CombrigKingGeorgeV700

“The following particulars of the Orion, laid down at Portsmouth on November 29th, are given with reserve. Displacement, 22,500 tons; length, 545 ft.; beam, 88
¼ ft.; draught, 27 ½ ft.; I.H.P., 27,000; speed, 21 knots. The five turrets will be all on the centre line, and will be armed with 12-in. guns, although there seems
no reason, in the view of naval engineers, why the same mountings should not suit guns of larger bore, although not of the same length.” Naval Annual 1910, by
T.A. Brassey, at page 4.

At the close of the predreadnought battleship era, the Royal Navy was complacent. The Admiralty had developed a standard pattern of battleship with four 12-inch guns
as main armament and a 6-inch gun secondary. They were content with letting other navies experiment with new ideas. If an idea was a failure then the country that
designed and implemented it would be saddled with the consequences. If an idea was successful, the Royal Navy could adopt that idea and simply out build the
competition. As a consequence of this very conservative policy, the British designs were in danger of falling behind the designs of other countries. This mindset
changed dramatically when Jackie Fisher became first sea lord. Against more hide-bound opposition, he pushed through the HMS Dreadnought and stole a march on
the world.

Other navies were dumbfounded. Their future construction designs were obsolete before they were even laid down. German battleship building came to a stop to
allow their designers time to adjust to the new standard. In the meantime the Royal Navy popped out the Bellerophon Class, which were only slightly improved
Dreadnoughts. The Royal Navy always emphasized the offensive characteristics of their warships, which primarily meant gun power, so the following battleship
design was built to increase the firepower of their battleships. The St. Vincent Class was still based on the Dreadnought layout and design but the main guns were
lengthened from the 12-inch/45 of the Dreadnought and Bellerophons to 12-inch/50 guns. Designers forecast increased range and greater penetrating power because
of a higher muzzle velocity of the shells. The benefits were there but there also substantial detriments. The high muzzle velocity resulted in greatly increased barrel
wear. This in turn resulted in a significant loss in accuracy. The next two designs, that of Colossus and Neptune, kept the 12-inch/50 and theoretically increased
firepower by placing the wing turrets in echelon to allow cross deck fire, and by mounting X turret superfiring over Y turret. The arc of fire of the far side turret was
so limited that there was little increase in actual fighting power over the St. Vincents. After jetting ahead of all competition with Dreadnought, the following four
British battleship classes had been mere adjustments to the original and allowed other navies to catch up.

The HMS Neptune, laid down on January 19, 1909 was an one-off design. The Neptune still carried fore and aft tripods the main gun arrangement changed to allow
a limited ten gun broadside. P and Q turrets were placed in an arrangement as in the battlecruiser Indefatigable to allow cross deck fire from the far turret over a
limited arc. There would still be blast damage to the deck and superstructure not to mention the flying boat deck under which the 12-inch shells would pass. The
flying boat decks connected the islands of superstructure and were used to move the ship’s boats off the main decks. The other major change was to place X turret
superimposed over Y turret. Neptune still did not have end on fire for X turret because British designers kept placing the main gun turrets’ sighting hoods on the front
crown of the turrets, right under the muzzles of the superfiring guns. The blast of those guns would cause concussions to crew members in the lower turrets
sighting hoods. Other navies had already moved their sighting hoods to the aft crown of the turrets to prevent this so it is odd that the Royal Navy Designs retained
the forward hood location for so long. Length increased to 510-feet and beam to 85-feet. The main guns were still ten 12-inch/50 but secondary guns dropped back
down to sixteen. The belt declined another inch to 9-inches. The HMS Neptune was the last British battleship to carry two tripods. In July 1909 Colossus and
Hercules were laid down. They are best described as half-sisters of the Neptune. Their dimensions, and guns were identical to the Neptune but the pair eliminated the
aft tripod and unfortunately placed the fore tripod aft of the first funnel, a position that had proved poor in Dreadnought. The reason for this unfortunate decision
was to use the tripod center pole as a base for a boat boom, a truly penny wise, pond foolish decision to save a little weight. The elimination of the tripod mainmast
and increase in displacement to 20,225-tons allowed for extra armor and the Colossus and Hercules went back to the 11-inch belt found in Dreadnought. They also
changed to three 21-inch torpedo tubes instead of the three 18-inch torpedo tubes found in previous classes.

