Wunderland - Admiral Scheer 1942

[totally_random_man]

After a Hunt-class destroyer I'll do something completely different... Let's leave british waters and have a look at the icy hostile waves of the Kara See

This will be Admiral Scheer during Operation Wunderland more precisely during the sinking of the icebreaker Aleksander Sibiryakov.

If one wants a model of Scheer post-recunstruction the options are scarce. The best way seemed to be the conversion of Trumpeter's 1/350 Graf Spee kit which is dimensionally basically good and there are many accesories on the market.
However some major surgery is surely needed:

-the atlantic bow
-the forecastle deck which was widened to give the ship more flare
-the breakwater is in a different position
-the tower-type fore superstructure was cut down and replaced with platforms around a tube mast
-the after superstructure is of a different shape

The other problem comes from the available plans: most of them are inaccurate even in otherwise precise and detailed books...

Hans Gally from Germany offers the solution although his drawings are pretty hard to get and expensive not to mention the format... 4 pages in 1:100 scale... The first step was to make a copy in 1:200 because the original ones were very cumbersome to use. On the other hand they are terribly detailed and - cross-checking with historical photographs - accurate.

Thanks to Marco and his Graf Spee thread it was obvious that the stern anchor position is in the wrong direction, so I first removed it and later it will be replaced with one from the bow which was thinned appropriately.

The original decks had to be replaced with plastruct car siding - photo later


greg

[Marco]

Interesting conversion, the Atlantic bow update will get all my attention!

Marco

[Aop Aur]

Nice progress you have done right there! I really love your Warspite and the latest destroyer!

I have been thinking of converting my Graf Spee into the Scheer, and this thread definitely caught my attention!

Aop

[Akos]

Getting a bowl of popcorn for this build ! Can't wait!

[totally_random_man]

thank you, I'll try to keep this thread interesting.

The first major alteration took place at the decks. Because the Graf Spee had a different breakwater-anchor chain configuration and because of the widening of the forecastle deck during reconstruction I decided to replace all the deck parts with ones made from Plastruct and Evergreen plastic sheet.

First it seemed easy to use the original ones as templates but it turned out that Trumpeter made the deck pieces so that the line between them is visible (black arrow) although there's a part of the superstructure that could have hidden it (red arrow)

So my parts are bit different in lengths and the foremost piece is a bit longer and wider



The quarterdeck is in place:

A strip of he upper hull side was cut down to make some space for the wider forward deck and the anchor openings were filled in

[totally_random_man]

Admiral Scheer is hot topic here in Modelwarships

The atlantic bow is almost ready it tokk a great deal of puttying and sanding.
But first the new wooden deck was cut from evegreen plate:

Next it was attached atop the hull then the cutwater was put in place with the skeleton of the widened complex-shaped upper part:

[totally_random_man]

Then it was covered with epoxy putty:

which at first seemed pretty crude but some sanding really did the job and the new cut-outs for the anchors could be created as well:

[Aop Aur]

Very neat work modifying the atlantic bow!

Keep the progress coming!

Aop

[Dan K]

Impressive work on the bow. It turned out very well.

[totally_random_man]

Thanks Aop & Dan!

Due to job and family commitments it's a slow progress but something can be shown now.
First I converted the base of the forward superstructure which was very different from Spee's (altough the kit part was inaccurate for that vessel too), then top of the turmmast was cut down:

Next step was to build a new bridge platform, a shelter with windows and then I installed the Lutzow-style tubular mast:

[totally_random_man]

The conning tower and its surroundings also gave a fair amount of work to do. The deck around fore two thirds of it is higher than the deck behind so I raised it (red arrow)

Accordingly the base part had to be tailored to this (black arrow) The windows of the armoured tower were too numerous too large and at a wrong height (red arrows) so magic sculp was used to fill them then I cut out the correct ones.

DSCF2009.JPG (42.98 KiB) Viewed 7329 times

I had to remove the base of the rangefinder and replace it with a scratchbuilt one (black arrow) as it was near the rear edge of the tower not at the middle as Trumpeter imagined it. The periscope bases were made from plastic discs and through all of these maneuvers there was the funny task of preserving the rivets (blue arrow)

[mick]

great work, will be watching

[Thom]

Impressive looking conversion in progress. Very nice!

[zs180]

Delighted to see such great progress and a host of ingenious solutions during this most interesting build! Your subject being a very well-known vessel I just hope your work attracts the attention it deserves here (as opposed to your marvellous HMS Chiddingfold)!

[Miguel]

This is looking so good ,my compliments Greg a fantastic build

[totally_random_man]

Thanks Miguel !

Here are some new details of the superstructure, mostly PE for windows and doors. But the pipes on the sides had to be scratchbuilt.

Of course the window on the white door on the starboard side needs some correction...

The 37mm gun platform (arrow) was a funny part, because it has some anti-skid surface and no photoetch could be found... so scriber tools solved the problem. The peculiar shape didn't make it any easier.

[Dan Banks]

Nice job on the bow. I am thinking of trying her in 1940 right after refit, just wondered how you are going to handle the different armor height on the side belt. That and the bow are probably the hardest part of this conversion. Also there is a 3D printed bridge and funnel from 3D parts.

[totally_random_man]

Nice job on the bow. I am thinking of trying her in 1940 right after refit, just wondered how you are going to handle the different armor height on the side belt. That and the bow are probably the hardest part of this conversion. Also there is a 3D printed bridge and funnel from 3D parts.

Thanks Dan! You directed my attention to an overlooked issue... the armour belt
That part will follow when the forward superstructure is ready.

I checked the 3d parts but the bridge is pretty inaccurate, the scratchbuilt one is much closer to the photos and drawings.
Anyway their secondary directors nice, will use them.

[Dan Banks]

The armor belt is going to be a booger, it overlaps the lower row of scuttles, and you then have to re-establish the scuttles piercing the armor. Don�t know why they did that, didn�t do it on any other KM ships except maybe Sharnhorst. Really like your work on the bridge too. You mention using evergreen for the deck so I would assume you will be painting it rather than using wood stick on? Oh also did you know Veryfire makes a dedicated add on set for Graf Spee that has a lot of stuff useful on Scheer.

[pascalemod]

Fascinating project. I am going to be doing Admiral Scheer later but based on Scheer from Italeri in 1/720. While not as detailed, I had 2 of the pocket battleships upgraded in same scale from my childhood days, so I figured Ill take a stab at conversion as well. So I wanted to ask you what this discussion about armor belt is? It was different on Scheer than on other pocket battleships?