Damage to the German battleship Grosser Kurfürst. Ship of the line Grosser Kurfurst Turrets and casemate guns

In the creation of the model, a plastic set from ICM was used, a wooden deck from Artwoxmodel. Photo-etch kit from WEM. Turned barrels from an unknown manufacturer. All paints are acrylic "AKAN". Primer Tamievskaya.
Working with plastic did not cause big problems. The plastic is soft and cuts well. Black organza was used to simulate rigging.
A more or less detailed construction process is described in the building tales "Grosser Kurfürst Again".
Considering that this is my second model in 350 scale, not everything turned out as we would like. But you be the judge.
Special thanks for the help in the construction of the battleship deLoro, Danile and many others from the shipbuilding community.

German battleships went on open voyage and literally flooded fighting World of Warships. However, the question remains open - is it worth downloading them and what awaits us at the end of the branch? I offer you a preliminary review of the top of the branch - Elector, compiled on the basis of feedback from "happy" owners.

The elector is huge and clumsy like Belgium. The rudder changeover time is 18.4 seconds, the circulation radius is over a kilometer. You can forget about some dodges from torpedoes and shells right away - the top of the German branch is not about that.

The Elector is conceived by the developers as the embodiment of the tank from the MMO RPG. For this, he was given the most a large number of HP at the level and branded German nano-armor, which practically excludes the penetration of the citadel. It is very difficult to break through the citadel to the crown of the German battleship branch, even with the caliber of Yamata.

But besides armor-piercing shells, there are other ways of dealing damage in the game, how does the Elector tank them? Damage from land mines at the tip is reluctant, but the middle of the hull eats land mines with a bang, turning the German battleship into a real grilled chicken. But land mines are not so scary, the damage from a fire can always be compensated with a frailty, there is a much more terrible enemy of battleships - torpedoes. And here is the monument to German gigantomania somehow strangely veiled and crammed into a corner. What?! PTZ 25%?! At level 10?
Exactly. "Melee Battleship" is completely unprotected from torpedoes and eats their damage like crazy. 2 shimakase torpedoes tear off about 36-38K HP from the Elector. Is it worth recalling that there are 15 such torpedoes in a full salvo of shims?

Now about gk. The German has 12 406/420 mm guns, some of them are faster-firing, but less damaging, others are the other way around. The accuracy of both types is quite acceptable, which cannot be said about the range, which is the weakest of the tier 10 battleships. However, such a range is quite understandable - players are encouraged to choose close combat on this battleship. It's not critical at all. After all, the range can always be accelerated by the module up to 22+ km, which will make it equal to its competitors.

Towers are critical. They spin very quickly, but have one huge drawback. In order to shoot all the guns at the enemy, you will have to turn at him by more than 47 degrees. That is, the Elector can give a full salvo only by showing his rather big board. Yes, miracle armor will protect him from a return volley of armor-piercing weapons, but who will protect him from a pack of torpedoes and a shower of land mines?

The German also has unconditional advantages - the secondary armament, with full swing into it, works far and even causes some damage. Some say that according to this indicator, the Elector overtakes even Yamato.

air defense. In a recent review on Yamato, I described in detail its possibility, or rather the impossibility, to oppose anything to Aviks. So the Germans are even worse. If Yamato is just a sweet bun for an airline, then the Elector is a huge cake that only says “eat me”.

GAP. The Germans received a unique consumable for the LC - hydroacoustics, but on the Elector it looks more like trolling. Who in their right mind would go to catch a destroyer on a clumsy barge with a missing PTZ?

So the turn of the second part of our article has come. If in the first part of the article I focused on Bismarck alone, then the second part will be about two ships at once - Friedrich der Große and Großer Kurfürst.

Friedrich der Große - Old Fritz

Frederick the Great. King of Prussia, in his political, military and cultural genius, who knows no equal in the history of Germany. A really big name, but does the ship named after him match it? Probably not. The German Nine is an interesting ship, balanced, peppy and with its own chip, but still, in terms of gameplay, it does not differ significantly from Bismarck, and in terms of fun it is inferior to it at times.