Also found in the Naval Annual 1910 was an article entitled “Types of Warships”, written by Vice-Admiral Sir S. Eardley-Wilmot. He assessed the battleship designs
of foreign navies and contrasted them with British designs. In his analysis of German designs he stated: “If the art of warship-building is one easy of assimilation
and capable of acquisition in a few years, one would expect to find in the Nassau, Westfalen, Rheinland and Posen elements of superiority to our first
Dreadnought. But they do not present these to my mind. They are certainly larger, being 18,200 tons, and that is a novelty in German policy, for she has
hitherto kept to smaller dimensions than we required, but the disposition of the armament appears faulty.” He further states, “There is no doubt, however, that
these first German Dreadnoughts are fine vessels, and if they exhibit some defects this casts no discredit upon the designers, who had a most difficult task. The
general principles of warship design, as of gun destruction, are well known and no monopoly of any nation; but it needs many years’ experience, practical as
well as theoretical, gained at sea and in the office, assisted by the traditions of centuries, to produce a craft in which everything is located to the best advantage,
with the result that besides being the most efficient machine she is not rendered unsightly, lumbered with top hamper, or crowded with weapons which impede
each other.” (Naval Annual 1910, at pages 100 & 101)

It was time for the Royal Navy to pull out another surprise. Given the Royal Navy’s emphasis on offensive power, this of course meant another increase in
firepower. The result was the Orion Class. It would be easy for Admiral Eardley-Wilmot to see that this design would further throw the Germans into disarray with
their smaller main guns. After all, what country could meet his qualifications for efficient battleship design of “…many years’ experience, practical as well as
theoretical, gained at sea and in the office, assisted by the traditions of centuries…”, other than Great Britain. As part of a deception plan, the Royal Navy let it be
known that the new Orion Class would mount 12-inch/50 guns in five centerline turrets. However, as can be seen from the statement at the start of this article, no
one was fooled. The Orion Class proved to be the largest forward leap in offensive power and displacement since the introduction of the Dreadnought.

It was obvious to the Admiralty that further development of the 12-inch gun had run its course. The loss of accuracy at long ranges and increased liner wear were
steep prices to pay for increased range and penetrating power. The Admiralty had liked the 13.5-inch gun, last mounted in the old Revenge Class. It was decided to
develop a new model 13.5-inch/45 gun, which to deceive the Germans was called the 12-inch/50 A. This decision was made after the Neptune was laid down and
after the design of the Colossus Class but before they were laid down. The four capitol ships for the 1909-1910 Program would be Colossus, Hercules, a battleship
and armored cruiser of new designs mounting 13.5-inch/45 guns, which would become Orion and Lion. The 13.5-inch/45 gun fired a shell which weighted 1250-
pounds vs 850-pounds for the shell of the 12-inch/50 gun, plus it required a lighter charge. The advantages were obvious, longer range, greater penetration power,
better accuracy, decreased liner wear and less powder needs. Another major decision was to finally mount all main gun turrets on centerline. Sir Philip Watts
prepared two designs mounting ten 13.5-inch guns, one with a maximum speed of 21-knots and another design with a maximum speed of 23-knots but costing
150,000 pounds sterling more. The Admiralty chose to save money with the 21-knot design. These decisions were made in the near hysteria caused rumors of an
increased German building program. “We want eight and we won’t wait!” was the motto of the press and public who wanted to greatly expand the yearly battleship
construction for the Royal Navy. Although the Prime Minister considered the four ships ordered for the 1909 Program more than sufficient, Parliament passed a
Supplementary Construction Law that ordered an additional four ships to the capitol ship construction program. These would become the other three ships of the
Orion Class, plus the battlecruiser, Princess Royal. When the press saw the jump in size and power, the Orion Class was called Superdreadnoughts.

