| HISTORY |
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The German light
cruiser
Königsberg was the lead ship of a class of three light
cruisers built by Germany in the late 1920's. Built by
the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven; Königsberg was laid
down in April 1926, launched in March 1927, and commissioned in April 1929.
Königsberg served as a training ship in the 1930s, later
joining the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War.
After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, she laid defensive
minefields in the North Sea and then participated in Operation Weserübung,
the invasion of Norway in April 1940. While attacking Bergen, Königsberg
was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal artillery, and sunk by British Skua
dive-bombers the following day. Her wreck was eventually raised in 1942
and broken up for scrap.
For more on Königsberg , visit her Wikipedia page here,
which is where this abridged history was pulled from. |
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| The
Flyhawk Königsberg
Flyhawk’s 1/700 KönigsbergDeluxe
Edition comes in a black cardboard box with artwork showing Königsbergunder
aerial attack on the box top. One side of the box shows a couple future
Flyhawk releases – Royal Navy destroyer HMS Kelly and the German
Battleship Scharnhorst - both in 1/700.
Inside the box is a copy of the box art that is
suitable for framing. Underneath that, the box is jammed with parts.
The hull and decks are wrapped in thin plastic sheet to prevent damage,
the sprues are packed in multiple clear plastic bags. There
is an additional sprue of clear plastic with bonus Blackburn Skuas, as
well as a complete set of photo etch and brass upgrade parts. |
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| THE
HULL & DECKS |
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| FlyHawk lists each component of the
hull and decks as different sprues; A through D, and P. Sprue
A is the forecastle deck, sprue B the upper hull, sprue C the waterline
plate, sprue D the lower hull and sprue P is the main deck.
SPRUE A - FORECASTLE DECK
This part is one long piece, which runs all the
way from the bow to the super firing aft turret. It is really nicely
molded with sharp details. There is subtle raised plating on the
deck. Some cable reels and the anchor chain are molded as part
of the deck. The main deck structures are integrally molded
to this part, details include portholes, piping and vents.
SPRUE B - UPPER HULL
The upper hull scales out well in length and beam.
There is raised hull plating the length of the hull and recessed anchor
recesses. Also included is the degaussing cable, added in a late
1939 refit. The portholes on the hull have subtle eyebrows over them,
while the chocks along the edge of the hull are finely done. The
upper part of the armor belt is here as well. Really crisp
details.
SPRUE C - WATERLINE PLATE
It's a waterline plate. Looks fine.
SPRUE D - LOWER HULL
The lower hull is mostly smooth, with the lower
half of the armor belt molded on. There are skegs for the shafts
and crisp bilge keels. The forefoot is a separate part.
SPRUE P - MAIN DECK
This is a little less busy than the forecastle
deck, but has the same subtle deck plating, anchor chain for the stern
anchor, cable reels and hatches. |
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| SPRUE
E |
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| Here you’ll find masts, yards, part
of the spotting top, davits, piping and other really fragile and small
parts. |
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| SPRUE
G |
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| This sprue - the largest one in the
box - has platforms, props, injection molded inclined ladders, shafts,
the forward pole mast, the kingposts for cranes, directors, anchors, capstans,
top of the bridge, the forefoot of the lower hull and various other parts.
There is great details, with tread plating one of of the decks.
The sprue for the bonus aircraft also includes a clear plastic top of the
bridge. I've included the photos here for comparison with the solid
plastic parts. |
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| SPRUE
H |
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| The two part main battery turrets
and the main battery gun barrels are on this sprue. Each gun barrel
is a separate part. There is crisp detail on the turrets. |
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| SPRUE
I |
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| A few small superstructure parts make
up this small sprue. Again, there is nice detail on the sides of
the parts. |
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| SPRUE
J |
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| Funnels and funnel caps are here.
There is piping - with hollowed ends - coming out of the funnels.
The funnels caps are well done, especially for injection molded plastic. |
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| SPRUE
K |
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| There are more assorted small superstructure
parts on this sprue, with the same fine detail as with other parts. |
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| SPRUE
L |
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| The injection molded catapult, a crane
and director are here. Very nice detail for plastic parts.
For those who don't want to use photo-etch, a wash would really bring out
the recessed details on these parts, especially the crane. |
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| SPRUE
M |
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| This
"sprue" is part of the aft superstructure. There is really good detail
to be found - doors, piping, portholes and planking on the deck. |
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| SPRUE
N |
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| The upper part of the forward superstructure.
