The Big One... Trumpeter 1/200 Bismarck 1940 build

[Channell]

Sorry for the lack of progress... I got, um... "distracted" by my new toy :



I have been creeping along on the Bismarck though. Here's some progress:



I got the funnel top assembled and painted inside... yet another tiny little victory in a project that threatens to consume my soul. I had previously painted the top with aluminum paint but oversprayed it... I've never used an airbrush before and am still getting used to it. It almost looks like exhaust grime as-is... I'm not sure how clean the crew kept the funnel top in real-life...what do you think, should I go for dirty or clean?

I decided to switch colors on the superstructure after all; instead of Model Masters Camouflage grey I am going to Model Masters Lichtgrau (acryl) which is actually very close in shade but a bit more German sounding and hopefully more accurate color in the end . I added some additional detail to the main guns from the KA set and repainted them; I had some extra paint in my airbrush so I also painted the back half of the Admiral's staff quarters just for the hell of it:







Finally, I dropped yet another 50 bucks on extras and have the new Eduard Central section PE on the way. I'll post more pics when I get it...

[LE BOSCO]

HI Jason

j like always your job but I like also your new toy

I want one there is no car like this one in France .......unfortunately

cheers
Nicolas

[FlowerPower]

Nice new toy...clean build...no PE used?
Now get back to work on the Bissie.

[PetrolGator]

Nice Challenger.... really like those new MOPARs, though, where do you wanna meet up? I need some food for my 2SS Camaro.

Seriously. Love this build, and nice to see another pony car on the boards!

[Channell]

HI Jason

j like always your job but I like also your new toy

I want one there is no car like this one in France .......unfortunately

cheers
Nicolas

We've got the cars but you have the wine and Brazil has the women. We should reverse continental drift and have a REAL party!

[Channell]

Nice new toy...clean build...no PE used?
Now get back to work on the Bissie.

Conveniently enough I'm actually in the market for Chally PE at the moment...



I just can't stop being me!

[FlowerPower]

[PetrolGator]

HI Jason

j like always your job but I like also your new toy

I want one there is no car like this one in France .......unfortunately

cheers
Nicolas

We've got the cars but you have the wine and Brazil has the women. We should reverse continental drift and have a REAL party!

From personal marriage experience, French woman are pretty nice too.

[Channell]

Nice Challenger.... really like those new MOPARs, though, where do you wanna meet up? I need some food for my 2SS Camaro.

Seriously. Love this build, and nice to see another pony car on the boards!

Psst... as per the Law of the Jungle, it's the prey that is forced to run faster than the hunter merely to survive.

I admit I am a muscle car virgin though... I've always been interested in Jeeps and 4X4s in general so this is all new for me... and I still can't wipe the silly grin off my face!

[LE BOSCO]

[... and I still can't wipe the silly grin off my face!.......

too funny Jason
I think I'll be like you
cheers
nicolas

[Channell]

Here's another brief check-in to show I haven't given up... yet.

Got my Eduard "central section" PE the other day:



I'm almost embarrassed to say I bought it almost entirely for metal grating around the forward AA gun platforms... a detail curiously omitted on the KA set (though I think the docking wings are better on this set too):



Just FYI if you use them, save yourself some hassle and glue the flat grating onto the superstructure first, then add the struts rather than follow Eduard's directions to build them first and then glue them on as a unit. It's much easier to get it on that way, and yes I did learn the hard way. Also, either I have dyslexia or Eduard misnumbered the struts because they didn't fit for me so I had to wing it to get them to work. Still, much better than the plain, solid plastic kit pieces.

Anyway, I'm moving along bit by bit... and there are A LOT of bits on this kit, especially with 300 bucks in extra aftermarket parts to play with. The next job is to hide the seams on the two lower forward superstructure pieces.

[LE BOSCO]

Hello Jason

the PE definitely brings a further
good luck for the installation the rest
cheers
Nicolas

[Channell]

Thanks again Nicholas! I need all the encouragement I can get on this build; I don't think I've ever been so overwhelmed by a plastic model kit! After this I'll be able to scratchbuild a 1/48 HMS Victory and feel relieved...

[Channell]

Got a lot done this week, here's some photos:







I repainted almost all the deck fixture bases by hand with the new grey color; it might just be me but the deck doesn't seem so "cutout" looking now as I was able to bleed tiny amounts of paint into the very tiny gaps between the deck and fixtures and bring it all together nicely. I plan to make black "metal" rims with rivets out of styrene and dry transfers to put around all the turret bases like the real thing as well.

I'm at the tail end of erasing the only real superstructure seam from the deck level to the bridge area up above:





I also started detailing the first level of the superstructure on the aft portion that I've spent way too much time wrestling with:





The "eyebrows" are from the KA set; I simply cut them off while being careful to leave a tiny "T" of the PE porthole rim at the bottoms to represent the brackets that were used to hold the porthole shield shut:



I made the doors out of styrene strip and have been trying to figure out a relatively easy way to add the wire conduits (which were only molded onto some places on the kit and frustratingly been ignored in all the aftermarket sets to date, even though they would be really easy to do with PE . In this case, I tried PE; since I already have most of the funnel rails in triplicate from buying extra stuff, I trimmed down the protrusions on some extra pieces, bent and glued them back to back to get a fairly decent conduit line... though it came out a bit sloppy so I'm not sure if I want to keep it.

BTW, what happened to the rest of the Big Bissy Builders club? Everybody else who is building one went silent. I'm frightened and alone!

[LE BOSCO]

but no,you are not alone Jason
I think if you see less Bissy,is that at the 200em,a Bissy, is like a big hamburger,at the beginning, one throws oneself on him it as a "starved"........and after ...is indigestible!!(that's why I make only of 350em)
congrats jason for your "appetites" of details
Cheers
Nicolas

[Ronald47]

I agree with that, Jason. Great work!

[J.F.S.]

Jason,
I just bought a new Challenger myself! Awesome car! Your Bismarck is looking great.
Joe

[Channell]

Thanks all!

[Wilhelm]

BTW, what happened to the rest of the Big Bissy Builders club? Everybody else who is building one went silent. I'm frightened and alone!

It's the da__able. all-consuming Emergency Medicine Boards! They come periodically (every ten years), like a bad case of relapsing malaria (see...I'm going nuts with all of this medical minutiae)! No time for ANY fun here until after mid-September! I'm the one who's really bawling!

[???????]

Hello, my name is Vladimir. I from Vladivostok that in Russia.

With interest I watch Channell work. Good fellow.
I bought the same set, only RE yet didn't deliver
http://soga-miniatures.com/index.php?productID=34213

I think over a problem of windows.
I will come to you ideas to steal

Well and the to share.

PS: excuse for the translator

http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/vie ... 46400.html