channell

Thanks everyone! Working on this thing has been (and continues to be) an odyssey, that's for sure. No way I'm adding up how much I paid for all the stuff in this thread... I think it might drive me to tears. At least it's all paid for, provided I don't buy anything else for it (which seems unlikely) . 

Thanks everyone! Working on this thing has been (and continues to be) an odyssey, that's for sure. No way I'm adding up how much I paid for all the stuff in this thread... I think it might drive me to tears. At least it's all paid for, provided I don't buy anything else for it (which seems unlikely) . 

Thanks everyone! Working on this thing has been (and continues to be) an odyssey, that's for sure. No way I'm adding up how much I paid for all the stuff in this thread... I think it might drive me to tears. At least it's all paid for, provided I don't buy anything else for it (which seems unlikely) . 

glad your back!    she's still look'in super!

Loving it  - all that detail.
 
OC.

This build is incredible, thanks for sharing!  Last summer I purchased this kit with the Pontos sets from a fellow modeler who I think was a bit overwhelmed by everything (the box itself will scare off most).  The Pontos sets look absolutely fantastic, but now that I'm seeing your build, I think I might look into getting some of the Veteran aftermarket.  Those guns are amazing!  Might need to put the family on a ramen noodle diet for the next three months to be able to afford them...small price for them to pay, right?

Get out your reading glasses, or better yet invest in an electron microscope for the Veteran Models small caliber guns. I have a couple of their 1.1" guns and I have my doubts if they can even be built!
 
My kids actually prefer Ramen! 

Douse 'em in hot sauce and they may be edible. 😉😁 Well, it seems to work down here in the Southeast. Hot sauce is de riguer in many luncheonettes around here. I'm not a user, except in Mexican restaurants. I think all the sweet iced tea they drink does something to their tastebuds.
 
More on topic, the Bissy has been a fave since I saw the movie way back when, but I think Scharnhorst has almost a similar cachet for me. I like the job you've done so far, Channell. 👍

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

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

No, I am...and I use a lot of the stuff! (please don't try to add up the total cost of my build... please don't try to add up the total cost of my build... please don't try...) 

Yeah, I saw that one way back when... pretty impressive work. It's definitely the "Big Bissy" build to beat on the interwebs. 
 
 
 
I'm still putting through endless prep work on my build...
 

 

 
cleanup on the propshafts and bow, from this:
 

 

 
... to this:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And more hack-n-slash on the superstructure in preparation for PE: 
 

 
Lots of work that isn't immediately obvious (or quite finished) but it's still necessary in my opinion to get a really great build. 
Even though I keep building 'em, I've been a somewhat vocal critic of Trumpeter 1/200 kits as they come "out of the box"... they are basically like Trumpy's 1/350 kits blown up to 1/200 so they tend to take any small accuracy issues and multiply 'em. LOTS of details that are OK to be missing in smaller scale end up being glaring omissions in a larger scales too, such as the center anchor hawsepipe (completely omitted on the standard kit). This means lots of extra work and additions if you want to end up with anything better than a bathtub toy. 
 
Still, I think it's fun to rework these monsters into something really cool... don't know for sure if I've just been sucking up too much sanding dust but I feel like the shape of my modified hull helps my version of the kit take a large step away from "toy" and towards realism, which makes all the work worth it. 

I'm bringing this project back from the dead if that's OK with y'all. I'm also doing a log on another site but I thought I'd  share my misadventures here too for those who are interested. 😁
 
I've been through a rocky past few years when it comes to scale modeling... I've started several ambitious builds but only finished one (a 1/200 HMS Nelson) and ran into enough frustration/burnout that I ended up boxing up my modeling stuff and walking away for quite some time because of it. 
 
(edit) Here's a couple of pics of my Nelson, just for fun...
 

 

 

 
Anyway, the world spins in circles and me along with it... The bug has bitten again and I've come back refreshed and renewed with an urge to succeed where I failed in the past... and I'm restarting where it pretty much all began for me: superdetailing the Trumpeter 1/200 Bismarck.
 
The original subject of this thread is pretty much trashed... I accidentally dropped it in an icy self-storage parking lot during a move about 5 years back and it's been sitting in a box getting even more broken and loosing parts ever since. Luckily for me, I'm a big spender and bought 2 of these kits back then... the aftermarket has since put out a metric crapton of add-ons for this kit which I've collected a lot of over the years too. 
 
Here's the main plan... I'm still aiming to do Bismarck as she appeared late in 1940 with an emphasis on doing a clean and extremely detailed build.  There were quite a few minor improvements/ completion of elements of the ship and paint scheme changes made to the Bismarck between the fall/winter of 1940 and Operation Rheinübung the following spring and I'll point them out as a go along. I'm expecting a long-term project of a year or so... we'll see how it goes. 
 
 

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Thanks all! been on a rampage these past few days on Bismarck... got the flak guns installed, railings up on level 2 of the superstructure and marathoned 6 more tiny Veteran Models AA guns. Damn those things are a nightmare. Also got some Veteran Models ammo boxes cleaned up, painted and ready to go.  

Sorry guys, not sure why the pics aren't working for me, guess I forgot how after all this time...

Sorry guys, not sure why the pics aren't working for me, guess I forgot how after all this time...