DKM Battleship Bismarck by Trumpeter 1:200 with Pontos set

[madtatt]

Hello everyone, here is the construction report of my Bismarck model from the Trumpeter brand in the scale 1:200.

The Pontos Detail Up Set “Advanced” is used for optimal detailing of the model. Various Veteran Models sets and all sorts of other aftermarket accessories do the rest.
Not to mention a bunch of styrene profiles for scratch building and the famous leftovers box.
I’m trying to create a model that shows the period from April 1941 to about 80% historically correct.
I worked on the model for almost two and a half years and it was finished in January 2023.

This is the start:

The torso needs my attention first. Portholes have to be built up and the cooling water intakes have to be added.



The original kit is missing the sacrificial anodes on the shaft pants.



I had decided to apply the Baltik camouflage scheme. She simply looks her best this way. But I didn't know what work there would be on the superstructure.



The wooden deck of Pontos simply looks authentic.
I think the deck from scaledeck is nicer, but unfortunately it came onto the market too late.



Then comes the swastika in the aircraft identification, which is banned in Germany.
Naturally painted, no decal.
This way you can better see the grain of the wood.



Then the first fine details of Pontos come onto the lower superstructure.



A close-up of this fan shows the depth Pontos brings to the model.



The fan details on the front barbette are just great.



All sorts of missing details are added with styrene profiles and lead wire.



Now the camouflage stripes had to be built on top of them.



And glued to the deck.



And then the ship comes to its final position, because next the rear superstructure with the deck and closes the hull



Now I continued at the bow and laid anchor.
Note the double bridge chains. With an aftermarket product as expensive as Pontos', you'd think they'd be included. But far from it, only normal jewelry chains are included.

 

[madtatt]

Let's move on to the next floor of the superstructure.
Missing details were corrected using Styrene profiles.



All surfaces still showing above were painted dark gray in 1941.



Continue to the next floor. Only a little styrene was required here.



In order to find the right angle for the camouflage scheme, a mock-up test.



Out of box the bridge is almost completely empty.
It couldn't stay like that.



Lead wire and styrene are also used here.



Here are examples from Veteran and OOB.



And from the front.
I like it better that way. Even if you can't see much of it in the finished model.



The compass is excellently detailed. I probably won't have to mention which one is the original.



The wobbly pots also received a small upgrade.



Very nice in a patent dress.



Another test.



To add more life on deck, I got the very good figures from Northstar in a variety of activities.



But painting is really Sisyphos work.



And the first sailors come onto deck.



The doors of the next floor were opened, so I put in an interior wall and the next level could be glued.



Some things had to be corrected again on the tower segment.



Likewise at the front artillery position, which could then also be installed.

 

[Bryian]

Incredible work, well done.

 

[madtatt]

Many thanks Bryian.
I still have a little time before I go to work and can continue doing things for a bit.

Then the crane booms. Again, a very delicate work. Here I soldered the parts to get more stability.



And then he can go to the gallery.



The platform for the rangefinder is also being prepared.



And that's the gem from Veteran that belongs there.



Her the first weapons from Veteran Models. An incredible amount of depth.



They look fantastic when painted.



And with that the admirals bridge can be put together.



But the 2cm C/30 gun from Pontos is also impressive.



A little bit of rigging is already attached as I won't be able to get to these places afterwards.



The tower slowly grows taller.



Finally, another test to see if everything fits together.

 

[madtatt]

Then let's move on to the funnel.
Here I had to proceed differently when painting than with the superstructure. Since it is extremely detailed, I painted the camouflage stripes in front of all the attachments. Otherwise it would not have been possible to mask him properly.



I then laid a variety of pipes using lead wire.



And so the funnel gradually fills up.



The pipe also received a small Styrol upgrade from me.



Crane installed.



And the railing.



Ready to put the crown on the whole thing.



First get rid of the rough plastic tubes.



And sorted what felt like 1000 brass tubes from Pontos.



One of the things I particularly like about Pontos is their drilling templates.
No matter whether it's for the tubes or for the crampons on the hull or the superstructure.
It couldn't be more accurate. That's why I prefer Pontos to KA Models.



Absolutely 100 percent hole spacing. That's the way it has to be.



Then the holes are drilled out and the pipes are put into place.



Still insert the inner workings.



