Calling all Bismarck and Tirpitz fans

[amiers]

i would get 2. just in case. never know what a stray arm can do!!!!!


p.s what date are you using for your model? i mean as in 25 may 1941 for example.

and a little tip bismarck didnt have the admrials barge fitted to the starboard side, so the lower boat cradel was empty

[WilliamBowden]

I was thinking the Baltic camouflage from March, 1941 as depicted here:

http://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck/p ... m1941.html

I may decide to go with the May scheme instead but so far I like the earlier one because there's more dark gray to mix up the color pattern some more. I definitely want the red-bordered swastikas because I think it really adds to ship's presence, rather than just the gray or even the blotted out swastikas.

[WilliamBowden]

On another note, are the colors for Prinz Eugen the same as those for the Bismarck? If so, I may just buy a few bottles of each paint since I plan on doing Trumpeter's kit soon after it's released, and that way I can save a little by making only one order for paints

Thanks!
-William

[Olaf Held]

On another note, are the colors for Prinz Eugen the same as those for the Bismarck? If so, I may just buy a few bottles of each paint since I plan on doing Trumpeter's kit soon after it's released, and that way I can save a little by making only one order for paints

Thanks!
-William

Yes, of course!

There was NOTHING special about the colours of BS in relation to PG or any other KM ship! They all were following the same regulations (more or less depending on their interpretation) and used the same paints.

Happy Modelling ~ Olaf!

[WilliamBowden]

Ok, here we go again....it's been pointed out that the Bismarck never had one of its starboard side's admiral's launches installed...how will this change up the Tamiya kit's steam launches? I have been using this scratch built model as a reference:

http://www.bismarck-class.dk/shipmodels ... sheim.html

Also, it appears that the smaller rowboats, which are positioned below some winches on the kit, are instead stacked in place of an admirals barge (see the ship model linked above) and also the winches/cranes for lifting those boats do not even exist!
However, this is in contrast to the illustrations provided in Steve Wiper's Warship Pictorial book of the Bismarck.

One final question; what color are the propeller shafts? I am going to paint the props themselves a dull gold. I have seen the shafts as either red or dark gray, and the kit suggests gold as well.

Thanks for the help!
-William

[amiers]

the boats you refer to moved around. if you look at pics of the ship at various times they are in different poitions. in the link they are correct for the Bismarck as he left norway.

the Shaft's well theres a good one. i did my last model with them in a dark grey mixed with some rusty brown. i cant think now the reference i got that from but i will go through my stuff for you.

also dont forget the smoke generator covers on the stern deck and the pipes coming out of the stern about halfwat down the curve

[WilliamBowden]

the boats you refer to moved around. if you look at pics of the ship at various times they are in different poitions. in the link they are correct for the Bismarck as he left norway.

the Shaft's well theres a good one. i did my last model with them in a dark grey mixed with some rusty brown. i cant think now the reference i got that from but i will go through my stuff for you.

also dont forget the smoke generator covers on the stern deck and the pipes coming out of the stern about halfwat down the curve

Thanks. I looked at a few more pictures and yea, you're right they do move around. I will probably just use my best judgment for how they might have appeared in March, 1941, which is the time period I'm trying to depict my ship in.

As for the prop shafts, I think I will go ahead with the dark gray + rusty brown as you had mentioned...it seems more likely than gold, given how quickly things deteriorate!

[Olaf Held]

@ all ~ Just in case you haven't seen it yet:

http://www.revell.de/de/produkte/modell ... tz/?id=855

Happy Modelling ~ Olaf

[Nelson Ott]

Hi all,

This is my first posting on this very interesting Forum ... And I'll start with a challenging question to all Bismarck (and Kriegsmarine) experts:

For my Revell 1:350 Bismarck with WEM and Eduard PE - what should be the INNER COLOUR of the scuttle covers ? With the PE frets comes a lot of opened scuttles and I've got no information about this in other sites. On B/W photos of the Bismarck and other Kriegsmarine ships the scuttle covers sometimes appear to be light gray, sometimes white and even silver ...

And also, Olaf Held mentioned that on the command bridge floor covering, wooden deck cratings were used over the dark grey steel floor, this is something new for me ... So they should appear as a tan light colour, isn't it ?

