AndrewCJ50 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 Dear Fellow Modellers I finally completed the Graf Spee. The Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee needs no introduction in the community of Naval historians, nevertheless the inter-war Panzerschiff concept remains one of the most radical of the pre-war period. . The design was extraordinarily radical with two battleship turrets carried aboard a light cruiser hull and powered by 8 MAN diesel engines. The design was so tough on weight that the ships were slightly underweight and needed ballast. MAN wished they could have been allowed more weight to have produced heavier, more robust diesels. The result was a ship with extraordinary range potential, and with the help of auxiliary supply ships, to operate distant ‘cruiser warfare’. In the new era of radio direction finding, signals intelligence, aircraft reconnaissance and radar, cruiser warfare turned out to be not viable. The Trumpeter 1/700 kit is now rather old and shows its age. This model has 3-D printed turrets from Micromaster, barrels from Master, ships boats, searchlights, light AA, paravanes, reels all from Flyhawk. The characteristic shuttered scuttles on the upper deck have been laboriously added from a Lion Roar set. The masts are all scratch built brass Hope you like it? Andrew 56 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liizio Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 Great model of one of my favourite cruisers! Nothing to complain, great attention to detail all around, plus rigging and railings look superb. Those turrets really do look huge compared to the rest of the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew J Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 Dear Liizio Yes, the designers really went out on a limb with this design. One of the reasons I like ship modelling is the enormous diversity of ship warship design. The Germans knew they would not have a fleet in the near future, so rather than going conventional and building 'ships of the line' they went for this amazing raider cruiser (pocket battleship) Regards Andrew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm Lord De Univers Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 On 07/11/2021 at 20:32, AndrewCJ50 said: The Trumpeter 1/700 kit is now rather old and shows its age Well, you've done a mighty fine job at hiding that then as she looks fantastic. I personally like how you've sourced a giant sized 20 pence piece to fool us all into believing this isn't actually 1/350! But seriously, well done on this build, she is quite a stunner and you've crammed in so much detail and done it so well, it looks like the real thing. David Ps. Do I need to go to the BoE or HMT for one of those coins? Pps, I always wondered whether having such large turrets on such a small warship put strain on their hulls, they really do dwarf proceedings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewCJ50 Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 Hello David Those of us in the 1/700 club know we have to photograph our models next to a coin. Never heard that the Panzerschiff had problems with their main armament, remember the guns are 11" not 15" Glad you like it! Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallBlondJohn Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Lovely - what set did you use for the scuttles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Derbyshire Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Greetings Sir. Interesting , i never realized they had diesel main engines, love your work. Cheers Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 That's brilliant. The 20p coiin was a real shock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewCJ50 Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 Hello John If you hunt around you'll find Lion Roar do a set of german scuttles/shutters which are essential for the Trumpeter Kriegsmarine ships Regards Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERK Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 Fantastic well done. Erk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob 1 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 That's a very finely finished build of this legend particularly in this scale, and a nice back date to somewhat better days for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Wow. Impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 Superb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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