Hello everyone this is my first post in this area and I have to admit to being out of my depth (PUN) I am looking at building this wooden kit over the course of the next two and a half years. Here is a link to the task I am setting myself http://www.hachettepartworks.co.uk/product.php?proID=1172137511
My question is do any of you have advice on tackling this build or recommendations if it has been released before. I ask as never having built a wooden ship model only having built about 4 plastic ships in my 33 years of modelling I want an idea of what I am letting myself in for.

Darren welcome to the site.

First off this kit is not made of wood,its is sort of a carboard material.

I know its eye catching but i recommend you think about what you letting your self in to,as to buying every issue and spending a very large amount of money on a paper model.

please take a look at this link it may save you a lot of time and money.


http://www.e-papermodels.com/product_info.php?pName=bismarck-maly-modelarz-1300&cName=ships-warships-germany&osCsid=1113721c5eefed57bbd9319f0d2d26a8

Its up to you but there is noway id buy any type of weekly issue and have to wait almost 3 years to get every part.

reguards

karl

I'd have to echo that. This sounds like the type of promo grocery stores used to do, buying one dish at a time to get an entire set. What if the company goes out of business before you get all the parts? What if they decide to go in another direction and stop the shipping of the kit? What if one gets lost in the mail?

It's certainly up to you, but this really seems like a risky way to go.

This is a wooden model with the option of being remote control or static, all gun barrels are turned aluminium or white metal. As regards it being a weekly publication I agree it made me think long and hard as to should I commit to collecting this, it’s why I posted here. The wood used is mostly birch but there is some lime wood. as for how reliable is this company while still a risk they have produced and marketed via the same method the Titanic, Victory, and a 1/6th scale Fokker triplane. If you still think this is a risky prospect I am going to bow to superior knowledge and not commit.

i have noticed there is another forum post on the same subject if an admin would like to combine the two

Tamiya makes a real nice 350 scale plastic kit. There ae several aftrmarket itmes out there as well to enhance, including a metal gun barrel set and all sorts of wonderful brass pieces. You can also plank the decks with small strips of bass or balsa wood if you are so inclined. While the 350 scale is noticably smaller than 200, it still clocks in at a respectable 28 inches or so.

thank you that is an alternate i didnt think about it not being a ship builder any thoughts on this kit pros and cons, and how far should i go after market wise before i am just spending money for the sake of it? i know tamiya make some excellent aircraft kits but their armour kits are now looking tired when compared to Dragon's offerings. I also know as a rule they fit together very well but i have never tackeled one of their ship kits. all comments welcome as regard helping me decide which way to jump. i do know one of the off putting things about the wooden kit is storing/displaying something over four ft long and about 8 or 9 inches across the beam, i have no idea as to how tall this would come out at.

Ahoy, Darren, and Welcome to Model Shipwrights, matie!

First off, IMHO,stay away of the above offer of the magazine, my friend, for a first ship kit, that is...by the time that you have it completed, I'm afraid that your passions for building it will be gone, and we want to gain shipwrights in the hobby, not lose them!

Like Steve-o said, Tamiya makes a decent kit in plastic, if you are sold on The Bismarck, that is and Revell of Germany is about to offer a "new and improved" Bismarck kit, read the story here!

Regardless of what you decide on, mate, always remember that we're here and willing to help you along with your build in any way, and we love to look at progress pictures as you go too!

So keep us posted, Darren, good luck with your hunt for the Bismarck!
Cheers,
~Gunny

It's just been released in Poland as well. The total costs seem to be around the same everywhere,500 pounds or so.
Now as the masters come from AMATI you can presume that like the Titanic and Tri-plane the Bismarck will be released by them as a total kit at a more reasonable price.Without all the mark-ups and magazine fluff.
Hachette is a solid well known publisher but I think they may have over-priced this one.
It has been on sale in Germany since last September and seems to be doing well.Though I noticed that already parts are already turning up on E.Bay at cheaper prices..
2 years and counting is a long time to work away at a ship that is not as complex as say the Victory but at least you have time to get every stage just right..
It also looks from the layout that you can have her waterline as well.If your not comfortable with building plank on frame ships.
I think that will be the stage that tests the average modellers commitment.