To show how fast British battleship developing had become, the last 12-inch gun battleship, HMS Hercules, was laid down July 30, 1909 and the first 13.5-inch
gun battleship, HMS Orion, was laid down four months later on November 29, 1909. The three sisterships to Orion in the Supplemental Program were laid down
between April 1 and April 13, 1910. Orion was launched on August 20, 1910 and the other three between February 1 and May 1, 1911. Completion of the ships
were in 1912, between January and November. There was a big jump in length and displacement from the Colossus Class and Orion Class but very little change in
beam, due to the lack of dry docks of sufficient size. In comparison to the German Helgoland Class laid down in 1908, the Orion Class was five-feet narrower,
constraining subdivision. Displacement was 22,200-tons load draught and 25,870-tons deep load. Length was 545-feet, with a beam of 88-feet 6-inches and
draught of 28-feet 9-inches. Armament consisted of ten 13.5-inch/45 guns in twin turrets, sixteen 4-inch QF secondary guns, four 3pdr QF and three 21-inch
submerged torpedo tubes with one mounted in the stern and two on the beam. The armored belt was 12-inches with an upper belt of 8-inches extending to the
upper deck. Turrets and conning tower had 11-inches of armor with the barbettes receiving 10-inches. Armored decks were 4 to 1-inches. Three of the ships had
18 Babcock and Wilcox boilers with Monarch receiving Yarrow boilers. These fed steam to four Parsons turbines, developing 27,000hp for a maximum speed of
21-knots. The trials of Orion showed that the design was subject to heavy rolling due to a higher meta centric height. The solution was to fit larger bilge keels. It
would take two years before her weight of broadside would be surpassed, by USS Texas in 1914.

Another aspect of the British battleships designs between Dreadnought and Orion was the decrease in armor protection. As the Admiralty sought to increase
offensive power, maintain moderate dimensions and keep down the costs, survivability in form of the armor thickness was reduced. In the Naval Annual 1911
in an article called The Dreadnought Era, Commander C.N. Robinson wrote: “For several reasons, less has been said and written about the defensive qualities
of the armoured ships of the Dreadnought era than about their other elements of war worthiness. The Navy Estimates do not contain particulars of the
armour of the new ships, and therefore even about British vessels authentic information is scanty. This, coupled with the fact that up to the present time
there have been few, if any, changes in the nature and quality of the protection, and that the gun has absorbed the greater part of attention of naval
students, has caused the matter of armour to be somewhat neglected.” (Naval Annual 1911, The Dreadnought Era, 1911, by Commander C.N. Robinson, at
page 150) With Orion the vertical armor plan was significantly increased and Orion’s maximum armor belt thickness of 12-inches was the thickest so far. As
battle range was considered 9,000 to 10,000 yards, the increase in belt thickness protected against flat trajectory fire. In a retrograde step the deck armor and
internal subdivision of the Orion Class were actually less than on the previous Colossus Class. The contemporary German class of battleship, the Oldenburg, had
a slightly thicker belt but with five feet greater beam, a much better subdivision.

Admiral Eardley-Wilmot had stated that the Royal Navy had the requisite experience “to produce a craft in which everything is located to the best advantage”,
however, some design characteristics of the Orion tended to show that the good admiral was somewhat myopic. Previously mentioned was the decrease in deck
armor and internal subdivision. Although the Orion had superfiring turrets, they raised turrets, B & X, had to have stops installed to prevent end on fire. The RN
had retained sighting hoods at the front of the turret and the firing of guns of the superfiring turrets would cause concussion to personnel in the sighting hoods
below. Another retrograde feature was the placement of the foremast. With the Dreadnought, Colossus and Hercules, the foremast was placed behind the
forward funnel. The result was the same, the heat and fumes of the forward funnel made the foretop almost untenable. Since sighting and gun direction came
from personnel in the foretop, this was a serious defect. The Admiralty already knew this when Orion designed and yet they repeated the same faulty layout.
Why? It was another example of false economy. With the tripod behind the funnel, the middle leg could also serve as a base for operation of the boat boom and a
separate boom would not be required. This in turn would save weight and marginally decrease the expense of the ship. This was hardly an example of locating
something to the best advantage.

Having laid down eight capitol ships for the 1909 Program, the Admiralty cut back to five capitol ships for 1910, which became the four ships of the King
George V Class and the Queen Mary. Traditionally when had a new monarch, the first capitol ship laid down in their reign was named after the monarch. When
King Edward VII followed his mother, Queen Victoria, on January 22, 1901, the first ship was named King Edward VII, the name ship of a class of battleship.
King Edward VII died on May 6, 1910 and was followed by his son, King George V, so the new class of battleships for the 1910 Program became the King
George V Class. (Incidentally, the King George V Class of World War Two was named after King George V by King George VI to honor his father.) Originally
the new class were to be repeats of the Orion Class but during the design process the results of the HMS Lion’s trials came in, verifying what was already
known, placing the fore mast aft of the forward funnel was a very bad idea. The most noticeable differences between the Orion Class and King George V Class
was created by the decision to place the pole mast forward of the first funnel to prevent smoke and heat interference with the control top. The King George V
ships were also given large, slab-sided funnels for a very handsome appearance. Indeed, it was the King George V Class that created the classic British battleship
profile that was continued through HMS Hood. The class also introduced the multi-story bridge well aft of the conning tower but well forward of the first funnel
with an overhanging navigation platform at the top. This bridge design was very successful with more working area, chart room and sea cabins free of smoke
interference and was also subsequently followed in other British battleship designs.