As you can imagine, as an avid plastic modeller I'm suffering from a serious colour neurosis, so any help you can provide will be great !

Thanks and best regards,

Nelson Ott

[Olaf Held]

And also, Olaf Held mentioned that on the command bridge floor covering, wooden deck cratings were used over the dark grey steel floor, this is something new for me ... So they should appear as a tan light colour, isn't it ?

Please have a look at my PG model where the open bridge around the forward armored conning tower is covered with the brown coloured, photo-etched part representing the removable crated wooden panels.

The more yellow-ish decks were the ones covered with the removable slatted wooden panels.



On Bismarck, if I remember correctly, you could find the beige slatted ones around the Admiral's Bridge, around the rangefinders on the same deck and on the foretop (like on my PG model).
The crated panels were on the two open bridges but NOT extending aft of the bulwarks (I think this is correctly represented on the Revell parts #62 and #63 albeit the paint instruction is wrong for both decks. Letter "J" in the instructions, the dark gray (RAL 7016) should be only on the aft part of #62 and - as a 'wash' only on the fwd part to represent the dark grey which should have been visible through the holes the crating.

The fwd part of part #63 should be treated like its counterpart on #62, but this time the aft half of the deck was covered with teak.

As you can imagine, as an avid plastic modeller I'm suffering from a serious colour neurosis, so any help you can provide will be great !

You can say that again, but don't worry... you're not alone... I'm a 'colourholic' as well...

Happy Modelling ~ Olaf

[amiers]

The question of deck colour's is always an interesting one. so let me throw a curve ball to all.
most people would agree that Tamiya deck tan is the closest to the right colour for the main deck as they were holistoned (spelling?} or is this more correct?

http://www.hlj.com/product/kalmd35003

[Nelson Ott]

Hi Olaf,

Thank you very much for your excellent explanation on bridge deck colours. Fortunately, although I had already painted that part of my Bismarck model but not assembled it, so I can correct it. Right on time information !

Mit freundlichen Gr�ssen,

Nelson Ott

[Olaf Held]

I'm not quite sure if they really were down on their knees and scrubbing the vast decks with holystones or if they had similar long-handled tools as seen on image 246 of the following link to a USN battleship. I remember having seen footage of German crew swabbing the decks with even longer (health-and-safety for your back... HA!) long-handled scrubbing brushes.

http://www.usswisconsin.org/Pictures/1950's-page_3.htm

With regard to the colour of the decks... I'm not sure but isn't Tamiyas Deck Tan closer to the wood the IJN used on their ships? I've heard they didn't use teak like the Americans or Europeans. I do not like that Tamiya suggests this colour for the decks of all their 1/350 battleships, no matter if KM, RN, USN or IJN ~ and therfore I regard this Deck Tan as highly suspicious...
(The same applies to their Hull Red... grrr... Bismarck, Yamato, Missouri and KGV all with the same antifouling paint... grrrr...)

I like the idea of those laser-cut wooden decks but isn't it the same with Tamiya's Deck Tan? The colour looks the same on every ship. Is it possible to slightly change the colour of those decks? I haven't seen them with my own eyes but I guess they look far better than the Revell Bismarck decks...

Best ~ Olaf

[Nelson Ott]

Hi all,

I think WEM Teak colour is more apporpriate for Bismarck. I applied an even coat on my model than painted individual "planks" with slightly different colour shades. I think the wood simulation is satisfactory this way.

Regards,

Nelson Ott

[Rob-UK]

Some close up photos of Bismark can be seen on this site, of great interest and should be useful for detailing.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.ph ... spende.jpg

[Jester12]

Hi all. First post, and I've been admiring the pics of all your ships. They're fantastic. I'm looking at building my first ship kit, having been more of an aircraft guy. I'm interested in building and detailing a 1/350 Tirpitz and New Jersey and I am looking for your advice/opinions.
Which would be the better option for the Tirpitz?
1) Tamiya kit with PE (GMM, WEM, Eduard...????? They all look good)
or
2) Wait for the Revell and associated PE (however long that would be.)

Thanks,
Jesse.

