The Ship Model Forum

The AOTS series attempts to be the finest documentation available on an individual ship, focusing mainly on drawings with a reduced emphasis on text and photographs. The series can be split in the yellow and grey covers, wooden and steel ships. Not always are famous ship depicted, giving a variety of interested subjects. The series is aimed at ‘ship buffs, historians and model makers’. Does the new volume on Bismarck succeed? Well, it does, but only to some extent.



This latest volume by the Canadian Jack Brower is 160 pages, with 130 pages of drawings. A brief history and technical description is given, followed by a few photographs. As only a small selection of photographs is given, you’d expect a few distant shots of Bismarck during her career, but half of the pictures are well-known close-up of the superstructure. For such material Joseph Kaisers new Bismarck book is far better suited.



The drawings are all made by computer. Brower rarely uses anything else than hairlines giving a very bleak effect. In a particularly ugly fashion, almost no arc of circle segment lines up with straight lines, giving a jagged effect. Concentric circles aren’t and lines that are drawn out a bit ticker than hairlines are not drawn consistently so. Perhaps this is the result of a poor CAD program or an error during transfer to the publisher and although it isn’t too noticeable I find it distracting. In the later chapters of the book, Brower is rather lavish on empty space, showing of 70% empty pages. I feel the drawings could have been concentrated more for a shorter of more extensive book.

The drawings fit in two sections. A to C describe the ships interior and layout, wtih sections D-K describing the armament, fittings, ships boats and so on.


A General arrangement (GA). Overview drawings from all sides (including front/rear) are given. Not everything is drawn out, for example the practice loaders between C and D turret are missing (in the entire book). But, the GA drawings are the best part of the book. A longitudinal internal profile, deck drawings and no less than 28 transverse drawings lay out the ship in detail.

B Lines drawing. The fairing of the drawing isn’t spectacular and I think the wrong program has been used. Especially lines with high curvature in the sheer elevation are clunky. Of course, it’s good enough to build a model. The thickness of the armor plating is given in an inboard profile, but is surprisingly missing from the mid ship cross section. A series of detailed constructional details on the armor plating joints is a nice thouch.

C The superstructure is presented in a larger scale, both views from most sides, as well as deck layouts. This complements section A nicely Most of it is drawn is 1:125. Why not 1:100? There is more than enough space. Scales vary, as the forward superstructure is drawn in 1:300, the aft superstructure 1:250, the bridge and forward hangars in 1:125, and the bridge superstructure in 1:200. Section D is called rigging. The mast is drawn, but the actual rigging is unfortunately not given.

E Armament. Each turret type is drawn, with the layout of each floor of the main turrets. There are no close ups of the main turrets rangefinders and many details are simply missing. The 105mm guns are particularly underdetailed (and not always correct). This lack of detail is becoming more apparent toward the end of the book with smaller equipment. Also, legends start to disappear, with no explanation after section F3.

F All directors from the main rangefinders to the smaller Flak directors plus the searchlights. There’s a plain error in the wobbly pot rangefinder and the smaller directors are either too low in detail or printed at a far too large scale taking up valuable space.

G Ground tackle. Good drawings, though I’d like to have seen close-ups/drawings of the chain stoppers and anchors.

H Fittings. Close ups of the accommodation ladders, main vents, doors, scuttles rails and paravanes. No hose or cable reels, life rafts, smaller cranes, ready-to-use ammo lockers, rudders or propellers, deck hatches, the breakwater, turret vents, davits, the catapult, practice loaders, the particular bridge 37mm ammo hoist, crane storage brackets, signal lights etcetera.

K Boats and aircraft. I would have liked few cross-sections on the smaller boats and a lines drawing each. The latter is unfortunately rarely giving in an AOTS volume.

I've collected a lot of material on German warships for modeling. Getting a good plan set is most important, but usually smaller details are not drawn out. Finding drawings of the ships launches or anti-aircraft guns can be equally difficult. I'd expect an AOTS volume to contain all this information but this one doesn’t. For building a highly detailed model the existing plan sets are a far better choice, though more expensive. The level of detail is simply too low, and modifications to the ship are not given. For modeling purposes, this volume cannot compete with Skulski’s books. But, Skulski’s books are often criticized for not showing the interior which is done very well in this volume. If you’re interested in the layout of the ship, this book is very useful. For modeling purposes, it unfortunately falls short