Bismarck by rvchima - FINISHED - Amati - Scale 1:200 - WWII German Battleship

[rvchima]

Back in 2020 I saw this post on MSW:     1:200 Bismarck - coming soon!

The Bismarck kit was announced by Amati. I have built Amati kits before and know that they are top quality. I was working on an Aeronaut model of the Prinz Eugen heavy cruiser at the time - not a great kit but it turned out OK. I started checking the Amati site every few days, and over a year later I finally found it offered for sale on agesofsail.com. I ordered it immediately and am about ready to start.

[rvchima]

What's in the Box

 

The box has a beautiful, full-color photo on the front.

 

The box is packed like a new iPhone.

 

Three boxes of beautiful plastic parts, a small box of resin parts, and a small box of eyes, rigging, and miscellaneous brass parts.

 

Two full-color instruction manuals with details of every little part. More details than a LEGO kit.

 

A full-sized 3-view of the model, suitable for framing.

 

Six sheets of parts layout diagrams.

 

Three huge bundles of sanded basswood planks. The Bismark has a plank on frame hull. The Prinz Eugen had a plastic hull that saved a lot of time, but hey, I like working with wood.

 

Lots of plywood sheets of laser cut parts.

 

Stencils for the bow-wave camoflage. Planked decking printed to scale! I planked the hull of my Prinz Eugen with 4 mm wide basswood. It looks good but it's 5x too wide for this scale.

 

Fourteen sheet of photo etched brass, including an awesome nameplate for the display stand.

 

That's what's in the box. I can hardly wait to get started, but I have some other commitments for the next week or so. Stay tuned.

[mikegr]

very nice

Any rails included?

[CaptnBirdseye]

Oooow can’t wait for you to start this 😍

[Dakwinner]

On 10/18/2021 at 11:38 PM, mikegr said:

very nice

Any rails included?

It looks like the railings are part of the photo-etched screens and side panels which may make installation a whole lot easier.

 

[RN77]

Hi Rvchima

Will be following your build for future reference

Have purchased the kit myself and stowed away for a future project

 

Missed the Hachete parts work of this when released...think it is more or less the same kit

[rvchima]

And So It Begins

I was out of town last week and finally got to start gluing wood. The laser cutting is excellent with just 2-3 hair-thin tabs holding each piece in place. Most of the notches are just a bit too wide so pieces are a loose fit. It's always better to have a tight fit and remove material as necessary. The hull construction is quite unconventional. You probably couldn't figure it out from the plans alone but the step-by-step instructions make it all clear.

[mikegr]

Bismarck delirium in this site.

Love it.

[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.

[rvchima]

HOF,

Thank you for the links to the partworks builds -they should be helpful. At first glance I see two differences between the partworks model and the Amati model:

1. The partworks model has to fit in a magazine package, so the biggest parts are ~12 inches long. The keel pieces on the Amati model are almost 20 inches long. Stronger, fewer joints, but similar construction.

2. The complete partworks model lists at £799, or about $1090. I paid $699. for the Amati kit, and now see it listed as low as $563. (Sigh.) It must be expensive to put out 140 magazines and parts sets.

[rvchima]

This will be one big model

So far the build is like those laser-cut mechanical models that you see everywhere. Pop out the parts and glue them together. I haven't actually cut a piece of wood yet. Planking the hull will be different.

 

I keep looking for round formers for the bottom of the hull, but the Bismarck is basically a flat-bottomed girl (they make the rockin' world go round - Queen.)

[ted99]

Rod--Was your kit intact and complete?  Two of the deck pieces in mine were damaged and I am missing a plastic sprue with the "vents".  A builder in Israel also had the same deck damage.  Amati has not yet responded with replacements.

[stuglo]

20 hours ago, ted99 said:

Rod--Was your kit intact and complete?  Two of the deck pieces in mine were damaged and I am missing a plastic sprue with the "vents".  A builder in Israel also had the same deck damage.  Amati has not yet responded with replacements.