Although the ship turned out to be passable, it is still not so bad (in the top, of course). In addition, it is possible to try out the innovations of German engineers - 406 and 420 mm guns. These weapons, which will migrate with you to the top ten, are in fact the only innovation in comparison with the 8th level. Otherwise, everything is the same with us: approximately the same maneuverability, the same armor ... But since there are no changes, then why doesn’t it oppress so powerfully? Bismarck with the same set at its imba level, and this one has a larger caliber and better air defense, you rightly object. But here the notorious number of trunks comes into play. If at level 8 8 trunks are still normal, then at level 9 it is clearly not enough. Of course, you will inflict damage, but the level has increased, by the 10th it throws more and more often, you want something more serious, and only the caliber has become more serious.

If on Bismarck such battles are in the order of things, then on Friedrich they happen much less often. For the German nine, this is really a very good fight.

As for perks and upgrades, here we choose the same as on Bismarck, but we get one more upgrade slot - the 3rd (well, or the 6th, as you wish). And in this slot, we have a huge choice - even all the upgrades can be useful to us: if you want maximum acceleration of the secondary armament, put secondary armament 3, if you want even higher rate of fire with some loss of turning speed - these are GK 3 guns, but if you are a representative of the CA and the main thing for you is the range (although with such a spread this is a complete perversion), then here you have an SLA 2. Well, my choice is air defense 3. This will increase protection against air attacks, while you will not lose anything else.

If we compare the ship with classmates of the same level, then I would put it in second place after Iowa. It surpasses Izumo, of course, at times: although this ship has fans, it does not stand out among the 9s, and the specific arrangement of the towers makes this ship suitable only for a narrow range of tasks. However, in truth, all LK 9s seem to me not the most outstanding machines, which are just a springboard for the final jump. Unless Iowa gives an idea of ​​Montan and is a slightly worse version of it. The 9th German and Japanese differ much more strongly from their older brothers.

Großer Kurfürst - Graceful giant

Here he is, this Great Elector. Here, by the way, you can see all the perks and upgrades.

Great Elector. By the way, this is not so much a title as a common noun - in German historiography, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg, the man who founded the unified Brandenburg-Prussian state, is called that. The ship itself turned out to be very, very remarkable. This is a real mastodon of the WoWS fleet, a champion in many ways: nai big sizes in the game and the least concealment among all battleships of the 10th level, the largest number HP among all the ships in the game, the most powerful armor in comparison with other LK 10 (here and a good scheme and rather low, in comparison with the same Yamato, board). Unless, in terms of caliber and air defense, it is inferior to Yamato and Montan, respectively. In terms of accuracy, it is in the middle between them. However, this is compensated by the fact that we have 420 mm cannons, of which there are as many as 12 (!) Pieces (for the Germans, this is a record), which means that we are simply out of competition in terms of the weight of a volley. Indeed, for the sake of this, it is worth enduring the crookedness of German guns and their small number for all 9 levels.

As for everything else, even here the ship keeps its mark. Of course, it has a number of significant drawbacks: large dimensions, weak PTZ and a huge circulation radius. Nevertheless, for such a colossus, it is quite maneuverable, and the presence of hydroacoustics allows you to learn in advance about the approach of torpedoes and move away from them. Thanks to our armor, we also hold a blow from shells of other LCs very well, and breaking through our citadel is a truly difficult task. However, this is not a ranged ship. Frequent ricochets and a short firing range force us to move forward, and at close ranges even our armor is already starting to let through damage. However, this damage is not critical. That is, we can quite successfully citadel our Japanese and American counterparts without receiving a citadel in return and surviving in fierce clinches.

However, there is one healthy fly in the ointment in this Teutonic honey barrel. And its name is aircraft carriers. The air defense of the elector is good and slightly inferior to the American one, however, if 6 (or more) squadrons fly at you at once, and even from all sides, it will be very difficult. In such a situation, there is only one course of action: shout Gott mit Uns loudly, quickly uncover your guns, fire a farewell volley and wait for your fate. If you're lucky, you'll get half your HP removed, thin out the enemy squadrons, retreat, heal, and start the cycle over again. If you are very lucky, then several of your cruisers will be nearby and they will help you fight back without significant consequences. But if you are not lucky, then with a high flag you will go to the bottom, and after the battle you will miss about 100-200k silver. Here is such an entertaining economy. In short, at high level LK it is better to play in a squad.

