Airfix 1/600 Bismarck becomes Tirpitz....and then disappears!

[spanner570]

I've just had a couple of weeks away camping and as the days are now getting shorter, I took a kit away with me for summat to do in the evenings. - Before opening some refreshment!

I chose the ancient Airfix Bismarck. It is a dog of a kit and almost every part needs serious cleaning up, and I mean serious. Some parts are almost impossible to tell just what they are until they are filed and scraped.

Having built one on here already, I knew what to expect. However, building this kit is not really the main reason for the exercise.

On we go.....



Cheers.
Ron

 

[Mark1]

They could have made two kits with all that plastic!

 

[Gern]

And I thought my PST Russki fire engine was bad! When you say disappeared, I hope you mean something other than all the parts disappearing among all the flash?

Mind you, thinking about it, all that cutaway flash should keep the carpet monster fed for a while!

PS Welcome back.

 

[spanner570]

Most excellent and funny observations chaps. A bad kit indeed!
Luckily for anyone tough enough to be following, this will be a 'Quicky' build. Simply because I finished the ship whilst away and not many pictures, so I will only show the salient points - Of which there are precious few.

I completed the 'other stuff' I needed to finish the thing, at home over the last two days.......

Thanks Dave, it's nice to be back, although the wife's birthday is approaching later this month, and she wants to spend it by the seaside, so we will no doubt be off again...NEEEEOWWWW!

Thanks for the input boys.

Ron

 

[Tim Marlow]

Now that’s what I call flash…….did they actually bother with the second half of the mould?

 

[spanner570]

Thanks Tim. makes you wonder, that's for sure!

The strange thing is, all the large parts are of good quality with very little cleaning up and are an excellent fit.

Hull and main deck joined.
Excellent deck planking. The joint 'caulking' is almost invisible. Which is how it should be. As the real caulking was only about 15mm wide, even on a 1/350, this detail should be very feint.

I haven't done any weathering of the main deck for reasons that will soon be made clear........






Cheers.
Ron

 

[Jim R]

Welcome back Ron. That's what I call flash! It's like chipping away at a rock in the hope of finding a fossil or a precious stone inside. Bet your camper needed a lot of hoovering.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Must admit, the deck detail looks very good Ron. I think I built this when was about ten……so it’s knocking on a bit….

 

[scottie3158]

Ron,
I guess the quality guys Labrador must have nipped out for a smoke break. That flash is shocking. But if someone can beat this into shape it will be you.

 

[stillp]

More flash than parts!
Pete

 

[Tim Marlow]

More flash than parts!
Pete

What, Ron or the kit?

 

[BattleshipBob]

That's one very old mould!!

 

[PaulTRose]

I think that tooling is well past its use by date

 

[Gern]

That's one very old mould!!

What, Ron or the kit?

 

[Dave Ward]

To misquote Michelangelo " Every block of plastic has a model inside it and it is the task of the modeller to discover it." - I'm afraid I gave up on Airfix 1/600 models a while ago - far too much part preparation for what are pretty crude models...............
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Now that’s what I call flash…….

You quite literally took the words off fingertips!!

 

[Ian M]

Tooled in 1964 and never cleaned since!

I am sure you vi win this one as well Ron.

 

[spanner570]

Thanks for all your observations and humorous posts boys. All good stuff!

Dave. quite right. Bad moulding, crude and lacking detail etc., these kits have in spades, but with a bit of graft, can come out not too bad and me having paid just £8.00 delivered, it is perfect for this particular project.

However, heaven help a newbie, or anyone else for that matter, who comes across this kit for the first time!

Ian M. Please keep it to yourself. You'll soon realise why, but you are the reason I'm putting myself through this very difficult and challenging build!

Progress update.
Gun deck and bridge superstructure painted and ready for assembly.


To anyone thinking of tackling a ship build, it is best to paint these sort of bits first, as it is nigh on impossible to accomplish after the things are all stuck together. Beware, the temptation to build first will be very strong...Resist!

Cheers.
Ron

 

[Gern]

Dave. quite right. Bad moulding, crude and lacking detail etc., these kits have in spades, but with a bit of graft, can come out not too bad and me having paid just £8.00 delivered, it is perfect for this particular project.

However, heaven help a newbie, or anyone else for that matter, who comes across this kit for the first time!

Cheers.
Ron

You're right there Ron. I don't know why Airfix keep releasing these ancient kits. Anyone trying to enter the hobby with one of these will do one of two things:

1) Persevere with the hobby but NEVER buy another Airfix kit - which is a pity as some of their new stuff is really good.
2) Give up the hobby as a bad job and take up origami (or similar) instead!

Both these options will reduce Airfix's income, so I'm guessing that keeping these old moulds and shoving out kits is a decision made by the bean counters who have not the faintest idea what their company is about.

 

[Allen Dewire]

So true Dave, but poor Ron has to use some serious carving skills he learned as a wood butcher to free the little parts from the sprues. Wishing you all the best Ron!!! I wouldn't know where to start on that puppy and how in the hell can you see those tiny parts???...

Prost
Allen