The splinter shields are very thin, there is nice detail on the deck. |
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| SPRUE
O |
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| This part is the base for the forward
superstructure. Very crisp details on the doors, vents, piping
and portholes. |
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| SPRUE
Q |
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| On this sprue are the triple torpedo
tubes. |
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| SPRUE
DE02 |
| The first of several common sprues
for German navy kits. This has ships boats, which have details on
the hull and portholes on the hulls of the boats! |
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| SPRUE
DE03 |
| More boats, with more great detail,
including planking and well define thwarts. |
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| SPRUE
DE04 |
| The Arado floatplane is on this sprue.
You can build it with the wings folded or extended. |
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| SPRUE
DE06 |
| The paravanes, more torpedo tubes
(not used on this kit) and other ridiculously small and well detailed parts
are on this sprue. |
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| SPRUE
DE07 |
| This sprue has 37mm and 20mm guns.
They are very well done. The 37mm guns are three parts, the 20mm
have shoulder stocks and other great details. |
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| SPRUE
DE08 |
| This sprue searchlights and directors.
These are terrific. |
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| SPRUE
DE19 |
| This heavy 88mm AA guns.
As mentioned throughout this review, the details are quite nice. |
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| BONUS
SPRUE - SPRUE G, CLEAR (x2) |
| There are two of these,
each with 3 Blackburn Skua aircraft, for a total of six aircraft.
You can build each aircraft with the wings folded or extended. The
details look nice, though I personally loathe clear plastic aircraft.
Also include on this sprue is the aforementioned clear plastic top for
the bridge, which will give you clear plastic bridge windows. |
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| PHOTOETCH |
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Three photo-etch frets, with some
relief etching is included in this deluxe edition of Königsberg.
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Fret A: Inclined ladders, catapult, replacement
platforms and AA guns.
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Fret B: Rails for the funnels, cable
reels, boat chocks, crane, aircraft props, funnel caps and replacement
yards.
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Fret C: Railings, more boat chocks, boat
davits, rails for the boats, and the pre-war eagle for the stern.
The detail is up to Flyhawk's usual standards. |
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| BRASS
PARTS (GUN BARRELS AND MASTS) |
| The upgrade parts include brass parts.
There are gun barrels for the main battery and heavy AA guns.
Also included are turned brass parts for the crane kingposts, piping for
the funnel and replacements for the masts and yards. It's an
impressive and extensive set of brass parts. |
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| DECALS |
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| There is a small set of decals in
the kit. Here you’ll find four Kriegsmarine ensigns, markings for both
the Arado and Blackburn aircraft and various stencils. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| There are actually three separate
sets of instructions in the deluxe version of the kit. One
set for the Königsberg,
one set for the photo-etch and brass upgrade parts, and one set for the
Blackburn Skuas. The instructions for
the Königsbergand
for the photos etch are on 21 inch by 7 inch, two-sided pieces of heavy,
glossy paper. The instructions for the Skuas are on a double sided
10 x 7 piece of heavy gloss paper.
There are eight steps for Königsbergand
one for the A/C. They feature exploded view drawings with colored highlights,
that are logical and look easy for follow. Painting instructions
are on the bottom of the second page, with suggested colors from different
manufacturers, including "WEM" colourcoats (Psst, Flyhawk...).
There are multiple, unnumbered, steps on the instructions
for the photo-etch and brass. These have exploded drawings
and are very detailed.
The instructions for the Blackburn Skuas included
exploded drawings on one side, and a painting guide on the other. |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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Flyhawk continues to set
the bar for other model manufacturers with this release.
Once again, they've brought us an exquisitely detailed and sharply molded
kit of a ship never done in injection molded plastic before.
Honestly, did you ever think you'd see a K-class cruiser, other than in
resin? Hopefully further German light cruisers will be in the works.
While I can't vouch for complete accuracy, the
kit compares favorably to photos and drawings in Whitley's German Cruisers
of World War II, and Koop & Schmolke's German Light Cruisers
of World War II.
This is Flyhawk’s 1/700 HMS Königsberg,
the Deluxe Edition, kit number FH1125S.
The kit retails for around $89.95. While that might seem expensive
for a 1/700 light cruiser, this model is chock full of parts, and has everything
you need to build a highly detailed model of this esoteric German cruiser.
Highly Recommended!
Thanks to Flyhawk
for the review sample. This is an in box review only. Your mileage
may vary once you start sniffing glue. |
