Prinz Eugen (9 05203)

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

After a traumatic first six months of the year, I am now almost in a position to restart my Group Build projects. I had a very difficult (all things are relative) choice as I had so many 'Classic' Airfix kits, but I have chosen the 1/600 KM Prinz Eugen as my starter. To satisfy a certain Enzo, I may well contribute something else later.

 

The Prinz Eugen was first released in 1975 according to Scalemates, the boxing I have is from 1981 and was produced in France. I will pop some photographs on here soon, when my back allows me to be a bit more flexible. The suggested kit scheme is the one with black and white diagonal stripes on the hull and superstructure, but I want to see if I can do it as a plain grey alternative - I don't think I can mask this so it actually looks good.

 

I have a photoetch upgrade set for it from Tom's Modelworks, but it is incredibly fine. I will have a look and see if anyone else (Atlantic Models?) does an alternative.

 

I am looking forward to this starting, and getting things a little more back to 'normal'.

 

All the best with your builds,

 

Ray

 

PS, I am not sure who did the artwork, I cannot see a signature

Edited June 5 by Ray S
Tidy the post

[Ray S]

Hmm, just had a look at Atlantic and Starling Models websites but there was nothing there. However, White Ensign do do something:

 

https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/p/WEM+1600+Ultimate+Kriegsmarine+Set+3+Pocket+Battleship+Cruiser+Destroyer+PE+633/5368/

 

and the postage to the UK seems reasonable. Hopefully I can get that (I think that White Ensign are done by Tom's Modelworks). 

 

Ray

 

I think I may do it without some etch and stick with the Tom's Modelworks stuff, but no railings - the Tom's stuff does not include the sheer for the deck railings, and there is quite a bit

Edited June 5 by Ray S
Tidy the post

[CliffB]

Welcome to the Group Build Ray and I'm glad to hear that you're getting back into the grove .

Fingers crossed on the photoetch!

[ArnoldAmbrose]

       G'day @Ray S, good luck with this, I think the Prinz Eugen was one of the most beautiful German warships ever to put to sea, second only to Scharnhorst. Personal opinion of course. I've done this kit twice now, one as the Prinz and another as a whiffed version of a sister-ship Seydlitz. As far as Airfix ship kits go I think it's quite good seeing as I don't do PE or AM, but a couple of points if I may:

You'll probably need some boats, The kit comes with only two.

   The main turrets are good but the secondary twin 10.5cm mounts are a bit short and too wide.

   The light guns are rubbish, but those of Airfix often are. Those single 20mm ( the instructions call them 37mm) look more like anti-tank guns to me. The twin 20mm are in fact 37mm, but look OK I think. 

   The quad 20mm guns - standard Airfix.

   The radar arrays (parts 92 & 120) - erk!

 

       That aside, I quite enjoyed the build and am looking forward to seeing yours come together. I did mine in the colour scheme she wore in late February 1942, when she sailed north to Norway, just after the Channel Dash. Regards, Jeff.

 

P.S. - just a hint - DON'T glue the shelterdeck (parts 51,52,53) in backwards like I did. 🤪 Fortunately I realized it before the glue had set. Dumkopf. 🙂

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Prinz Eugen is probably my favorite German naval vessel, mind if I follow along ? 

[Ray S]

18 hours ago, CliffB said:

Welcome to the Group Build Ray and I'm glad to hear that you're getting back into the grove .

Fingers crossed on the photoetch!

 

Thanks Cliff. I am still not sure about using the etch - I may just be selective

 

@ArnoldAmbrose, thanks for your comments. The Tom's Modelworks etch instructions mentioned the lack of ship's boats. I will probably live with that. Thanks too for the advice about the armament. I might have a look at Micromaster and see if they do any upgrades, and if so, how much. Being on a tight budget, I will have to be careful

 

13 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Prinz Eugen is probably my favorite German naval vessel, mind if I follow along ? 

 

No worries, please do. The Germans knew how to design a great looking ship back in the day.

 

Anyway, I have now got the photographs done. First up, the box:

 

 

A very dramatic view, even if no 'war' is going on around it. It is odd how Prinz Eugen was facing the other way in newer boxings. The parts look to be in pretty good condition which is how it should be after only six years since the first issue (1975 1st issue, 1981 this one):

 

 

@ArnoldAmbrose, I have made a note for the shelterdeck parts as I have a history of doing the same - I built an HMS Hood (Airfix) back in 1967 and put some superstructure parts on upside down and other bits would not fit. I was only 9 then guv, honest.

