Calling all Kriegsmarine Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper & Blücher fans

[Mike Coleman still]

I would like to send my sincere thanks to those who have sacrificed their time and model making talents to converting the existing 1/350 Hipper and P.E. kits into the Blucher. Such selfless acts have appeased the injection molding gods and we are to be rewarded with an injection molded 1/350 Blucher kit from Trumpeter. So sayeth the 2016 catalog. To paraphrase the movie "Field of Dreams", convert it and the injection kit will come. I have learned that lesson more than once.
Mike

[109]

Hi,

J�rgen Waldmann wants to add some detail info concerning the hangar area with two platforms with railings above the sliding hangar roof. See his fotos attached for more details.

HTH all modelers.

[Timmy C]

Trumpeter's 1/350 Blucher has been released, and Hobby Search has scans of the parts and instructions: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10378152

Sprue J is new, and other modifications to represent Blucher are done as unused parts for the existing molds.

[Dick J]

From what I can see, it sure looks like Trumpy put their "B" team on this one. The bow is reminiscent of the Revell Prinz Eugen/Hipper bow change where they took PE's bow and made a straight line instead of a curve to the same extended deck. Only this time, they took the shorter Hipper bow and put a curve in it. The bow does not appear to have enough "clipper" to it. Looking at both the Hobby Search and Trumpy sites, they appear to be using the exact same forward deck for both Hipper and Blucher even though Blucher's deck should be longer. The bridge differences are mostly lacking as well - minor "tweaks" where major differences should exist. Even if they scale it down to 1/700, I think I will stick with my original plan to cross a PE with a Hipper and scratch build the differences. The amount of work will be exactly the same as correcting the Blucher kit unless they significantly improve something in the "rescaling" process.

[Kazec]

Do you have informaiton on that?

Yes, I have.

Main deck: teak, except for the very tip of the bow (presumably painted hull colour RAL 7000), Tamiya is correct on this one.

LV1: teak, except for the middle part stretching between the tall AA directors ==> Dunkelgrau 1 (RAL 7016 which was the same hue ==> RAL 7016 as the dark grey boot-topping), Tamiya is correct on this one.

LV2: teak, except for the deck aft of the bulwark surrounding the fwd 3.7 AA gun and the area around the catapult and hangar ==> RAL 7016, Tamiya is correct on this one.

LV3: bridge deck: RAL 7016, but covered with grated removeable deck panels. On my model this is a PE-deck from the Flyhawk set, very neat, it's really 'grated'. The wooden panels stretched as far aft as the aft transversal of the surrounding bulwark.

LV3: aft superstructure: the area aft (or around) of the armored after control station is unknown to me, the kit suggests wood. The area where your splinter shields from your initial question are located was steel (RAL 7016) but covered with slatted wood panels. The Signal Deck (aft, beneath the main mast) was steel but covered with grated deck panels.

LV 4: fwd superstructure only from now on: where the half-round splinter shield is - and this is still wrong on my model - was steel deck as well, but covered with slatted wood panels.

Signal Deck aft of Admiral's Bridge: RAL 7016, but covered with grated deck panels.

Foretop gallery: RAL 7016 but covered with slatted deck panels.

Colour of removable deck panels:
The grated ones are said to having been in such a brown colour you see on my model.
The slatted ones were presumably of a beige-ish colour, darker than the teak of the main deck.

My model will not feature the Baltic camouflage as I'm depicting the ship on May 22, in preparation of leaving Norway and friendly air cover.

With regard to the different shades of grey - and I can smell questions about it coming - for your 'time window' you will need four of them, beginning from the lightest to darkest:

RAL 7001 = Hellgrau 50 ==> superstructure
RAL 7000 = Dunkelgrau 51 ==> hull
RAL 7024 = Dunkelgrau 2 ==> 'splinter-type' camouflage on parts of the superstructure, turrets and barrels while wearing the Baltic Camouflage. Turret tops (horizontal + sloped sides, if not red), other certain horizontal surfaces such as the bridge roof or the hoods of the range finders and conning towers - I'm not sure about the hangar roof...
RAL 7016 = Dunkelgrau 1 ==> steel decks and boot-topping


Happy Modelling ~ Olaf

Hi, Olaf, I am now building the Admiral Hipper. Do the above instructions for the Prinz Eugen also applicable to the Admiral Hipper? Thanks.

[Capt.Ase]

Dear modellers,

im looking for Admiral Hippers rigging scheme. Maybe anyone can share it with me?

Kind regards,
Capt.Ase

[Capt.Ase]

March 1941, when sha has a dark red turret tops.

[guest]

Just got the new Trumpeter Blucher. Does anyone know if the angle of the funnel rake should differ to that of the Eugen & Hipper?

[Fivi_1241]

Hello guys,

Lately I became more interested in German capital ships , Admiral Hipper class being definitely the best looking ones, and the ones with the most recognizable service. I want to build either 1/700 Hipper or Eugen, still didn't make my mind (maybe I'll do both then? ) but before I do, I have some questions about them:

1) Most people on forums tend to agree that the best representation of Eugen is Tamiya's kit. The problem is, I'm only interested in full-hull model, so there's no way I'm not buying Trumpy [full hull] Eugen. The question is- is Tamiya's Eugen so much superior that it would make sense to mix it into one with Trumpy kit?

