Lindberg Graf Zeppelin Carrier

Hi T Builder

 I enjoy reading you posts. Over at Wikimedia Commons there are 70+ photos(professional builder pics) of the German carrier under construction, with some excellent close up photos of the ships hull. You are correct, the carrier was never complete or operational but the photos would give the viewer a sense of what the prototype looked like. Compare the German photos of the ship against the proposed model and use ones best judgement as to the models appearence/accuracy(when available at the LHS).

 IMHO, a new model from a manufacturer is always an interesting prospect, especially if it isn't "beaten to death" by having every model company produce it(the Iowa class battleships, fletcher class, PT boats, etc.) BUT is the new model worth your money, based on what the kit's quality is. Only the consumer can answer that.  

...a copious amount of primary source material regarding Graf Zeppelin and a suitable kit of it can be manufactured...as has been done already in 1/720th scale.

Whether Lindberg is able to manage such remains to be seen but in my conversations with them I was completely taken aback by several comments which were made regarding their plans wrt Graf Zeppelin.  I have found their choices of late for their larger kits to be superlative; would that the execution be as far reaching.

Randy Stone

thunder1 wrote:

Hi T Builder  I enjoy reading you posts. Over at Wikimedia Commons there are 70+ photos(professional builder pics) of the German carrier under construction, with some excellent close up photos of the ships hull. You are correct, the carrier was never complete or operational but the photos would give the viewer a sense of what the prototype looked like. Compare the German photos of the ship against the proposed model and use ones best judgement as to the models appearence/accuracy(when available at the LHS).  IMHO, a new model from a manufacturer is always an interesting prospect, especially if it isn't "beaten to death" by having every model company produce it(the Iowa class battleships, fletcher class, PT boats, etc.) BUT is the new model worth your money, based on what the kit's quality is. Only the consumer can answer that.

Fairseas wrote:

Now when is Trumpeter releasing that phantom Arizona...

YEAH!

bondoman wrote:

I don't think there's much room to critisize this model other than hull length. If a modeler wanted to use it as the basis for a "what if" that is open ended .

Ditto, the hull was the same as the Tirpitz and Bismarck ...

From what source did you derive this?  A quick review of Whitley, Breyer, and others indicate that the hulls of BISMARCK and GRAF ZEPPELIN were dimensionally quite different:  250.5m x 36m vs 262.5m x 27m (before blistering) respectively.  BISMARCK had three screws, while GZ had four, which would have impacted hull shape aft and internal arrangments.

Al Ross 

alross2 wrote:

Ditto, the hull was the same as the Tirpitz and Bismarck ...   From what source did you derive this?

...dodging the issue you yourself raised.

The question remains: where did you get the data to support your claim that GZ and the Bismarck share the same hull characteristics ?

Randy Stone

Randy Stone wrote:

...dodging the issue you yourself raised. The question remains: where did you get the data to support your claim that GZ and the Bismarck share the same hull characteristics ? Randy Stone

Looking back at my refs it does seem that the carrier hulls were different---maybe more along the lines of a cruiser-type. Turns out the Germans actually laid TWO carrier hulls down. The other was broken up early in the war as the Graf languished in the shipyyard...inmterstingly enough, it appears that the Germans also had plans to convert two liners into smaller carriers as the war progressed. Also, the Italians toyed w/ the idea and received unused parts from the Graf, but it also never come to fruition...

tankerbuilder wrote:

That doesn,t mean she didn,t exist! I never saw any reference to her until about eight years ago when I was studying a comprehensive ship-designers tome on the history of the AXIS ship design bureaus. The few photos I,ve seen of her was obscured by a lot of foregroung clutter, so I can only say, the clearest picture I have ,to me she somewhat resembles the ZUIKAKU .  tankerbuilder

I actually came across a pic of the hull being launched last night (you know, the champagne bottle and all)---very clear pic and she looked very far along in construction...I'll try to scan and post tonight.

Panzercop wrote:

I believe the Graf Zeppelin's hull is the same class / type as it's heavy cruisers of the Admiral Hipper / Prinz Eugen / Blucher class.

Graf Zeppelin Dimensions

Admiral Hipper Dimensions

http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/index.html

Sorry to dig up a dead and decomposing thread but did anyone actually buy this ship? Or know of a review?

All I can find is the same initial press release, although I have found the ship for sale on three American online retailers and once on Netherlands eBay (via the US).

Quite interested in it, although the price is somewhat off-putting.

Hi all,

lot of conjecture going on here about the GZ as to a lot of what-if's and what-was.  WHO CARES?  It would be awesome if Trumpeter built a 1/350 GZ with a compliment of Stuka's and 109's in carrier configuration.  The secondary market would go nuts with photo etch, and every conceivable aircraft for it (some jet aircraft mabee?).  Be neat to see a 1946 version of it.  Manufacturers have done it with tanks and airplanes, why not a carrier? 

       Perhaps a picture of the GRAFF ZEPPLIN might be of interest.

   Montani semper liberi !          Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                     Crackers                  

      Found another of the carrier.

       Hope these pictures can be of interest and help to those who choose to purchase the carrier kit.

          Montani semper liberi !   Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                Crackers                   

One of the eBay sellers who lists the Lindberg kit shows this model in the item description, this is deceptive.   This is NOT a model built from the kit.   This is a scratch built model, I believe built by Willi Fraider.  Do not be fooled.

That's curious. I thought that the model was never released. Not to be confused with the rerelease of the hawk airship.