The ships of the King George V Class were also large than those of the Orion Class. With a displacement of 23,000-tons (25,700-tons full load), they were 700-
tons heavier than Orion Class. The length was 597-feet 6-inches (182.1m) overall, 16 /1/2 longer than the Orions. The beam was half an inch to 89-feet (27.1m)
but the mean draught increased significantly to 28-feet 8-inches (8.7m). Armament remained the same with ten 13.5-inch/45 (343mm) Mk V main guns, sixteen
4-inch/50 (102mm) Mk VII secondary guns, four 3pdr (47mm) tertiary guns and three submerged 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes ( two beam and one stern).
However, the 13.5inch shell was redesigned to weigh 1,400-pounds, instead of 1,250-pounds. The Admiralty wanted to have a 6-inch secondary gun
arrangement because of the increased size of German destroyers and torpedo boats but that would have added 2,000-tons and cost extra money, which the
Liberal government did not want to spend. The added size did allow for a slight increase in deck armor, which ranged from 4-inches to one inch (100-25mm).
Belt armor was 12-inches to 8-inches (300mm - 200mm) with end bulkhead armor at 10-inches to 4-inches (250mm - 100-mm). Turret faces had 11-inches
(280mm) of armor with barbette armor from 10-inches to 3-inches (250mm - 75mm). The power of the propulsion plant was increased by 4,000shp to 31,000
shp to allow the heavier ships to have the a maximum speed of 22-knots. All of the class had four parsons turbines but King George V and Ajax had 18 Babcock
& Wilcox boilers, while the Centurion and Audacious had 18 Yarrow boilers. Maximum range was 6,730 nm at 10-knots. With a complement of 782, the King
George V Class had 30 sailors more than the Orion Class complement.

The King George V was originally to have been named the Royal George but the name was changed to conform to Royal Navy tradition. King George V and
Centurion were laid down January 16, 1911, while Ajax and Audacious followed in February. King George V was built at the Portsmouth Dock Yard and was
launched on October 9, 1911. She was completed in November 1912. King George V was unique in the class to have only stiffening flanges for the pole mast for
the extra weight of the control top of the range finder, while the other three were given tripod supporting legs. She also had a smaller control top than the others of
the class. It wasn’t until 1917 that King George V received a tripod. The ship became part of the 2nd Battle Squadron and flagship of Home Fleet upon
completion. In June 1914 King George V was at the Kiel Canal opening celebrations and Kaiser Wilhelm II came aboard the battleship named after his cousin, as
the first British battleship he had ever visited. With the start of the war in August 1914 she joined the Grand Fleet as flagship of the 2nd Battle Squadron, but had
lost the role of fleet flagship to HMS Iron Duke. She underwent a refit from October 1914 until February 1915. In 1915 a 3-inch anti-aircraft gun was added to
the quarterdeck. The King George V Class was the last British capitol ship design to be fitted with anti-torpedo nets, booms and shelves and they were landed in
1915. On May 31, 1916 King George V was the lead ship of the eastern most column of the Grand Fleet carrying the flag of Vice Admiral Sir Martyn Jerram,
commander 2nd Battle Squadron. She was one of the first British battleships in the main body to open fire at the High Seas Fleet. At 12,000-yards fire was initiated
at the lead German battleship, Koenig, at 19:07. During the brief engagement between the fleets King George V scored hits. After contact was broken the
battleships of the Grand Fleet steamed South to regain contact in two columns with Iron Duke leading the western column and King George V leading the eastern
column. However, the High Seas Fleet slipped past the rear of the Grand Fleet and safely made it home. King George V was not damaged. During 1916 the
searchlights were rearranged with the two bridge searchlights and the two aft superstructure searchlights remounted on a low platform around the aft funnel.