 

Tom's supply plenty of railing:

 

 

There is no sheer incorporated, so I will have to see if the railings can be persuaded to go on and still keep the stanchions upright. The second fret is very finely etched, I think one or two parts may be incomplete:

 

 

Those 'wavy' railings down at the bottom left/centre are what are giving me the creeps and I am trying to work out how to bend them to shape. They may be prime candidates for cutting them into sections. I noticed that the White Ensign set that I linked to previously showed them in a similar format.

 

The instructions for the etch are, shall I say, rudimentary:

 

 

Hopefully I can work out what goes where and how.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking and any advice or suggestions will be appreciated. This will not be a super-accurate build, but I would like to do it justice

 

Ray

[ArnoldAmbrose]

2 hours ago, Ray S said:

The Tom's Modelworks etch instructions mentioned the lack of ship's boats. I will probably live with that.

Gidday again, if you do find some boats or make some they fit alongside the funnel and the hangar. There are no supports for them either - I think Airfix simply forgot them. 

And good luck painting part 72 (upper forward superstructure). It's a bit hard to get into the nooks and crannies of it I found. I think that part could have been made in three bits.

 

2 hours ago, Ray S said:

I built an HMS Hood (Airfix) back in 1967 and put some superstructure parts on upside down and other bits would not fit. I was only 9 then guv, honest.

I'm afraid I can't blame my youth for my mistake. Maybe senility. 😁

 

As Airfix ship kits go I think this is a pretty good one. With all your PE it will be extremely good and I'm looking forward to seeing her come together.       Regards, Jeff.

[CliffB]

On 6/5/2024 at 3:38 PM, Ray S said:

PS, I am not sure who did the artwork, I cannot see a signature

 

Roy Cross, I believe 👍

[PeterB]

On 6/7/2024 at 5:16 AM, CliffB said:

 

Roy Cross, I believe 👍

According to Wiki it is the last Airfix box art done by Roy Cross, the first reputedly being the Do 217.

 

Pete

Edited June 12 by PeterB

[ArnoldAmbrose]

G'day @Ray S, seeing that instruction sheet reminded me of something else, the bridge wings. When I did my original build I thought it strange that they would have balustrading on the rear face but not the front face, so I added it. But inspection of photos later showed the wings to be quite lightweight, not the heavy structures I had created. Also they folded back when at sea, hence the staggered rear edge. I don't know if it's worth removing the balustrading. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

[Ray S]

2 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

G'day @Ray S, seeing that instruction sheet reminded me of something else, the bridge wings. When I did my original build I thought it strange that they would have balustrading on the rear face but not the front face, so I added it. But inspection of photos later showed the wings to be quite lightweight, not the heavy structures I had created. Also they folded back when at sea, hence the staggered rear edge. I don't know if it's worth removing the balustrading. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

 

I will have a look into that Jeff, thanks for mentioning it!

 

Ray

[TonyW]

On 6/7/2024 at 5:16 AM, CliffB said:

 

Roy Cross, I believe 👍

 

It was Cross, and it was the last ship painting he did for Airfix. 

 

The Dornier was his first Airfix painting.

[Ray S]

I may have been quiet over the last few days but there has been some progress. After skipping a few stages in the instructions, the hull has gone together. The fit was pretty good, but the bulges where the prop shafts are required a little bit of filler, as did a small section of the underside of the hull itself:

 

 

The rest of my time has been taken up with paint, mask, paint, mask, paint. It is quite a complex scheme even without the black and white diagonals:

 

 

There is still one round of masking to go. I am waiting for some thin (1mm and 1.5mm) Aizu masking tape to arrive as, due to a cock-up on the planning front, I have run out. I didn't get where I am today by planning well...

 

I have started on the deck too, the main deck has been painted Revell 88 Ochre, and the superstructure has been blocked in with its appropriate grey. The four Aztec stairs have been cut off the next deck level, so I am now committed to using some etch.

 

Talking of which, I mentioned in the initial post that I was concerned about the wavy railings at the bottom left of the fret:

 

 

I had a feeling that I was going to have to cut them up to make them fit - well, after looking at the Trumpeter instructions for their 1/350 version, and then finally absorbing what the Tom's Modelworks instructions showed, I don't have to! I found that they were not railings, but they fit along the sides of the decking horizontally, not vertically! Phew.

 

More soon, with luck. Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[stevej60]

Good to see your progress Ray I'm not ruling out a maratime build if time permits I think there was only HMS Nelson and Repulse I never attempted out of their range I think Moskva was

my all time favourite but prices are through the roof!

