MikeConnectrix

Hi, Whichever way works Having the hull line drawings is key. My preference is stem to stern lofting between the frames and using the hull lines as rails on the loft. The stem is a separate piece lofted from top to bottom. This creates a solid which can then be hollowed. The Tirpitz hull would simply not hollow so I resorted to modifying the frames to have an inner and outer profile and lofting the already hollowed hull. I would not recommend this method as it creates too many issues with mirrors and slicing later down the track. I'm doing a Prinz Eugen at the moment and am struggling with a lack of hull line details available. It appears a lot of the plans available are modellers interpretations of the hull outlines from 30 to 40 years ago. Prinz Eugen could not be hollowed from the last stern section forward (Fusion 360 had a hissy fit) so I sliced the model into 2 at origin and hollowed the 2 halves then joined them back together. So, this is the Prinz Eugen hull. It has largely been modelled from a reasonable plan and profile drawing and some very sketchy hull lines. You will note that there is not a ton of lines and to be honest, I could lose about half the centre frames without affecting the model. I prefer to let the lofting tools do the work and draw as little as possible but make sure that all the profiles connect correctly so the loft works better. So far I have about 20 hours invested in this, next we add the prop shafts, rudder, port holes etc then start work on the superstructure. Having said all that, I am not an expert by any means, more an interested amateur. So its basically whatever floats your boat Hope that helps some.

Still adding bits.... Just some railings and small deck accessories to go.

I didn't time them but it was not really appropriate. As I was designing the files virtually every one is print first one, test fit, check appearance, place in bin, adjust drawing and reprint. The parts were designed in 1/50 then rescaled to 1/200. The rescale has to then be adjusted to produce a printable part. Some detail is lost, other detail exaggerated to get it to print OK. When I am designing the files I tend to not have the luxury of being able to add lots of parts to the same print job, they tend to to be small jobs with one or 2 parts (remembering a lot of them go into the bin) Now that the parts are right, you can load the Resin printer with as many parts as can be fitted to the build plate as the print time is always the print time of the tallest part. That dramatically speeds things up a bit. Not so with the filament printer, extra parts means a longer print time. A straight up print with the current files would take around 2 weeks on 2 printers (One Filament, one Resin), around 1.5kg of filament and 2 kg of resin.

Next the forward superstructure. Assembly is quite similar to the rear control deck: Lastly is the hangar deck: Straight forward assembly: Then add it to the hull: Ready to go on its stand: Still a swarm of small parts and detail painting to go before its finished, but its a bit closer.

Then onto the rear control deck. Assembly of the parts is quite straight forward, but there is a reasonable amount of detail parts to be added: And finally I can add it to the hull:

Basically, the model is done in four parts. Hull Rear control superstructure Hangar Deck superstructure Forward control Superstructure The hull is assembled after a bit of adjustment and some sanding and reinforcing steel bar added to the keel for support, I finally have a hull ready to go. Cross members and deck supports added to hull. First touch of paint is for the waterline stripe. Just a touch of black covering at least the required area: Then a careful application of masking for the waterline: Then a shot of red anti-foul: Mask of the red, don't need to be very careful here as I just masked onto the previous black masking. First gray tone: Then mask the bits I want to keep: Second gray tone: Then mask the bits of that I want to keep: Finally shoot the last gray tone: Then finally I can unmask it and see what I have: Glue in the first deck plate: Then the second piece and so on until they are all in place:

Hull welded rivets: Cover the interface joiner with Epoxy Resin and assemble the 2 parts to be joined. Align the parts as best as possible and drill a 2-3mm hole through the outer hull and the joiner wall: I use a 3D pen to then flood the hole with melted filament. Slight pressure can be applied where appropriate during application to get a better alignment of the 2 hull surfaces. "Rivets" can then be trimmed with flush cutters and join is ready for final seal with epoxy before final sanding/sealing/painting. These 2 pieces were the experimental parts with the joiner printed directly with the hull piece, the poor quality of the join is obvious but should fill reasonably well.

