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

[hof00]

Thanks once again Rod,

The verdict is that I'll have to reduce the inboard Hangar walls by 2.2mm

(I'm thinking Stationary Disk Sander and Digital Calipers.... 🙂)

 

Cheers....HOF.

Edited January 16, 2022 by hof00

[pietkm]

@ HOF00

Looks like you did nothing wrong. In comparing the Hachette and the Amati versions I noticed the hangars are different

in width, The Hachette is wider yes, because they used 3mm ply for both of the long walls, Amati on only 1 side.

Better leave as is, or else some of your hangar PE parts will not fit anymore.

Seems to be a design fault by Hachette that was 'corrected' later in the Amati version.

Piet

 

[hof00]

4 hours ago, pietkm said:

@ HOF00

Looks like you did nothing wrong. In comparing the Hachette and the Amati versions I noticed the hangars are different

in width, The Hachette is wider yes, because they used 3mm ply for both of the long walls, Amati on only 1 side.

Better leave as is, or else some of your hangar PE parts will not fit anymore.

Seems to be a design fault by Hachette that was 'corrected' later in the Amati version.

Piet

 

Hi Piet,

Have PM'd my reply to you.

Could you please respond to the HOF00 thread with advice comments?

I do not wish to "Hijack" Rods' Bismarck thread.

 

Much appreciated and so is your advice!! 🙂

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

Edited January 17, 2022 by hof00

[rvchima]

15 hours ago, hof00 said:

Could you please respond to the HOF00 thread with advice comments?

I do not wish to "Hijack" Rods' Bismarck thread.

Not a problem for me. I am learning from all of this too.

[rvchima]

It's Painting Time!

 

[pietkm]

Hello Rod,

Looking good. What did you use on the deck parts? I'm not much of a painter and don't want to spoil them.

Surprised to see your decks so flat, mine are almost like a half circle, must be the warm and humid climate

here. Anyway I have many parts for practising as I have a replacement deck set for the broken original.

Piet

[rvchima]

On 1/18/2022 at 6:17 AM, pietkm said:

What did you use on the deck parts? I

Piet,

I used Minwax Polycrylic satin spray.  The parts came flat, curled a little when I sprayed them, and flattened in a few minutes when they dried.

 

Can you flatten yours in a book or something?

[rvchima]

Forward Superstructure Nearly Complete - 225 hours, 93 days

 

I got all the major components and painted, and have assembled a few sub-assemblies. There are a few fiddly parts left that need to be added.

 I will leave the sub-assemblies unattached for now until  I paint the dazzle camouflage. It might be easier that way.

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by rvchima
Color corrected image

[hof00]

Hi Rod,

Certainly looks the "Business!!"

Very nice work indeed.

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

[Old Collingwood]

Just what Hof said    - amazing level of detail.

 

OC.

[Joe100]

I might have missed it, but are you planning to paint the Baltic stripes on the superstructure?

 

It might be interesting to note that Baltic camouflage was completely abandoned by December 1941 when it was deemed to be extremely dangerous. Captured Soviet submariners states the white stripes made excellent aiming points.

[rvchima]

I Should Be Painting Camouflage, But ...

 

Joe100, yes I plan to paint the Baltic Stripes. I know that they didn't last long but they look so cool. And I know what a pain they will be to paint so I decided to build the big guns instead.

 

As usual, the Amati construction uses an over-complicated wooden framework

 

skinned with PE brass

 

and decorated with PE details. Each turret has two ladders about 15 mm long. There were 8 ladders on one sheet of PE that must have been left in the acid too long - the rungs were about the thickness of a spider's leg. There were 2 "spares" on another sheet that were OK so I put them on the first turret Anton. I managed to use the other ladders, but it wasn't easy. So far this is the only problem that I've had with the PE. I'll complain about the plastic parts in another post.

 

Here are the finished turrets with guns and incomplete bases.

 

[Joe100]

Excellent! The stripes are really what makes the model look unique. So many folks do the stripes on the hull but not the superstructure, which is a scheme she was only in for a matter of hours. 
 