After Jutland a medium sized range finder was added atop the conning tower. In April 1917 the two forward hull 4-inch guns on each side were removed and the
openings closed and a second 3-inch AA gun added to the quarterdeck. Also in 1917 80-tons of extra armor was added over magazines and new anti-flash systems
were installed reflecting the lessons of Jutland. Also in this year the lower mast yards were removed and signal struts running from the starfish added, as well as
range finding baffles installed to the top mast. King George V was also given kite balloon towing equipment. In 1918 the ship received an aircraft launch ramp on
the crown of Q turret, deflection scales, range clocks below the control top forward and on the aft superstructure, and a torpedo control top was added low on
the tripod. A large rectangular control top replaced the smaller circular top and coffee pot searchlight position on the aft funnel replaced the searchlight platform
around the aft funnel with 24-inch searchlights replaced by 36-inch searchlights. After the war King George V became flagship of the Devonport Reserve (1919-
1923) and then as a gunnery training ship (1923-1926). The King George V was sold for scraping in December 1926, along with the rest of the class to conform
to the terms of the Washington Treaty with the arrival of Rodney and Nelson.

The Combrig HMS King George V in 1:700 Scale - The hull casting for the King George V is longer than that of Orion, which stands to reason since the actual
ship was longer. However, the hull form is very similar between the two. One difference that immediately jumps out is a vertical strake on the hull sides amidship
on King George V that was not present on Orion. The torpedo net shelves cast integral to the hull casting has the same arrangement of running along the top edge
of the hull, except at the deck break where it travels diagonally to join the forecastle shelve to the quarterdeck shelve. There are nice hull side anchor hawse
fittings, two on the starboard side and one on the port. Abreast of the forward superstructure there are two 4-inch hull secondary gun positions. These positions
have shutter doors with hinge and perimeter detail. At the stern there is more detail than found on the Orion model with a detailed sternwalk door and a couple of
square window fittings. With the King George V the 01 level forward is part of the hull casting, rather than a separate part. This level was more tapered than that
on the Orion design to allow a greater arch of fire for Q turret and concentrated the 4-inch secondary guns forward, along with the hull gun positions. The 01
level casemate positions are nicely done with locater holes for the barrels. The aft bulkheads of the forecastle level have detailed doors with rim and dog detail.

As usual, Combrig packs in a wealth of deck detail. The anchor windlass base plates and chain run plates are sharply defined, terminating in rather shallow oval
deck hawse. Also in front of the breakwater is a deck access fitting with hinge detail on the hatch, chain locker entry fittings, open chocks at the bow and three
twin bollard fittings. Deck planking detail is finely done but lacks butt end detail. The detail continues on the forecastle level aft of the breakwater. There are a
number of deck access fittings in square and rectangular patterns with hatch detail. There are various lockers as well. On the edge of the deck are two open
chocks and one twin bollard fitting on each side. There is a B barbette placement outline at the forward edge of the 01 level. The coal scuttle fittings start on each
side of the bridge position. The aft end of the forecastle level is more accurately called the boat deck has it is covered with locater slits for brass boat chocks. The
01 level deck has more coal scuttles, lockers, two locater holes for mushroom vents and locater outlines for two rectangular ventilators. Amidship, between the
forward superstructure and well for aft superstructure you’ll find the Q turret barbette and the bulk of the coal scuttles. Other fittings include two large square
skylights with pane detail, two multilevel deck access hatches, a couple of lockers, locater holes for large mushroom ventilators and locater outlines for deck
winches. The quarterdeck is crammed with detail with deck access fittings of one, two, three or four hatches. There are also a couple of small skylights, four
deck edge open chocks, three twin bollard fittings and locater holes for a windlass and two mushroom ventilators.

As usual, smaller resin parts come cast of plugs, wafers or runners. The larger parts are on plugs. For the King George V there are ten large pieces cast on plugs,
the two funnels and bridge tower, whose plugs will have to be removed, the five main gun turrets that fit in the barbettes and the bridge base and aft
superstructure that fit in wells on the hull casting. The largest of these is the three level aft superstructure. Here you’ll find more 4-inch gun casemates on two
levels and decks with access hatch fittings with dog and hinge detail. Unfortunately there was a little bit of shipping damage to one of the upper splinter shields but
nothing that can be easily fixed. There are locater holes for kingposts and binocular sets as well as the locater outline for the aft conning tower. The second
largest part is the two level bridge base. This part has the large main conning tower with vision slit detail, detailed bulkhead doors with hinge and frame detail, two
4-inch gun casemates. Locater circle for large main gun director on top of the conning tower and locater square well for the bridge tower part. The bridge tower
is six sided with the only detail being locater holes at the top. The five turrets are identical and feature the correct segmented crown armor over-laping plates.
They also have sighting hoods on the front part of the crown and gun director and entrance cupola on the rear of the crown. Both funnel castings have the
characteristic slab sided appearance, very nice bottom aprons with locater holes for steam pipes and top caps. The funnel tops are hollow to a medium depth.
There are two wafers of parts included. One just has the barbettes for B and X barbettes. The other wafer has parts cast on extremely thin film. These parts are
normally decks, platforms and other thin parts. For the King George V the parts on this wafer are the navigation platform, which goes on top of the bridge tower,
compass platform for the fore mast, upper platform for the fore mast, starfish, control top on the foremast, conning tower walkway, sternwalk and aft binnacle
platform. There are an additional two platforms on the wafer, which apparently are the kit of one of the sisterships.

