channell

Thanks! 
 
Hard to believe it's already been near 6 years since this kit hit the market and we all took over the model ship forums as we went to work on ours...  There was A LOT of excitement for this thing back then, wasn't there? 
 
Good times...
 
Anyhoo, It feels good to be back to work on one. .   

I'd take it... the $50 bucks we'd make after 500 hours could finance a bottle of the good stuff for the end-of-build celebration party... 
 
But yeah,  Pontos is my go-to for detail sets. A lot of people on the interwebs seem to like to poo-poo Pontos as their PE is more complicated and difficult than the competition, their instructions tend to have more errors than Microsoft Windows and they routinely promise sets that never get released and/or release sets months after they say they will but there's no beating the end-results. 
 
I also like how Pontos makes a strong effort towards accuracy rather than just trying to add bling as well. There were many detail errors and omissions on the OOTB Trumpy kit bulkheads that I'm working on now for example... all the other detail sets just follow Trumpy's plan but Pontos wipes the bulkheads clean and starts over with details that are true to the actual ship. That's pretty cool in my opinion, even if it's a helluva lot of work. 

Had the day off yesterday and made a 10+ hour straight push on the aft superstructure... got it all cleaned up, primed the plastic and got maybe 60-70% of the PE on.
 

 
I'm hoping I can get this piece done over the coming weekend... guess I'll see how it goes. 

This is my solution, though I'm gonna have to evict the Admiral from the lower shelves eventually...

Thanks!
There is an insane amount of PE on this build, more than I've ever attempted before but it seems to be going well so far. I've honestly been having a good time working on Bissy over these past few months, guess that's what matters most! 
 
My Hood build has been on ice for a couple years now and is an equally monster project as the Bismarck but I got bogged down on the build and just wasn't "feeling it" at the time. I figured it was better to wait until the "right time" came to pick it up again... and it will, just like my "Bismarck Madness" came back after a few years. 
 
These superdetailed 1/200 warships are not easy projects to see through to the end... hopefully I'm getting old and mature enough now to actually get a few of 'em finished instead  of just flitting around between overly ambitious and overwhelming projects...
 
 

Bismarck had fired on one of the RN cruisers that had spotted and was shadowing her earlier. The concussion of her own big guns knocked out Bismarck's forward radar so Admiral Lutjens moved Prinz Eugen in front. 
 
Both ships had roughly similar general profiles and with distance and weather (remember they started firing at each other at 12-15 MILES away) the British wrongly guessed Bismarck was in the lead. Prinz Eugen was undamaged in the battle but Prince of Wales scored a couple of minor hits on Bismarck, forcing Admiral Lutjens to slow down a couple knots and making Bismarck loose fuel, effectively ending Operation Rhine for the Germans and turning a planned convoy raiding expedition into a chase as Bismarck attempted to get to France for repairs.

Another weekend, another update! 
 
I'm moving along on the aft-half of the superstructure... got the deck installed and everything just about ready for PE:
 
After scraping off the kit details:
 

 
I skeletonized the AA gun platform extensions with a twist drill and a scalpel; in-progress:
 

 
... and how they look after with the PE grates installed:
 

 
The completed deck:
 

 
Before and after of vent stacks below turret "Caesar":
 

 

 
One of the kit errors is having the aft area skylights as standalone units when they should be attached to the superstructure bulkheads; I modified the skylight trunks, drilled them out and mounted them directly to the bulkheads for a more "true to life" look. I had to add styrene backing so the skylights would sit far enough out to cover the holes in the deck. 
 

 

 
Got some very nice PE to dress up this area too, after priming the plastic with Tamiya rattlecan primer. 
 
And just for giggles and kicks, here's Bissy next to her nemesis, the Mighty 'Ood in the same scale:
 

 

 
The myth of Bismarck being the gigantic juggernaut of death that outclassed every other warship in the world is a bit overblown... Hood was a big girl and I'm sure her crew put to sea to chase down Bismarck with all the confidence in the world. The reality of war however is that sometimes you win big and sometimes #$*! happens.

It's humbling and a bit disturbing to remember (again) that such impressive and indeed beautiful ships were ultimately built to do such bloody, ugly jobs and that so many men died on them doing just that.
 
One reason I love scale modeling... it brings the past alive for people like me who are so far removed from the original events like no photograph or paragraphs in a book can. I hope in my builds that I can do justice to the memory of those who were there and who gave their lives in service of their countries. War is such a terrible thing but I'm sure the dead of both ships would have been pleased to know the Nazis are long gone and virtually everyone alive today has never known a world where Germany and the UK weren't friends and allies. 
 
 

Thanks! 
 
Hard to believe it's already been near 6 years since this kit hit the market and we all took over the model ship forums as we went to work on ours...  There was A LOT of excitement for this thing back then, wasn't there? 
 
Good times...
 
Anyhoo, It feels good to be back to work on one. .   

There are no whales 16,000 ft down for one so you are firmly in "artistic license" zone already.  
 
...but there's NOTHING wrong with that! Go for broke... may not be a 100% accurate depiction of the wreck but it does look cool! My $.02: Make the diorama as interesting as possible. 

Making good progress! 
 
FYI, I've had problems getting paint to stick  on my Trumpy boats in the past... when I did HMS Nelson, the paint came right off with the masking tape after I painted the lower hulls.  You might want to prime the plastic with Tamiya rattlecan or similar stuff rather than airbrush primer to save some heartache. 

Man, so much going on there detail-wise... I love it!

Looking promising so far and welcome to the MSW plastic club!  

Thanks! 
 