Bismarck is one of those subjects that fascinated me when I was younger. I was lucky enough to be a contributor to a few books on her over the years, so if you have any questions about her design, feel free to inbox me. I can tell you boring facts about this class of ships until you turn blue 

[mikegr]

the complexity of the turret frames reminds me of card models where more strength is required. It seems battleships should be strongly made even if these are just models.

Edited January 26, 2022 by mikegr

[hof00]

On 1/26/2022 at 10:07 AM, rvchima said:

I Should Be Painting Camouflage, But ...

 

Joe100, yes I plan to paint the Baltic Stripes. I know that they didn't last long but they look so cool. And I know what a pain they will be to paint so I decided to build the big guns instead.

 

As usual, the Amati construction uses an over-complicated wooden framework

 

skinned with PE brass

 

and decorated with PE details. Each turret has two ladders about 15 mm long. There were 8 ladders on one sheet of PE that must have been left in the acid too long - the rungs were about the thickness of a spider's leg. There were 2 "spares" on another sheet that were OK so I put them on the first turret Anton. I managed to use the other ladders, but it wasn't easy. So far this is the only problem that I've had with the PE. I'll complain about the plastic parts in another post.

 

Here are the finished turrets with guns and incomplete bases.

 

Very nice work on the Turrets!!

(I assume that the Barrels are the Amati supplied ones?)

 

Cheers....HOF.

Edited January 27, 2022 by hof00

[Richardjjs]

On 12/9/2021 at 6:39 PM, hof00 said:

Hi Rod,

Just thought that I'd mention the pre-drilled holes for Grab Rails on the Stern Port hole etch pieces, I thought that this was a great addition to the kit. (Mine is pretty old.... 🙂) I got paper templates and a  bunch of measurements of where \to place them.

 

A question for you, do your Deck veneers come in sections and is there a 1.0 - 2.0mm space between the edge of the false Deck and the Veneers or are the veneers flush with the edge of the False Deck?

 

Cheers....HOF. (Harry)

there is about 1mm between the edgw of the decking and the hull - looks as though its about right for railings

[Richardjjs]

On 1/26/2022 at 7:17 AM, mikegr said:

the complexity of the turret frames reminds me of card models where more strength is required. It seems battleships should be strongly made even if these are just models.

incredible stron wood base no way can this be compared to card its heavt duty ply with a etched metal top layer

[Richardjjs]

On 1/20/2022 at 2:25 AM, rvchima said:

Forward Superstructure Nearly Complete - 225 hours, 93 days

 

I got all the major components and painted, and have assembled a few sub-assemblies. There are a few fiddly parts left that need to be added.

 I will leave the sub-assemblies unattached for now until  I paint the dazzle camouflage. It might be easier that way .ght

 

the photo is showing far too blue - Amati suggest RAL7000 which is a light grey with superstructure slightly darker RAL 7001 - looking good otherwise

 

[hof00]

Hi Rod,

A question for you,...

 

How far up the Hull does the Hull Red go?

 

One "Issue" mentions 50.0mm from the base off the Hull and another states 43.0mm....

(I'd be keen to know about the thickness of the "Boot" stripe also if you have a couple of minutes to spare.... 🙂)

What do your instructions say?

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by hof00

[rvchima]

On 1/29/2022 at 3:44 AM, hof00 said:

How far up the Hull does the Hull Red go?

 

One "Issue" mentions 50.0mm from the base off the Hull and another states 43.0mm....

(I'd be keen to know about the thickness of the "Boot" stripe also if you have a couple of minutes to spare.... 🙂)

What do your instructions say?

  Here's the instructions from the manual. The centerline of the stripe is at 50 mm, and the stripe is 10 mm wide.

[rvchima]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:48 AM, Richardjjs said:

the photo is showing far too blue - Amati suggest RAL7000 which is a light grey with superstructure slightly darker RAL 7001 - looking good otherwise

 

I agree that the photo seems very blue. I special ordered a can of RAL 7000 for the hull. When it came time to paint the superstructure I realized that it called for RAL 7001. I made up this comparison:

 

On my monitor the RAL colors look almost identical, so I used my existing can of RAL 7000 for everything. In my shop the ship looks dark gray and not blue at all.

 

I used an LED shop light for the photos. It seems to be bright white but may be adding a blue cast to the photos, even after white balancing with Photoshop.

 

I'll experiment with lighting for the next batch of photos, but regardless it's too late to repaint.

