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

[Plastic Habit]

Thank you

yes, I am making my own PE pieces. I use a TurboCAD program to design them. It takes a bit of time to create the design but I can just change a couple of variables without having to redo the whole thing. The next pieces m going to try and work on are the side vents of the funnel, the triangular looking ones. I want them to have more depth and some grills. If I can get those all the others like them will be cake.

[Charlestonguy]

So getting back on topic how are you doing with your build Jason?
Watching and waiting on each post with anticipation.....

[Channell]

So getting back on topic how are you doing with your build Jason?
Watching and waiting on each post with anticipation.....

You sound like me on the handful of other Bissy builds out there in internet land! I wish they would hurry up and give me results!

But I haven't done an update in a bit I suppose... I haven't been slouching on it but I was going to wait until I had something more flashy to show y'all so here goes nothing!

At the moment my Bismark is looking a bit like a mulit-colored clown car in six different shades of grey and red...



I keep changing my game plan; this week the plan is to plow ahead on the hull without waiting for future PE. I added styrene frames to the large trapezoid intakes:



...and got some brass screen to put in them later. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up the hull and sprayed the area below the waterline with dull red today. Next comes the boot top.

Up on deck I am pretty much finished patching and cleaning up all the portholes I replaced. I also skeletonized the edges of the deck which overhang the bulkhead around the 10.5 cm gun mounts; the KA set includes PE to go over them albeit only for the aft section:





Anyway, somewhere in there I got antsy, added porthole eyebrows and sprayed the aft half of the lower superstructure, probably before I should have:





The light grey I am using highlights every single defect on the surface and I'm not quite happy with the results, even though most of the problem areas will eventually be covered with the PE vents/ hatches. Unfortunately, KA did not include hatch covers for the vents that were molded closed on the kit or doors and the molded details didn't all weather the porthole replacement process well.

I am hoping the aftermarket will give me some more options still... What I would really like is to be able to sand the bulkheads totally smooth and replace ALL the detail with PE from some future wonderful and not too expensive aftermarket set . There are still plenty of problems to resolve to get what I want here anyway.

The hull portholes turned out decent though:





I can't wait to put "glass" behind them!

Oh yea, one more thing! Guess I found sitting on the shelf of my local rob-bby shop for only 20 bucks!



That takes care of my superdetail resource problem! This book really should come with every Bismark model!

[Wilhelm]

Dear Jason:

I really admire your painting technique! Clean, sharp lines without any paint buildup or "creep" under the tape edge!

I especially like the thin black, prototypic strip at the bottom edge of the superstructure! ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

By the way, please don't exhaust the world supply of Tamiya masking tape before the rest of us get a chance to catch up!

[Channell]

Dear Jason:

I really admire your painting technique! Clean, sharp lines without any paint buildup or "creep" under the tape edge!

I especially like the thin black, prototypic strip at the bottom edge of the superstructure! ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

By the way, please don't exhaust the world supply of Tamiya masking tape before the rest of us get a chance to catch up!

Actually, that's the gap between the deck and the aft superstructure "lego block" in the picture. It wasn't seated well in the pic and I haven't painted the black "baseboard strip" yet. It's coming though... as soon as I stop experimenting anyway.

Many thanks though... plenty of 90's kids had the opportunity to....er, "develop" killer rattle-can skills growing up, me included. .

As for tape? Lets just say the guy at my "regular" hobby shop gets large dollar signs in his eyes and starts drooling every time I walk in the door...

[LE BOSCO]

HI Jason

Nice progress on your "big beast" good work of painting
cheers
Nicolas

[NigelR32]

She's looking beautiful Jason. Those portholes look amazing with the PE bits on them!!

You really are the master of the rattle can!!

[Channell]

Thanks!

Here's some more progress:







She actually looks like a ship of the Kriegsmarine now.

The intakes now have screens... not entirely authentic but at least they look passable now and definitely more interesting than the kit moldings:



And I replaced the rudder attachments with copper tube because the teenie-weenie plastic ones were just begging to be broken:

[Channell]

BTW, Eduard has finally begun releasing PE for this kit, in case anyone didn't know:

http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Phot ... ips/1-200/

Looking at the photos, it would seem they aren't gonna do much more than KA did. I was hoping for more from them...

[NigelR32]

BTW, Eduard has finally begun releasing PE for this kit, in case anyone didn't know:

http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Phot ... ips/1-200/

Looking at the photos, it would seem they aren't gonna do much more than KA did. I was hoping for more from them...

