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

[Canute]

Rod, we saw the trailers a few days back, just prior to the release. As an old Phantom Phlyer, I was really into the flying scenes. Plan to see the movie next week.

[rvchima]

Ken,

 

I've never had the pleasure of meeting an F-4 pilot before. Thank you for your service, and I hope that you have a relaxing Memorial Day.

 

I just realized that we're practically neighbors, so you might have guessed that I saw the movie at the Asheville Brewing Company. It might be better on a bigger screen but you can't beat the food and drink.

 

[rvchima]

Rigging

I finished the rigging yesterday and am working on the handrails. It's all done with 0.2 mm black monofilament line, which has been a pleasure to work with. It's extremely strong, doesn't kink, and glues solid with a spot of CA.

There are 4 double antennas tied to tiny triangular PE pieces. I clamped the pieces to a stick to get the two lines the same length.

Here's the rigging in all its glory. I left this photo at full resolution so you can see the lines.

The handrails comprise about 150 PE stanchions on each side of the ship threaded with three layers of monofilament line. I was dreading this task, but it's only taking about one hour per line. You can literally pull one end of the line and tighten it the entire length of the ship.

I finally made a new base for the model using purpleheart wood. The color looks good with the anti-rust color of the lower hull, and it will turn a little browner with age.

[hof00]

Hi Rod,

That looks really, really Awesome!!

I rake my hat off to you, knowing first hand how, in your words, "Insane" this model is.... 🙂

I guess you are almost at the point where you can say "Finished."

(Wot's next? 🙂)

 

Anyway, it has been, and is, an absolute privilege to see your Ship come together and also replies to my many questions 

 

(I do have another question for you at this time: Where did you procure the Deck Transfers?)

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

 

[Canute]

Rod, he was a handsome ship and your build is superb.

[rvchima]

Hi Harry,

 

Thank you for your kind words. It's been a pleasure "working" with you, and I am keen to see your ship finished too. I will keep up with your build log, but if you have questions just message me directly to make sure that I see them.

 

What's next?

• My wife has me signed up to build a decorative arbor for the garden.
• A 1:16 Sopwith Camel by Artesania Latina. I've built Model Expo's Fokker Triplane at the same scale.
• A 1:48 scale Seguin tugboat by Bluejacket Shipcrafters. Mostly wood, almost no PE or plastic to fiddle with.

19 hours ago, hof00 said:

(I do have another question for you at this time: Where did you procure the Deck Transfers?)

Sorry Harry, I don't know what you meas by "deck transfers."

[hof00]

2 hours ago, rvchima said:

Hi Harry,

 

Thank you for your kind words. It's been a pleasure "working" with you, and I am keen to see your ship finished too. I will keep up with your build log, but if you have questions just message me directly to make sure that I see them.

 

What's next?

• My wife has me signed up to build a decorative arbor for the garden.
• A 1:16 Sopwith Camel by Artesania Latina. I've built Model Expo's Fokker Triplane at the same scale.
• A 1:48 scale Seguin tugboat by Bluejacket Shipcrafters. Mostly wood, almost no PE or plastic to fiddle with.

Sorry Harry, I don't know what you meas by "deck transfers."

Hi Rod,

Your "To Do" list looks a little busy, good to see you will not be idle!! 🙂

Looking forward to your upcoming builds.

 

By Deck Transfers, I am alluding to the Swasticker markings, or, more correctly, Air Recognition" markings.

Were these supplied or did you paint these? (I guess I'm looking for a source to order from.)

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

[rvchima]

On 5/31/2022 at 4:42 PM, hof00 said:

By Deck Transfers, I am alluding to the Swasticker markings, or, more correctly, Air Recognition" markings.

Were these supplied or did you paint these?

Harry,

I made the markings in Photoshop and sent you the file by private message. You should be able to print them yourself.

[hof00]

7 hours ago, rvchima said:

Harry,

I made the markings in Photoshop and sent you the file by private message. You should be able to print them yourself.

Many thanks Rod,

 

I PM'd a reply.