[PeterB]

I have a copy of the Kagero "Super Drawings in 3D" book on the Prinz which has great amount of detail. There are an awful lot of railings. Don't know if this is any help-

 

https://flic.kr/p/2pYa6cj

 

Pete

Edited June 18 by PeterB

[Ray S]

On 6/18/2024 at 5:59 PM, PeterB said:

I have a copy of the Kagero "Super Drawings in 3D" book on the Prinz which has great amount of detail. There are an awful lot of railings. Don't know if this is any help-

 

https://flic.kr/p/2pYa6cj

 

Pete

 

My apologies for the late response Peter, thanks for that. You are right, plenty of railings.

 

The masking tape arrived pretty quickly, and the boot topping was masked with some 1mm tape and another grey added to the hull. 

 

 

I must admit, I struggled to see the difference! In some lighting it is apparent, but not others. The main deck fitted pretty well, but did need a little persuasion to keep it in place, there was some warping in at least two planes with it.

 

 

You can just about see the difference in the two greys on the hull. Since then, the next level of deck has gone on (less tape used this time!), and today I will give the etch fret a primer spray ready for use later on. It is good to be back in the swing of things, and hopefully more progress soon.

 

Thanks for looking, and Peter, thanks again for that image

 

Ray

[Redstaff]

Nice subject, I think I built a "glue bomb" version of this in my early days, all glued together and painted over a weekend probably 🤣

Your kit seems to be fairly flash free and in good condition

I haven't built a ship in 45+ years, but I'm getting the urge again, whether I'd use etch (especially at this scale) is doubtful though, best of luck with that

 

Ian   

[ArnoldAmbrose]

1 hour ago, Redstaff said:

I haven't built a ship in 45+ years, but I'm getting the urge again,

G'day Ian, go for it - you know you want to. 😁 I don't use PE at all, but I enjoy this scale.

 

And @Ray S, she has sleek lines already.       Regards, Jeff.

[IanC]

Very neat work so far, Ray. My last Airfix ship in this scale was HMS Hood, decades ago. All that photoetch looks a bit intimidating, but I shall enjoy following your progress!  

[Ray S]

@IanC, I agree about the photoetch being intimidating - it is very thin and the instructions are not that great. I won't be using it all, but will be selective.

 

The first thing I did yesterday was to remove some 'Aztec steps' from the next deck level, and replace those with etched ones. They are too long, so the matelots will have quite an easy incline when running to battle stations:

 

 

Tom's Modelworks supplied two sets of six inclined ladders, all the same size. I really needed more to fit the Prinz out properly, so only the more visible ones will be dealt with. They all have guard rails both sides, so I trimmed one off inboard for port and starboard, and fitted them with PVA.

 

I then built up the bridge tower, keeping this OOB so I have not replaced any of the over-thick walls. The assembly fitted into it's location with a very positive click, as did the bridge front. In fact, I could almost say that parts of this kits are a 'snap-fit' kit it is so precise.

 

 

Anyone who has built this kit will now be looking at the screen shouting 'Guess who's going to have trouble!'. Anyway, oblivious to my tactical error, at this point I realised that fitting railings to the wood deck just above the grey deck would not be a good idea, in view of the fact that the railing would have completely filled the space between it and the next deck.

 

And now, I come to the elephant in the room. Came the time to fit the funnel assembly, and I quickly realised that I should have fitted that before the bridge tower. Oh woe is me, what to do? Well, being an intrepid modeller I said 'whoops', got out my knife, and trimmed away the two pins forward under the tallest tower, and was able to slide the funnel assembly in. Phew. The things we modellers have to contend with, eh?

 

One bit of etch that I did want to use was the replacement funnel grille. Airfix supplied it as plastic version, but that was understandably a bit over-scale. Some delicate razor blade and scalpel work was needed, followed by filing and a desperate hope that I would not squash the remaining framework:

 

 

I managed successfully after taping the funnel halves together, then slotting the frame into it's location point and filing down into the funnel itself.

 

That is it for today, thanks for looking and for the 'likes' and comments

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

I apologise about the lack of updates, but some progress has been made. I can be a little childish at times, and had a thought about solving the fitting of the funnel problem (pre pin-removal). This was my solution, and gave me a quite 'steampunk' Prinz:

 

 

I can just imagine this in some sci-fi 'B' movie. It was a surprisingly good fit. However, the more sane element in my bonce won over and I put the funnel where it should really go, along with a few other bits and pieces. I added etch ladders to the main gun batteries and the etched funnel grille

 

 

 

The paintwork looks rather ropey in the photographs, but looks better with the Mk.I eyeball.

 

I am getting closer to the etch problems now. I think it is a matter of me not being able to interpret the instructions. For example, the radars which will replace the Bird's Eye Waffles which Airfix supply fore and aft. The instructions:

 

 

I have no idea what ITEM 13 is - there are no part numbers on the Tom's Modelworks instructions, and Item 13 in the kit has nothing to do with this area. The parts themselves are quite small and very, very fine:

 

 

And as for the catapult, well...

