The Ship Model Forum

Hi Bill, I only disagree with one thing you said. For me, this is the worst instructions I've ever seen. It seems that the "construction sequence" doesn't seem to account for the builder's desire to actually paint everything more than one color. And the lack of order has me bouncing all over the place. I'm having a hard time finding my groove in this build. How did yours turn out? Any pictures? Dan.

Hi Richard, thanks for the comments. Hopefully my observations and errors can help others to not make the same mistakes. I wouldn't call you a lesser model. You might just be at a different level. There's all different degrees of experience and skill. And being high in one doesn't mean high in the other. I've been building for almost 40 years and don't have anywhere near that level of skill. Not having a name plate is strange. What puzzles me even more is the degausing cable. It's clearly seen in history photos and is present in the renders of Rob's design. Yet, someone at some point, chose to remove it from the final product. Anyways, I hope you enjoy your build. Dan.

Thanks for the reply Dan,
Perhaps I should have explained myself better.
Less able due to health problems is the better description.
The mind is willing but the rest of me is failing and falling to bits.
I just cant build them like I used to.
Its the research and the history that leads me to attempt the build.
Your posts will be my guide to what not to do.
That cuts down the frustration and makes it a more enjoyable build.
Regards
Richard

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SI VIS PACEM,
PARA BELLUM

Dan,

At this moment due to the lack of a proper camera (what I have will not take clear enough pics in doors), and a general lack of time, I'm unable to take pics at this time. You will have to trust me on this one it turned out great the best work I have done to date.

I think we have to give Dragon a little leeway here. I have never built anything in armor so I can't comment on their instructions but just maybe since they obviously have never did a model with over 1300 pieces they may still be in that armor mode when creating the instructions for their ships, and will require a learning curve. I do agree the instructions are terrible, not the worst I have ever seen, but bad. Hang in there and work slow, it took me 5 months to finish and that was working on it almost every day.

Bill

Ah ok Richard, now I understand. I agree, I used to build just about anything. Now days though, the research into the project is almost better than the actual build. And if it doesn't have a history that I'm interested in then I don't want to build it. So yes, I do look forward to another and even better Bismarck in the future. A "guide of what not to do" sounds terrible. Dan.

Bill, too bad about your camera but good to hear your pleased with your results. My pictures seem to be hit or miss. Something in the focus is going out. I'm hoping this will be my best work to date but I'm having doubts. I have about 4 hours a week available and have kind of given myself a first week of May deadline. I don't really want to come back from vacation and have it still needing to be worked on. Dan

Dan,

Dragon kits are most definitely time consuming. This is the second ship kit I have done by them and they are not for the average joe. However the level of detail is tremendous and the fit extremely snug (i had to sand off some of the paint at attachment points because of the added thickness of the paint) . I usually air brush the hull and and hand paint everything else, but with this kit I took to airbrushing must of the larger pieces and was extremely pleased with the results.

Even though I just received the Dragon Z39 kit I think I will be starting the Trumpeter Graph Spee kit (dont know what to do with the stern anchor though). I need a break from Dragon. Trumpeter is far easier (love the instructions) and far less detailed.

Hang in there you are doing great work
Bill

Bill, thanks for the encouragement. That Spee is a nice looking kit. I wanted to get one however the display case I built will only hold six ships and I've already got 8. After I eliminate a sub because it's the wrong scale, and the carrier because it wont fit anyway, the six spots are already filled or at least planned. So I had to pass on getting a Spee. That anchor is going to be a problem. I've got an idea for how I'd deal with it. Might work, might not. I can't try it so I don't know. Interested? Dan.

Dan,
Its the what not to do in the instructions that make your post so invaluable.
There are many build posts on the Scharnhorst, but yours is the ONLY one that
takes the time to point out the mistakes in the instructions,
as you say you only have a limited time to build, so to take time out to do this post
means you are losing valuable build time.
Thank you once again.
Regards
Richard

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SI VIS PACEM,
PARA BELLUM

Thanks again Richard. I've been watching over 10 (I've lost count) different ones. Seeing where people have gone right and wrong. I'm trying to limit my comments to my own ideas of the build and instruction errors and not comment on areas where people have misunderstood correct parts of the instructions. I've also not commented on some things that I'm trying, but that I don't know the results of yet. Dan.

