Bismarck by ted99 - FINISHED - Amati - 1:200

[ted99]

Started this kit yesterday (8/17/2021).  The building manual is very detailed, easily understood English, and has great illustrations.  I read through both volumes item by item twice before starting.  The Hull is pretty standard for plank-on-frame construction.  However, it's the most intricate PoF I've ever done.  I've been following the instructions, but also looking ahead at upcoming steps to anticipate how they may be impacted by a current step.  For instance, in  one of the photos I put a pencil to point at a bulkhead to "keel" glue joint.  I like to leave a glue fillet at frame/keel joins but it was clear that if I left one at the indicated spot I'd have to cut it away to get a proper fitting of a keel extention done at a step that comes up a couple of pages later in the instructions.  I was able to scrape away the fillet at those spots before the glue took a set, and I was careful to keep glue out of similar areas as I went forward.  Another benefit of looking forward was that I could "dry fit" reinforcement stringers to the bulkheads while the glue on the bulkhead/keel join was still flexible.  This ensured that all the pieces of fairly complex interlocking fit together perfectly as the glue dried.  Others may think of this as pretty basic, but this is my first time at doing a PoF hull with so many interlocking pieces.  I'm using Elmer's non-waterproof woodworking glue (a PVA adhesive) and I like the way it takes a "semi-set" in about 5 min, but remains flexible enough that the reinforcing pieces can be dry fit before the glue sets up so much that slight bending of the joint might break the seal.  I'm allowing the major steps to cure a few hours before proceeding to the next steps, plus allowing an overnight cure for major assemblies.  The photos show where I got on Day 1, plus this morning to add the bow and stern keel extentions with one bulkhead dry fitted to ensure that the fore keel extention stayed vertical as the glue cured.  These have had a three hour cure and I'll start adding bulkheads fore and aft now, while dry fitting the reinforcing stringers.  They will get glued at the end of today for an overnight cure.  The plans seem to imply that one glues the two pieces of aft keel extention together after the first piece is glued to the center keel.  That looked to me like a prescription for frustration, so I pre-glued them and their reinforcement pieces flat on the building board, as you can see in one of the photos.  This doesn't seem to have caused any problems.  I don't know why this is in 2 pieces.  The only reason I can figure out is that Amati couldn't find room for it in their laser-cutting layout without adding another piece of plywood to the inventory.  I would have preferred that they add the extra sheet of plywood to do this in one piece and to make the main keel in one piece.  My tape measure says it would have just barely fit in the box.

 

One of the things I intend to do with this build log is list the tools/supplies I needed for each step.  This might help others planning their build.

 

So far, I've needed: Wood glue, a celotex board to pin the keel pieces to ensure everything in the center section stays flat, wax paper to prevent glue sticking to the board, a 12" bar sander with 80 grit sandpaper and a nail file emory board to remove attachment nubs from the laser cut pieces, and a #11 hobby knife.

[ted99]

Next day of building.  Framework now ready to begin planking.  I was not as good at anticipating where glue fillets would be as I thought I was.  The stringers that span the tops of the bulkheads to support the removable deck sections rest on the tops of the support crossbars and a glue fillet at the bulkhead/crossbar intersection will prevent the support beam from resting on the top of the frame.  The trusty curved flat file removed these, but it would have been better if I had not allowed any glue fillets in those spaces.  The instructions specify the precise lengths of the 5 x 10 mm support beams connecting the stringers and those lengths are precisely correct.  No need for cut and try.  Everything went together perfectly, except for the two support crossbars at the very end of the stern.  A little length trimming was necessary.  Note the use of two pieces of wax paper between support beams at bulkheads 26 and 32.  Needed to keep any glue squeeze outs from preventing the removal of these deck platforms from the hull proper.  I am not planning on motorizing this model, so I "may" actually glue these things to the hull later.  I will keep them removable for the time being to see what happens further along.  I want to see if I can assemble the superstructure on the removable deck, free of the hull.  I will need to be sure that drying glue attaching the superstructure to the deck doesn't warp the deck structure, though.  Time will tell.

 

All of this structure will be fully cured tomorrow and I will turn the hull over to start planking.  That's going to be a long process so I don't anticipate further postings for a while.

 

More tools added in this phase (shown in picture):

Metric scale and calipers, Jig for square cuts of 5 x 10mm stringers and razor saw, curved files to correct mistakes in glue fillets

[rvchima]

Ted,

 

I will be starting this kit soon and will be following your build log with great interest.