So, for the last week I have been trying different methods of joining the hull sections to make assembly as simple as possible. While the original method works fine, it is a bit fiddly getting all the parts to line up perfectly so I have been searching for a better method. First I tried printing the Interface directly onto the bulkhead hull section. This requires extra supports while printing the part and does not produce a really good seam between the two parts when connected: Then I tried printing the joining holes on both the bulkhead and the interface to allow them to be lined up easily. I also beefed up the bulkhead to provide extra support: This provides a much better join line between the two hull pieces. This is also the easiest method of assembly by quite a ways. Your print the 2 hull parts and the interface, super glue and screw the interface to the bulk head using the holes and some kebab sticks to keep everything lined up, then the hull section snap locks onto the interface and is mostly self supporting. Reinforce the join with epoxy resin on the interface and welded rivets between the hull and interface. This works with the original hull parts as well, but is easier on the revised hull parts as the holes on the interface and bulkhead parts are pre-printed.

Next is the hull. The hull parts will keep your printer going for some time. I print them at 0.25mm layer height for all layers with a 0.4mm nozzle. You could go a bit coarser to reduce time, but I haven't got much else on (Said no-one..ever) The hull sections comprise 2 sections and an interface part in the current design. It occurs to me that the interface could simply be printed directly onto the bearing part to reduce effort, I will investigate this. Dry fit the 2 hull parts together and insert the interface. It is handed to follow the contour of the part being joined, but typically the hollowed section faces away from the join surface: Once happy with the fit, remove the interface and apply enough cyanoacetate cement and re-install the interface firmly to it to the part with the bulkhead. Don't get glue onto the hull part being joined as we want to remove it to reinforce the interface join. Hold parts together liberally with masking tape and pegs/clamps etc. When set, separate the now hopefully 2 parts and reinforce the join with soldering iron welding to fuse seams along with holes drilled through the bulkhead to create "rivets" where appropriate to strengthen the join. Once complete, the 2 parts can now be permanently joined with glue, more rivets through the hull side into the interface join and sealing compound on the interface seam with the bulkhead part to keep things nice and dry. The channel at the bottom of the hull is for a 20mmX3mm steel flat bar that runs the length of the hull to give it a bit more longitudinal strength. This bar has a cut-out towards the stern to accommodate the center propeller shaft. It does not have to be tight-tight, if you have problems inserting the bar into the propeller section, trim the bar appropriately (and with safety gear of course) to get a comfortable fit (the steel flat bar into the hull, not the safety gear :-<). There are extra channels along the hull at deck level to add further re-enforcing as deemed fit.

So, we will start with the stand. Fairly simple sort of affair, print out the bits and they just clip together. Files included for Bismarck and Tirpitz, just not sure of the Bismarck Name plate. Fonts... Whatever. Nameplates are printed with a filament change from black to 4.45 mm then a swap to gold silk filament for the remainder. I printed these in PLA with an initial layer of 0.25mm and following layers of 0.15mm, but this could be increased to 0.25mm for speed if required. The stand ends are handed. One end is for the bow, the other is for the stern. The name plate and name plate support orientation can be switched to allow for display in either direction.

No great objections. So it begins.. I have published the build files for this project here. I have worked on and off 1/200 scale models of Bismarck and Tirpitz over the last 30 years. I have completed a 1/200 Hatchette Bismarck, a Scratchbuilt 1/200 RC Tirpitz in MDF and Cardboard (Yes...MDF), and am currently working on this 3D printed version. I started this model based only on FDM printing, but after some time realised that I could not get the level of detail required with FDM alone so started shifting parts to SLA resin printing. This model is therefore, a hybrid SLA FDM 3D printed model. Equipment used is, but not limited to,2 Prusa MK3S printers, both Bears modified and one with the extended Z Axis height, a Protech RPE1 Resin printer and an Creality Wash and Cure station for Resin printing. I also have an assortment of cutters, sanding medium, Air brushes and Dremel tools along with various other bits of hobby grade tools and equipment. Nothing too fancy (apart from possibly waaay too many 3D printers, you could probably get by with just 1 FDM printer) I have access to Laser cutters, CNC routers and lathes and a full custom PCB Lab with photo etch facilities and an SMD pick and place robot, but these are a bit excessive and will not be used with this model. I think.. maybe the Photo Etch facility, but I will try not too.

Hi, I am not sure if this is a scratch build or a kit. Since I am the creator of the files used in building this model, I suppose it is scratch built, but as the files are available for purchase, it could be considered a kit. Unless told otherwise, I will proceed on the basis of scratch built and will wait a a day or two before proceeding for input.