The main reason this appealed to me was shear size in terms of scale. The thing that always put me off half way through the few ship builds I’ve done is the tiny tiny pieces with me having no idea what it is that I’m hunting for on the floor. The exception to this rule was a Pibber from tamiya which I really enjoyed building I am also thinking about the torpedo boat that Italeri have just released. Think I can find a 1/35th Bismarck kit LOL :-)

Daren:
At present there are basically 2 350 scale kits out there. The tamiya and the Academy. The Academy is pretty much the same kit, just a little softer in the details, but you can find it on ebay for half the price. I know here in the States the Tamiya runs around $80 and the Academy you can pick up for around $45 or even less. But, with all the wonderful White ensign model brass sets you can make a truely show-worthy model. The Revell kit isn't due out until September and bets are it will hit the $120 or so range. I built the Academy version added a Tom's PE set and the WEM upper decks set and was quite pleased with how he came out (remember-the Germans felt the Bsmarck was masculine not feminine :-)




I had a friend make a gigantic poster for me so I could get all the detail painting. Which is what the ship is posed on. I took the swastika decals from some 48th scale airplane set I had from way back when. Total cost for project was $21for the ship (half priced Hobby Lobby sale) about $30 for the Tom's PE set and likewise for the WEM upper deck set. So for around $80 total I have a really nice representation. Sure beats the $1000 or so that 200 scale wooden/paper one costs

Very nice model Steve !
Indeed the better option then the magazine.
Lets hope everyone can make the model look that good, meaning some very good painting skills went into that one.

Herr

I beg to correct Steve but I think he's making a bit of a mistake here. There are in fact at least three 1/350 Bismarcks. The 3rd one is the Mini Hobbies Models kit #80601. This is a direct copy of the Tamiya one, but frankly I think the plastic is softer in some spots, while more brittle in others than the Tamiya. I suspect this is actually the kit Steve got, since he mentions how he got it for $21.00 on half price at Hobby Lobby. (Sigh, looks like Hobby Lobby has wised up to us. They haven't had a 50% off sale on models in about a year. It's only 25% off this week. Fortunately they still have regular 40% off coupons about every other week. )

As Steve shows though that kit can be made into a real gem with the proper materials and work.

The more I follow this the more inclined I am to follow both routes, I am very tempted by the 1/350th scale kit, Tamiya seems to be the direction you are all sending me. What I am trying to get from you all is not knowing my subject as regards ships and this scale for that matter what after market sets do I want. I don’t mean specific sets, I mean how far do I really need to go. Also I read or saw somewhere you can get PE people in that scale? How do they look when used in models of this type? Are they worth the effort?

You can build a nice model without PE. You can just get some railings and add those. That would be the bare minimum I would go. Railings really really enhance any ship model. A set PE like one made by Tom's or Gold Medal Model has thngs like ladders, stairs and cranes, radar even gun shields, doors and such. I also got a set of the upperdeck pieces that I used on the superstructure to give each level a nice look and they also had a piece to simulate wood planking on the rear superstructure. There are also brass barrels you can buy for the ship. They can be pretty expensive depending on how far you want to go. It's YOUR model....how far do you want to take it?

Rodger you are right that was the minihobbies version. It was a direct copy of the Tamiya just using a lower grade plastic which kind of makes the pieces a little less sharp. But like i did with the PE sets, you can still build a real nice model

well I am 8 weeks or magazines into the build and so far very impressed, the instructions are very clear and the kit is already giving the impression of size and weight, no problems as regards fit but I can already see I am going to hit a few headaches that will be placed here for advice biggest one being how to find a big enough flat area to work comfortably on this brute if you wish I will put up pictures on a monthly basis or so.

Ahoy, Darren!

Glad to see you're still around these waters, mate. . .sure thing, please post up progress pic's as you go, and don't be afraid to ask any questions at all! Glad to hear that all is going well with this unique project!
Keep Modeling!
~Gunny

Cmot,
Please, please post some pictures. I'm very curious to see how your ship is coming along.

Blaster76,

What did you use to get the main deck to look like it does? It looks like wood, is it or is it some great painting that you developed?

Ahoy mates. Here's a link to a look at the new 1/350 Bismarck from Revell Germany.

MWS Bismarck

This a new kit, not a re-tool of an old one.

Wildspear:

I first painted he deck the main color. I then took a couple of darker shades of brown and lightly dry brushed them randomly. Mine really doesn't hold up to well when you see the work of some guys I've seen, but that is how they did it too unless they did the wood deck thing

Blaster76,

I thought you did a really good job on the deck. I have never tried the dry brushing thing......might try it on my Arizona.

admins do you want the pics in this thread or a seperate one ?

Cmot, yeah, toss some build pics up...please.
If that build gets too tedious, I can recomend the DML 1/700 premium kit...just got it, and though I may need to buy some bifocals to build it{I've only built 1/350 ships so far} this kit has pe and nice detail for it's size...a heck of a lot easier to shelve than a built 1/350 kit! Food for thought...

Update for everyone reference this undertaking, I have pictures on the digital camera but at this moment in time I cant get the pictures from the camera to the PC, I promise I will sort this problem out.

Question for those in the know, I am currently putting on the first layer of the outer covering. These pieces are 248mm X 1.5mm X 6mm and are lime wood, it says to glue them in a specific order to prevent warping of the hull and to clamp them in place. I have found this to be unrealistic as clamping does not make the strips conform to the shape of the hull also there are points I have found impossible to clamp. I have resorted to pinning the strips with dress making pins.

Onto the question is there an easier more efficient way of doing this.