I know some of you guys are also making the Mini Hobbies Bismarck. I'm not 100% impressed with the kit. I know this makes no sense whatsoever, but it seems the plastic in spots is different on one side from the other. I first noticed it when taking off the molded in anchor chains at the bow. (why do kit makers insist on putting those stupid things in their kits?) On one side it took a couple quick swipes with an emery board to take off, and on the other it took half an hour or so. When drilling out some port holes in the superstructure I had to drill several times to go through, while on the other side I barely had to press on the drill.

There are some pretty large gaps in some of the seems around the forward bridge, and the sides of the hangers aren't too vertical.

I understood this kit was a knockoff of the Tamiya one. I've never made any 1/350 Tamiya kits, but I've never seen these issues with a 1/700 kit.

I'm just experiencing a lot of flash problems. I scrapped off the anchor chains and the turret ladders with minimal effort. With the stuff I've fooled with, I have found theplastic to be on the soft side.

When you buy knockoffs, this kind of stuff is what you should expect. I'm building the Banner USS Arizona. I'm not sure if it's a Trumpeter knockoff or just a Trumpeter model under another name, but the quality is not the same as a regular Trumpeter kit. Hope you have your body putty and exacto knives handy!

Howdy Halfyank,

I've heard about those Mini Hobbies 1/350 kits and I've heard they are a lot of work. I got a 1/350 Mini Hobbies Tirpitz in a trade awhile back and haven't opened it yet. I'm planning on using it for a Bismarck wreck model I'm gonna put in my fish tank. The Tamiya kits are excellent in my opinion. You still need to doctor it up a bit but nowhere near the amount on the Mini Hobbie ones. If you guys want a Tamiya kit to work on I have Garry's Tirpitz. His son messed it up a bit after he died but it is begging to be fixed up and put on someone's mantle. I also have his Arizona and Yamato. There both in the same condition. Anyway, I'm building the ISW USS Texas for the Dreadnaughts build. I got it down but haven't started on it yet. Let me know if you guys are interested in fixing up some of his kits.
Ray