 

Rod

[ted99]

17 hours ago, rvchima said:

Ted,

 

I will be starting this kit soon and will be following your build log with great interest.

 

Rod

Do you have your kit in hand now?  If so, I think you will find the level of detail to be terrific.   Just reviewed your Prinz Eugen build and it's full of things to copy.  If I'm lucky, you will get out ahead of me.  I'm going to copy your sticks with alligator clamps for painting and the "EZ Line", for sure.  One of my frustrations with rigging sailing ships was keeping the standing rigging lines tight.  The PE inserts in the hull (and the PE cabin sides) all have the portholes etched in, look very good and perfectly in scale.

 

I have a request that you may be able to answer from your German reference books.  I'm thinking of scribing the welded plate lines on the hull just before final color coat.  Do any of your reference materials speak to the typical size of a plate?  Are the welded plate lines even visible in any of the photos?  I think I'll skip this step on the underwater parts of the hull as the anti-fouling paint was probably so thick as to obscure the weld joins.

 

Another question as this is my first build with PE parts.  Many of the parts can be placed with tweezers, but some would be a lot easier to place if I could just "tack" a small dowel to the front of the PE part and use it to place the part precisely in position, and then tilt the dowel off when the CA has set.  The parts that spring to mind are individual hatches and portholes that are affixed to cabin sides.  Any experience with this?

 

Ted

[Matt D]

It's looking good, Ted.  By my estimate, that model is fully one mile long!  I'm looking forward to watching your progress.

[reklein]

Ted, for some good views just do a search on Bing for Bismarck drydock and you'll find all sorts of pics. I'm doing a 1/192 Missouri and found thast Bing is a great source of pics.    Bill

[rvchima]

Ted,

 

I posted some "What's in the Box" photos yesterday. I won't be able to start for 8-10 days, so you can get a good lead.

 

Search for "airbrush holder sticks" on eBay or Amazon. Mine came disassembled and took an evening to put together. The EZ line worked very well but I am concerned that it could turn brittle with age.

 

Get yourself a "Glue Looper" for applying CA to small parts. It's just a tiny PE loop that fits into an X-Acto handle and picks up a tiny drop of CA by capillary action. Also get yourself a PE bender - a 3" square aluminum "clamp" that holds the part down while you bend it around a square edge.  Both available on Amazon or eBay.

 

They sell "sticky sticks" for handling small parts. (That's not the right name, but it's all I can think of.) I think they're made for dentists, but model train builders use them. They look like those disposable micro paintbrushes but have a sticky glob on one end. I found that they had too much grab and frequently pulled parts back off after I thought the CA was dry, so I tossed mine. Instead, I have a roll of 3M double sided tape. I cut off a tiny piece and tape it over the end of a 1/8" balsa stick, then use that to pick up PE parts. I use it a few times then replace the tape.

 

I have the book  "Anatomy of the Ship, The Battleship Bismarck" by Stefan Draminski. It looks like a perfect reference for this model. I really can't see panel lines in any of the photos, but the drawings show them on the hull below the waterline and around the portholes fore and aft. Most of the upper hull has a few long, horizontal lines. I believe that's the armour belting. I will look into this later, but I don't usually get into such fine detail.

 

Have fun with your build. I am looking forward to exchanging notes with you, and I suspect we'll see some more build logs pop up soon.

 

Rod

 

[rvchima]

The "sticky sticks" are called "Pic-n-stic".

[mtaylor]

One can make sticky sticks using some scrap wood in thin squares or even round toothpicks.  Dip the end in some melted candle wax.  When cool, they seem to work.   I've not tried this method yet but with PE coming up for my current build I'm researching things out.

[ted99]

When the time comes, I'm going to try the candle wax and the 3M double sided tape tricks.  Both seem like they would have the right amount of "grip".  Looks like one can get the alligator clips on a rod for little $ on both Amazon and eBay.  Since I moved into an "old folks home", I disposed of a lot of stuff accumulated over the years, including air brushes; so it's Tamiya spray cans for me, now.

 

Finished up the bulkhead profiling today--really tedious.  The 12" sanding stick is overkill since one is only bridging two bulkheads at a time--no "straight" runs.  A sanding block is just fine.  However, there are some bulkheads at the bow and stern that refuse to co-operate with a sanding block.  I ended up using a moto tool with a cylindrical sanding drum and profiling by eye.  I'll let you know how that worked out after the first layer of planks.