[ninjrk]

Hi all. First post, and I've been admiring the pics of all your ships. They're fantastic. I'm looking at building my first ship kit, having been more of an aircraft guy. I'm interested in building and detailing a 1/350 Tirpitz and New Jersey and I am looking for your advice/opinions.
Which would be the better option for the Tirpitz?
1) Tamiya kit with PE (GMM, WEM, Eduard...????? They all look good)
or
2) Wait for the Revell and associated PE (however long that would be.)

Thanks,
Jesse.

I think that depends on what your goal is. The Tamiya one is a solid kit with a fair amount of missing detail that builds up into a ship that is recognizable as a Tirpitz, although the kit itself is simply the Tamiya Bismarck with different decals. I think WEM makes the best PE for that kit in their super-detail set. You'll get a ship that looks pretty good and is going to be recognized as a Tirpitz, although if you have AMS the details will be off.

The Revell Bismarck (and presumably the Tirpitz) is in another class altogether. Far crisper and much better detailed and the sheer number of different parts between their Bismarck and the Tirpitz makes it seem that they are actually getting the individual ship's details right. Comparing it to the Tamiya one is like comparing Revell's new He-177 to the old Airfix one; both look like a Grief but if you put them side by side the new one looks better even to the untrained eye.

Considering that the pricing between the two isn't that different, I'd personally wait for the Revell one.

Matt

[amiers]

i agree with waiting for the Revell Tirpitz, but keep in mind that even though it has much better detail some of the portholes and various things are not in the correct positions. so you would have to correct these issue's. having said that it depends on how far you want to go.

over the years i have built 4 Tamiya Bismarcks with each one getting better with my skill level. i thought i had the last one as good as i could get,but no still missed things. so for the next one it will be Revell and every single aftermarket part i can get. also if your going big time spend the extra time to look at all the pic's that are availiable on the net and some very good refence books.

good luck

[Gernot]

From the photos of the Revell Tirpitz that appeared on German websites featuring the Nuremberg Toy Fair, it appears that the ship has instructions for the camouflage worn from July 1942 until September 1942 (but could also match July 1943 to March 1944). The light AA armament is, if I counted correctly, 8 twin 37mm, 8 quad 20mm and 12 single 20mm. This does not match any of the light AA fits on the Bismarck and Tirpitz site (google search...), and would have to be before March 1943, at which point quad 20mm appeared on the quarterdeck just ahead of X main turret.

This leads me to ask if any members know what period the model is supposed to depict, and what if any variations are possible according to the instructions. I suppose it is also interesting that until July 1941 the aftmost 105mm mount on each side was of the C/33 type, while all others were C/37. The model appears to have all mountings in C/37 type.

For diehard Tirpitz fans, do they include information on the November 1944 appearance, with the Wurzburg radar....

BTW, since Hasegawa is the official Revell importer in Japan, the price of the Tirpitz is going to be pretty high. Bismarck is around 28000 JPY, sadly. So I hope you guys in Europe and the US savour this delicacy to the full!!!!!

Hoping, hoping...

[Charlie]

Hi,

This is my first post on this board.

I was told yesterday that in May my services would no longer be required at my present employer. Last night I had to take my wife into town for an eye test. Whilst I was waiting for her I found myself wandering into the local model shop. I am 40 this year and last time I made a model was in my early teens. I was looking for something to cheer me up and take my mind off things and got involved in a most wonderful conversation with the sales guy, reliving all sorts of wonderful memories of my childhood building the usual handful of Spitfires and Hurricanes etc.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I walked out there with a huge grin on my face and a Revell 1:350 Bismarck under my arm.

As this is my first model for many years I know this is a fairly big undertaking and I have no real idea of my skill level. I just wanted to say I spent a very enjoyable few hours last night reading through this forum and this thread in particular. There are obviously some very skilled and helpful contributors.

Now my first, of what I am sure will be many, questions.

Bearing in mind my future employment status and the fact that this is my first model in way too long and my unknown skill set, should I just go ahead and make the kit as is or am I doing it an injustice by not investing more cash in photo etch parts etc. I dont even have an airbrush so will have to paint by hand. Would it be better just to plow ahead and then make more investments as my skill level (hopefully) increases on future projects.

I appreciate any guidance anyone can offer me.

Thanks

Charlie