As for a general comparison with other LC 10, it is quite difficult to make it. And not at all because Kurfürst is much better or worse than others: in some ways it is bad (circulation radius, camouflage), in some ways it is approximately equal to others (dispersion, air defense), and in other parameters (armor, weight volley, relay, acoustics, survivability) even surpasses the rest. However, the problems for all high-level LCs are identical - high-explosive autism and aircraft carriers. You can also name torpedoes, but it’s just the Germans who can counter them and quite successfully cope with this. Nevertheless, even if destroyers are excluded, he already has enough problems. And, unfortunately, not only him.

Conclusion

In general, the myth that German LCs are scary cacti (and in general I’ll go get a yamata) is not true. They, unlike their counterparts of other nations, are very tenacious, they have their own trick, their own way of playing, and the German 10 turned out to be very worthy, unusual and interesting. It is high time for Yamato to get off his pedestal and Kurfürst is quite capable of pushing him out. The Germans have weak sides- dispersion, poor horizontal armor, large dimensions, large circulation radius. But still, these are battleships and the like forgivable. In general, the branch is really worth downloading (it's worth at least trying), as these ships literally force you to play LK gameplay, which, contrary to popular belief, is not at all about standing at the edge of the map and shooting into the distance, but is to lead the team behind him, take damage and give very painful slaps to all representatives of the red team.

Damage to the German battleship Grosser Kurfürst

The elements are of the same type as the battleship Koenig.

"Grosser Kurfurst" ("Grosser Kurfurst") was the second in the column of the third squadron of German battleships.

He was under fire from the heavy 381-mm artillery of the fifth squadron of British ships of the line (8-381 mm guns each), receiving hits from varying distances from 102 to 42 cab. at a speed of 22 knots.

For the entire period of the battle (2 hours), the Grosser Kurfürst received 8 hits by English semi-armor-piercing shells, and there was a case when four 381-.M.M shells hit the battleship within 2 minutes (Fig. 64).

Two heavy shells hit the port side; one of them pressed two 355-mm plates of the main armor belt at the very waterline. From the damage received in the hull of the ship, the entire bow of it was gradually flooded with water, with the exception of the compartment of the torpedo tubes and the trim tank. The water level rose to the middle living deck.

Another shell went through the 280-mm armor of the anti-mine artillery casemate and pierced the transverse bulkhead on the port side with a piece of armor.

From the next 381-mm projectile, which crashed on the barbette of the bow of the ship, the upper deck of the forecastle was damaged. A shell that exploded, probably at the junction of 355 and 280 mm armor plates, destroyed the ventilation shaft of the first stoker.

Two subsequent shells hit the main armor belt (355 mm) and weakened it so that the rear side corridors and coal pits on the port side filled with water.

As a result of damage to the underwater part in the bow and stern, the ship received a roll of up to 4 ° to the port side.

With great difficulty, the hole was repaired, almost all the water was pumped out, and then the ship's roll decreased to 1 °, since 800 tons of water still remained in the ship. The last two hits were on the main armor belt, which remained intact. Of the crew, 25 people were injured. The ship returned to the base without outside help, where it got into factory repair, which lasted until July 21, 1916.

And t about g and. For 2 hours of battle with the English battleships, the Grosser Kurfürst received 8-381-mm hits from semi-armor-piercing shells, which caused him significant damage. The main armored 355-mm belt was hit by 5 heavy shells; in three cases, the armor was damaged, and as a result of the broken watertightness of the side, in the presence of underwater holes in some places, a strong leak appeared on the port side. From the received water in the bow and stern, the ship received a 4 ° roll.

However, two hits by 381-mm shells did not bring damage to the main armor belt. In two cases, the 280-mm casemate armor was pierced by heavy shells, and its transverse bulkhead was pierced with a piece of armor. The barbette and the upper deck were destroyed by a heavy shell.

On the mechanical side, the shell destroyed the ventilation shaft of the first stoker.

The struggle for the survivability of the ship was expressed in sealing up an underwater hole and pumping out water with ship drainage facilities. Still, 800 tons of water remained inside the ship. Roll from 4° was reduced to 1°. 2% of the crew suffered. The ship was under factory repair for 50 days.