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

[Old Collingwood]

What a Fantastic looking  ship.

 

OC.

[ted99]

On 5/31/2022 at 3:42 PM, hof00 said:

Hi Rod,

Your "To Do" list looks a little busy, good to see you will not be idle!! 🙂

Looking forward to your upcoming builds.

 

By Deck Transfers, I am alluding to the Swasticker markings, or, more correctly, Air Recognition" markings.

Were these supplied or did you paint these? (I guess I'm looking for a source to order from.)

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

Harry--In case you decide against painting, I got decals from an Australian company.  Custom Hobby Decals.  website www.customhobbydecals.com.  They are a very heavy gauge--probably because of the size--and a decal setting solution is absolutely necessary.  The bow one is particularly difficult to get adhesion because of the anchor chain wear decking.  I have completed my move and restarted my build.  I'll post a picture of the deck with decals tomorrow.  I think that paint is the better solution, but that needed tools I don't have.

[hof00]

5 hours ago, ted99 said:

Harry--In case you decide against painting, I got decals from an Australian company.  Custom Hobby Decals.  website www.customhobbydecals.com.  They are a very heavy gauge--probably because of the size--and a decal setting solution is absolutely necessary.  The bow one is particularly difficult to get adhesion because of the anchor chain wear decking.  I have completed my move and restarted my build.  I'll post a picture of the deck with decals tomorrow.  I think that paint is the better solution, but that needed tools I don't have.

Hi Chap,

Thanks for that!!

I could paint these but I don't want to tempt fate, I'd rather have something that I can just "Place" to achieve the desired result.

 

Just had a look at the site, this might just be the ticket!!🙂

(Australia is not too far away so shipping shouldn't be too costly.)

Could you please detail exactly the item you ordered?

 

Good to see you back, I was wondering where you had got to.... 🙂

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

 

[rvchima]

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

 530 Hours, 225 Days

 

The Bismarck is finished and my bench is cleared off, ready to start a new project. I kept a "diary" of my build, and it took me about 530 hours over 225 days. I took off a couple of weeks around  the holidays and all of March, so on average I put in about 3 hours per day. Your mileage may vary.

 

This is the most expensive kit I've ever bought at close to $700 US. I also spent around $200 for brass props, glue, paints, and pedestals and wood for the base, so my hobby cost about $5 per day. My wife is happy that I'm not into real boats.

 

This is also one of the nicest kits I've ever built. The wood is excellent, the laser cutting is perfect, and the photo etched parts are superb. The two instruction manuals are the best I've ever seen. The plastic parts were not quite as good. Some had molding cavities that had to be filled, and the many staircases were made from some more flexible plastic that did not glue well. I've made three kits by Amati now - their Bismarck, U-boat 47, and Arno XI Ferrari hydroplane. They were all excellent kits, and I highly recommend any of them.

 

Final Photos

All guns to starboard.

The Bismarck with the Prinz Eugen "light" cruiser by Aeronaut, both at 1/200 scale.

The Bismarck is on the mantle at the moment but won't remain there long. Probably only until my wife comes downstairs.

[rvchima]

19 hours ago, hof00 said:

On 6/4/2022 at 11:55 AM, ted99 said:

Harry--In case you decide against painting, I got decals from an Australian company.  Custom Hobby Decals.  website www.customhobbydecals.com.  They are a very heavy gauge--probably because of the size--and a decal setting solution is absolutely necessary.  The bow one is particularly difficult to get adhesion because of the anchor chain wear decking.  I have completed my move and restarted my build.  I'll post a picture of the deck with decals tomorrow.  I think that paint is the better solution, but that needed tools I don't have.

Hi Chap,

Thanks for that!!

I could paint these but I don't want to tempt fate, I'd rather have something that I can just "Place" to achieve the desired result.

 

Just had a look at the site, this might just be the ticket!!🙂

(Australia is not too far away so shipping shouldn't be too costly.)

Could you please detail exactly the item you ordered?

