1/350 tamiya Bizmark done

Mostly, I think it looks good, however the rigging appears to be a little loose. If it is possible to tighten that up (or replace it) then it will look much better, in my opinion. However, it's been so long since I've finished ANYTHING (or so it seems) that I can't expect anyone to take my criticism seriously.

It must have been a tough job to do the whole deck in timber!

Cheers,

Bruce

Gerarddm wrote:

Yes, rigging looks loose. Might also add that the wood deck looks good from a distance, but the planking is way too wide in scale, with pronounced grain. The red tompions on the guns look cool.

... all those, plus the thing which caught my eye was the waterlines on the ship's boats are really wavy.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I have only built one other ship, so this is kinda different for me, I dont have some of the skills down yet. Both ships I have built I have had problems with the rigging on (dont build bi-planes due to the rigging issues either). Any sugestions on how to get it tight the first time would be apriciated. I pointed the wavey lines out to my wife when she painted thwe small boats, but the response was not favorable, so thata the way they are for the sake of my sanity and mariage. The deck was tedious, and not really that hard,didnt  go for the scale look, more the overall effect. once again thanks for the kind words of encouragement.

jim

Depending on the string, you can wet it with water and let it dry.  That supposedly tightens the strings by contracting them after a couple times.  I've done it on some of my ships and the results weren't too bad.

I personally like the ship.

inpw1 wrote:

Both ships I have built I have had problems with the rigging on (dont build bi-planes due to the rigging issues either). Any sugestions on how to get it tight the first time would be apriciated.

Jim,

For rigging biplanes, especially, the best stuff you can get is Rigging thread from www.aeroclub-models.com

For ships, I'd avoid cotton thread. It doesn't even look like scale rope, most of the time, much less scale steel cable. Again, rigging thread would be ok (maybe too thin, if anything), or you could try various thicknesses of lycra thread. The stretchy thread will eliminate your saggy problem, without putting undue stress on the supports.

Cheerio,

Bruce

inpw1 wrote:

Both ships I have built I have had problems with the rigging on (dont build bi-planes due to the rigging issues either). Any sugestions on how to get it tight the first time would be apriciated.

There are several options.  

The lycra thread was mentioned above.  Unravel some of the wife's pantyhose & use that.  It superglues well.   It also has the benefit of being somewhat forgiving of an accidental finger poke.  A similar product is EZ Line.  It is a rubberized thread.  I got some at the IPMS Nats last year.   I know of only one hobby shop that carries it -- check with Bobe's Hobbys in Pensacola, Fla.

Next, Invisible Thread from the sewing depatment.  This is a smoke-gray monofilament material.  It comes off the spool all curley so stretch it slighlty and run it across a black marker to color it.   Cement with CA.  It will tighten with the heat from a blown-out match or small soldering iron.   The invisible thread method is often recommended for aircraft rigging.  Drill small holes at the tops & bottoms of struts and in the fuselage.  Run the thread, point to point, through the holes and in & out of the fuselage.   Pull tight at each stage and add a drop of CA at each connection.

Stretched sprue is similar.  Stretch some sprue to fine threads.  Measure & cut.  Glue in place with some CA.  Tighten with a blown-out match or soldering iron.

I also have used some 0.006 inch stainless steel wire.  Measure, cut & glue with CA.

The monofilament, sprue and wire do not react to humidity and stay taut.   I rigged a ship with some pantyhose lycra and within a year it had contracted and bent the yardarms.   Experiment.  Unfortunately also, each of these methods use materials which are way overscale.  The 0.006 wire is 2 inches diameter in 1:350 scale.   Flag halyards are 3/8 to 1/2 inch (0.0010 to  0.0014 in 1:350 scale).  It is a limit that most ship modelers understand and accept.

inpw1 wrote:

I pointed the wavey lines out to my wife when she painted thwe small boats, but the response was not favorable, so thata the way they are for the sake of my sanity and mariage.

I understand fully.  Keep peace in the family.   But maybe some night they will pop themselves off, get repainted, and be reapplied before the next morning.   Model room gremlins work that way sometimes.

You've got your wife modeling......you da man, I bow down to you oh great one.

I think the overall effect is great. You can find something wrong with every model if you look hard enough....if you are happy it's a great build. 

One word........

OUTSTANDING !

Bud 

Great work on the PE.  I like what you did on the deck.  Those planks looks awesome even if they are overscale.  It is still better than just the plain plastic deck.

 Nice job.

Fantastic job!  I'm impressed that you did real wood planking.  I'm too terrified to try that yet. 

Great job! 

A superstructure photoetced deck set for the Tamyia Tirpitz/Bismarck is available from WEM. I'd post a link, but Firefox won't let me!

This one, Dave?

Thanks for the top!

 Yep! That's the kiddie Brews - in fact mine arrived this morning.

Looks good too. The Tamyia Bismarck is noted for it's lack of deck detail, which unfortunately makes it look toy-like if built straight OOB.

Cheers

Dave