That's why the coronation now follows. Note that unlike the Tirpitz, the Bismarck has an aluminum cap.

 

[madtatt]

Let's take care of the little things on deck.
First of all the paravane called otters and the rear breakwaters.



Then to my self-created tents for the companionways
Pontos supplies the framework, but I had to make the canvas myself.



I made them out of diluted wood glue and tissue.



Painted with a beige brown and aged.



And placed over the companionways.



From the other side.



Here are the skylights improved by Pontos.



Since my ship was to be shown at full speed, the gangways had to be in their loading position.
Here too, the brackets were scraped from Sytren profiles.



And the gangway in front of it.



The depth charges and smoke generators were also missing from the original packaging. No problem.



Pontos also excellently expands the rear roof windows.



And again the extended Pontos set is extremely detailed.



The screw protection and the boom was still missing on the outside of the fuselage.

 

[Maarten]

Admiring you paint work and detailing in this small scale. Just fantastic.

 

[madtatt]

Thank you so much for the kind words, Maarten. I'm glad to hear that.

We come to the rear deckhouse.
Here you can see very clearly from the crampons on the right what the drilling templates from Pontos will do.



First test. I need to show the lower part of the main mast and cover some of the inside because I want to show the hangar open.



There was also a little scratch work missing on the night control post.



And towards the bow.



The deckhouse grows and is adapted to the original ship. Here too, the kit is missing some details like parts of the gangway.



Now it was time to prepare the upper part of the tower.



The obligatory angle check.



First fix the bridge between the tower and the funnel and then go to the front hangars.



I really wanted to build the small boats. They were secured with rigging twine and rope tensioners.



Then it was time to produce boats like on an assembly line. Here too, a little scratch to refine the fittings.



Align with the boat cradle



And finish building.



The admiralty boat is also amazing.



Now it was time to raise the foremast and equip the top gallery.



The struts, railings and signal lines were still missing.



Now the boats could also take place.



Here you can clearly see that the underwater hull of the boats was not painted red but dark gray.



Still putting the Pontos catapult together. And installed.

 

[leysend]

Impressive model and what an amazing result you are achieving. Masterclass !

 

[madtatt]

A big thank you to you too, leysend.

This motivates me to write more in my time-lapse construction report, and it's time to bring out the big guns.



The blast bags from Pontos are really nice, it's just a pity that they're always the same.



But of course it looks better this way than it appears openly.
Anton has aged, Bruno has not yet. The wire rope wheels have been distributed on deck.



The next 3.7 cm twin mount from veteran and a cleaning crew.



Then let's finish the tower. Start with the fire control.
The camouflage stripes are already on here too. I then paint the etched parts later with a brush. These fine details simply cannot be masked.



And so he can get to the top.



All that was missing was the 2 cm C/38 quadruple mount.
This completed the front part of the superstructure.



Let's go back to the rear deckhouse.
The base of artillery direktor D missing some details.



And finished the two Boat cradle.



The lower missing part of the main mast in the hangar is created using a profile.



And this is how it can be installed.
Pontos still supplies the rail system on which the onboard aircraft were pushed. This will still play a role in my model.



On to the next mass production.



This time the transportions boats.



The first one takes up space. The lower part of the main mast is also being refined.



And again cellulose paper is needed.
This time for the signal bridge.



The signal flags that were stored here are covered with a canvas tarpaulin.
This is completely missing OOB. It couldn't stay like that.



Better.



Now I had to come up with something to attach all the signal lines. To do this, I cut an etched ladder in half.



Finished and approved.



And so the signal bridge could also be installed.



Now we come to another special feature of the DKM. The Bismarck carried the army's 2cm Flack 30 on board.
It was therefore mandatory to also carry the trailer called “Sonderanhänger 51”.
German complicated legislation.
But Pontos also thought of that. They just forgot the tires. I then printed them out.



Then the next delicate part of the main mast for guys with strong nerves.



And on with it.



Now the signal lines could be pulled.

 

[madtatt]

One last time I had to use paper tissue and wood glue. Tarpaulins had to be made for the transport boats.



Starboard



Portside.



How about starting a little performance.
The Arado AR 196A floatplane is usually most shown standing on the catapult ready to take off.
But since Pontos already provides the removable rail system, I wanted to simulate a little exercise of how the bird is pushed out of or into the hangar.
I have original pictures of this scene that show such an exercise.
First Test.