German battleship, one of the huge herd of battleships of the First World War. Laconic and compact.

Ship of the line Grosser Kurfürst

Scale 1:350
Plastic - ICM,
FTD - WEM

Prototype

The König-class battleships, to which Grosser Kurfürst belonged, were the result of improvements in the Kaiser-class battleships. All five turrets moved to the diametrical plane, a powerful medium-caliber battery was preserved. The ship's armor corresponded to the German principle of "absolute" protection - 350mm side armor plus armored deck bevels.
As with all WWI ships, horizontal armor was weak - but in the absence of combat-ready aircraft and short combat distances, this did not play a special role.

By the end of the war, the appearance of the ship had changed somewhat. Anti-torpedo nets were dismantled, the foremast became more massive
and a rangefinder post appeared on it, an 88mm battery in the bow superstructure was dismantled, and the number of anti-aircraft guns doubled (from two to four)
The battleship Grosser Kurfürst entered service already during the First World War. Participated in the battle of Jutland, in the battles in the Baltic in 1917.
In 1919 she was scuttled in Scapa Flow by her crew.

Model

Plastic

The battleships Koenig, Markgraf, Grosser Elector have been produced by our Ukrainian friends for a long time, so the details have somewhat lost their original elegance. The hull bath has noticeable sinks at the stem, the barrels are cast with offset - aesthetes will have to change to modelpoint metal. Plastic is very flexible and inelastic. Decals are thin and fragile. And they don't stick very well. I could not glue the ring on the nose elevated tower. but everything else is good. An interesting point - the number of parts is 507. For comparison, in the sets of Richelieu from Trumpeter and Bismarck from Tamiya - 308 pieces.

FTD

Apparently, at the time of the release of the kit for Koenigs, WEM positioned itself as an aftermarket manufacturer "for experienced modellers". Simply put, from what is in the set, I liked only gangways. Everything else requires meditation and cutting-massacre. For those who will assemble the model with Vemov iron, a few notes:

1. Railings must be carefully dealt with. Inscription English letters, which replaces the installation scheme for rails in the instructions, is rather vague.
With such an arrangement of rails, as I have, two-lane roof rails without sag are spent back to back, i.e. if you make bridge wings, then two-lane handrails will not be enough for them. Three-lane handrails remain after assembly of almost one and a half lanes. Where to put them - I do not know. Two-way with sag is not enough.
2. FTD on hatch covers under the deck - there are about two times less of them than necessary.
3. Covers for portholes in light boxes - exactly enough for the lower deck. Nothing about them is drawn in the instructions - there is only a name in the parts list.
4. Gangways on superstructures. The geometry of the ladder is such that if they are bent and glued "as is", they do not reach the bottom to the deck level by about 3mm. I had to bend and twist.
5. Plugs for 88mm battery ports are an unnecessary and harmful part. It is necessary to cover these ports with putty. If you glue metal plugs, then at the junction of metal and plastic
cracks keep forming.
6. It is unrealistic to assemble this post from the parts for assembling an observation post on the foremast. Those. you can collect something, but it will look disgusting.
7. Cables for cranes. look fat. It may be better to leave the plastic parts and pull the thread from the bow.
9. Manual for very smart Englishmen drawn by hand. Eduard's instruction to Tirpitz in comparison with the WEM leaflets as da Vinci's Mona Lisa next to the child's handwriting.
8. The photo-etched sheet is thin, as a result, all parts are VERY flimsy and easily crumpled.
In general, I got much more pleasure from working with plastic than from working with iron.

Assembly

Before starting to assemble the ship, I filled the entire FTD sheet with Tamiya white primer from a can.
I did the same with the big plastic parts.

Frame

The hull part is cast as a whole. In general, very good, but at the level of the upper edge of the main armor belt there is a groove that must be carefully puttied. There are also some "snot" in the area of ​​the zygomatic keels - they are easily removed with a sandpaper. Significant congestion in the nose, about which I have already spoken. It is worth boring the fairleads from the inside, because otherwise the anchors are reluctant to fall through them into the holes on the deck.