 

One hint:  The instructions show the reinforcement pieces at the join between the two stern keel pieces at the bottom of the keel.  You can see a picture of this in my first post with the lead weight on top.  These have to be trimmed when profiling the bulkheads.  I think it would be better to put these reinforcing gussets in the middle of the stern keel.

 

On my sailing ship models, I ended up leaving the gaps unfilled on the below waterline second layer and scoring vertical lines alternately on each strip about 24" scale length, after priming the wood with gesso and fine sanding.  Then I used copper leaf for all the below waterline area for the era when bottoms were coppered, rather than tallow.  The planks and scoring show through the copper foil and it's a really easy way to get a copper bottom.  Believe me, I've tried the copper strips and the copper pieces and this copper foil method is messy, but no "fiddle factor" at all.  Thought I'd try the same thing with plating welds.  Low effort for a detail that only is found in Plastic hulls.

 

Yes, this sucker looks LOONG... in pictures, but in person, it's smaller than I thought it would be.  I once had a GRP hull for the HMS Warsprite in 1:100 and THAT sucker was big.

 

Tools added:  Moto tool with drum sander, sanding block.

[king derelict]

2 hours ago, mtaylor said:

One can make sticky sticks using some scrap wood in thin squares or even round toothpicks.  Dip the end in some melted candle wax.  When cool, they seem to work.   I've not tried this method yet but with PE coming up for my current build I'm researching things out.

I use cocktail sticks and beeswax. The beeswax is a bit stickier than the candle wax so you just need to roll the tip of the toothpick / cocktail stick on the surface of the beeswax and that is usually enough to pick up and hold the PE but let it go when it is in contact with the glue. If I am feeling creative I mark the non=sticky end of the stick with a felt tip of paint and then I can keep that clean so I can reverse the stick and have a poking end to adjust the part with no danger of lifting it back off.

Alan

[ted99]

Forgot the 2 pics

[rvchima]

A former and much older colleague of mine retired to "the old folks home." I visited him a few years later. He was 85, president of the ski club, and had a large RC aircraft in progress on the dining room table. I told him I want to be like him when I grow up.

[ted99]

I went to Police Academy at 65 and got State-licensed as a Texas Peace Officer.  I'm 79, now; but the wounds of my four tours in Vietnam are catching up with me.  30 min of swimming laps each day, but otherwise I'm a couch potato.  "Legs are the first to go".

 

A couple of days away from completing the first layer of planking and I've got some "lessons learned".

[ted99]

Finished the first layer of planking.  First some lessons learned:

1.  I started with the 8 oz bottle of Elmer's glue.  Gonna need 16 oz by the end.  I edge blue each plank and leave fillets wherever they fit on a bulkhead joint, so if you use less you might get away with 8 oz.

2.  Amati doesn't include enough of the brass nails.  The instructions show a nail in each plank at each bulkhead.  You don't need all of these as some are on the completely flat part of the keel.  But you do need them in most curved planks.  I had some left over from prior builds, but if you don't have this order some rather than being caught out halfway into the planking.

 

I was suspicious of the instructions showing an arced plank after the first 8 planks on each side.  Did it anyway and it works really well.  Turns out that one is able to measure and cut each plank in the curved area on the model.  Never needed any bending tools--the nails in the planks were sufficient to mold each plank to it's respective position.  Later, in sanding, you will be glad that you sanded a bevel on each plank before gluing and nailing.  really makes a tight fit.  There is so little bending in many of the "fill in" planks that a simple clip is enough to hold the end of the plank to the adjacent plank.  As you get progress to the flat part of the keel I found it useful to fill in with a triangular piece at the fillet end.  This allowed me to make a simple measurement of the next plank on the model and nail it home.  Never needed any nails on these fill-in pieces on the flat keel.

 

Another tip that will save a lot of time in sanding.  I should have sorted the planks by thickness--yes the thickness does vary--and used planks of the same thickness in each defined area of the hull.  I made the mistake of sorting by hardness to use the softest planks in the places with the most curve.  The curves are not that bad and it's better to have all planks in a contiguous "flat" area of the hull the same thickness.  You'll love this later when you start sanding.  Ask me how I know this (sanding now)--lol.

 

I leave a short length of planking extending beyond the end so that when I start sanding, I don't round off the end of the planks.  You will see that I added some filler pieces at the stern because my "eye" said that it was a little too thin.  I just trial fitted the plastic piece there after sanding and discovered it wasn't necessary.  Ended up sanding all the filler pieces off.  It was kind of fun fitting in the jigsaw pieces at the end at the front keel.