 

Good to see you back, I was wondering where you had got to.... 🙂

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

Hi Ted,

Yes, great to see you back! Nothing like moving to spoil a hobby. I'll be following your build with interest.

Rod

[Ian_Grant]

12 minutes ago, rvchima said:

 

The Bismarck is on the mantle at the moment but won't remain there long. Probably only until my wife comes downstairs.

 

...."Probably only until my wife comes downstairs."    HaHaHa 😄

 

Very nice model build!  Pardon an uneducated question, but why does the first turret lack the protuberances on the aft sides that the other three sport?

[rvchima]

2 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

Pardon an uneducated question, but why does the first turret lack the protuberances on the aft sides that the other three sport?

Those protuberances are rangefinders so the gun crew can fire independently of the three main fire control stations. After the ship entered service it was found that the rangefinders on the first turret were frequently flooded with sea water, so they were removed.

[Ian_Grant]

Ah!  I thought they might be that, but I don't see any sign of a lens/window/viewing slit?  I'll have to look up how they worked.....

[hof00]

Hi Rod,

Really very good!!

I am hoping that my effort works out to hopefully a similar build quality!!

(Hope you don't get too many seismic events looking at where you have got the ship sitting!!)

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

 

[ccoyle]

Outstanding finished product -- congratulations!

[Canute]

Rod, nicely done. Congratulations.

[rvchima]

10 hours ago, hof00 said:

(Hope you don't get too many seismic events looking at where you have got the ship sitting!!)

Unlike New Zealand we rarely have seismic events here.

[ted99]

Beautiful build, Rod. I can only aspire to something approaching this.

[stuglo]

On 5/31/2022 at 8:50 PM, rvchima said:

What's next?

Bismark for me. Your blog will make it that much easier. Thank you.

[rvchima]

Display Case

I am building a display case for my three warship models - the Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, and Arleigh Burke. I started trying to model it in Sketchup, which I have used before. I wasn't happy with my original design so I started over with some simple sketches, and finished with a hand-drawn 3-view. I took a LOT of drawing in high school and one class in college, which immediately became obsolete- except when I want to make something. Here's my final 3-view from 8 days ago.

You can see that this is a BIG piece of furniture. The Bismarck is 50" long, but acrylic sells in 48" sheets, so that set the width. The Bismarck will be hidden a little behind the frames. The models are all around 14" high, so there will just be enough height for the three.

 

Later I went back to Sketchup and got some better views.

Last Friday I went to the lumber yard and bought $400 worth of cherry. Here's what I've finished since then.

A few days ago I ordered hardware and LED lights: $150.

 

Today I ordered 2 glass doors for the sides and 2 glass shelves: $225.

 

I also bought the acrylic front panel $115.

 

I haven't added it all up yet, but I think it was WAY more than I ever expected to spend on a display case. It will keep the dust off of three models, but right now my shop in our finished basement is covered with dust. Final photos soon.

[hof00]

1 hour ago, rvchima said:

Display Case

I am building a display case for my three warship models - the Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, and Arleigh Burke. I started trying to model it in Sketchup, which I have used before. I wasn't happy with my original design so I started over with some simple sketches, and finished with a hand-drawn 3-view. I took a LOT of drawing in high school and one class in college, which immediately became obsolete- except when I want to make something. Here's my final 3-view from 8 days ago.

You can see that this is a BIG piece of furniture. The Bismarck is 50" long, but acrylic sells in 48" sheets, so that set the width. The Bismarck will be hidden a little behind the frames. The models are all around 14" high, so there will just be enough height for the three.

 

Later I went back to Sketchup and got some better views.

Last Friday I went to the lumber yard and bought $400 worth of cherry. Here's what I've finished since then.

A few days ago I ordered hardware and LED lights: $150.

 

Today I ordered 2 glass doors for the sides and 2 glass shelves: $225.

 

I also bought the acrylic front panel $115.

 

I haven't added it all up yet, but I think it was WAY more than I ever expected to spend on a display case. It will keep the dust off of three models, but right now my shop in our finished basement is covered with dust. Final photos soon.

