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Scharnhorst build review from the beginning.

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  • Member since
    January 2010
Scharnhorst build review from the beginning.
Posted by Bruno Schielzeth on Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:11 PM

So, UPS has dropped off my review kit AND the Cyber-Hobby photo etch set. I have a month plus a few days to build it. Speed is going to be of the essence here but if anyone is interested in more than a 500 word review I'll be happy to tell you what I find, what I see, and how I fixed problems; things I just can't do in the magazine review due to space limitations. 

All I can say is that it's a good thing I finished wiring the garage this morning because I'm not going to have time to do home remodeling or car repairs for the next month!!! Smile

BTW, first impressions are very good. Minor issues. The steel decking under the anchor chains looks like wood planking. Very odd since the other 4.5 acres of wood decking has no end cuts, as mentioned by someone else. There appears to be a small 2-3 mm gap between the main deck sections but the join is under the deckhouse so it's not a big deal. 

The lower hull is a hull. Nothing more, nothing less. The Tamiya Mogami had hull plates, water inlets and outlets, and all sorts of other detail that Dragon hasn't even hinted at. It fits perfectly but other than sink areas has no detail.

The upper hull shape is about as perfect as is possible. Beautiful sweeps with the proper flairs in the right places and it seems to capture the look and shape of the real ship so well it almost brings tears to my eyes. 

Anyone that is interested in a 1/350 scale Scharnhorst should be saving up their money. The kit looks like a winner. I'm sure it's not perfect but I don't expect to ever find a perfect kit. 

More to follow if anyone is interested. Well, whenever I get a chance to sit down at the computer at least. Wink

 

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: EG48
Posted by Tracy White on Friday, August 27, 2010 2:28 PM

Hi Bruno... a couple of points. First, the chain raceways were actually wood and not steel; same as the Deutschland class. With regards to the details below the waterline, efforts were made to find details regarding their construction and location while the CAD was being designed but we were never able to locate any plans or photos. Better to leave off the details in that case than falsify them.

Hull plating is a matter of taste in this scale; it is impossible to accurately represent it. It was felt that even with their high molding skills it would not be possible to pull it off up to their level of perfection, so it was left off. Those that REALLY want it already have methods and techniques that will work fine.

Tracy White Researcher@Large

  • Member since
    January 2010
Anchor ways.
Posted by Bruno Schielzeth on Saturday, August 28, 2010 6:46 AM

Tracy, THANK YOU! Well, even this old dog has learned something new then. I retract my diss of the planking then! Wood? Somehow I never caught that in any of my reading and I thank you very much for preventing me from looking like even more of a fool than I can be. Embarrassed

I accept the explanation for the featureless hull too, but even faked plating would have been nice. As I pointed out, the Tamiya Mogami had perhaps the most beautiful lower hull I've ever seen. Rivets, plating, inlets and all the rest. Was it accurate? Doubtful but it didn't matter, it still looked good. Sadly Tamiya's beautiful detailing stopped at the lower hull. The rest of the kit didn't measure up to the lower hull.

Yes, I'll probably be shading and at least hinting at plating on the lower hull, I like my ships will full hulls and that means the hull is very visible on the shelf. However, I doubt that the viewer will make it past the multi-color camouflage and all the rest of the detail on the ship. Maybe the lower hull isn't that important? 

Thank you again for enlightening me! 

 

 

 

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