After that, I assembled decks with a casemate. First, I glued the walls of the casemate with the upper deck and the aft raised barbette, and the walls of the casemate join the upper deck in a very strange way - I had to putty and sand a lot, and I didn’t really like the result. However, it is possible that my hands are crooked.

After that, I painted the "rough" walls of the casemate and the upper deck, after pasting the hatches here and there on the deck and everywhere on the sides of the porthole covers. I painted the lower deck separately, and glued the already painted one to the casemates, the barbette and the upper deck. On the walls of the casemate, he replaced the boat shot with a needle from a syringe - the native one was cast at the same time with the wall and was ugly.
After that, I sawed a block of decks, a casemate and a barbette for a long time so that it would fit into the hull. I decided to make 15 cm guns non-rotating, so I painted them separately and glued them into place already during the final assembly of the ship.

After that, I painted the bottom, masked it with Tamiya tape with a garbage bag, Painted the deck small things. The mouths of the coal pits were painted with dark gray Zvezda acrylic. Large bollards on the bow and stern were painted black, all other protruding parts were painted in the color of the side. I painted the rails of the boats with a pencil, the windows in the light boxes with ganmetal. Box covers, davits and flagpoles were glued painted after the final assembly-painting of the hull. After all the deck hatches were painted, I masked the deck around the edge of the side again with Tamiya tape and glued the lifelines. After that, I painted the handrails and the freeboard in grey colour.

After that, I painted a black line of variable waterlines. This is where the ambush awaited me. When tearing off the adhesive tape, quite a few patches of gray side paint came off with it. And that was just the beginning. If I restored one side the first time, then I suffered with the other for about a month - I painted it, it climbed in a week, and so five times.

From this trouble, I learned a few lessons for myself:
1. Everything must be degreased very well, it would be nice to work with gloves.

2. The paint must be diluted with a solvent. The undiluted one lays down with air too well, but the layer turns out to be very thick, and then if peeling of the paint occurs, it is difficult to close the hole so that it would be even.

3. If the paint has peeled off, and the border of this trouble is noticeable, then the treatment should be carried out as follows:
- with a swab with a solvent (a vial with a blue cap), I wipe the shabby, smoothing the step at the border of the paint break.
- 2000 with a sandpaper I wipe the place dried up after the previous procedure.
- I collect dust with a swab slightly moistened in the solvent, and smooth out the remaining irregularities.
- I paint over the damaged fragment in a new way.
- after that, if necessary, a little more sanding 2000 and painting again.

As a result, the board turned out to be not as smooth as I wanted. In general, because of this, I decided to try aging with a Tamiya powder box.
After the board was defeated, I sprayed the body with glossy varnish twice. I tried to wash the side with the same Zvezda acrylic on detergent with water. It didn't turn out very noticeable. Then he rubbed the board with Tamiya powder and dripped the portholes with a toothpick. Then he covered everything with a matte varnish.

Bow superstructure

I assembled it together with the bow barbette, but glued the deck, on which the conning tower is located, and the superstructures with the mast mounted on it, only during the final assembly.

because the ship was made at the end of the war, then I drowned out the battery of 88 guns from the FTD from the set. And he suffered with them for a long time, until they became one with the walls of the superstructure. I did not make the wings of the bridges on the superstructure. Most I cut the railings and replaced them with two-lane handrails. I put ladders, glued porthole covers and doors. I painted the wooden deck, masked it with tape and painted the walls of the superstructure and railing gray.

After that, he took up what was above the deck with the conning tower. I assembled all the superstructures, but have not yet glued them to the deck. Then he painted the decks in the color of linoleum, the horizontal surfaces of the conning tower - in dark gray. After that, I glued handrails to the decks and floodlights, masked the decks and painted everything that was not masked, as well as the superstructures and the pipe in gray.
He assembled the superstructures and the pipe to the level of the top of the wheelhouse.
After that, he took up the mast.

The configuration of the superstructures of this ship is very convenient for rigging - all stays and flag halyards go to the superstructures. Those. I can assemble the superstructure with all the rigging separately from the hull.
I will return to the mast. With a thin drill, I drilled holes in the lower knee for stays and holes for attaching some other stretch marks. after that, he inserted the threads of the stays, and glued the plastic part of the floor of the upper observation deck.

