vossy

There's a ladder that sticks up through the deck.  The instructions want you to build the ladder, then install it up through the hole, but I tried that and it didn't fit.  So I disassembled it, and assembled it piece by piece in the hole.  There's a picture of the unpainted version installed, and then I hand-painted it.
 
Also a picture of a small bell.
 
Regards,
David

And all those parts painted and mounted now.
 
Regards,
David

Another gaggle of small parts ready for painting.
 
Regards,
David

Here's an example of the intricacy of this model.  This gun assembly is constructed from 8 parts.
 
Regards,
David

More deck detail.
 
Regards,
David

Catwalks installed.  If you look at the side profile, there is a little "foot" at the base next to the hull.  The instructions say to glue this on to the catwalk before gluing the assembly to the hull, but I thought that could cause some alignment issues, so I first glued the catwalk in place and then glued on the "foot".
 
Regards,
David

So now all those detail pieces are painted and mounted.  Pictures below are five of the area around the large superstructure stern turret, and five of the area around the bow turret.  There are two more large turrets aft and fore of these respectively, yet to be built.
 
The little winders are finished with thread to represent rope.  On the sides you will also see paravanes.  I was not aware that large ships like the Bismarck had paravanes to do their own minesweeping, but apparently so.
 
Regards,
David

Been working on a bunch of small parts, which all now need to be painted, so here they are on a board ready for the spray booth, with some closeups of some of the interesting ones.
 
As has been the case, these are small, and a challenge -- and if you look closely you can see where I've adapted one of them to account for a part that slipped out of the tweezers and skittered away, gone forever.
 
Regards,
David

One of the stern turrets.  I found the little railings to be a bear -- the pics in the manual are wonderfully aligned.  Mine are just sort of "there" but the gray paint will cover some of my sins.
 
One tip:  mount the platform with the base dry fitted on the model to get the alignment right so it will fit later on, then do the railings.
 
Regards,
David

It takes some time to set up my spray booth, so even though the manual is now in a build/paint/install sequence for each assembly, I'm going to build and hold until I have a bunch of things to paint. 
 
Here are two cranes, and the second bow turret -- in place but not glued.
 
Regards,
David

Pictures showing the buildup of the stern superstructure, now completed and mounted.
 
Regards,
David

In the looking ahead for problems department, I was concerned about how the stern superstructure buts up against the bow one.  That concern arose from an obvious misalignment of the stern structure with the deck pattern, as shown in the picture.  The bow structure is perfectly aligned.
 
There are some plastic thingies on the end of the stern superstructure (they cause the gap between the structures, which is normal), and those could be sanded back where they meet the bow structure, but I was concerned about clearance for the catapults.  So I built one, and before making any adjustments you can see that it aligns perfectly with the railings.  I did see a way to deal with that if I narrow the gap, so I sanded down the part of those "thingies" that meets the bow structure, and you can see afterward that the alignment is much closer -- and in fact with a bit more fiddling and slight rotation, it gets close to perfect (not shown).  
 
Regarding the catapult clearance, you can see in the final picture where the arrow points a railing misalignment that can be easily addressed by trimming the railing on the bow structure back to evenly meet the catapult walkway.  What also has to be adjusted is a brass cladding that goes over the deck and abuts the catapult, but that can be trimmed where it meets the bow tower to accommodate the narrowed gap.
 
Way back to my second model ever, I got bitten on things not lining up, so I read ahead and look for it now.
 
Regards,
David
 

Thanks Pat, this is the exact type of solution I was hoping to find. Will give it a go.
 
Chris
 

A couple of assemblies.  The two matched items are lifeboat racks.  The larger one (front and back views shown) is a signal bridge that will be mounted on the stern superstructure.
 
I have found that it's almost impossible to build these brass assemblies without using accelerator.  Because spray is so undirected and wasteful, I bought an eyedropper bottle and put accelerator in that, and it really works well.
 
Regards,
David

Thanks Pat, this is the exact type of solution I was hoping to find. Will give it a go.
 
Chris
 

Hi Vossey,
 
I will try to describe the technique I use for 'cheesing' the tail ends of tackles. Not my original idea, but it works well for me.  First soak your rope/thread, cut to an appropriate size (if doing separate) in a diluted solution of PVS/water ( I use about a 60 water/40 PVA).  If using the actual tail end of the tackle, this still works but just soak the required length of the tail (working end of the falls)
 
I use two small squares (or round) of clear plastic (from shirt boxes or the like).  I punch a pin (usually a tack with raised plastic head) through both (See Photo).  Separate the two leaving the upper plastic square/round on the pin, and put the outer/tail end of the rope/thread through the centre hole of the bottom square with about 1 to 2mm protruding to the bottom side.  Put the pin back into this such that it holds the end and makes a sandwich with the thread between both plastic squares.  Now rotate either the assembly or wind the thread around the centre pin to start making a flat cheesed coil to the desired diameter.  Allow the finished coil to dry before removing; the plastic does not let them stick too much but still take some care when separating the coil from the plastic.  These 'jigs' are so easy and cheap to make you can dispose and remake as required, especially when the centre holes become too large from wear/use.

 
Just one way to do it.  
 
 
cheers
 
Pat
 
 

Nice little turret assembly.  Shown alone and where it will ultimately go on the structure.
 
There's a seam at the front that isn't quite closed, but this is a very small assembly and the paint will fill it in.
 
Regards,
David

Use canned clear shellac (about a 2 pound cut - Zinsser Bullseye brand or equivalent) to cause the line to stiffen. Shellac is dissolved in alcohol. As the alcohol evaporates, the shellac soaked into the line will begin to harden and the line can be formed into any shape. Once the shellac has dried (within minutes) the line will be stiff and hold whatever shape you have given it. If more working time is needed, simply apply additional alcohol and the shellac will soften again. 
 
Results example below. Coils made on a form consisting of map pins placed into a wooden base around which the coils were wound. Coils were installed on the model, softened with alcohol, and formed in place to depict normal hanging behavior of full-size line.

See Bob's post #181 in his build log.
 
 

Hi, can anyone suggest a method to make flat rope coils to lay on the deck behind gun carriages etc?
 
These cause me all sorts of grief.
 
Thanks.
 

More levels of the stern superstructure.  The leftmost turret is dry fitted at this point, and the upper levels are dry fitted awaiting painting.
 
Regards,
David

I've started on the stern superstructure.  Some nice raised detail here.
 
Regards,
David

I've had a few pieces that needed painting, and since I put my spray booth away, I've been waiting for a good day to spray those pieces outside.  That was today, so I've now finished the bow structure.
 
New parts:  mast, ladder next to mast, small catwalk, some braces, two turrets.
 
I started the stern structure a few days ago, so that's underway.
 
Regards,
David
 

any Australian suppliers/stockists for this?
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

And the funnel and hangars.
 
Now I have to build and paint a couple of brass fixtures, mount them, and then mount some turrets and this structure will be done.
 
Regards,
David