 

 

I am sure I will solve the issues eventually. I always like to add etch, especially to ships, but I can quite often see why Jeff ( @ArnoldAmbrose), for example, does not use it!

 

Well, that is it for the moment. I am quietly adding a lot of the smaller kit parts now before getting to the nitty gritty stuff.

 

Thanks for looking, all the best

 

Ray

 

PS - I think I may have solved ITEM 13

[ArnoldAmbrose]

1 hour ago, Ray S said:

PS - I think I may have solved ITEM 13

G'day, could it be stage #13 of the PE instructions?

 

1 hour ago, Ray S said:

Bird's Eye Waffles

LOL 🤣, that's rather a good description.

 

Regards, Jeff.

[Ray S]

44 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

G'day, could it be stage #13 of the PE instructions?

 

LOL 🤣

 

Regards, Jeff.

 

Yes, it was Jeff. It took me goodness knows how many reads to realise that!

 

Ray 

[Ventora3300]

Prinz Eugen is building up well, Ray. Looks like the detailing is about to start. (I attempted the 1:400 Heller version and stuttered to a stop near the end of the black and white stripe dazzle camouflage  painting - I considered doing it freehand up the superstructure...). Enjoying this build. All the best. Mike

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

On 7/5/2024 at 11:30 AM, ArnoldAmbrose said:

G'day, could it be stage #13 of the PE instructions?

 

LOL 🤣, that's rather a good description.

 

Regards, Jeff.

 

Hi Jeff, you were right. Part 13 turned out to be the Radar Face Dipoles for the FuM025 antenna, and 10 of them (titchy tiny teeny weenie things) need to be bent and attached to the frame. And there are two to do. Don't be surprised to see the waffles on the finished product instead, it depends on how I get on - wish me luck please!

 

On 7/5/2024 at 8:57 PM, Ventora3300 said:

Prinz Eugen is building up well, Ray. Looks like the detailing is about to start. (I attempted the 1:400 Heller version and stuttered to a stop near the end of the black and white stripe dazzle camouflage  painting - I considered doing it freehand up the superstructure...). Enjoying this build. All the best. Mike

 

Thanks for that. I am certainly enjoying the build. I am afraid that the black and white dazzle put me off this for quite a while (even now). I would love to try it one day but need to build up my confidence and work out how to do it properly.

 

Well, over the last few days I have been gradually adding bits and pieces to the Prinz, and getting further and further confused by the photo etch instructions. However, this morning I was l was taking a closer look at them, and things gradually began to get clearer, especially for the FuM027 radar array. The other thing I had problems with were the two horizontal 'railings' that were quite complex shapes:

 

 

As seen at the bottom and left of the fret. I had held these things up to the Prinz Eugen goodness knows how many times but they would not match the deck outline. I got rather exasperated at this, until yesterday when I turned the fret over and they matched perfectly! No idea why though. Anyway, infused by my success, I cautiously trimmed off one set of rails, added a thin film of PVA to it, offered it up to the deck, and it wouldn't bloomin' fit! I cussed and said 'Ooops' or something similar, followed by the realisation that I had PVA'd the OUTSIDE of the rails. Whoops. A second attempt found me PVAing the correct side, and it was attached no drama, except for my inherent shakes. Now I have a more cluttered-looking ship on the slipway:

 

 

I have had to use filler on all of the 'Carley Floats' (well, German equivalents) as there were enormous sink holes. Most of the guns and torpedo tube assemblies were just a push-fit, and they are quite basic.

 

I didn't quite get the rails on true, but I think I would mangle them if I tried to pull them off. They are so fine and fragile. It makes me scared to do the radar arrays I must admit - especially now I have worked out how to do them.

 

 

I mentioned earlier about adding the ladders on the mains turrets. On B and C turrets I also need to roll some etch railings for the gun platform which will be fun too. I also need to do some serious tidying  of my paintwork, methinks.

 

 

One of the etch replacements for the 'Aztec Stairs' in situ. 

 

I will be putting some railings on the ship later, but only in selected areas. I am not sure if they would look in keeping with the rest of the model as the decks are so thick, the height gap is just about the same as the railing height, which I am sure is wrong. I will see when the time comes. Another issue is that there would be no space near to the torpedo tubes and one set of the second largest gun assemblies as both of those extend to the edge of the deck, leaving no room their either. I may stop them short of the guns and tubes, and install in short lengths instead.

 

Anyway, that is it for today. Thanks for looking

 

Ray

Edited July 10 by Ray S
Tidy the post