Hi Rod,

Look's good!!

 

I think that the cost of materials will be well worth it.

 

(I have all my completed Ships in cases, as you say, keeps the dust away.) (Also, in my case, a couple of vary active Abyssinian cats.... 🙂)

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

[rvchima]

The Best Laid Plans ...

I rushed to finish my display case before my son came for our July 4th holiday. We have a nice, finished attic, and my plan was that he and I could carry it up there where it would not clutter up the living areas of our house. We moved it awkwardly from the basement to the second floor entrance to the attic stairs, where there is a full-sized door followed immediately by a steep staircase. Wouldn't you know it, but when we angled the case to go up the stairs it would not fit under the door frame. We studied the situation for a long time and finally decided that that the case was not going in the attic. Luckily we have a guest bedroom on the second floor with room for a display case, and that's where it ended up.

My glass shelves and doors all fit perfectly (whew), and so did the three models. The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen are both 1/200 scale, and the Arleigh Burke is 1/196 so they look good together. I could probably squeeze my U-boat in there too but at 1/72 it might look out of place.

I put rows of LED light strips over each model. They are very intense, impossible to photograph, and I'll probably never use them.

 

My advice to anyone planning to build cabinets for large models:

• Make separate cabinets for each model
• Make them stackable like an old Barrister's bookcase
• Forget the LED lights

Edited July 3, 2022 by rvchima

[hof00]

5 hours ago, rvchima said:

The Best Laid Plans ...

I rushed to finish my display case before my son came for our July 4th holiday. We have a nice, finished attic, and my plan was that he and I could carry it up there where it would not clutter up the living areas of our house. We moved it awkwardly from the basement to the second floor entrance to the attic stairs, where there is a full-sized door followed immediately by a steep staircase. Wouldn't you know it, but when we angled the case to go up the stairs it would not fit under the door frame. We studied the situation for a long time and finally decided that that the case was not going in the attic. Luckily we have a guest bedroom on the second floor with room for a display case, and that's where it ended up.

My glass shelves and doors all fit perfectly (whew), and so did the three models. The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen are both 1/200 scale, and the Arleigh Burke is 1/196 so they look good together. I could probably squeeze my U-boat in there too but at 1/72 it might look out of place.

I put rows of LED light strips over each model. They are very intense, impossible to photograph, and I'll probably never use them.

 

My advice to anyone planning to build cabinets for large models:

• Make separate cabinets for each model
• Make them stackable like an old Barrister's bookcase
• Forget the LED lights

Very nice work there Rod!!

The Cabinet looks great and the "Cherry?" is a very nice color.

(I reckon that it's good the Cabinet is "In the house" so people can see your work.)

 

Looking forward to your next creation.... 🙂

 

Cheers and Regards,

 

Harry.

[stuglo]

"am working on the handrails. It's all done with 0.2 mm black monofilament line,"

Was it easy to fit the CONTAINMENT rails after handrails, or better to do these first?

Your build is an excellent one. My painting with spray cans was OK for the hull but excessive for the deck fittings. Probably my inexperience and lack of patience.

[hof00]

9 hours ago, stuglo said:

"am working on the handrails. It's all done with 0.2 mm black monofilament line,"

Was it easy to fit the CONTAINMENT rails after handrails, or better to do these first?

Your build is an excellent one. My painting with spray cans was OK for the hull but excessive for the deck fittings. Probably my inexperience and lack of patience.

Hi Chap,

Thought I'd chime in.... 🙂

I have just completed my Bissie, I am unsure what Rod did with his Interference Grids but in my experience, these are mounted first. (Mine were at the very edge of the Decking with the Main Deck Railing running along the "Gutter."

 

The Railing I found to be difficult....

 

I'll let Rod reply to his method of installing these.

 

Cheers....HOF.

[Ian B]

Hi, just wanted to say 'thank you ' I have found all your efforts into posting and commenting.super helpful..I'm just at the initial superstructure assembly with my Amati Bis.

 

Cheers ian