biggles2 wrote:
According to New Vanguard (Osprey) "German Destroyers 1939 - 45", Z7 (Type 34A Paul Jacobi Class) was built with a square front bridge, starting with Z6. So Trumpeter got that wrong to begin with. The Trumpeter model is more representative of the preceding class (Type 34) Z1 - Z4, and Type 34A Z5, pre-1938, after which they were all refitted with a square bridge. Maybe you could kit-bash a later date destroyer bridge.
New Vanguard still doesn't have it quite right. The type 1934 and 1934A destroyers can be divided into 4 groups by builder. Z1 to Z4 were built by Deutcshe Werke in Kiel. Z5 to Z8 were built by Deschimag in Bremen. Z9 to Z13 were built by Germania Werft in Kiel. And Z14 to Z16 were built by Blohm and Voss in Hamburg. All four of the Z1 group were built with the rounded bridge. Of the Z5 group, Z5 to Z7 were built with the rounded bridge. These seven all had the original more vertical bow as built as well, as did some of the later sisters. However, the "rounded bridge" is not at all as depicted by Trumpeter. The pilothouse, the lower part with the windows, was
always square. It was only the open bridge above the pilothouse that was rounded. I have plenty of photos of all of them to prove it. As you said, the upper bridges were all squared by the end of 1938.
Each group had its unique identifiers only a few of which I will mention here. The Z1 group (type 1934) was built with a rounded edge to the forecastle deck, similar to the deck edge on the American Benson class destroyers. When the bow proved to be too wet, this group was modified to curve the deck upward. The three later (type 1934A) groups extended the bow forward causing more rake in the profile. With that difference in the hulls, modification would be needed to use a Z7 kit for a Z1 group DD, and the pilothouse would still have to be corrected. The steam pipes on the forward stack of the Z1 and Z5 groups were similar since all had the Wagner boilers. The other eight (Z9 and Z14 groups) had Benson boilers with higher temperatures and pressures. While the two groups had similar numbers of steam pipes, the patterns varied by builder. There were a number of other detail differences, so if you are building a specific ship, you need photos of that exact ship to get it right. All sixteen type 1934 and type 1934A destroyers are usually considered as a single class. But you can't mix the details from one group to another. In any case, the Trumpeter model must be corrected to depict
any ship of the class.