 - scalemates
- Royal Navy - Chilling on deck 1/700 ION Model - No. R700-001 - 1:700