Then I repurposed a few figures and modified them a little...



I think that's how it works.



Cockpit installed



The Arado also becomes a small work of art with Pontos.



She is attached to her sleigh with the white rigging thread, which cannot be seen.



And still glazed with Micro Kristal Klear.



And that's how I implemented the scene.
The officer shouts, the sergeant also shouts louder and a mechanic tries to repair the hydraulic jacks.
The pilots are laughing their heads off.

 

[oldflyer]

Absolutely brilliant work, Every detail is so perfect!!!
And the aging look of metal and wood are captured so perfectly.

Cheers,

 

[madtatt]

Thank you so much for the great feedback, John.

I was already looking forward to the next component.
The individual parts of the bridge wing.



Pontos is really not a cheap deal, but the wealth of detail gained is absolute.
You can hardly get any closer to the original.



And installed.



When installing the railing I still had to make corrections because Pontos had forgotten something here.



This sheet metal was used to close the created bridge wing.
And when it was extended, like here with me, it naturally prevented the sailors from falling off. It was formed by me from thin brass sheet.



That's how I like it again.





Now the crew can safely get on the bridge wing.



When mounting the 37mm double flack, i noticed that Pontos had once again made a mess with their research. The ladder to get to the rear deckhouse is missing.



Railing snipped and a ladder fumbled in.



The missing ladders and railings are still installed at the back.



And boxes on the other side.
Like the army's 2cm Flak 30 mentioned above.



Here's another close-up of veteran's searchlights.

 

[Peter Voogt]

Found your build-blog this morning, Joerg. What a impressive detailed build with very nice painting and weathering.
And soldering those etched parts! You do that with a small flame?
Regards, Peter

 

[madtatt]

Thanks a lot, Peter, I'm glad you like my model.

I solder the photo-etched parts with a small, high-quality soldering station from Ersa. I only do that, though, when I need a very strong connection.
For the most part, I use an acrylic adhesive like the one from Mig. It does an excellent job. Very clean and easy to work with. I'll discuss it in more detail in my next build report.

 

[madtatt]

Let's get to the rigging.
Of course, the main mast must be completed first.



Then the tension cables...



And lastly the mizzenmast.
The pictures here are not entirely in chronological order. You can already see the mast in the last post.



Now all the masts are up and things can continue.



First I built a device to run the longwave antennas parallel between the triangles.
This way you can get the same tension on both sides.



And the first threads are already hanging.



Now came a point that got on my nerves. Four cables each led from the two double-stranded long-wave antennas, which narrowed into one towards the mast.



Then the rest was easy. However, the rigging is not yet complete, as I still had to attach searchlights and anti-aircraft guns to the funnel. according to my motto, always work from the inside out.



And from the front.



The last two searchlights are on the gallery.

 

[Jack Jäger]

Congratulations Joerg, you hav built a beautiful ship with no expense spared, but most of all your painting is outstanding. It all looks very believable and correct, The only query I have is the colour of the naval uniforms, I did not think that they where such a bright blue. I assumed them to be more like, but slightly bluer than, the blue-black of the Royal Navy. I am in no way certain of this, so perhape you can put me right.

I love your work.
Regards Jack

 

[madtatt]

Thank you so much, Jack, that's very kind of you. I'm so glad you like my work.

In retrospect, I also think my uniforms are a bit too light. I only had old colored black/white images as a reference, and the blue overalls were quite light in those.

 

[madtatt]

I still have time to write a post.
With that to the on-board crane. First scratched two rope drums. OOB only bare roll.



The crane body is already finished and there are still endless components.



The angle of the crane arm had to be exactly right so that it would fit into the boom.



A cross brace against the beating of the rope and a lamp were also scratched.



Everything comes together like that.
I created the crane rope with silver-colored white rigging thread.



Fits perfectly into the crane holder.



And so the rigging could also be completed.



The foremast.





And here are pictures of the complete rigging.







Since I liked the row cutters and dinghies on deck so much, I chose the period from April 1941.



The last yawls in the davits have come on deck. A PE set from a destroyer in 1:350 had to be used for the cable drums.

 

[Jack Jäger]

It in no way deters from a superb build. JJ..