Received replacement parts, but I incorrectly  ordered one of them and despite correcting it the following day, so efficient, I received this incorrect part. Requested this again. Not their fault really. 

PS the parts came properly packaged with plenty of filling. 

[rvchima]

On 11/4/2021 at 12:10 PM, ted99 said:

Rod--Was your kit intact and complete?  Two of the deck pieces in mine were damaged and I am missing a plastic sprue with the "vents".  A builder in Israel also had the same deck damage.  Amati has not yet responded with replacements.

 

I have not checked to see if every part in my kit is there. I hope that I'm not surprised later. I don't see any obvious damage to deck pieces. Do you mean the thick ply sub-deck, or the thin printed deck?

[rvchima]

Sometimes I feel like I am assembling the skeleton of a prehistoric reptile. I guess, in a sense, I am.

[rvchima]

Hull Framing

 

The upper mid- and aft-decks are made to be removable for RC. There is plenty of room in the hull, but no mention of RC installation in the instructions. I am building for display only but will wait to glue the decks in place. It may simplify construction or painting later on if they are removable.

 

Ted99 mentioned that the planks vary in thickness. I checked them all with a micrometer and found that they varied from 1.52 mm to 1.84 mm thick. I sorted them into 4 piles to use in different areas.

 

I have 9 layers of planking in place now, but only one early photo. Here's my technique:

• Anchor the end of a plank with a nail.
• Drill 0.6 mm pilot holes through the plank into all bulkheads.
• Set a nail in each hole using needle nose pliers.
• Repeat for matching plank on other side.
• Lift a foot or so of plank, apply PVA glue to the edge with a brush, and push nails down part way with pliers.

This minimizes the time that the glue is drying in my pot and on my brush. I can do a plank in about 45 minutes and remove the nails an hour later.

[hof00]

 

Hi Chap,

Looking good!!

 

Cheers....HOF.

Edited November 9, 2021 by hof00

[Lecrenb]

My son has an interest in German warships so I will follow this with great interest... I may get him the kit for Christmas if it is not too late!

Regards,

Bruce

[ted99]

Rod--WRT missing/damaged pieces.  The front and rear sections of the thin planking-printed decks were broken in my kit.  These were the longest pieces and extended beyond the bulk of the other deck pieces with no mutual support.  The package of PE brass evidently shifted around during shipment and it's weight broke off the extended ends of the two deck pieces.  I was missing one plastic package containing the plastic sprue of "vents" # P-54.

 

Cornwell Model Boats in the UK took my report and forwarded it to Amati.  Just received word from Cornwall that the missing/damaged pieces are on their way to me.

[CaptnBirdseye]

12 minutes ago, ted99 said:

Cornwell Model Boats in the UK took my report and forwarded it to Amati.  Just received word from Cornwall that the missing/damaged pieces are on their way to me.

Tedd: I've used CMB for years and always find them first class, so glad they are sorting it for you.

Rod: That hull looks nice and straight. I screwed mine down to a base board, just in case of warpage (bit overkill i admit- but it worked). Your build is progressing nicely 👍

[rvchima]

First Layer of Planking Complete, 32 hours

 

I completed my first layer of planking. I did not follow the layout shown in the manual - I just worked down from the deck using PVA and up from the keel using CA until the planks met. I used the supplied brass nails to hold everything temporarily but removed the nails as soon as each plank was dry. The photos are before I did any filling or sanding.

 

 

 

 

[rvchima]

I might just quit here and call it an aircraft carrier.

 

Sanded, decks completed.

[Matt D]

Looks excellent!  Congratulations on completing your aircraft carrier!!

[mikegr]

brilliant conversion

you need to only flatten the deck at the ends🙂

[yvesvidal]

On 11/21/2021 at 5:14 PM, rvchima said:

 

Is the Gee Bee, the 1/32nd scale William Brothers kit?

