channell

Here's some more pics from a bit earlier:
 

 

 

 

Here's a quick update, sorry I haven't been quite so dedicated in keeping this thread going:
 

 

 

 
The standard kit has around 1700 parts but that's just not enough so I at least doubled that with aftermarket photo etch! At least the "groundwork" is pretty much done; most of what's left is attaching all the brass "fiddly bits" and painting.

My latest piece of work invoved starting to rebuild the superstructure on the maindeck after I had previously sanded off all the molded detail and replaced the portholes:
 

 
... and starting to add all the "fiddly bits" to the funnel:
 

 

 
And just when everyone thought I couldn't possibly be having any more fun I found myself sinning again :
 

 
To Trumpter, your most loyal and spend-crazy customer. Please give me a 1/200 USS Missouri as well... soon, but not TOO soon!

...orginally I planned to hand-plank the deck with tiny wood strips but luckily I briefly returned to a state of sanity and bought a detail set that had a great deck already:
 

 
I don't usually like "stick-on" decks but this one was really not that bad! It's high quality and the larger scale helps mitigate the negative aspects of such a deck:
 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, here's a quickie reboot of my Bismarck thread as requested:
 

 
At the moment this is jut about the biggest, scariest (in more ways than one!) chunk of plastic that you can pick off the shelf at your local Rob-E-shop.  Here's the hull next to a 1/350 Tirpiz (Bismarck's sister-ship):
 

 
The kit is fairly impressive "out of the box" but it has it's problems. The first thing that worried me about the kit was the sorry shape of the porthole molds. Trumpeter molded all the portholes straight on the broadside angle and also molded the major superstruture pieces whole, rather like lego blocks
 
This means that every porthole on the hull that is not directly broadside is warped. For example:
 

 

 
There are plenty of curves on this ship... which means a awful lot of portholes to fix.
 
The hull is also extremely thick plastic... great for strength and stability but after drilling out the portholes it made them look like little round cave openings instead of ports. This was my first attempt to fix the warped portholes with putty and drilling; it did't turn out the way I wanted.
 

 
Also, it turns out the hull shape is wrong below the waterline and has too much of a "banana" shape to it which makes painting a waterline and boot top a bit challenging as it is not marked off with scribing or raised lines like most plastic ship models.
 
More to come...

My solution to the porthole issue was to descend into porthole hell for a couple of months.

 
I replaced all but 1 or 2 of portholes on the hull and superstructure by drilling out a "perfect porthole" into very thin styrene card and inletting them into the hull and carefully blending them into the surrounding material:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Anyway, it was too much work and a serious PITA to get them all straight and clean but it was ultimately worth it:
 

 

 
On the hull I replaced the porthole eyebrows and added the bar steps with very thin copper wire. Later on I got the KA Models Mk1 detail set which has all that and more already included as PE.

I added a strip of thin styrene along the top of the the hull to replicate the 45 degree angle of the top of the armor belt (and raise the edges to match the level of an additional wood deck)
 
After that I got to work on the main and secondary guns.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The various rails are included with the kit and really make the guns look great... not fun to put on though!

Next I painted the hull:
 

 

 

 
Trumpeter gave absolutely no indication of where to put the waterline on the boat so I gave it my best guess while looking at historic pics. I scribed a waterline around the hull by placing it weighed down on a large smooth surface, taping a fine pen to an upside down cup (and shimmed to height) and runing a line around the hull. As you can see, it's wrong on the stern even though it was right at the bow. To make it work I warped the black boot top to match the correct height on the bow and stern; thanks to the size of the thing you just can't tell by looking at it!
 

 

 
I also started on a hefty oak base to display the beast:
 

 

 

... Like I said earlier, I'm going for broke on aftermarket add-ons: 
 

 
Got the complete Pontos advanced set, a KA MK 1 set, all the resin Veteran models DKM sets and a bunch of other random bits + whatever I need/want to salvage from build #1 to work with. 
 
I'm especially excited about the scaledecks wood deck:
 

 
The individual planks are printed onto the wood rather than burnt on with a laser, giving a far more convincing result than before (KA deck left, Pontos deck middle and Scaledecks right)
 
In between bouts of sanding the hull I've also been preparing the first tier of the superstructure for photo-etch heaven... or hell, depending on your standing with the stuff!
 

 

 
I did a couple of PE vents just to make sure I could do them... fiddly stuff but they are gonna look great in the end. 
 

 

 
Finally, did some work on the propshafts/rudders: 
 

 
And some "eye candy" with the messed up superstructure of build #1 to give me hope for the future:
 

 
More to come...
 
 

My first job has been to improve the shape of the kit hull to make it look closer to the real thing while still allowing myself some artistic license and not getting too bogged down in making it 100% exact. In the end, aside from simply chasing accuracy in scale I guess it's really all about making the model more "mine" instead of the work of some nameless grunts and a huge injection molding machine. 
 
Here's a smattering of Bismarck hulls to illustrate:
 

 
Top is a 1/100 fiberglass Bismarck hull, middle is my original hull and bottom is the hull I'm gonna use to finish this build.
 

 
I used the plans of the 1/100 version scaled down as a guide to get a fair approximation of the hull shape and built up/shaved down the hull from stem to stern to match the plan profile using reverse cross-sections as a guide. 
 
I also replaced the bow portholes by drilling fresh circles in styrene sheet and inletting them into the hull:
 

 

 
I did this because the kit portholes are warped due to the curvature of the hull and the realities of molding the hull in 1 large piece.
 