I still don't have my Ka kit yet!! I would like to ask.. aren't those pe parts for the boats nicer than what Ka give you??

Just an observation Jason, you have said your intakes have screens now, but I cant see any screens in the picture?? Bernd has suggested using PE for Military vehicles for my screens... He's full of good ideas!!

[Channell]

BTW, Eduard has finally begun releasing PE for this kit, in case anyone didn't know:

http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Phot ... ips/1-200/

Looking at the photos, it would seem they aren't gonna do much more than KA did. I was hoping for more from them...

I still don't have my Ka kit yet!! I would like to ask.. aren't those pe parts for the boats nicer than what Ka give you??

Just an observation Jason, you have said your intakes have screens now, but I cant see any screens in the picture?? Bernd has suggested using PE for Military vehicles for my screens... He's full of good ideas!!

After looking at Eduard's pics, I'd say the KA set is still better... especially the porthole shields. It doesn't look like Eduard did PE vents and vent doors either... KA at least did the open ones.

I only wish KA was more thorough with their set... though I doubt most people are completely tearing apart and re-detailing their Bismarcks like I am. I'm sure there will me plenty more aftermarket goodies to come though.

The screen I got was an extremely fine brass that I very lightly spray painted so I wouldn't clog it up. I'm sure there are better options but it's something I had already and they are not really the focal point of the ship anyway. They look pretty good when the inside of the hull is dark and give some much needed depth and detail to the intakes.





I just know 5-6 months down the road there will be some fine PE for the purpose but I'm anxious to progress after spending so much time "behind the scenes" on the project.

...Plus I sort of accidentally ordered a 1/35 PT boat the other day and got this grand idea of scratchbuilding the complete interior and displaying it "cutaway style"... but I promised my "boss" (someone has to give her kudos for living with the likes of me ) that I wouldn't start another ship without finishing either this one or the Gato first.

[Channell]

Today I got going on the display base:





And took on some basic weathering:





The supports on the base are bronze pipe couplings I picked up at the big box store for cheap They look appropriately industrial and nautical as-is so I won't worry about polishing them up. The oak plank was not cheap however (about 40 bucks for one 6ft plank!) and I just nailed/glued oak moldings around the edge for a simple yet classy effect. I made it larger than the model itself so I can theoretically make a display case around the Bismark down the road. It also helps protect the model from bumps and somehow just looks "right" underneath such a massive model.

For weathering, I am trying for an extremely light and clean effect but also improve the monotony of the otherwise blank hull. I'll be the first to admit I'm not very good at weathering and got a bit more streak in the end than I wanted but it's not too terrible so I'm thinking I'll just leave it be.

My other problem is trying to figure out where the hell I'm gonna put the beast after I'm done. Maybe I better never finish it!

[boomstick68]

The hull looks great.

[Charlestonguy]

" I also skeletonized the edges of the deck which overhang the bulkhead around the 10.5 cm gun mounts; the KA set includes PE to go over them albeit only for the aft section:"

The Eduard PE set for Revell 350 has this too. As far as I know they are the only ones that made it for the 350 kit. I wonder if the Eduard 1/200 set will have it too?

Very impressive Jason, amazing how your rattle can paint work is flawless!

[Channell]

The Eduard PE set for Revell 350 has this too. As far as I know they are the only ones that made it for the 350 kit. I wonder if the Eduard 1/200 set will have it too?

Very impressive Jason, amazing how your rattle can paint work is flawless!

Thanks!

Looking at the photos of Eduards new 1/200 PE for the kit, it would appear they are gonna eventually have them:

http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Phot ... 3bb5b6f86e

Which is good news... it would look funny to have them only on the back half of the superstructure.

[NigelR32]

Looking good Jason...very good indeed!!

[Charlestonguy]

Jason
Did Trumpy make these decks steel or planked?

[Channell]

I'm at work at the moment and honestly can't remember Charleston guy... though I think they are both just smooth plastic on the kit.

[BobaFettSlave_1]

Jason
Did Trumpy make these decks steel or planked?

Trumpy did the open bridge correct with bare steel, but the area aft the rear director sadly got the incorrect plank job, which will need to be removed/filled.

[Charlestonguy]

Jason
Did Trumpy make these decks steel or planked?

Trumpy did the open bridge correct with bare steel, but the area aft the rear director sadly got the incorrect plank job, which will need to be removed/filled.

Pontos planked both decks in his 350 version, guess we will see how the 200 comes out.
Thanks