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Description
Finally, after several months of on-and-off work, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, the first of the great four-stackers, is complete! My camera roll feels empty without the four pictures of her namesake I’ve had saved as references…

Fun fact: my sister Matlock26th actually modeled for this piece! I needed a sword pose reference, so instead of looking one up I took advantage of the fact that I was, at the time, home for the summer and could take a picture of my sister posing with her sword. I then used that as my reference!

Design Notes:
-Her outfit is based on her namesake, Wilhelm I, Germany’s first monarch! She’s lacking all the military decorations he always has on in pictures, as she, well, doesn’t have those awards herself. However, aside from that, she’s dressed like her namesake; her sisters will all follow the same pattern.
-Wait, you ask, why does this passenger ship have a sword (and why is she holding the sheath instead of having it tied to her belt)? The rationale behind giving her a weapon was actually pretty simple: she ended her life serving in WW1 as an auxiliary cruiser. Between her noble personality and the fact that her namesake also has a sword in some images, I figured she should have a sword instead of a gun. As for why she’s holding the sheath, well, that’s what my sister was doing when I had her pose, as she didn’t have a belt on, and I thought, “hey, that works for this - KWdG could be holding the sheath like that to make it seem like she’s just gotten the sword and is checking it out for the first time, as one does when given a sword” so that’s the logic there.
-If you look closely at the collar of her shirt, the design on it depicts her! There are also eagle wings on it, as the eagle is Germany’s national animal.
-The brush I used for the smaller braids/cords draped over her shoulder is called “Pasta 1” so… make of that what you will.
-I partially modeled her facial features off my sister’s; given that we’re mostly German ourselves, it seemed fitting! I also gave her a similar eye shape to Homeric; Bremen, Europa, and of course Columbus also have similarly-shaped eyes, tying them all together.
-Her hair was hard to figure out. I originally imagined her with a really long ponytail, but then I realized it didn’t really fit her vibe, so I tried a classic Edwardian pompadour. That didn’t feel right either, so I went with a bun instead. The sharp waves in her hair are meant to vaguely resemble Homeric’s hair; in general, the Norddeutscher Lloyd liners all look fairly similar so far, moreso than others (although the Cunard liners have those upturned noses, so there’s that).
-Her earrings are a bit hard to see as they blend in with her hair, but they have the NDL logo on them.

Personality:
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse is a very proud ship, sometimes even outright arrogant. She’s rather cold and emotionally distant most of the time, and she has a tendency to be very judgmental toward others; she’s also usually very bossy and commanding. She’s a natural leader and holds her head high no matter what. Notably, though, she also tends to make mountains out of molehills, reacting quite dramatically to even the most minor of problems.
She’s not just judgmental and bossy, though: she has a very strong moral compass and is highly chivalrous and honorable, even in battle. Any fighting she does is done with great reluctance, and she tends to prioritize honor over reason. That said, she can be a bit of a sore loser.

The Kaiser-class liners were the first of the legendary four-stackers, and Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was the ship who led them all.

SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Norddeutscher Lloyd
Footage of KWdG’s wreck

Description
Finally, after several months of on-and-off work, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, the first of the great four-stackers, is complete! My camera roll feels empty without the four pictures of her namesake I’ve had saved as references…

Fun fact: my sister Matlock26th actually modeled for this piece! I needed a sword pose reference, so instead of looking one up I took advantage of the fact that I was, at the time, home for the summer and could take a picture of my sister posing with her sword. I then used that as my reference!

Design Notes:
-Her outfit is based on her namesake, Wilhelm I, Germany’s first monarch! She’s lacking all the military decorations he always has on in pictures, as she, well, doesn’t have those awards herself. However, aside from that, she’s dressed like her namesake; her sisters will all follow the same pattern.
-Wait, you ask, why does this passenger ship have a sword (and why is she holding the sheath instead of having it tied to her belt)? The rationale behind giving her a weapon was actually pretty simple: she ended her life serving in WW1 as an auxiliary cruiser. Between her noble personality and the fact that her namesake also has a sword in some images, I figured she should have a sword instead of a gun. As for why she’s holding the sheath, well, that’s what my sister was doing when I had her pose, as she didn’t have a belt on, and I thought, “hey, that works for this - KWdG could be holding the sheath like that to make it seem like she’s just gotten the sword and is checking it out for the first time, as one does when given a sword” so that’s the logic there.
-If you look closely at the collar of her shirt, the design on it depicts her! There are also eagle wings on it, as the eagle is Germany’s national animal.
-The brush I used for the smaller braids/cords draped over her shoulder is called “Pasta 1” so… make of that what you will.
-I partially modeled her facial features off my sister’s; given that we’re mostly German ourselves, it seemed fitting! I also gave her a similar eye shape to Homeric; Bremen, Europa, and of course Columbus also have similarly-shaped eyes, tying them all together.
-Her hair was hard to figure out. I originally imagined her with a really long ponytail, but then I realized it didn’t really fit her vibe, so I tried a classic Edwardian pompadour. That didn’t feel right either, so I went with a bun instead. The sharp waves in her hair are meant to vaguely resemble Homeric’s hair; in general, the Norddeutscher Lloyd liners all look fairly similar so far, moreso than others (although the Cunard liners have those upturned noses, so there’s that).
-Her earrings are a bit hard to see as they blend in with her hair, but they have the NDL logo on them.

Personality:
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse is a very proud ship, sometimes even outright arrogant. She’s rather cold and emotionally distant most of the time, and she has a tendency to be very judgmental toward others; she’s also usually very bossy and commanding. She’s a natural leader and holds her head high no matter what. Notably, though, she also tends to make mountains out of molehills, reacting quite dramatically to even the most minor of problems.
She’s not just judgmental and bossy, though: she has a very strong moral compass and is highly chivalrous and honorable, even in battle. Any fighting she does is done with great reluctance, and she tends to prioritize honor over reason. That said, she can be a bit of a sore loser.

The Kaiser-class liners were the first of the legendary four-stackers, and Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was the ship who led them all.

SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Norddeutscher Lloyd
Footage of KWdG’s wreck