The topmasts and yardarms from the set are very thin and flexible, so I replaced them with tubes of suitable diameter from "Model Point"
The upper observation platform was made almost according to the instructions, only the props under the roof were made from a fragment of a ladder. After that, I put a rangefinder post on top of the mast. After that, I glued the topmast from the tube, and left the upper small rail and the flagpole plastic. After the mast was assembled, I painted it gray up to the observation platform and glued it to the uppermost platform of the bow superstructure. When performing this assembly, you must be very careful, because. a little lower, a little higher on the mast - and you have to break it off. In the site, I pre-drilled holes for the flag halyards. When the site was firmly stuck, I pulled the flag halyards, painted the top of the mast black and put the mast with the deck in place.

I glued the mast stays into the deck with the conning tower.

After that, the lower and upper parts of the superstructure were covered with glossy varnish twice. After drying with a wash, I emphasized the porthole covers and doors, dripped the portholes with acrylic with a toothpick. The top of the pipe was rubbed with graphite, imitating sooty.
Then everything was covered with a matte varnish.

aft superstructure

I assembled a box of the base of the superstructure, painted the deck in linoleum, glued rails, masked the deck, painted the walls gray. I assembled a pipe with an "accordion" from below. painted the top in gametal, the rest in gray. Glued in place. He painted the decks of the floodlights and other areas in the color of linoleum, disguised it, painted everything that was not covered gray. Glued all the pads in place. I glued the masts and booms of cranes, glued photo-etched cables, dropped the superstructure and straightened the cables for a long time, so that they would at least have sagged down. It would be good to drill holes in the far ends of the arrows with a 0.3mm drill to then pass the arrow fasteners through them. I did not drill them, which I later regretted.
I assembled the mast as well as on the bow superstructure - the lower knee is native, the topmasts and yardarms are modelpoint tubes. The top of the topmast is a piece of plastic. I attached the rigging to the plastic part in the drilled holes, to the metal parts - wrapped the thread around, a drop of cyacrine, cut off the tip, glued the threads falling on the tip of the rail to the end also with superglue.
I glued the mast into the deck of the superstructure, after which I pulled the stays and flag halyards.

The flag was made from standard decals glued to the foil on both sides. The part is very fragile, so when I bent the flag, the decal cracked here and there. Therefore, for a long time I could not decide whether to make a flag, or leave an empty flag file.
The anti-aircraft guns located on the aft superstructure have undergone minor improvements - the visible edges of the shields have been ground off. After that, the anti-aircraft guns were painted gray, varnished twice, and washed off with dark gray acrylic. The superstructure is also varnished twice, also washed off (without a visible effect) and lightly rubbed with Tamiya powder. The top of the pipe is rubbed with graphite. After that, everything is covered with matte varnish.

Turrets and casemate guns

The towers and casemates were assembled with almost no modifications (the barrels were drilled and ladders from the FTD were glued). The vertical surfaces of the towers and casemates and the barrels are painted grey. The horizontal surfaces are painted dark grey. The towers are covered with a glossy varnish twice, washed off to emphasize the holes for the guidance and observation devices. I liked the result. After that, the trunks were rubbed with Tamiya powder - a type of soot. After that, everything is covered with matte varnish.

Boats and boats

Boats before assembly are painted from the inside in the color of the deck. The upper part of the boats is painted dark brown. After that, two photo-etched oars were placed inside the boats. Then the upper and lower parts were glued together, the seam was puttied and cleaned. After that, the top of the boats is covered with Tamiya tape, and the sides and bottom are painted over with gray in the color of the superstructures and the sides. After that, varnished.
I first painted the rafts in the color of the deck. Then covered with a glossy varnish for two times. Then washed off the grate dark gray. After that, I closed the grille with tape, and painted the rest gray. Then I glued the oars from the sides, and covered everything with a matte varnish.
Boats.
Fought with them long and tedious. It was necessary to immediately cut off pieces of keel blocks from the bottom of the boats and glue them to the carts - this would greatly facilitate the work. I cut out the side walls of the cabins at the stern, and sealed the holes with photo-etched parts.
I took good pictures of the process of painting the boats, so I insert photos - they will take up less space than the description. Finished boats covered with glossy varnish, and then matte.