Bismarck by Dan Vadas - FINISHED - GPM - 1:200 - CARD and PE

[Jim Lad]

That's looking really nice, Danny - great job!

 

John

[BANYAN]

Nice looking hull Danny, hard to tell it is made of card.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Captain Slog]

Very nice, looks great!

 

Cheers

Slog

[Reg]

Very well done!  Those hulls are a real challenge and your work looks great.

 

Greg

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks for the comments guys .

 

The hull and main deck have been coated with Testor's Matt Clear,  one coat on the deck (it'll get more later when the superstructure goes on) and two on the hull. I've also cut out and laminated most of the other decks to 0.5mm card :

 

 

  Danny

[Remcohe]

You have a fantastic build going on here Danny. At some point you mentioned sanding the hull skin (edges?), why and how did you do that? 

 

Remco

[Dan Vadas]

2 hours ago, Remcohe said:

You have a fantastic build going on here Danny. At some point you mentioned sanding the hull skin (edges?), why and how did you do that? 

 

Remco

Thank you Remco . I sometimes have to take a few fractions of a millimetre off the edges to get them to sit flush together on the butt joins. Occasionally I may be just a fraction off line when I'm cutting freehand (e.g. without using a straight-edge on long curves).

 

I use a sanding stick with either 150 grit or 360 grit paper, depending on how much I have to take off. It sands surprisingly easily. It's virtually impossible to take this little off with a scalpel.

 

Other sanding is necessary when I have to use putty over a larger area than I can scrape off with a narrow chisel.

 

  Danny

[CDW]

Dan - is laminating the decks a recommended procedure described in the instructions, or is it just best management practice you have learned from experience?

 

[popeye the sailor]

very nice progress Danny.......are you seeing much warpage from thickening the decks?

[Dan Vadas]

4 hours ago, CDW said:

Dan - is laminating the decks a recommended procedure described in the instructions, or is it just best management practice you have learned from experience?

 

CDW - to be honest, I haven't really checked the "instructions" () for some time. As you stated it's just "best management practice"  - it can't hurt, as long as you remember to allow for the extra thickness later on when cutting bulkheads for the upper decks .

 

2 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

are you seeing much warpage from thickening the decks?

Popeye - I actually laminated the decks weeks ago when I did the main deck sections. To make cutting through the extra thickness easier I first cut out and trimmed each deck section, glued it to the card, and then only had to cut through the extra card the 2nd time. Trying to cut through two layers plus glue can get rather difficult, as I found out on the main deck sections .

 

There's always a little bit of warpage as even Contact Cement will shrink a bit as it dries. It's easy enough to flex in the opposite direction to flatten it out again before gluing to framing etc.

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

The support framing for the 2nd Decks supplied with the kit is very sparse, to say the least. The kit's is only the central piece and three athwartships frames on the fore deck section, plus the two larger "V" shaped ones on the aft section. I've added a lot more to both of them :

 

 

I glued the decks on, using weights to hold them flat, and let them dry for a few hours. Then I prepared all the bends before attempting to glue the sides of the decks on :

 

I'm very happy with the way these decks are coming out - everything fits really well, due in part to the extra bracing. They are also dead flat .

 

  Danny

[Old Collingwood]

Looking great  all that detail   still cant believe its card  (serious scratching head moment)

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

of course.......all the extra framing will flatten it out nicely!  no threat at all of warpage      you could have pressed them between pieces of glass......but there is no need with what you've done.   very nice........the outer walls go on nice n' flush   

[Landlocked123]

Hi Danny, she’s really coming along.  BTW, I love the dazzle camouflage.  Somewhere along the way in the last 40 years, I was able to pick up some contemporary posters of warships with dazzle.  If I can find them, I’ll snap a few pics and add the here.  Just let me know if it’s something you would be OK with.

 

best,

john

Edited November 3, 2017 by Landlocked123

[Dan Vadas]

18 hours ago, Landlocked123 said:

If I can find them, I’ll snap a few pics and add them here.  Just let me know if it’s something you would be OK with.

Yeah, go for it John .

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

I couldn't find the side pieces for the fore and aft gun emplacements anywhere in the kit, so I made them from some of the spare printed card. Only later did I discover that they weren't necessary as they are completely covered by the gun mounts - ah well :

 

 

I've finished all the side panels for the two 2nd Deck sections. I started gluing them on from the middle to lessen the chances of finishing up short on one end :

 

There are four curved Bulkheads inside the sections where the guns will be fitted. It was a bit of a puzzle working out how to make them, but I've had success . I've discovered a rather good and easy way to roll round pieces. I use a piece of very high-density foam and an Xacto knife handle. It's a lot easier than using my left index finger like I did before :

 

The tops of these pieces are on an angle. The little extensions should help in supporting them :

 

  Danny

[BANYAN]

Learning experiences don't stop do they, Danny?  You're making rapid progress with the build.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Reg]

Nicely done!  I have to admit not being familiar with high density foam.  Is it something available at a hardware store?