Hard to believe it's already been near 6 years since this kit hit the market and we all took over the model ship forums as we went to work on ours...  There was A LOT of excitement for this thing back then, wasn't there? 
 
Good times...
 
Anyhoo, It feels good to be back to work on one. .   

Thanks! 
 
Hard to believe it's already been near 6 years since this kit hit the market and we all took over the model ship forums as we went to work on ours...  There was A LOT of excitement for this thing back then, wasn't there? 
 
Good times...
 
Anyhoo, It feels good to be back to work on one. .   

i thought your last attempt at this build was good, but the PE on here has taken it to another level, well done

I bounce back and forth between PVA (elmer's) and CA (thin, regular, and thick); usually PVA for the very small parts and CA for stuff that needs a little more strength. Afterwards I prime/paint it with an airbrush... on less detailed sections like PE bulkheads I'll prime it with Tamiya rattle-can. 
 
I like to cut PE from the fret with those rectangular single edge "safety razors" because PE messes up blades fairly quickly and they are cheap yet still fairly exact in cutting. I cut the PE on a little square of clear plastic sheet that I buy at the big-box home improvement store. Getting parts on is done with tweezers of various shapes or if I get lazy, a tantric monkish telekinesis chant that I learned in the Himalayas a few years back. 
 
Seriously though, the secret is just using magnification (I use an optivisor), as little glue as you can get away with, doing good, clean prepwork before you start gluing and practice, practice, practice... plus checking and adjusting parts as necessary after you get everything glued on.  It's easy to knock stuff off that's only held by a small amount of PVA but once you get the paint on, it helps "lock" the parts in place so they won't go anywhere unless you butter-finger the finished part. 
 
Sorry, no instructional video; it would suck anyway because I'd have to hold my phone in my mouth while I filmed, half of the video would be of my butt in the air as I searched the carpet for the pieces I drop and there would be A LOT of cussing. 
 
Anyway, I did some more puttering yesterday... more cleanup, finished up the wing bridges and made an attempt at painting "wood" on the PE deck plates around the bridge:
 

 

 
Now I am turning my attention the back half of the main superstructure and getting deep into miniature demolition:
 


Just for kicks, here's more or less what a section of the superstructure looks like OOTB (although I've already began drilling and cutting out vent holes):
 

 
The Pontos advanced set goes a long way towards improving the details of the kit! 
 
 

I'd take it... the $50 bucks we'd make after 500 hours could finance a bottle of the good stuff for the end-of-build celebration party... 
 
But yeah,  Pontos is my go-to for detail sets. A lot of people on the interwebs seem to like to poo-poo Pontos as their PE is more complicated and difficult than the competition, their instructions tend to have more errors than Microsoft Windows and they routinely promise sets that never get released and/or release sets months after they say they will but there's no beating the end-results. 
 
I also like how Pontos makes a strong effort towards accuracy rather than just trying to add bling as well. There were many detail errors and omissions on the OOTB Trumpy kit bulkheads that I'm working on now for example... all the other detail sets just follow Trumpy's plan but Pontos wipes the bulkheads clean and starts over with details that are true to the actual ship. That's pretty cool in my opinion, even if it's a helluva lot of work. 

Making good progress! 
 
FYI, I've had problems getting paint to stick  on my Trumpy boats in the past... when I did HMS Nelson, the paint came right off with the masking tape after I painted the lower hulls.  You might want to prime the plastic with Tamiya rattlecan or similar stuff rather than airbrush primer to save some heartache. 

Had the day off yesterday and made a 10+ hour straight push on the aft superstructure... got it all cleaned up, primed the plastic and got maybe 60-70% of the PE on.
 

 
I'm hoping I can get this piece done over the coming weekend... guess I'll see how it goes. 

I'd take it... the $50 bucks we'd make after 500 hours could finance a bottle of the good stuff for the end-of-build celebration party... 
 
But yeah,  Pontos is my go-to for detail sets. A lot of people on the interwebs seem to like to poo-poo Pontos as their PE is more complicated and difficult than the competition, their instructions tend to have more errors than Microsoft Windows and they routinely promise sets that never get released and/or release sets months after they say they will but there's no beating the end-results. 
 
I also like how Pontos makes a strong effort towards accuracy rather than just trying to add bling as well. There were many detail errors and omissions on the OOTB Trumpy kit bulkheads that I'm working on now for example... all the other detail sets just follow Trumpy's plan but Pontos wipes the bulkheads clean and starts over with details that are true to the actual ship. That's pretty cool in my opinion, even if it's a helluva lot of work. 

Had the day off yesterday and made a 10+ hour straight push on the aft superstructure... got it all cleaned up, primed the plastic and got maybe 60-70% of the PE on.
 

 
I'm hoping I can get this piece done over the coming weekend... guess I'll see how it goes. 

Making good progress! 
 
FYI, I've had problems getting paint to stick  on my Trumpy boats in the past... when I did HMS Nelson, the paint came right off with the masking tape after I painted the lower hulls.  You might want to prime the plastic with Tamiya rattlecan or similar stuff rather than airbrush primer to save some heartache. 

Had the day off yesterday and made a 10+ hour straight push on the aft superstructure... got it all cleaned up, primed the plastic and got maybe 60-70% of the PE on.
 

 
I'm hoping I can get this piece done over the coming weekend... guess I'll see how it goes. 

This is my solution, though I'm gonna have to evict the Admiral from the lower shelves eventually...

Had the day off yesterday and made a 10+ hour straight push on the aft superstructure... got it all cleaned up, primed the plastic and got maybe 60-70% of the PE on.
 

 
I'm hoping I can get this piece done over the coming weekend... guess I'll see how it goes.