Advice wanted - best way to display trumpeter Bismarck 1/200

[AlShamed]

Hi all. First time poster on this forum. I am looking for some advice on how best to display the model I am currently building. I am struggling to decide on how best to display my trumpeter Bismarck 1/200. It is a monster of a model and I don’t want to underplay the display and ruin the final look. I was thinking about brass pedestals on a hardwood base. Any suggestions on what might look good and also any recommended suppliers would be gratefully received.

[Bob Cleek]

It's really a matter of taste. To my eye, fancy detailed pedestals, posts, and cradles detract from modern models. They are, perhaps, more appropriate for Seventeenth Century ships with lots of "gingerbread." For more modern ships, the less attention that is drawn to the mounting, the better, I say. I often simply use a length of quarter inch bronze brazing rod polished up as a post to mount the model on a nice piece of finished hardwood. This approach seems to show off the underwater lines to the best advantage.

[philo426]

Yes a nice oak,walnut or maple board with brass pedestals is a classic display method.

[rcweir]

I go though this question anew on every model, but usually end up with more or less the same solution, i.e.  raise the model up on something in the spirit of keel blocks set on a nice piece of wood.   I think models look better raised above the mounting board and my keel blocks (which are decorative, not  intended to be accurate models)  make it easy to hide the screws that fasten the model to the base.   I have attached a couple of photos of a model in the size range that you are dealing with.   In this case the wood base and blocks are ebonized walnut.   The wood base is mounted to an MDF base painted gray.  The MDF holds the plexi enclosure and I wanted it to be unobtrusive.   The plexi is not fastened to the MDF.   

[GrandpaPhil]

I have been placing my models on a wood plaque, like the kind you would get from Hobby Lobby in the wood craft section.  
 

I used to use the brass pedestals, but lately I have been making my own cradles.  If you don’t have a set of lines for the model, you can use a contour gauge to get lines for the inside of the cradles.

 

These are wooden warships, but I would personally use the same method for a steel ship.

[GuntherMT]

Fill your backyard with epoxy all done up like ocean waves, place the Bismark near one edge and put another 1/200 model of the HMS Hood on the far side of the yard.  🤣