Bismarck by Jeff 59 - Trumpeter - 1/200 - PLASTIC

[Jeff59]

10 hours ago, madtatt said:

I understand exactly what you mean, Jeff.

Now comes the fun part.

It's great that you managed to get some veteran parts. I'm also familiar with Distefano's website and, funnily enough, I was browsing it yesterday. I could imagine ordering one or two parts from there as well. Nevertheless, nothing beats the master, as you so aptly put it. Unfortunately, Micro Master has a very limited product selection. By the way, they now also have printed anchor chains. I bought my chains here, though:

 

WWII War Ships Anchor Chain

 

They are quite good and much cheaper than Micro Master. However, they have a rather long delivery time because they come from China.

Thanks for that Jolle, shall investigate both, if l had known Micromaster did this would have ordered them last week, just ordered the main turrets from them in the right configuration for Bismarck on commissioning day, that’s my Xmas press from Jaqueline, be a test of will power not opening this till Xmas day when they arrive 😂 thanks again Jolle. 🤛

[Jeff59]

7 hours ago, Nirvana said:

Oh my, that is a severe undertaking of semi scratch build Bismarck.
And yes, the areas you have pointed out are definitely in need of adjustments.
But at the end the satisfaction knowing what you put into the accruements will surely pay off.

Thanks for having a look Nirvana, new there was issues with the hull back when kit was released, and when l purchased it and looked at the hull line especially at the bottom aft was quite obviously not the right appearance, it was only when l started marking of the hull plating and becoming familiar with the flat bottom layout that l decided to fix this, never done this before so just winging it really, like a cat, seem to have landed on my feet 😂 well that’s the worst part improved so my confidence is better now, think l am going to enjoy moving forward, all be it at a slow pace. Thanks again Jeff.

Edited November 15, 2025 by Jeff59

[Jeff59]

At last l can do an update, being putting it off till l had enough to show a difference, have been watching everyone else’s builds progressing, mine not so much, but here goes. Having got the contours closer on hull it was time to remark the lines for hull plating from Stefan Draminski’s book, this is a slow process as you don’t want to make mistakes at this stage after all the work getting here, shall put some photos up showing his reference drawings and you’ll start to understand, my eyes were coming together 😂

[Jeff59]

You can see what l mean, after scaling it and slowly drawing all this onto the hull and making minor adjustments to get it all working and looking right l then had to engrave the plating lines lightly, this is another part you have to concentrate at for obvious reasons, generally did the longitudinal lines first, this made it easier to engrave the individual plate lines across, you can feel the scribing tool ease into the longitudinal cut, again just take your time because this is the end result of your efforts. Had a daft idea for a while to try fitting a fine piece of wire into the cut groove to simulate the weld rather than than the incorrect effect with just a groove, so initially l started using 0.1 nickel wire, was working through this when l decided to alter the hull directly around the stern anchor and then decided to try imitating the weld around this area, after carefully making a grove decided 0.1 copper wire was more suitable for shaping into this, very easy to bend into contours, and out l may add 🙄 Herby’s build log on his Mikasa led me  to purchasing a whole lot of different size wires, always good for scratch building, copper wire definitely better than the nickel for this task, also sourced this glue that works fine for fixing the wire to hull.

[Jeff59]

As you can imagine it took ages to get around all off this , it’s almost complete, also bought some riveting tools that let me try to do the small areas on hull that had this, that was another first for me, think it’s not to bad, won’t know for sure till painting stage and that’s a long way away. Shall take some photos now 👍

[Landlubber Mike]

Using copper wire for the welding lines looks amazing!  Very nice job!

[Jeff59]

Also bought Micro Master main turrets, who managed to supply me with right configuration for her on commissioning day, that is blast bags and range finders on Aton and Bruno and Caesar and Dora without blast bags, didn’t open them till Xmas day 😂 There brilliant, as you’d expect from Micro Master, also purchased a crane detailing set , thought l was purchasing an etch detailing set, so was pleasantly surprised when these arrived.  Shall add to this shortly, got to go. Some photos.

Edited 18 hours ago by Jeff59

[Jeff59]

Also purchased anchor chains from Micro Master, really nice they are , it’s great to be able to elevate your model with aftermarket parts, it’s certainly an expensive approach to modelling, when you see some of the products you just can’t help yourself, the whole model starts to become a detail monster. 🫣

[Jeff59]

Also found this company that has some amazing 3d print, Bunker Studio, purchased most of the 1/200 items for my Bismarck, just have to wait on it arriving. Still have to source the Bismarck wooden decking by Scaledecks.com if anyone can point me in the right direction to get this that would be a help. Some photos of parts from Bunker Studio 

[Jeff59]

Here’s a part in 1/350, zoom in you won’t believe it. 

[Jeff59]

Here’s another few photos of parts under a better light

[ccoyle]

Apparently, even a plastic boat fits the definition of "a hole in the water into which one pours money."

[Jeff59]

4 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Using copper wire for the welding lines looks amazing!  Very nice job!

Thanks Mike, have tried best towards minimalist approach, just have to hope it doesn’t look over the top when painted. It can be damaged fairly easily but just have to accept that and repair as it progresses, there’s an awful lot of handling on this hull for a while. When the hull is complete and the red area painted plan to bolt on a piece off wood to protect this for moving forward. Is all this work worth it ? Well l can see the  bit that’s been done has far nicer lines to it, before, it had a sort of Tadpole effect just tapering away towards the tail, it’s fattened out a bit now and doesn’t catch your eye for the wrong reason. But to be honest 99% of people looking at it won’t see the underside anyway, so it’s a lot of work for little gain. But l feel good about it being the right shape, if that doesn’t sound daft. Anyway that’s a long reply for a simple thanks 🤛

[Jeff59]

29 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Apparently, even a plastic boat fits the definition of "a hole in the water into which one pours money."

 

29 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Apparently, even a plastic boat fits the definition of "a hole in the water into which one pours money."

Well they all say ships and planes are just money pits. Problem is think l have still a big hole to fill, who new 🫣 😂