I was able to drill and grind the stern portholes from behind to get the same effect:
 

 

I also re-profiled the stern itself as the kit interpretation is too sharp and narrow. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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. 
 
 

... Like I said earlier, I'm going for broke on aftermarket add-ons: 
 

 
Got the complete Pontos advanced set, a KA MK 1 set, all the resin Veteran models DKM sets and a bunch of other random bits + whatever I need/want to salvage from build #1 to work with. 
 
I'm especially excited about the scaledecks wood deck:
 

 
The individual planks are printed onto the wood rather than burnt on with a laser, giving a far more convincing result than before (KA deck left, Pontos deck middle and Scaledecks right)
 
In between bouts of sanding the hull I've also been preparing the first tier of the superstructure for photo-etch heaven... or hell, depending on your standing with the stuff!
 

 

 
I did a couple of PE vents just to make sure I could do them... fiddly stuff but they are gonna look great in the end. 
 

 

 
Finally, did some work on the propshafts/rudders: 
 

 
And some "eye candy" with the messed up superstructure of build #1 to give me hope for the future:
 

 
More to come...
 
 

... Like I said earlier, I'm going for broke on aftermarket add-ons: 
 

 
Got the complete Pontos advanced set, a KA MK 1 set, all the resin Veteran models DKM sets and a bunch of other random bits + whatever I need/want to salvage from build #1 to work with. 
 
I'm especially excited about the scaledecks wood deck:
 

 
The individual planks are printed onto the wood rather than burnt on with a laser, giving a far more convincing result than before (KA deck left, Pontos deck middle and Scaledecks right)
 
In between bouts of sanding the hull I've also been preparing the first tier of the superstructure for photo-etch heaven... or hell, depending on your standing with the stuff!
 

 

 
I did a couple of PE vents just to make sure I could do them... fiddly stuff but they are gonna look great in the end. 
 

 

 
Finally, did some work on the propshafts/rudders: 
 

 
And some "eye candy" with the messed up superstructure of build #1 to give me hope for the future:
 

 
More to come...
 
 

... Like I said earlier, I'm going for broke on aftermarket add-ons: 
 

 
Got the complete Pontos advanced set, a KA MK 1 set, all the resin Veteran models DKM sets and a bunch of other random bits + whatever I need/want to salvage from build #1 to work with. 
 
I'm especially excited about the scaledecks wood deck:
 

 
The individual planks are printed onto the wood rather than burnt on with a laser, giving a far more convincing result than before (KA deck left, Pontos deck middle and Scaledecks right)
 
In between bouts of sanding the hull I've also been preparing the first tier of the superstructure for photo-etch heaven... or hell, depending on your standing with the stuff!
 

 

 
I did a couple of PE vents just to make sure I could do them... fiddly stuff but they are gonna look great in the end. 
 

 

 
Finally, did some work on the propshafts/rudders: 
 

 
And some "eye candy" with the messed up superstructure of build #1 to give me hope for the future:
 

 
More to come...
 
 

... Like I said earlier, I'm going for broke on aftermarket add-ons: 
 

 
Got the complete Pontos advanced set, a KA MK 1 set, all the resin Veteran models DKM sets and a bunch of other random bits + whatever I need/want to salvage from build #1 to work with. 
 
I'm especially excited about the scaledecks wood deck:
 

 
The individual planks are printed onto the wood rather than burnt on with a laser, giving a far more convincing result than before (KA deck left, Pontos deck middle and Scaledecks right)
 
In between bouts of sanding the hull I've also been preparing the first tier of the superstructure for photo-etch heaven... or hell, depending on your standing with the stuff!
 

 

 
I did a couple of PE vents just to make sure I could do them... fiddly stuff but they are gonna look great in the end. 
 

 

 
Finally, did some work on the propshafts/rudders: 
 

 
And some "eye candy" with the messed up superstructure of build #1 to give me hope for the future:
 

 
More to come...
 
 

Veteran models does incredible resin stuff, they are "top tier" for sure. 
 
Keep up the good work SMB, started my Bismarck the other day and your thread is inspirational! 

Veteran models does incredible resin stuff, they are "top tier" for sure. 
 
Keep up the good work SMB, started my Bismarck the other day and your thread is inspirational! 

Veteran models does incredible resin stuff, they are "top tier" for sure. 
 
Keep up the good work SMB, started my Bismarck the other day and your thread is inspirational! 

Veteran models does incredible resin stuff, they are "top tier" for sure. 
 
Keep up the good work SMB, started my Bismarck the other day and your thread is inspirational! 

Veteran models does incredible resin stuff, they are "top tier" for sure. 
 
Keep up the good work SMB, started my Bismarck the other day and your thread is inspirational! 

In 1905, they were firing at UFO's...but nobody told about it in fear they would be thought of as lunatics. 🤐

I just realized the gun in this picture is in the wrong place. This is a 47mm gun, and a 3" gun like I'm building now should be in it's place. I'll need to switch them out when time allows.

Awesome work! I have the urge to do another big build this winter; Bismarck with all the aftermarket goodies is lurking in my stash and is one of the candidates. Looking through this thread makes it even more tempting.     

Awesome work! I have the urge to do another big build this winter; Bismarck with all the aftermarket goodies is lurking in my stash and is one of the candidates. Looking through this thread makes it even more tempting.     

Awesome work! I have the urge to do another big build this winter; Bismarck with all the aftermarket goodies is lurking in my stash and is one of the candidates. Looking through this thread makes it even more tempting.