Edited January 30, 2022 by rvchima

[hof00]

Thanks Rod.

 

Cheers....HOF.

[rvchima]

Dazzling Camouflage

A few days ago I painted one set of dazzle camouflage stripes. It wasn't easy. I used some thin tape to temporarily mark the edges, then used a thin rule and penciled them in. I masked what I could and brushed the white first with thin acrylic. That took several coats. Then I outlined the black with a thin black marker, masked the black, and brushed that on. The black covered in one coat. Then I used my finest brush to touch up the gray.

 

 

Note to other builders: If you plan to paint the dazzle camouflage, paint the stripes before you install the crane bridge.

 

Here's the front superstructure with the stripes on the funnel. Regarding previous questions about what color gray I used, all gray parts in this image were painted with the same paint, but there is a huge variation in shade across the image. The one LED light I used is daylight white. I did adjust the white point in the levels for the photo to brighten the image.

 

[king derelict]

Its looking spectacular as the paint scheme develops

alan

[rvchima]

Tricky Lifeboat Rack

I struggled with these photo-etched lifeboat rack for several hours today. (There are actually two symmetrical racks.) The instructions show them built up out of five pieces. Easy, right?

The triangular supports are different sizes. First I built them with their bases flat on my bench, but the platforms ended up twisted. After some deconstruction I rebuilt them by first attaching the center support to both platforms, and then attaching the end supports while keeping the platforms parallel. This ends up with flat, horizontal platforms when attached.

 

 

 

Then you have to attach the racks to the rear superstructure next to some existing ladders and vents that get in the way. I had to move two ladders. The instructions tell where the triangular supports should attach to the superstructure vents and rails. When I followed those directions the platforms ended up sloped a lot. Instead I attached the racks so that the platforms were horizontal. Here's the final result.

 

Incidentally, I thought that the construction of the ringed conduit at  top right was pretty clever. It's made from 1mm brass rod bent according to plan. The rings are 1mm eyelets glued in place with a drop of CA, then the shanks are cut off. Nice effect.

 

[hof00]

Hi Rod,

That's a very nice camouflage application!!

 

Cheers....HOF.

[hof00]

Hi Rod,

Yet another question for you....

 

Did you mask and pint a "Stern" wave on your Hull?

If so, how did you mask off your Stern Grab Rails?

 

(Dumb question I know but better to "Pick" your brains rather than find out the hard way.... 🙂)

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

 

 

[rvchima]

On 2/10/2022 at 3:22 AM, hof00 said:

Did you mask and pint a "Stern" wave on your Hull?

If so, how did you mask off your Stern Grab Rails?

Harry,

 

You must be getting close with the hull. I'll hop over and have a look in a minute.

 

Yes, I painted the stern camouflage wave. I only used Amati's templates to make a new template out of wide masking tape. I applied the tape with a gap around the rails and paper outside the tape. I put another strip of tape over the rails knowing it would leak. After spraying it wasn't too bad and just needed a little touch up with a fine brush.

[rvchima]

Railing Repair

 

February 3 I described a PE brass lifeboat rack that was tricky to build. I must have struggled with it a little too much, because yesterday after painting it the railing fell off in my hands. I tried to glue it three times but every time I bumped it it fell off again. So I scraped off some paint and soldered it. That took less time than one glue attempt and is far stronger than the original bent brass reinforced with a drop of glue. Wish I'd done that in the first place.

 

Plastic Parts

Back in January I hinted that the plastic parts in this kit leave something to be desired. These periscopes for the small guns should be solid but 4 out of 6 have a large void in the center. It's not a big deal to fill the holes but you do have to stop and wait for two coats of filler to harden. Not too many parts were like this - just enough to be a nuisance.

 

[rvchima]

Small Parts

 

The six small guns are made up just like the four large ones - complicated honeycomb framework made of thin plywood skinned with brass. Those are the plastic periscopes on the sides of two of the guns. The barrels are aluminum tube painted black but weren't installed yet for the photos.

 

 

 

The watchtower is made up of dozens of tiny brass parts. Attaching brass to existing structures is relatively easy, but building structures completely out of brass is a pain.

 

Started on the main mast today. Still lots to do on it.