Bismarck and Tirpitz 1:350

[BerndM]

18 minutes ago, Rob 1 said:

Lovely neat work, looks great.

Thanks Rob

In the photos the dark gray is a bit more blue tinted than in real.

[Kris B]

Thank you Bernard. Could you be so kind and with the next photo session shot one photo as it is in the bits? I am planning to do ship as my next model and it could be handy to see how you doing it. 

[BerndM]

2 hours ago, Kris B said:

Thank you Bernard. Could you be so kind and with the next photo session shot one photo as it is in the bits? I am planning to do ship as my next model and it could be handy to see how you doing it. 

No problem and this pretty soon.

What ship will land on your bech or is this top secret ?

[Kris B]

It will be HMS Dreadnought 1907 from Trumpeter. On my stash I have also Bismarck (Revell), Hood (Trumpeter) and in plans to get Richelieu and Roma both from Trumpeter as well. But will see how it's goes.

[BerndM]

12 hours ago, Kris B said:

It will be HMS Dreadnought 1907 from Trumpeter. On my stash I have also Bismarck (Revell), Hood (Trumpeter) and in plans to get Richelieu and Roma both from Trumpeter as well. But will see how it's goes.

Great kits, Trumpeters HMS Dreadnought is a good start, i had a look inside the box and the kit looks superb to me.

Its also the first all big gun battleship which makes it for starting perfect !

Happy Modelling

[Kris B]

Thank you. I looking forward as this gonna be my first ship. 

[PlaStix]

Hi Bernd. Hope you are well. More lovely progress - the paintwork looks great so far. 

Kind regards,

Stix

[BerndM]

Thanks for the kind feedback and the interest mates, appreciated.

Some progress from the weekend with more details added on the platforms on Bismarcks coning tower or the so named "Vormars"

The plattform with the admirals bridge on got a lot of details

Signal plattforms and the resting points for the huge cranes. The wooden deck is from the Pontos set.

View from the back. One hard stand of these tiny little plattforms was consumed by the carpet monster, it was replicated from an unused wooden deck part.

Fiddly !!!

Now the "rough cut" the search light, anti aircraft gun plattform in front of the tower got also some treatment. The antenna holders are replaced by steel needles, cut to fit. Some sanding or fine tuning and this part will accept more details and maybe one or two drops of paint soon.

Some photo etched details were also added at the back of it.

Now on to the Vormarsplattform with the 10.5m rangefinder on top of it. The wooden deck part was cut out and applied. The removed clear plastic back part would cover it as mask but the inside was painted before. More on this soon

Revells moulding isn t really perfect,  note the Blur !

 

More soon, my warship virus is still underway.

 

Cheers

Bernd

[GREG DESTEC]

20 minutes ago, BerndM said:

Thanks for the kind feedback and the interest mates, appreciated.

Some progress from the weekend with more details added on the platforms on Bismarcks coning tower or the so named "Vormars"

The plattform with the admirals bridge on got a lot of details

Signal plattforms and the resting points for the huge cranes. The wooden deck is from the Pontos set.

View from the back. One hard stand of these tiny little plattforms was consumed by the carpet monster, it was replicated from an unused wooden deck part.

Fiddly !!!

Now the "rough cut" the search light, anti aircraft gun plattform in front of the tower got also some treatment. The antenna holders are replaced by steel needles, cut to fit. Some sanding or fine tuning and this part will accept more details and maybe one or two drops of paint soon.

Some photo etched details were also added at the back of it.

Now on to the Vormarsplattform with the 10.5m rangefinder on top of it. The wooden deck part was cut out and applied. The removed clear plastic back part would cover it as mask but the inside was painted before. More on this soon

Revells moulding isn t really perfect,  note the Blur !

 

More soon, my warship virus is still underway.

 

Cheers

Bernd

Brilliant details mate,

 

They are really improving the look of the bare plastic.

 

Great work 😉

 

Cheers Greg

[BerndM]

27 minutes ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Brilliant details mate,

 

They are really improving the look of the bare plastic.

