Finished off the striping but after laying on the hull the hull stripes were not lining up with the upper stripes. This morning I repainted the hull above the waterline and aligned the stripes to match the superstructure. This time though with the upper stripes done I was able to match the pattern much better. Only the black on the port side is down right now. I added additional mast rigging and have the Fleet Admiral Flag on the top of the rear mast. I started cutting out the blocks for the twin AA's and painted up the 2nd plane. The superstructure stripes were touched up along with all the other little fudges .
I finished the stripes on the hull to match the pattern of the superstructure and it's much better. I also finished the twin AA guns they just need paint and be attached . I started adding the superstructure incline ladders and vertical ladders. Finished the 2nd Arado and that's now board on the starboard side of the catapult. I also started attaching the little boxes at points around the superstructure. Touch ups of the stripes were completed. Waterline touch ups were done.
Made a lot of progress today. I started paint work on all the boat launches and small open lifeboats. The open lifeboats are aboard in their cradles. Most of the vertical and incline ladders are attached. Rudder position indicator is attached on the upper box of the rear mast. More rigging between the main and fore mast was attached. All the small AA guns are aboard and painted. Cranes have their cables attached. The funnel searchlights are attached. The large launches support cradle is attached to the roof of the airplane hangars and painted. The rear mast ensign is attached and flying well. The armored conning tower has detail added to it's roof. The uppermost platform has additional detail added. So here is what is left. Additional rigging for the small conning tower yardarms. Finish painting the boat launches and attach. cable deck winches bollards some piping along the bulkheads of the superstructure Hangar doors - 3 in total decals for the airplane wings crew clean up the repaired strut on the starboard side and repaint it. finish off drawing the deck planks Barbette ventilators make and attach. BB cannon safety pins to attach. Minor touch ups hookup the cannons attach Kisby ring life preservers and paint up. attach air horn above bridge. attach doors to superstructure and small door hatches to the rear AA directors. 2 vents for the main funnel one crane for the main funnel miscellaneous details. lifeboat deck davits. Model should be finished by this weekend coming up and weather permitting ready for sailing and pictures of the completed look. I figure 98 percent of it will be done. After next weekend 2 new build threads will begin. One for USS North Carolina and one for WW1 Prinz Eugen. In between that Yamato will get it's side repaired and painted with light paint work of the hull and main deck and of some new AA replacements.
Finished applying the side rails to the launches and have the below waterlines painted black. Just need to do the above and top side of the launches and then attach the windows to them. Then they go aboard in their cradles.
Once Bismarck is completed I think I will gather up the pics of the model of the various paint schemes it has worn over the near 20 years . It certaintly has evolved.
I brought the lifeboats home to try and finish them up here. I was speaking to the local hobby shop owner one of 2 here,but this one is new and discussed bringing one or several of the models in and set up my firing demo box to demonstrate how the cannons fire. I am going to have to get updated DVDS of RC combat so I can get them played in store. I mentioned bringing in the 4 beasts, Bismarck, Yamato , Roma and Missouri to put on display, well I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Bringing them there will require 2 cars but I think I can arrange it.
I have the 2nd funnel crane built , painted and attached. ALL the lifeboat launches are now on board. Sanded down the repair area on the starboard outer prop shaft and strut and repainted. I could keep going with the detailing but I think I will build the bridge thingy that is just above the bridge windows, some kind of framework whatever it is it is noticeable when you look at the bridge itself so things like that I like to add to the model. There are a total of 3 like it but I will just make the one for the bridge. I put some crew members on board too but only a fraction of the amount that I had on board the old superstructure. Other than the deck bollards and kleats I like to get the main hangar door pattern and the small hangar doors attached to the hangars. The B and C barbettes need their ventilators as that is a prominent feature on the barbettes so I will have to make those but the other stuff will be added as time permits. Bad weather here delaying any pond sailing and gunnery practice so I will have to be patient and hope I get the opportunity to get Bismarck out at this stage and get photos and video.
Bismarck has left the shipyard and is now home where it belongs. From here just the small details left to add, touch ups, tweaking the cannons again and waiting for a nice day that is my day off to take it out for final photos and video. So what's left in the yard? A lot but USS North Carolina is there and the Prinz Eugen(aka VU)is there ready to commence work. A double project for the summer. On deck though is IJN Yamato to get final repair work done on it's sides where the panels were crushed when it was placed back on the shelf. The lower shelf bracket met balsa and balsa lost out to it. Getting closer to the day I can get all 4 ships at the pond to try and stir up some interest in the hobby.
Update: It's 12:37 am and Bismarck is about 98% finished cosmetically. The hangar doors are the main item left and the smaller oval doors for the directors, a couple of vents for the funnel and a single rear vent structure at the rear of the o1 level superstructure. I managed to scrape of deck bits or bollards but am missing several more. Other than that year I could add more rigging and probably will later this summer but for now the Bismarck is done. My goal in this refit was to build some things for the superstructure that I never tried before, and I tried to get things more proportionate scale wise as such as the cranes and other things. Then I tried some different things, other items have detail on them where there was none before on the old structure. I was looking for a lot of contrast so that though there it looks busy you can see individual things quite well despite the busy background. I am not sure how much the model weighs with the new superstructure but I am betting I am a lot closer to the weight limit than ever before. The cannons that were chopped need to have new holes drilled through to allow the safety clips to be inserted through them and some of the barrels need to be cleaned out at the ends of debris and gunk. I put more crew aboard with a some mop buckets. The lighting here is not great so I used night mode on the camera to try and get decent shots. Then in the mini yard(spare room) the lighting there is better but I don't have a lot of room so I took a few shots there under that light . Hope you like the pics of Bismarck at this juncture.
Here is Bismarck back in the mini yard. The mast ensign,oops a little thread there loose. Missing small davits for the deck lifeboats. one of the Arados. This one is a darker green If you want to get away from an office..seek higher ground. Rear superstructure Rear superstructure
The midships can be a very busy place on the ship. midships deck level - The cranes will need thier hooks added. Forward superstructure is very commanding . Forward deck section has a little more bling to it. B barbette missing it's vents. The door is not painted yet. I didn't have the right color with me. Final outfitting will occur here Head shot...no literally I think my head was touching the ceiling.
I was using night mode to see if the shots were better. A little bling missing from this section but it's mostly there. Center shot I added extra stuff here to enhance the look near and around the bridge. There's a AA gunner at his post All the trouble I had with the banners but it finally came out nice. side view..yes that's Godzilla looking on in the background.
Mid level side shot Rear overview Bow section- Dual sidemounts are silent for now. Starboard side side shot- The bridge wings have metal wire rod supports. Finally got the stripes right I think The rigging on the rear mast Bridge head on shot. I think that thing above the bridge windows I made should be narrower. Oh well.
The thingy I made and the underside of the platforms . I like the look from this angle. Crane detail and catupult Rear AA directors and C turret Bridge wing and wire struts Starboard side crane detail and catupult. Main hangar needs it's door. Overhead rear superstructure. I added details to the decks in this section. Starboard plane , funnel crane and lifeboats.
Main rangefinder top of conning tower starboard side bridge section Capstains- missing spoked wheels that sit on top Armored conning tower section and open bridge Overhead shot of same section Forward section A and B turrets Bows on view Other than paint boos to fix up here and there the model is ready to sail with pride
