And everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I was just wondering if Andrew was speaking from experience.
Myself, I think wooden decks look so good, and save so much time, that they will always be on my list for natural wood decked ships. Camouflaged ships with painted decks don't need them and I didn't use one on my USS San Francisco, CA-38.
All the ships I have been on with wooden decks have all been a uniform light grey with little variation except where a new plank has been fitted. But most of my ships are just out of their fitting out so they show little weathering of deck or anywhere else. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

I dont think any one is getting in a twist i think friendly identifiaction by members on the site in regards to photetch sets etc for a particular model is great if they are all identified in one thread makes them easier to find plus alot easier to evaluate

Exactly Stephen.
I for one normally buy a few PE sets from reputable manufacturers and I know the MK1 Designs will be one of them. Only problem with the Big B is that it is so big I only have the room for one of them therefore will only buy the one set for the moment.
I will do a review of the Mk1 set when it gets here.
Cheers
Warren

Heres an interesting build log,port hole and deck planking fun!!!!

http://modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22328

Hi Andy,
yes, have seen that one too. There are several blogs of the Bismarck running at the moment, quite interesting to see what other builders consider necessary to improve on or good as it is.
cheers,
Julian

January 6th update:
Added bollards and capstan, anchors shipped and catted down.
Starting to resemble a ship now:








all for now,
cheers,
Julian

Looking good Julian, I take it that the deck is glued on now ?

Cheers/Jan

Aren't the anchor chain runs supposed to be wood Julian?

Hi Jan,
no, not yet. Have to drill some holes in the keel for the stand.
Julian

Yes

You build it the way you want it Julian. If you want them to be steel you are quite entitled to have them steel. It is your kit after all..
I often wonder how long the boards would have lasted with those massive chains running on them. The Bismarck didn't really last long enough to test them, but the Tirpitz did and she didn't seem to have any troubles with them.
Those swastikas look awesome as well.
Keep at it Sir.
Warren

That deck is nice real nice, i like it alot mate kudos to you on the paint job it has really brought it to life

Stunning work from what I have seen so far on these Builds.....Cheers mark

Stephen, Mark,
thanks gentlemen,
Julian

January 11th update:
Putting in some work on the stack. PE baffles and frame fit perfectly. Drilled out several of the auxiliary pipes. Sprayed the funnel cap with Vallejo black primer, ( the Alclad black primer filler clogs up your airbrush faster than you can blink. Really garbage stuff and the gentlemen at Alclad were amazingly unhelpful so be warned), then sprayed polished aluminium on the cap. Am now in the process of adding the necessary jack-stays to the funnel, (thanks to the GPM PE set plenty in stock), and also checking for missing details. The funnel is an amazingly complex piece of the superstructure so it needs a lot of care:










Cheers,
Julian

Mmmm... you do good funnel Mr Sallows.. Just don't forget to make the masking tape a bit less sticky before you apply it to the aluminium or it can easily ruin the lovely finish.
Keep up the excellent work mate.
Mine is still over the horizon.
Warren

Thanks mate, actually Alclad can take quite a bit of punishment when it has dried properly.
Cheers,
Julian

Mighty fine work Julian! It's still staggering to see just how big 1/200 is!

Hi Russel,
Thank you. The model really is huge isn't it? I have no idea where I will put the Bismarck when it is finished.
Cheers,
Julian

Nice mate i was wondering if any one has any good interior photos of teh funnel at all would look good to see some detail in there

Love the work on the Stack so far.....Cheers mark

Hi Stephen,
there are some excellent CAD drawings of the stack I am using here:
http://3dhistory.de/wordpress/?page_id=179
The drawings do not show the internal parts of the stack.
Bit of a moot point anyway: I sprayed the inside of the stack matt black and this in combination with the PE baffels in the funnel cap very effectivly blocks most of the view inside the stack. I would spend more effort on the outside of the stack, lots of detail missing there that can be seen
Cheers,
Julian

I have that site already thanks mate its is great hey.... i know a moot point about the interior of the funnel but i was thinking the what if when someone goes to look down it sorry being padantic i know but would be worth it

Detailing INSIDE funnels?! Sorry but that is way beyond me!

All boils down to which details catch your interest or curiosity.You often see amazing details being added to the inside of aircraft fuselages that you will never see again when the kit is assembled. If the inside of the Bismarck's stack catches your eye go for it Building models is about having fun as far as I am concerned so enjoy yourself, if some things are not 100 % historically accurate who will care except some "riveting fellow builders"
Cheers mate
Julian