 

I've already started sanding the first layer of planking.

[hof00]

Looking really good!!

[CaptnBirdseye]

Coming together well. Will follow your progress 👍

[rvchima]

I'm finally getting started on mine. Thanks for all the tips on planking. They will come in handy soon.

[ted99]

Completed first sanding of the hull.  Next will be using wood filler in the places where a thinner plank was laid between thicker planks.  A lot of "excess" sanding because I did not sort the planking by thickness.  Used an 80 grade open grit sand paper in a sanding block.  All by hand.  I was occasionally tempted to break out the small mini-craft orbital sander, but resisted.  Sometimes an electric sander can take off more than is necessary without intending to do so.  But, if I had it to do over, I think I would use it in the concave bow area.

 

I spent a LOT of time hand filing the little cutouts at the top of the hull bulkheads getting the profile correct.  This is the area of 2 planks at the top of the hull that are inset to simulate the thicker armoring of the sides of the deck.  Couldn't have done it without the curved flat file I showed a picture of earlier.  I read, re-read, and re-read again the instructions for the end treatment of these recessed planks.  I think I got it right at the stern, but did not put in the correct step at the bow.  Don't think this will be a problem, though, as the instructions show there will be a small piece of 1 mm ply in this area as a backing for the PE portholes.  You can see in my photos, I have a "step" at the stern, but did a smooth transition at the bow.  Turns out I should have done a "step" at the bow too.  This was one of those things that only become evident to me after I've done it.  I'll report later on whether this mistake is material, when I get to the second planking stage.

 

You can see that the inset area at the top of the hull is coated with gesso.  I did this at this stage because it appears that there will be no second planking layer in this spot, so I've got to make these planks "paint ready".  I use gesso to fill in grain (several coats sanding in between) and it reveals if there is any evidence of this area being comprised of two planks.  It will be a lot easier to sand this area before the deck is attached.

 

One picture shows me lining up the 1.5mm planks side by side on a flat surface so that I could sort them by thickness.  It made the sanding of the two top rows of planks in the inset area much easier when each of the planks were the same thickness.  Wish I'd done this in the beginning and had all the flat bottom parts the same thickness, then all the planks on the starboard side the same thickness, and finally all the planks on the port side.

 

 

[ted99]

I meant to mention--the first picture shows soft lead pencil marks made across the flat areas with the pencil turned on it's side.  As the sanding progresses, the pencil marks will remain on planks that are lower than other planks giving you a quick way to see how sanding is progressing.  This area of the hull is perfectly flat and will immediately reveal "waves" from using anything  other than a sanding block.   The only place I've used the 12" sanding bar is taking off laser cut "nubs" and leveling the deck edges, where a longer sanding surface is better.

I needed some new wood filler and decided to try "Famowood" latex wood filler--I'll show a picture in my next post.  It's a perfect consistency for this purpose and spreads very easily with a small artist's palet knife.  No shrinkage with the very thin layers I've needed to fill in a low plank.  best of all it's water cleanup.  Got it on Amazon.

[hof00]

Hi Ted and Rod,

Your builds are both coming along very nicely!!

 

Questions regarding forming/rolling PE for rails superstructure sides, rails can be found in this URL and may be useful?

 

Build the Bismarck - The Model

This is a log by a chap in the UK, I think. Not complete but still useful.

 

The second URL:

 

Bismarck | 1:200 Model Ship Full Kit | ModelSpace (model-space.com)

A full set of build instuctions in PDF form. (Go to "The Build" tab to get to these."

 

These are both for the "Partworks" Bismarck but I'm pretty sure identical, maybe.... 🙂

(I just have more "Spread Out" bits with my version.)

 

Have a look and see if these are any use to you both.

(You can never have enough information sources....)

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

 

[ted99]

I gave up on downloading the pdf instructions when it went on for 20 min and still wasn't finished.  I suspect this is the two books of instructions provided by Amati.  If so, not needed by owners but very useful for prospective buyers to see what you are getting yourself into.  As a wise person once said: "tain't a hobby if you hurry".

[rvchima]

Ted,

Beautiful job on the planking. I wasn't sure what filler to use but I'll try Famowood. I've used Behlen water-based grain filler in the past but it won't fill anything too deep.

 

BTW, are you building for RC or just display? I am just building for display and am not sure whether to make the main deck removable as per the instructions or to glue it down. It may be easier to work on later if it remains removable.