 

Great work 😉

 

Cheers Greg

Thanks mate, seems it becomes a passion.

[PlaStix]

Hi Bernd. Hope you are well. Your work on adding all the PE is really going to make this something special. Have you managed to find any more time to work on this project since June?

Kind regards,

Stix

[adamg1987]

Enjoying reading this, any progress? 

 

Adam 

[BerndM]

Thanks for the interest of my build mates

No Progress so far. summer means Holiday time, Holiday time means more work for those without Holiday !

On the positive side i have now a very nice looking PE set from Toms for the portholes which will improve the look of the superstructures by much.

Got also a Kagero book and the Eduard PE set for the Tirpitz so stay tuned !

 

Cheers

Bernd

[Reddo]

Fabulous build Bernd. Since my father was on Victorious, I had been looking at buying a 1:350 of these two ships, but seeing your work and the big difference the additional parts make, has challenged me, not so much in the build but the cost. I would have thought for the price of the base Revell kit, at least the PE parts would be included

 

I am also wondering if the Tamiya versions would be better value

One question - what tool do you use for the PE bending?

Looking forward to more pictures of your build

 

Paul

[sailorboy61]

On 12/14/2018 at 3:46 PM, Reddo said:

Fabulous build Bernd. Since my father was on Victorious, I had been looking at buying a 1:350 of these two ships, but seeing your work and the big difference the additional parts make, has challenged me, not so much in the build but the cost. I would have thought for the price of the base Revell kit, at least the PE parts would be included

 

I am also wondering if the Tamiya versions would be better value

One question - what tool do you use for the PE bending?

Looking forward to more pictures of your build

 

Paul

@Reddo paul the Revell Platinum edition comes with wooden deck, etch and metal gun barrels https://www.revell.de/en/products/modelmaking/ships/military-ships/tirpitz-platinum-edition.html  , it can be expensive but look around, I got mine for less than £100 which is great value with everything thrown in as it were.

[Reddo]

Thanks. By coincidence, or the power of the Ebay cookie, I found the Tirpitz Platinum kit for £93 in a Sunday sale incl free postage. I also tagged on KGV (Tamiya) and Bismarck (Revell). Recommendations on a good PE bender welcomed. Cheers

[BerndM]

Thanks for the kind words but sorry for the late response but my modelling stopped for a while.

Revells Bismarck and Tirpitz kits are currently the best kits in 1:350 scale on the market.

They are way better detailed and much more accurate than the rather old Tamiya kits.

Revells Tirpitz is the only serious Tirpitz available, especially the Platinum Edition is the kit to get when it comes to modelling so congrats for getting this kit.

Revell has designed a kit which is roughly 80% newly tooled while based on their Bismarck kit and it captures a lot of the differences to Bismarck.

+ Most deck details and details in the superstructure are clearly Tirpitz.

+ The kit is in the 1942 - late 1943 fit with the upgraded anti aircraft gun fit, torpedo tubes and radar suite.

- The shape of the bow is still the sickle shaped one of Bismarck. The stem of Tirpitz was more straight. The best is to use photos and fix it with stretched sprues and some putty.

- There were two louvers just aft of turret B. Revell has omitted this.

- Tirpitz had as build and during her time in the Baltic the same square shaped Flecker stand with the night driving device mounted in the midle of her main mast. This was removed before she went to Norway.

- It seems also that the boats mounted on her main deck are gone in Norway but i have found no clear reference pictures so far.

The Kagero 3D books with scale plans are a good help for building her.

 

I have made some slight progress during 2018 and will upgrade this thread.

 

Cheers

Bernd

 

[Reddo]

Thanks Bernd - good to know it was money well spent. Your knowledge on this is quite something...I work on the basis, if it looks right, it will generally be OK

[BerndM]

The money is really well spend and it will look great when finished.

Happy modelling

I have made also some progress on Tirpitz as well and hope to show the painted hull in the next time ( needs some touch ups )

[BerndM]

My progress on my Bismarck was little but worth to show it.