 

Thanks,

 

Greg

[Dan Vadas]

On 06/11/2017 at 11:01 AM, Reg said:

Nicely done!  I have to admit not being familiar with high density foam.  Is it something available at a hardware store?

 

Thanks,

 

Greg

I have no idea Greg, I don't know what's available in the hardware stores in the USA. I found this piece in my shed, probably a left-over from something I was working with years ago . Try a place that specializes in selling foam rubber, or try Google. I think it's actually known as "Closed Cell Foam" and is mainly used for Packaging.

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

She's really coming along, Danny!

 

John

[hof00]

Ditto.... I don't think that I can really say anything more constructive that has already been said!!

It is nice to see one "Card" one "Plastic" built in "Synergy" so to speak.

 

I have the Trumpeter and MK1 upgrade waiting for me in storage.

(Oops... also have the 1/200 Hatechette/Partworks, (Hull Complete), and Tamiya 1/350 version, will I ever get to these?)

(A Bismark wannabe perhaps....)

 

I guess thing about the "Card" Version is that's its pretty much finished, Wot does that really mean in so much as colour/Etc?

Aware that there is plenty of "Touch-Ups" required.

 

Awesome Both!!

 

Regards.... HOF.

Edited November 8, 2017 by hof00

[Dan Vadas]

On 08/11/2017 at 6:57 PM, hof00 said:

I guess thing about the "Card" Version is that's its pretty much finished, Wot does that really mean in so much as colour/Etc?

Aware that there is plenty of "Touch-Ups" required.

Hof, the Touch-ups MORE than make up for the printed pieces . The PE also needs to be painted. The printed card colours don't match the ready-mixed paint (Testors etc) and needs to be adjusted, so there's not all that much difference between Plastic and Card.

 

  Danny

[md1400cs]

Danny,

 

Super nice detailing! These "modern" type of ships are so involved trying to also include so many tiny needed details "right". 

Excellent work.

Now following along as well.

 

Cheers,

Edited November 10, 2017 by md1400cs

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Michael, and welcome to the build .

 

The tops of the curved bulkheads are fitted on an angle. Two of the kit ones were too narrow, so I used the wider ones for the ones that were the narrower of the two and cut two wider ones from spare sheet :

 

 

The PE I bought is of very good quality. Here are a couple of examples of some of the parts that replace card ones :

 

The two Catapults for the Seaplanes. The fit was excellent, but no instructions were supplied with them. I eventually worked out how they went together. I forgot to take pics of them before painting :

 

  Danny

 

 

[BANYAN]

Nice work Danny, that PE looks really good!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[cog]

33 minutes ago, Dan Vadas said:

The two Catapults for the Seaplanes. The fit was excellent, but no instructions were supplied with them. I eventually worked out how they went together. I forgot to take pics of them before painting :

 

Nice work Dan, you could have taken a look at one of Greg's (RGL) latest builds. Both Yamato and Ise have them throw-away-systems for airplanes. It seems you are in a somewhat lower gear than with the previous build. At least I can keep up now

[maaaslo]

7 hours ago, cog said:

 

Nice work It seems you are in a somewhat lower gear than with the previous build. At least I can keep up now

Might be, cos Bismarck is a whole lot bigger then both previous builds... lol

[Dan Vadas]

12 hours ago, cog said:

It seems you are in a somewhat lower gear than with the previous build.

Details like the ones in the following pics are sucking up a lot of time . I've fitted all the PE portholes to the two lower decks. I decided to leave the rims in brass, because I like the effect, but I painted the "eyebrows". The lids are extras, made with my punch, because the printed ones looked way out of place against the PE rims. Oddly, the ones on the fore section of the deck are smaller than the aft section (1.6mm and 2.0mm). I don't know if this was a mis-print. The detail on the larger ones is a lot better :

 

There are six ladders on the aft section :

 

 

Also two lots of 1.6mm Step Irons, which I bent using the jig I made for Amatsukaze :

 

And finally 12 small boxes, two larger ones, a couple of raised "doors" and two more grilles. I still need to do a bit of filling and paint touch-ups :

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

She's really looking first class, Danny - lots of delightful detail.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

second that Danny....the detail really pops     very nice ladders too.

Edited November 11, 2017 by popeye the sailor