[ted99]

Rod--In reading your build log I saw a comment on the cost of this kit.  My experience with the top-end wooden kits is that the Brit sources are the cheapest plus "in-stock" and the US sources the most expensive and "special order only".  No import duties and preferential air shipping rates have always been a winner.

 

I am building this as display-only, so I've decided to glue down the deck.  Just reached the point of gluing the deck and it's the moment of truth for decisions made earlier.  I mentioned I really had trouble figuring out the instructions for the armor belt "step" and did a true step at the stern (repeating the picture of this).  At the bow, I did a smooth transition as the proper treatment was not evident from the notches cut in the tops of the bulkheads.  All became perfectly clear when I started fitting the decks.  I wish I had trial fitted the decks earlier, because the proper treatment would have been obvious.  The "step" treatment I did at the Aft end is correct and should be repeated at the Bow between bulkheads 13 and 14.  There will be a slight delay as I go back and correct for this mistake.  One of the photos shows the doubling I am doing behind the planking between 13 and 14 to give me room to cut out the correct step.

 

Some of my photos show a relatively thick nail head protruding above the plank surface as I was doing the two rows of planking above the armor belt.  I correctly judged that the sanding in this restricted area would be much easier without nail heads.  As I mentioned earlier, Amati doesn't provide enough nails to put one in every plank and every bulkhead, so I used some left over from previous builds.  These were slightly shorter and slightly thicker than the Amati nails.  I drill a pilot hole for every nail and it turned out that if I used a slightly undersized pilot hole, a partially driven thicker nail held the plank firmly against the bulkhead as the glue dried.  If I had it to again, I would have used this technique for all the planks.  The nails are very easy to pull out after the glue dries.  I think this works because the hull profile, combined with the planking layout shown in the instructions doesn't require much force to hold a plank to a bulkhead.  I'm not sure if this would work with the Amati nails as they are the thinnest I have ever seen.  At most, I would only use the Amati nails driven fully at the ends of planks as this is the place needing the most holding power.  I found that a #65 drill was optimum size for maximum grip on the Amati nails.  It turned out I preferred to use a slightly larger drill, but only drilled to 3/4 of the nail length.  The Amati nails are so thin that it's very easy to bend one if the pilot hole is undersized.  Using a pilot hole just a hair larger than the nail, but less than full length of the nail allowed easy placement of the nail in the hole and the final 1/4 of the length gripped firmly in the ply bulkhead.  As I said, given what I now know, I would use slightly larger nails partially driven till the glue dries, and then pull them out.

 

Bow picture shows the most complex area for sanding

 

 

[CaptnBirdseye]

Hi Ted coming on strong.

By the way, did you know about the video build of this kit? I watched it while attempting to build mine. Comes in ‘issue’ format, so can fast-forward to what you need to see. Might help at times. It’s on the Amati site:

https://www.amatimodel.com/en/bismarck-progressive-build-log-1-amati-kit/

[ted99]

Thanks--these videos are a very good supplement to the manual.  I really wish Amati had included large scale plans of the model, as well as the manuals.  Pictures are good, but plans are the real thing.

[ted99]

Still fiddling with the steps in the armor plating.  It becomes more clear when one fits the decks.  I suggest that a dry fitting of the decks be done to see exactly what kind of profile the top two hull planks need to have.  The 1 mm ply backing for the PE portholes is critical for getting this right.  Pictures will show how I've glued these to the hull planking, now and it's allowing me to finally get a fix on the steps.

 

I soaked these two bow ply pieces for 2 hours in water and then used a plank bending iron to mold them to the hull.  Surprisingly, this actually worked!  Picture shows my technique.  Once this was completed and I held the ply up for inspection, it was clear to see just how complex the bends are in this piece.  I don't think anyone can put enough pins or nails in these pieces to hold them in a tight fit to the hull without pre-forming the ply pieces.  The rear 1 mm porthole ply pieces have a very gentle and simple curve that is easily held in place with rubber bands.  Didn't need to soak or pre-form, but it would be simple to put two parallel pieces of hull planking on the workbench, rest the top and bottom edges of the ply pieces on these two planks and depress the center with the bending iron.  I did these two stern pieces first, but the bow worked out so well pre-bending that If I had it to do again, I'd do this.

