lmagna

Good evening for everyone, work goes further with finishing the ship's body and drawing the ribs on the body. I'm going to trace the sheets of each sheet of paper after the plane of the sheets.
A beautiful evening still.
 
 
Adrian,

thanks Mobbsie    your too kind.   I didn't do a whole lot yesterday.......suffered from a bit of work-lag.  but I did manage to get the bulwark railings along the superstructure on,  as well as a few more bits on the fore deck,  and the antenna on the funnel.   the depth charges are painted and almost ready to be added to the deck.....that had to wait due to the railings.   I should get a few more of the smaller decals on,  before I add something that's gonna make them harder to do.  the other thing I forgot about actually....was the windows in the superstructure.   if I do them,  I'll need to be very careful...especially since I haven't done windows like these for quite a while now.   I planned on doing the 'chopper windows...they should prove to be a challenge enough,  but perhaps I can use them for practice    I have pictures........I'll include them with the update I'll be posting soon.    thanks again and thanks for the likes.......you're ALL too kind   

I got busy first thing........I progressed further on the Helicopters.   the tail rotors are tipped and in place.

the main rotors were tipped at this time.....even the folded ones.

I did a dry fit of the finished 'chopper



then with the folded rotors....



the flags were added to the stands......then paint.

the missiles were added to the launcher....waiting for touch ups

almost to the point where these parts can be added to the ship......just a bit more work  

HMS Suffolk Sights Bismarck.
a quote from 'An Eyewitness Account of the Sinking of HMS Hood' by Lt D. N. Paton 
'Suddenly, at 7.22 in the evening of 23rd., one of the look-outs sighted Bismarck and Prinz Eugen emerging from a snow squall between Suffolk and the ice. There could be no mistaking the vastness of the battleship at the point blank range of seven miles, though the somewhat inappropriate remark of a midshipman – “Hood and Prince of Wales, I suppose” – subsequently became legendary. The enemy ships were moving fast in a S.W. direction parallel to the ice.'
When I read something like that, it makes me want to grab the brushes and paint it. Like here. Much more satisfying than the 'Eye candy' of the one above.
Jim

The Channel Fleet off Plymouth 'at a time of great change'
Jim

Hi guys... am keep working even in slow motion... 

Yes my interests are diverse and I have been known to make ships on occasion!

Patrick
 
Good to see you back and your nose at the grindstone! Looking forward to some more fine progress.
 
Lou

philo
 
Nice to see your work. Ships of the air are one of my favorite subjects.
 
By the looks of your shop it looks like you have a lot of interests besides airships.
 
Lou

Here is some of the stuff I have found in an admittedly short search. It appears that that Dan was right about the domed gun directors also being radomes as indicated in the last paragraph.
Lou
 
The fire of the main and secondary batteries was directed from the command posts, which were located forward, astern, and above the foretop platform. Each of these three posts mounted a rotating dome with an optical rangefinder and a FuMO 23 radar instrument. The command posts were connected by armored communication shafts to the computation rooms under the Armour deck forward (section XV) and aft (section VII). The FuMO 23 antennae had a rectangular shape and measured approximately 2 m. high and 4 m. wide. They had a frequency of 368 MHz, and operated on an 81.5 cm wavelength with a power-output of 9 kW at 500 kHz. The maximum effective range of this device was about 25,000 m. However, the German FuMOs were not equipped with the PPI (Plan Position Indicator) display system that is so familiar in today’s radars, but a simple A-scope display instead. Therefore, they could hardly detect more than one target at the same time, and bearings were not very accurate either. The lack of PPI was one of the reasons German capital ships were so redundant and equipped with three sensors.
The foretop command post, under the command of the First Artillery Officer (I.A.O.), was above the foremast, at about 31 meters above sea level. It was equipped with a 10.5 meter base range finder (Basisgerät BG), and had a visual field of 360º. The forward command post was attached to the forward conning tower, and had a 7-meter base rangefinder, however, due to the superstructure, its visual field was smaller. The after command post had a 10.5-meter base rangefinder of similar characteristics as the one in the foretop.
Each of the four main battery turrets ("Anton", "Bruno", "Cäsar" and "Dora") was equipped with a 10.5-meter base rangefinder too, and in case all three command posts were put out of action in battle, the turrets could then proceed individually to local fire.1However, the chances of scoring a hit with each battery firing on its own were less than under a centralized command. The central turrets of the secondary battery had also their own 6.5-meter base rangefinder.
The anti-aircraft fire was directed by four command posts, each equipped with a 4-meter rangefinder. Two of these command posts, covered by spherical cupolas (Wackeltopf), were on either side of the foremast, and the other two uncovered posts amidships aft.

