The Ship Model Forum

I'm thinking about doing one of the Flyhawk 1/700 battlecruisers. Looking through my Staff book on German battlecruisers, I notice that there is a ring on the deck around the turrets. This is different than the white aerial recognition rings on top of the turrets. In the color illustrations of Lutzow and Derfflinger he depicts this as a pale yellow color around every turret. It is not depicted in any of the other color illustrations.

There are at least three photographs where it is visible. On p 228 it looks like it is visible on the deck around D turret on Derfflinger. On p 89 it appears to be visible around A turret on Moltke. And the clearest is on p 54 around A turret on Von Der Tann. In the latter it pretty clearly looks like some kind of tape as it is pushed up at what looks like the end. I don't see it in any of the aerial photographs though.

I haven't seen this written or talked about anywhere. Anyone know any more about it?

In most German heavy naval artillery of this period, part of the propellant for firing a shell was stored in silk bags like most navies, but the remainder was contained in a brass case which helped to seal the breech of the gun. Once the gun was fired, the now empty case was ejected from a port at the rear of the turret. It is my understanding that the rings on the deck were brass bands put in place to protect the deck from these brass cases being dropped. I believe many (most?) of the battleships of the Hochseeflotte had them fitted as well.

If these bands or rails were brass, were they painted superstructure color, or left bare metal? If painted, the paint would be chipped and worn from metal contact.

There's a picture of Lutzow on p 269 in floating dock and it looks like there are air recognition rings on both aft turrets, but I'm not sure. Anyone else care to comment on that?