 

Lessons learned on the deck:

The center section of the deck is the foundation for ALL of the deck pieces.  The center of this section is comprised of nine hardwood stringers and it is ESSENTIAL that these nine pieces be EXACTLY in the center of the deck.  This is not as easy as you might think as there are an odd number of stringers, so the center one can't just be placed on the edge of a center-line.  I suggest that you sort these nine stringers to pick the one that is closest to perfectly straight for the center or "king" plank.  Mark it's center location and glue it, then put a nail at each end.  Use a straight edge to keep this plank perfectly straight and add nails in the middle part to keep the plank straight.  In my case, dry fitting the deck pieces after all nine planks were dry showed that I had missed the center by 1mm.  I needed to use one of the second layer of planking planks to shim one side of the center section.  Dry fitting the hull ply pieces will give you a very good idea of where the armor steps are located and will help you lay out the top two hull planks.  I should have waited to do these two top planks until this stage.  It would have saved a lot of fiddling around.  I suggest that you hold off on sanding the edges of the deck to meet up with the hull sides until the ply porthole backers and the PE porthole pieces are glued to the  hull and you are ready to start the second layer of planking.

 

I've glued all of the poly pieces that are in the complex areas.  In times past, these would have been blocks that had to be carved.  It's wonderful that this isn't necessary in this kit.  I was researching PE techniques and came across a video touting "FLEXY 5K" CA.  Looked interesting, so I ordered the "thick" for the big pieces and the PE grade for later use on the small bits.  The thick worked very well on the poly parts.  For the 1mm ply PE porthole backers, I used Elmers for the wood to wood areas and the "thick" CA for the ply to poly areas.  Very happy with it.  Comes from Poland in about 10 days.

 

PE porthole pieces are next, but I took this opportunity to put a drop of black paint in each of the porthole holes in the ply backer.  Hopefully, this will allow me to avoid hull paint buildup in this area.  I won't be concentrating on trying to spray paint into the porthole holes resulting in buildup over the PE detail.

[ted99]

Second layer of planking almost complete.  It turns out that if one uses a very thin layer of Elmers PVA that it has been unnecessary to nail, pin or clamp the 1mm strips of planking.  Hand pressure for about two min per plank and they are fully set.  And this is with some planks having a reverse twist as the plank goes from the bow aft.

 

There is some variation in thickness of these 1mm nominal planks, but not nearly as much as with the 1.5 mm planks.  One thing, though.  I notice that some of the planks have a "crosshatch" on one side, which I surmise to be a side that got less sanding after sawing the plank from stock during the manufacturing process.  The 1.5 mm planks also had some of this and if the crosshatch side is up, it means extra sanding in a flat area.  For the second layer, I have been careful to glue these planks crosshatch side "down".  Unless you like to use wood filler, be sure to bevel the plank edges.  Did this for first layer and even more important on second layer.

 

The 1mm ply pieces for the condenser water intakes and discharge are concave.  I tried my "form them on the hull technique" and it didn't work.  I guess that it works for concave areas, but not convex.  I used the "former" method shown in the manual.  These pieces MUST be pre-formed.  Pinning will never do the job.  I laid the first aft plank at the specified length before gluing the ply pieces on to make a precise index for gluing position.  Instructions show just making a pencil mark but this was better.  The instructions say to use CA glue to fix the anti-roll strakes and it's absolutely necessary.  The strakes are "bent" in two dimentions and CA (5K Flexy Slow for me) worked well to tack them in place while holding them with fingers.  Later, during the second layer planking I added PVA fillets to make certain they stayed in place.  I put a 12" sanding bar athwartships at the hull bottom and made sure the triangular cross section of the anti-roll strakes specified in the instructions was at the same level as the hull bottom first layer of planking.  This is to make sure that once the second layer of planking is done the hull's flat bottom will rest flat to the workbench and the strakes do not touch the workbench.  I anticipate a fair amount of pressure on the thick deck pieces as I sand them all to the same level.  I don't plan to do that sanding until I'm ready for the final primer coat.  I'll be using gesso as an initial sanding sealer and I expect some buildup to extend over the top of the sides to the deck above.  Final sanding will eliminate that.

 

In looking at the drydock pictures of Bismarck, it's clear that the armor belt top has a downward slant that I don't see in the instructions.  I'll sand this in as part of the final sanding of the hull.

 

The photos show that I leave a 1mm gap between the wood planking and the poly pieces so that a "substantial" gap is there for filler.  I have found that filler that is too narrow has a tendency to fall out when final sanding.

[ted99]

Sorry, I said the condenser inlets were concave.  Not--they are convex, so the on-hull forming technique didn't work.

 

Thanks to reklein for the tip on Bing search for Bismarck drydock.  good pictures.

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful hull. 

 

Yves