Danny
 
It looks like you were all RIGHT!
 
It appears that the Bismarck used the gun control optical range finder units to also house the gun control range finder radars. According to the info supplied by Ken, in the case of the main gun units at the top of the superstructure the addition added so much weight that the units had to be redesigned so the bearings could handle the load!
 
Lou 

Danny
 
It looks like you were all RIGHT!
 
It appears that the Bismarck used the gun control optical range finder units to also house the gun control range finder radars. According to the info supplied by Ken, in the case of the main gun units at the top of the superstructure the addition added so much weight that the units had to be redesigned so the bearings could handle the load!
 
Lou 

Danny
 
It looks like you were all RIGHT!
 
It appears that the Bismarck used the gun control optical range finder units to also house the gun control range finder radars. According to the info supplied by Ken, in the case of the main gun units at the top of the superstructure the addition added so much weight that the units had to be redesigned so the bearings could handle the load!
 
Lou 

I finally finished those non ship kits.....three drag racing cars.....I toyed with them here and there.  thought it time to get them done.   if anyone is interested in seeing them,  you can see them here:
 
http://wenzelsautobody.wordpress.com/
 
anyway......now that I'm done with those,  I can get back to Jeanne and hopefully finish her........it's all the goal to clear the main table.   basically,  I did  bunch of prep painting and minor assembly to the last few parts.  I had cemented together the davits earlier last week.

they need painting.....   the props were painted about the same timeline....

today.......in between decorating the tree.......I did some painting and minor assembly.   the flags were painted....I was relieved to see I had all three flat colors for them.

might be hard to see......but I did the windows on the Helicopters.

then the tail rotors were cut from their sprues,  and tipped with flat yellow

hopefully tomorrow,  I can have more time to go further.

Danny
 
It looks like you were all RIGHT!
 
It appears that the Bismarck used the gun control optical range finder units to also house the gun control range finder radars. According to the info supplied by Ken, in the case of the main gun units at the top of the superstructure the addition added so much weight that the units had to be redesigned so the bearings could handle the load!
 
Lou 

Danny
 
It looks like you were all RIGHT!
 
It appears that the Bismarck used the gun control optical range finder units to also house the gun control range finder radars. According to the info supplied by Ken, in the case of the main gun units at the top of the superstructure the addition added so much weight that the units had to be redesigned so the bearings could handle the load!
 
Lou 

Here is some of the stuff I have found in an admittedly short search. It appears that that Dan was right about the domed gun directors also being radomes as indicated in the last paragraph.
Lou
 
The fire of the main and secondary batteries was directed from the command posts, which were located forward, astern, and above the foretop platform. Each of these three posts mounted a rotating dome with an optical rangefinder and a FuMO 23 radar instrument. The command posts were connected by armored communication shafts to the computation rooms under the Armour deck forward (section XV) and aft (section VII). The FuMO 23 antennae had a rectangular shape and measured approximately 2 m. high and 4 m. wide. They had a frequency of 368 MHz, and operated on an 81.5 cm wavelength with a power-output of 9 kW at 500 kHz. The maximum effective range of this device was about 25,000 m. However, the German FuMOs were not equipped with the PPI (Plan Position Indicator) display system that is so familiar in today’s radars, but a simple A-scope display instead. Therefore, they could hardly detect more than one target at the same time, and bearings were not very accurate either. The lack of PPI was one of the reasons German capital ships were so redundant and equipped with three sensors.
The foretop command post, under the command of the First Artillery Officer (I.A.O.), was above the foremast, at about 31 meters above sea level. It was equipped with a 10.5 meter base range finder (Basisgerät BG), and had a visual field of 360º. The forward command post was attached to the forward conning tower, and had a 7-meter base rangefinder, however, due to the superstructure, its visual field was smaller. The after command post had a 10.5-meter base rangefinder of similar characteristics as the one in the foretop.
Each of the four main battery turrets ("Anton", "Bruno", "Cäsar" and "Dora") was equipped with a 10.5-meter base rangefinder too, and in case all three command posts were put out of action in battle, the turrets could then proceed individually to local fire.1However, the chances of scoring a hit with each battery firing on its own were less than under a centralized command. The central turrets of the secondary battery had also their own 6.5-meter base rangefinder.
The anti-aircraft fire was directed by four command posts, each equipped with a 4-meter rangefinder. Two of these command posts, covered by spherical cupolas (Wackeltopf), were on either side of the foremast, and the other two uncovered posts amidships aft.

