newbies fleet

uboatbuilder · 13-12-2006

I'm new to the site and just thought id show you what I (or we) have done. ALL are R/C conversions

This is our fleet (Dad, Brother, Me)

Tamiya 1/350: Enterprise, Tirpitz, Yamato, PT-15 (mine)
2nd Yamato, Bismark (Dads')
Musashi, New Jersey (Brothers')

Revell 1/72: u-boats (mine and Dads'. Brothers wasnt finished for these) They will be static diving using a Dave Welch WTC. As yet un finished

Grant

**Bunkerbarge** · 13-12-2006

Grant, there are not many people who take on the task of doing the Bismarck's full splinter camoflage. She looks superb.

Funnily enough I have my 1/72nd U-boat displayed next to my Tamiya Bismarck. We must have similar tastes!

Mankster · 13-12-2006

Just need a Tamiya KGV class battleship to finish off that collect! Do you have any on water shots, would be great to see some of them in formation.

uboatbuilder · 14-12-2006

Thanks Richard, the bismark was quite a challenge and the tirpitz was even worse, they're airbrushed so masking it up and keeping the lines in a continuous straight line was quite frustrating but well worth it in the end.

I will get some on water shots as soon as i can, but it all depends on the weather now. for instance last sunday the forecast said rain and gail force winds so i didnt charge anything, woke up sunday morning perfect sailing weather.

Grant

uboatbuilder · 02-01-2007

Took the a couple of the boats to black park for the first time since the car was fixed so i managed to get a few pictures on my camera phone (quality isnt as good as it normally is)

Will add more as and when i take them.

Grant

**Bunkerbarge** · 02-01-2007

Grant, they look absolutely superb on the water. Many thanks for the shots, great pictures.

Please add more when you can, the Bismarck is one of my favourite vessels and was a major achievement in ship design at the time. The way she combines sleek Atlantic hull sea keeping design combined with a broad stable gun platform was quite something. She was also way ahead technologically of anything else being built at the time.

I once read two very interesting books quite by chance at the same time. One described the training of a Kriegsmarine U-Boat engineer and the other a Royal navy sailor. The difference in training was worlds apart and helped to understand why the German navy was such an efficient team when it came to such issues as gunnery.

uboatbuilder · 02-01-2007

Thanks Richard, as always great comments I think your just being nice

.

The Bismark is one of dads favourites aswell, its his boat which i just built and painted for him. I like it too but i like the tirpitz just as much and just thought that everyone seems to do bismark's so i went for something a bit different and i just thought the splinter camo just looked so cool

I will definately post more when ican hopefully if the wind keeps down i can get the enterprise back on the water.

Grant

**Bunkerbarge** · 02-01-2007

It's funny really but when you compare the two the Tirpitz probably had more of an impact on the war and our Naval operations than the Bismarck did yet she never really acheived the same status.

I just think the whole scenario of the Bismarck being hounded by the Royal Navy until eventually being pounded to pieces by far superior numbers after sinking our own Flagship gave it this elevated status. Certainly apart from some AA guns and a pair of torpedo tubes they were pretty much the same ship but the Tirpitz always seems to have been the underdog of the two.

They do look amazing on the water together though and a tremendous amount of credit goes to you for taking onthe splinter camoflage on the Tirpitz and the disruptive on the Bismarck. If you get a model of the Bismarck at the right distance and in the right light conditions you will see just how effective the dark grey at either end really does give an impression of a shorter vessel.

uboatbuilder · 03-01-2007

Absolutely we were very surprised at how effective the bismarks disruptive was. when you see them on the water the tirpitz sometimes looks twice the size. Also the tirpitz splinters on a day when the water is just rippling, (not still, not choppy but just in between) at a certain distance the tirpitz really is disguised by the camo. its amazing, when out of the water you'd think they'd stick out like a sore thumb.

And the bismark did definately have more of an "active" lifespan because from what i can gather from documentaries ive seen, the tirpitz spent most of its time moored up in the fjords. (waiting to be bombed by midget subs, lancasters)

Thanks again for your comments

Grant

**Bunkerbarge** · 03-01-2007

The big part the Tirpitz played and therefore the impact she had was simply in the threat she posed. The Royal Navy had to tie up considerable amounts of resources just to cover the possibility that the Tirpitz might go to sea, which were obviously resources desperately required elsewhere.

Without ever completing a sortie in anger the Tirpitz was considerably more disruptive than the Bismarck proved to be even from her hiding hole in Norway.