There are 24 runners of resin parts but 11 of these are for ship’s boats. Three runners are for gun barrels, two with the 13.5-inch guns and one with the 4-inch
gun barrels, which also has some davits. They do not have hollow muzzles. One runner has the four largest parts with the conning tower director, aft conning
tower and the two large mushroom ventilator fittings. One runner has the detailed boat kingpost and boom with bracket, reinforcing band and pulley detail. Eight
large binocular stands consisting of pillar and detailed binoculars are on a runner. Four anchor windlasses in two patterns are on a runner. The three forecastle
windlasses are of one pattern and the quarterdeck windlass is of a different pattern. Twelve detailed deck winches are on a runner. One of the runners has all of
the smaller equipment parts, such as cable reels, compass, binnacles, ship’s wheel post, small mushroom vents, small rectangular vents and a fifth windlass.
Another runner has just small mushroom ventilator fittings. Ship boat davits in two different patterns are on a runner. Three detailed anchors are on a runner,
however one stalk was broken in shipment but it is easily replaced. The last of the ship’s runners has tripod legs, aft short kingposts and cupola parts. The 11
runners for the ship’s boats have one runner of two balsa rafts, three runners with a single detailed steam launch and seven runners of oared boats. The steam
launches in two styles have separate funnels, and integral detail for ventilators, rudder, keel, windowed cabin, cockpit and deck fittings. The open boat runners
have one whaler and two small boats with oars cast singly, six medium size boats cast two on each runner and two dinghies on a runner. Open boat detail
includes bottom deck planking and thwart detail.

Ship specific parts only are included on the brass photo-etch fret included with the King George V. Ship’s railings, vertical ladder, anchor chain and other generic
parts will have to be provided from after market sets. Some parts are relief-etched with name plates for all four ships of the class, sternwalk awning, accommodation
ladder platforms and aft binnacle lattice. A lot of the brass parts are for supports with numerous gussets in different patterns for superstructure and breakwater,
foremast support flanges, and upper foremast platform supports. In addition to the awning, the sternwalk has brass railings. In the past Combrig has had inclined
ladders with the treads depicted as rungs. The inclined ladders on the King George V fret are very good with frame, trainable treads, and safety railing. They are as
good as any after market inclined ladder and far superior to those in earlier Combrig 1:700 kits. The same is true with the accommodation ladders. Other parts on the
fret include funnel grates, two-piece life buoy racks, boat chocks for the boat deck, boat kingpost and boom block and tackle.

The instructions are in the old Combrig format and need to be supplemented from other sources. There are two back-printed pages. Page one has a scale plan and
profile that is essential to examine during assembly. Torpedo net booms have to be provided by the modeler from brass or plastic rod and their attachment point are
shown in the profile. Likewise rigging is shown in the profile, as well as top mast and yard pattern. Also on the first page are the history of the ship written in
Russian and ship’s specification in English. Page two has the laydown of the resin parts. Page three starts the assembly with an isometric view of the hull with
attachment of deck fittings. It also has a laydown of the brass fret, identifies the sizes of mushroom ventilators and has detailed insets for subassembly of the gun
turrets, accommodation ladders, and aft superstructure. Page four concludes assembly with another isometric view of the hull. It depicts attachment of the
superstructure subassemblies and finishes attachment of deck fittings and equipment. Separate detailed insets provide assembly for the funnels, boat deck kingpost
and boom, small aft derricks and forward superstructure and foremast. A scale template for yards, masts and booms is provided for those items to be cut from rod
by the modeler.

The Combrig King George V 1:700 scale kit has increased the detail from previous Combrig releases on other classes of British battleships, such as the Orion
Class. The resin hull has more detail and the brass photo-etch fret has significantly improved from past releases. The only thing that did not change was the
instructions. This kit provides a crucial missing link in the Combrig releases of the different classes of British battleships and will build into a very handsome replica.

Steve Backer
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