Commercial plastic kits of Bismarck/Tirpitz

[Kit-Builder]

This thread is just for (we can do a new thread for bigger scale ships next) commercial plastic kits. Any scale and any level of detail and it would be good if there was something interesting about the ships. An outstanding paint job, super-detailing or even just the well constructed that we should check out.
The first one I’ve added is just the latest Bismarck/Tirpitz construction and paint job that I’ve seen (and I’ll add links to many more soon).
Regards Steve


http://www.steelnavy.com/TamiyaBismarckEK.htm

[RNfanDan]

Here is a photo of three popular Bismarck & Tirpitz model kit foredeck sections. From left to right:

Monogram 3009 Tirpitz, scale 1:620

Airfix 04204 Bismarck, scale 1:600

Revell H350 Bismarck, scale 1:570

Note among these kits, the striking differences in contour at the bow! Of the three, the Monogram kit has the most accurate shape--the others are not contoured properly. While certainly not definitive, the bow/deck contours are a major factor in evaluating the kits. There are also many other factors to consider, and I intend to deal with these in later posts.

I submitted this photo as part of an examination and evaluation of kits in this scale range. Not included are the Aurora 1:600 and Lindberg 1:600 kits, which are quite scarce, as they have been OOP for some time. Even Monogram's kits are OOP, but as of this post date, are still available frequently on eBay and from other secondary-market sources.

Dan

[ostriker]

i build recently the revell 1/570 bismarck kit.

This kit is horrible, the shape of most of the piece are too "flat".

[Danelov]

I have build the Bismarck several times and now after some years of pause ,I like to start a new one.
I am not 1/350 but 1/600 to 1/700 , and after reading the interesant article about the stern I think my next one is the old Monogram 1/620.

I have never builded the Monogram.
My experiences were with the horrible Airfix ,the classic 1/570 Revell minimum two times, the very poor 1/700 Aoshima, "to smile"the smalls Esci 1/1200 and the 1/2000 Heller and last, in another line , the metal model 1/1200 of Neptun ; this one is really a masterwork.Also in the old times as younger boy I have buyed the Matchbox , but this one was also another horror.

The Samek in Resin is fine , but this material is not easy to work with ; we have today also the Dragon and now the new Pitt Roads Skywave.

But this time I like to build a full hull model and not a Waterline.

The problem of the Monogram , this one is not so easy to find and for the moment I search the model in Ebay.

My question is : between the Monogram 1/615 and the Revell 1/570 ,wich is more accurate as base of depart?

Thanks and happy modelling

[Zaku II]

Hello

I have in 1/700 the Pit Road (Trumpeter) Bismarck and Tirpitz and the Dragon Tirpitz, and both of them are very good kits that can be assembly with full hull or waterline, so in my opinion they are the best election for a full hull kit than the Monogram, Airfix and Revell (except you want a 1/600 model).

The old kit Aoshima in 1/700 is very poor worst than the old Matchbox kit (The artwork of this kit was love at first sight with the bismarck when I was ten years). But Aoshima has released a new kit of Bismarck and Tirpitz in 1/700, and for the fotographs it seems a good kit (only waterline), but inferior to the models of Pit Road (Trumpeter) and Dragon.

Between those last two kits I like better the Pit Road (Trumpeter)

Some pictures of my models Pit Road of Bismarck and Tirpitz













Salu2

[Jeremy Dominique]

Im currently working on the Tamiya 1/350 Bismarck. I havent had any major fit problems. For being a older tooled kit this one still goes together good. There were some minor seams to fill but that wasnt a big deal. I replaced all the decks with 1x2 balsa wood strips. To give it some more detail I used WEMs deck set, small AA weapons set, and the regular PE set, I also have Steve Nuttals barrels on it. I am also using Anatomy of the ship book by Jack Brower. This book has helped me out a lot on placement of portholes, vents, windows and other small details.



If you want to see some more pictures of the build process I post a lot of pictures as the build goes on here.

http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/J ... 2/?start=0


Jeremy

[Danelov]

Thanks Zaku II, the photos and the models are very nice ; I think i try the Pit Road (Trumpeter), this one is easy to find and after the photos, a really good one.Is the Dragon model a issue model of the same mould(licence Pit Road) or is something different?


Gracias Zaku II , la fotos y los modelos son muy lindos, Creo que voy a probar el Pit Road , es fácil de encontrar y viendo las fotos , realmente se ve muy bien. El Dragon es un derivado del mismo molde(licencia de Pit Road) o bien es diferente?


Happy modelling

[John B]

Jeremy,
I am just getting ready to build the Tamiya 1/350 Bismarck kit. Can you advise where I can get the detail sets for this model?
Thanks,
John

[ModelMangler]

http://www.squadron.com/hotdeals.htm

I just got all the WEM sets from Squadron but it looks like they are out of stock on the main set. Usually their service is very fast, you might want to call them and ask when they'll have more in.

[John B]

Hello,
Thanks for the link. I will give them a try.
Best Regards,
John