Hi everybody,

I had less time this week than I had hoped for so I didn't get much done.

I've laid out the current deck pieces so they're ready for paint.


The stack is almost ready for paint. I've covered the upper railing with foil for the canvas look I want. Just have to finish the one solid rail that I'm making out of paper.


Only a few build notes this time.












Thanks for looking.

Dan.

Is that aluminum foil? Clever...never thought of using that.

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Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

Hi Martin, yes it's aluminum foil. I glued a flat strip of railing to an oversized strip of aluminum foil. When dry, trim off the extra foil with small, sharp scissors. Then place the piece down, foil side up. Use a round object to put in the dents. A different sized round object will give a different depth of dent. I think I slightly over dented. I also used foil to canvas the boats in the picture prior to that one. Dan.

Hi all:

I am just in the beginning phases of my build of the Scharnhorst, and your postings of the corrections on the instructions have been very helpful.

I am about to begin painting the hull and will be using WEM paints. I will be painting her as she was in 1943 Operation Paderborn. I will be trying out the Gator masks for the first time as well.

I do have a short tip on those using WEM paints. It appears that WEM is having trouble in producing enough for the demand. I only had 1/2 of a tin for the rot 3 bottom color, but looking through my paint stash, I have found that WEMCC IJN 10 "IJN Linoleum" is a very very close match.

One question is what color are you going to use for the metal decks?

I'll post some pics as I progress.

Again thanks for your posting of the corrections, they have been extremely helpful

Dick

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Dick Wood

Me like...

CC

Hi everybody,

Thanks Chris.

Dick, I don't know what color others use. I'm not using any official colors. I'm building mine with just the colors available at the local hobby store and that I like. I am using Model Master enamel Dark Sea Blue. It has a dark gray/green tint to it when applied, but after the flat clear it looks more gray. I used it for the boot top also.

Now on the the update.

My correction last week about the cable reel was partially wrong. It should be used, but is a different part, and goes in a different location. In the lower part of the picture is another error. There is no cable reel(Y) and there shouldn't be any cable reels in those locations anyways. Using this one (Y4) reel will use up the last of the reels. Reels(Y1-Y3) are used correctly now.


The list is continuing to shrink.


With everything ready for paint, I was able to do pretty good this week.
Picture 1: I should have remeasured that chain. I didn't get them quite the same length.
Was looking forward to some easy decal placement. However, the red square is
wrong for this moment in time. So I had to paint. I then cut out the white
circle and used the rest of the decals.
Red and green capstans were just too colorful for me, so I used black like on
Prinz Eugen.


Picture 2: I positioned the superstructure in place long enough to get these pieces located
correctly.


Picture 3: Since I've decided on the pieces being walking plates, I've positioned them in an
area that has bugged me for lacking any kind of place for the crew to walk
while working on the forward boat.
I've still got more pieces to add here and do some paint touch up I see.


Picture 4: Managed to not crush the frail girder.


Picture 5: Here is my choice for the use of M29.
Again with decal modifications.
I could not use some of the little pieces I mentioned earlier for stern details. Had a
tweezer error and lost one of the N27's so I will have to use them to replace
that. I did get them on the bow, but forgot to make sure and include them in
the picture. And I moved the N24's and N27's closer in from the edge so they
wont give me trouble when it comes to the railings.
I did manage to crush the stern PE piece.


I suppose next week I'll have to do the cable reels, the boats, spot lights, and finally some single machine guns. I hate cable reels. I've got an idea though, so hopefully they'll turn out nice, and not be too much trouble.

Thanks for looking.

Dan.

Dan:

thanks for the update, she is looking good.

dick wood

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Dick Wood

Thanks Dick. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Dan.

Dan,

Scharnhorst has always been my favorite ship, and along with the Hood IMHO the most beautiful warships ever built. I think its the long sleek looks of the hulls that do it for me. Your build looks fantastic, keep up the good work!


Bill

She is looking terrific Dan


Jose