Pride of a Nation, A Beast Made of Steel etc. etc.

 

I can't recall a more overdone topic in naval history circles than the Bismarck, both the ship and its operational history, even though I could recount, just on a whim, about ten different battleships that had a more interesting or successful career (including the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst class [no, those were not battlecruisers]).

 

But there's no stopping the Bismarck fanboyism, and that may perhaps be one of the main reasons building her (yes it's a her) for my Battle of the Denmark Strait project took about two years. That's a lot of time for a 1/2000 model, even in scratchbuilding terms. 

Alas, taking some time off from the Aurora and managing a complete paintjob on a 1/700 interwar fit waterline Nagato, I took out the hulls of the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen (no, they are not DKM Bismarck and DKM Prinz Eugen), and built the superstructures.

When building such models, one must cut a lot of corners. Some of the details you simply won't see. Some have to look just about right from a distance. The main visual cues for the ships must be there, but otherwise it's more or less free reign. That's why I like WW1 era German battleships for instance: very little deck clutter, very effective, streamlined designs. I procrastinated with this project because I was overwhelmed with all the bits and bobs on a WW2 battleship's superstructure, so in the end I just went at it and made things on the go.

The ships' hulls and other larger pieces are made from 3mm and 2mm balsa (1mm on the top layers of the Prinz Eugen), and they are built using the layer or sandwich method, where I construct things from the waterline up. The balsa is stiffened and filled with liquid CA glue and acrylic paste. The turret rings on the Bismarck are small rubber rings bought at a craft store (apparently for making children's necklaces). The rest is placticard (0.5mm and 2mm), plastic bits from leftovers (such as a 28mm Mongol spear), paperclips, the cranes on the Bismarck are Perry sword sheaths and on the Prinz Eugen they are stolen from a 1/700 Derfflinger, and her floatplane is from an old plastic anchor.

Since taking the above photo I made the Bismarck's prow a bit more pointy (she resembled the Iowa class' crocodile prow a bit too much) and added the visually important large flying bridge. You will be able to see those when the models are painted and based.

The deadline for this project is InWarD 2026, as I missed the anniversary of the battle (again). Until then, it's peacetime readiness for the completed PoW and Hood.