The wooden deck from Pontos is now completely attached and looks good. ( as usual with wooden decks the color is for a warship way too light )

The parts of her upper works are not glued together but assembled for the photos.

The 10,5 m rangefinder have the mountings for the FuMO Radar sets attached but the Radar itself is still on the PE fret.

I have become unhappy with the dark gray used on the turret tops. More on this later.

The cranes are still unfinished but detailling has started. The resting points for them were placed different on Tirpitz.

I have started to add the handrails. For bending them and other PE parts i am using nails, pencils or the backside of a cutter blade.

Note the wrongly attached door on the front of the superstructure !

My Bismarck on a camping table. since the photos i have attached more PE and the funnel has seen some paint. Everything is dry fitted.

No swastikas on the bow and stern so far and the plastic anchor chains are used.

More soon !

[Reddo]

Thanks Bernd - great pictures. It is quite inspiring. I have never built a ship kit in the last 50 years; I have been listening to the On The Bench podcasts with interest as there is a subjective debate on decking ie use the wooden decks or a wash over the plastic detailing if moulded. I am going to work up to this level (I have an Airfix 1:600 kit to get my eye back in, but will then progress up to these. I also bought severat Trumpeter 1:350 aircraft sets to go with my Heller 1:400 Illustrious and Merit 1/350 Ark Royal. Its going to be quite a journey!

 

 

[BerndM]

On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 1:25 PM, Reddo said:

Thanks Bernd - great pictures. It is quite inspiring. I have never built a ship kit in the last 50 years; I have been listening to the On The Bench podcasts with interest as there is a subjective debate on decking ie use the wooden decks or a wash over the plastic detailing if moulded. I am going to work up to this level (I have an Airfix 1:600 kit to get my eye back in, but will then progress up to these. I also bought severat Trumpeter 1:350 aircraft sets to go with my Heller 1:400 Illustrious and Merit 1/350 Ark Royal. Its going to be quite a journey!

 

 

Thank you. Your project list sounds really nice. I have the Merit Ark Royal as well and the kit looks really nice in the box.

A full complement of aircraft would have been a nice touch and my decals for the FAA roundels are out of register so using them would destroy my efforts on this build by much.

I don t think the 1:350 aircraft sets will fit the 1:400 scale heller kit. The difference in dimensions is quite noticeable.

Wooden decks are a matter of taste. They are really helpful to hide seams and molding flaws in the plastic decks. They make also painting a little more easy.

On the other hand they are quite bright in color and the look of the real wooden decks during wartime was much different. A well painted plastic deck with some washes is a good way to achieve a realistic result.

I don t weather my ships and that "museum style" will Benefit from that especially with darker one tone schemes like the AP507C on my HMS Hood for example.

There is a Company out called "Scale Decks" from the united States. These decks different Wood tone shades nearly plank for plank. Maybe also something to consider.

Here some pictures from the Scale Decks item used on my SMS Seydlitz in 1:350. The photos were done after a dry fit. The deck parts are now on and they fitted quite well.

Close up

Mideship section. Most decks are self adhesive but the Scale Decks article must be cemented with wood glue. I have used Gorilla wood glue and it went on fine.

[Reddo]

Hi Bernd, Those are a big improvement. I know what you mean re aircraft scale so I will see what they look like. I also wonder if there is any company that makes a plastic (vacuum formed?) base that looks like the sea, which can be cut so the model can sit into it, then be painted etc. I see many modellers making their own from plaster but it requires alot of skill

[BerndM]

3 minutes ago, Reddo said:

Hi Bernd, Those are a big improvement. I know what you mean re aircraft scale so I will see what they look like. I also wonder if there is any company that makes a plastic (vacuum formed?) base that looks like the sea, which can be cut so the model can sit into it, then be painted etc. I see many modellers making their own from plaster but it requires alot of skill

I have never heard so far about a vacuum formed sea base but this can be a question for the naval discussion section. Maybe someone knows more.

And yes this requires some experience for a convincing effect but if you following the WIPs here for example it is well described.

[rom1]

Hello

 

Great work!

 

Any updates? Or finished model?

 

Thanks