2) Polish publisher Kagero has released an album with 3D graphics of Admiral Hipper. I believe this is the only source I know that shows Eugen's 1941/42 camo consisting of three, not two colours. Every other source and kit instruction shows Hipper with light grey/dark blue-ish grey, while Kagero also added medium grey. You can see it here:
https://sklep.kagero.pl/the-german-crui ... ipper.html

Are there any other sources confirming such camo?

3) And for a "lighter" and more subjective topic- which vessel of the class do you think is the one with most notable history? Eugen didn't really do much more than participating in HMS Hood's sinking, while Hipper was quite a succesful raider, if I didn't forget anyone- second only to Scheer in terms of tonnage sunk. What do you think?

Best regards,
Filip

[MartinJQuinn]

Sean Hert reviewed the Trumpeter 1942 Hipper here: http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/sh ... eview.html

If I recall correctly, he thought it was a better model than the Tamiya kit, which - IMO - is saying something.

I've started the Trumpeter Hipper - it's not a bad model. You many just want to go with Trumpeter for both Hipper and Eugen. And yes, you should build both.

[Dan Banks]

Don't do 1/700 so can't comment on that but in regard to camp scheme in late 1940-1941 early, the current guess is that the helgrau 50 or a close tint was used on hull and superstructure, with dark areas in a darkened dunkelgrau 2. The design and colors were done by a crewmember named Dechend, who wrote a study of camo for KM.

[Fivi_1241]

Thanks for the replies!
I decided to start with Trumpy's Prinz Eugen, Hipper might join later. So, now's the time to make a to-do list of modifications, as I want to backdate 1942 version to 1941. It seems that the hardest thing to do will be an exchange of AA guns around the funnel for searchlights.

Another issue are forward 3m rangefinders. Are there any detailed photos or plans of those to help in scratchbuilding? I also have some 3D renders of 3m rangefinders from Graf Spee's superstructure- any chance they are identical to Eugen's rangefinders?

Cheers,
Filip

[ModelMonkey]

4-meter SL-8 domed rangefinders are now available in several scales. See:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=163409

[Michael Riddell]

Hello peeps,

I've had a look at Stein Gildberg's excellent build of the Blucher based on the 1/350 Trumpeter Admiral Hipper kit and I'm currently contemplating doing the same with one of their 1/700 kits. I'm fairly au fait with most of the changes needed but I do have a question relating to the bridge structure. When did Blucher have the admiral's bridge covered over and was the open bridge area in front of the armoured conning tower altered to the same configuartion as the Hipper, i.e. extended at the front and strengthening ribs added to it. The photos I have seen dating from the winter of '39/40 show neither of these features in place so I was wondering if any of the dives on the wreck have shed any light on what these two areas looked like when she was sunk?

Thanks in advance,

Michael.

[Dick J]

This photo of Blucher http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/1b6d4be4877a4 ... c45kxn.jpg
shows the covered flag bridge. It also shows what appears to be an extension of the lower bridge forward of the conning tower. However, it is not clear enough to show whether or not there were reinforcing ribs on it. This is the only shot I have seen of her that clearly shows the covered flag bridge, so by inference, it must have been covered shortly before her last (and only) operation.

[Michael Riddell]

Thanks Dick! Looking at it myself, I think that may be a hint of strengthening ribs on the open bridge face, but the light conditions plus the reproduction quality make a bit difficult to be certain.

I've always thought that that image and a similar one (LINK) were heavily re-touched images of the Hipper, but now that I've had a proper look at them I do think that they are indeed of the Bl�cher. I've also found this image (LINK) apparently taken from the Emden during the run up the Kattegat to Oslo. It's just a pity that that it and the sinking images are from the same rear quarter aspect! The Emden image does seem to show that Bl�cher did have an enlarged forward director as well, something the sinking images don't show due to the amount of smoke.

As we're discussing the Bl�cher, I found this sequence from the 2016 Norwegian film "Kongens Nei" showing the Battle of Drobak Sound from the Norwegian side: LINK

Mike.

[MartinJQuinn]

USS IX-300, Prinz Eugen, in the Panama Canal. Photo courtesy of Roger Torgeson. Thanks Roger!

[Roger Torgeson]

Martin, thanks for posting the Prinz Eugen photo for me. Finding that photograph plus another 9 more at the National Archives showing the ship transiting the Gatun Locks at the Panama Canal really made my day and as luck would have it I also found in another box of photographs 3 more images showing the ship at anchor waiting for "The Bomb" to be dropped. I keep telling myself one day I need to dig into the technical records at the Archives to see what all is available on the ship and with a bit more luck maybe find additional photographs.

[chargerman]

Just wondering if Trumpeter's 1/700 1940 Admiral Hipper could be turned into a 1940 Blucher and what if anything needs to be changed? It always annoys me when a company does two out of three ships in a class but more than one version of the two and none of the third.

[Olaf Held]

Forum member Stein Gildberg did that in scale 350. You could use his model and build log as a guide.

In my opinion, this is one of the best Bl�cher models around, if not THE best.


Happy converting ~ Olaf!