 

Yves

[rvchima]

7 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

 

Is the Gee Bee, the 1/32nd scale William Brothers kit?

 

Yves

The Gee Bee is a diecast  model. It was the only thing I had that was small enough to sit on the deck. I love the GeeBee and have made a couple of stick and tissue models of it. Very difficult to cover.

[rvchima]

Second Planking Complete (almost) -- 95 hours, 51 days

 

I haven't posted since just before Thanksgiving but I have been working on the Bismarck. I completed the second planking and have been sanding for days. The first layer planks are nominally 6.25 x 1.6 mm in cross section, but the second layer planks are 5.25 x 1.15 mm so the joints don't overlap. The first layer was glued mostly with Titebond but the second layer was glued with CA. Here's what my hand look like after several hours of planking with CA.

Thank goodness for acetone.

 

After LOTS of sanding I filled the second layer with Famowood wood filler, as recommended by Ted99. I started out using some plastic squeegees, which was slow, but then I thought of another way.

 

One of my other hobbies is making stained glass lamps and windows. Leaded glass windows must be puttied to keep the glass from rattling and to make them weatherproof. Standard window putty is thinned to the consistency of yogurt and squeegeed into the lead came with a stiff paint brush that is cut off to about 1/2 inch long. I used my old putty brush with the Famowood and it went on quickly. I still used the plastic squeegees for tight areas and to remove some excess.

 

After sanding I applied a coat of AquaCoat wood grain filler. This product is clear and much thinner than Famowood. It does a beautiful job of filling the grain and small cracks, but doesn't work as well for large voids. I still have some filler touch-up to go, and probably another coat of AquaCoat.

 

Here are some views of the hull after the second planking.

Side view I found the stained glass window in the background in an antique store and did major repairs on it. We found the wrought-iron cross buried in our yard (queue the scary music.) It is probably French or German from around 1880. It was broken in five pieces but I had it sand blasted and welded. Now back to the Bismarck.

 

Bottom view

 

Stern The PE brass piece fits exactly over a matching plywood piece. It seems like a good idea but it makes it impossible to sand that area to match the surrounding planking. All you can do is putty everything and hope for the best. The resin stern and center prop mount are also hard to blend in.

 

Center section The thin plywood piece has cutouts for cooling water grates to be installed later. This piece was difficult to install over the curved hull.  The instructions recommend using an Amati plank-bending tool that I don't have, so I just soaked the piece and worked slowly with CA and finger pressure. The anti-roll boards (does anyone know the correct term for them?) were laser cut from plywood, so they fit the contour of the hull nicely but were difficult to shape in profile. The center ply is harder than the surface plys and doesn't want to round over. I was short about 10 pieces of second planking but had I plenty of extra from the first layer and used that above the anti-roll boards. LOTS more sanding to reduce the thickness later.

 

Bow The bow has the same problems as the stern with matching the PE and resin pieces.

Edited December 8, 2021 by rvchima
additional details

[rvchima]

Side Step

The instructions have somewhat confusing details about a step in the hull profile near the deck. The bulkheads have a small notch 12 mm high near the top that only get the first layer of planks. The rest of the bulkheads get two layers. This leaves a step about 1 mm wide along the center of the ship. There is little or no overlap of planks across the step, so it is a really weak joint. I squeezed some extra CA along that joint.

 

There is a diagram of the armour belting on the Bismarck in Anatomy of the Ship, The Battleship Bismarck. Here I have copied the diagram on top of a side view of my model.

The yellow belt near the deck was 145 mm thick but the green main belt was 320 mm thick. The difference is 175 mm, which at 1/200 scale becomes about 1 mm. I think that explains the step.

Edited December 8, 2021 by rvchima

[CaptnBirdseye]

Looking good 👍

[hof00]

Hi Chap,

Your Anti-Roll thingies are called "Bilge Keels."

 

Looking good!