Dan 
 
Sorry, I didn't mean it as a clarification, only as a question. I have never really done any research on the Bismark other than reading the history like I am sure all of us have.
 
Jan
Although it is possible that the Bismarck did not have true gun control radar, it is clear in at least most of the pictures I have seen of the better models that he/she did have some kind of radar. There are bed spring style radars located on both the forward main gun control and the aft main control units and because of their location their aim would follow the direction of the gun control units. That would suggest that there was at least an attempt at using the radar for gun control. Just like ship mounted radar in the US and some other countries it may have been primitive and unreliable, but it does seem to have been installed by 1941 unless the models are wrong. (How could that be?) I will try and look a little closer into it but I am sure that you or someone here has dates and levels of German radar development at hand and will have a better answer long before I can do it.
 
Lou  

Hello Dan
I have been lurking in the background avidly following your build. Very enjoyable and informative.
 
I do have a question about your "raydomes" though. Does the manufacturer list them as radar domes? I always thought of them as optical gun directors, possibly for the secondary armament due to their being located so low to the waterline and on each side of the superstructure.
Just a question as no matter what they are they look great.
 
Lou 

Hello Dan
I have been lurking in the background avidly following your build. Very enjoyable and informative.
 
I do have a question about your "raydomes" though. Does the manufacturer list them as radar domes? I always thought of them as optical gun directors, possibly for the secondary armament due to their being located so low to the waterline and on each side of the superstructure.
Just a question as no matter what they are they look great.
 
Lou 

For all of us, this is a site with German radar gear: http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_Radar.php
 
This is part of the NavWeaps website, so prowl around, It covers from WW1 to the present, so steel naval ship builder will have a lot to peruse.

Thanks for that research Lou, it looks like I was only half wrong . It won't be the last time .
 
  Danny

Here is some of the stuff I have found in an admittedly short search. It appears that that Dan was right about the domed gun directors also being radomes as indicated in the last paragraph.
Lou
 
The fire of the main and secondary batteries was directed from the command posts, which were located forward, astern, and above the foretop platform. Each of these three posts mounted a rotating dome with an optical rangefinder and a FuMO 23 radar instrument. The command posts were connected by armored communication shafts to the computation rooms under the Armour deck forward (section XV) and aft (section VII). The FuMO 23 antennae had a rectangular shape and measured approximately 2 m. high and 4 m. wide. They had a frequency of 368 MHz, and operated on an 81.5 cm wavelength with a power-output of 9 kW at 500 kHz. The maximum effective range of this device was about 25,000 m. However, the German FuMOs were not equipped with the PPI (Plan Position Indicator) display system that is so familiar in today’s radars, but a simple A-scope display instead. Therefore, they could hardly detect more than one target at the same time, and bearings were not very accurate either. The lack of PPI was one of the reasons German capital ships were so redundant and equipped with three sensors.
The foretop command post, under the command of the First Artillery Officer (I.A.O.), was above the foremast, at about 31 meters above sea level. It was equipped with a 10.5 meter base range finder (Basisgerät BG), and had a visual field of 360º. The forward command post was attached to the forward conning tower, and had a 7-meter base rangefinder, however, due to the superstructure, its visual field was smaller. The after command post had a 10.5-meter base rangefinder of similar characteristics as the one in the foretop.
Each of the four main battery turrets ("Anton", "Bruno", "Cäsar" and "Dora") was equipped with a 10.5-meter base rangefinder too, and in case all three command posts were put out of action in battle, the turrets could then proceed individually to local fire.1However, the chances of scoring a hit with each battery firing on its own were less than under a centralized command. The central turrets of the secondary battery had also their own 6.5-meter base rangefinder.
The anti-aircraft fire was directed by four command posts, each equipped with a 4-meter rangefinder. Two of these command posts, covered by spherical cupolas (Wackeltopf), were on either side of the foremast, and the other two uncovered posts amidships aft.