History:

The Polarstern is a German research and supply ship and was built by the Nobiskrug GmbH in Rendsburg. The ship was commissioned in 1982. She is used for research expeditions to the Artic and Antarctic. It also supplies the Antarctic stations with Fuel and Goods. The "Polarstern" is a double-hulled icebreaker operational at temperatures as low as -50 �C, which enables her to overwinter in the ice sheets of the polar seas. She can break through ice of 1.5 m thickness.

Research equipment and measuring instruments are positioned with the help of cranes and winches, sometimes at extreme depths. The ship is manned with a crew of at most 44, and has work facilities for a further 50 scientists and technicians. 

The Model:

The Polarstern is one of the more detailed models from Wilhelmshaven and is not available in the original print version. I have kept this kit for several years before I decided to built this model now. The kit was published in 1988 and designed by Peter Brandt. Wilhelmhavener Verlag has released a reprint of the model. I have just received another reprint of a Wilhelmshavener Model, which give me some indications of difference between the original and the reprint. I expect that the difference of a finished built model will be marginal in case of the Polarstern, but if you get a model with wooden desk, there will be significant difference.

The model represent the ship in the period of 1.4.1892 and 29.3.1895. The model is classified as difficult to build and some experience in paper modeling is definitely required. The model has 1138 parts. I upgraded the model with a photo-etch railing set from HMV, which I used in the construction of this model. This is a waterline model. The printing quality is good and precise.

The Kit:

The Scale of the model is 1:250. The kit consist of 8 pages 430 x 300 mm. The model has 1138 parts. The instruction in written in German only, but contains 20 diagrams, which are sufficient to build the model, if you don't understand German. This applies only if you have experience with ship models.

The model is printed on paper on models, which are printed in earlier times. The paper is more coarse and does not have a very smooth finish, as it is common with model printed nowadays.

Construction

Model building for me is always the challenge to improve continuously the model in such a way that it looks more realistic and is more free of errors. This is the ultimate goal which can never be reached 100 %, but each model we improve and look at new ways to address known problems. As we improve as builders we hope that designers and publishers improve this medium as well.

One of the key areas to improve is the hull. This is a key area, which cause problems as a results of the thickness or stability of parts. The hull structure is not stable enough and the decks can potentialy bend at the assembly. Each time I build a model I try something else to solve the problem. I have not found the ideal one yet and it is unfortunately always a risk, as the downside of the modifications can be only discovered through the building process. This time I decided to glue the hull structure and the decks on 0.8mm cardstock. To do this I had to shorten all hull structure pieces by 0.8mm, which is not as easy as it seems, as rules provides only mm division and I had to estimate it. The increase in thickness has also another price, it is much more difficult to cut the pieces. pieces. 

               Diagram 1                                                                                                                                                                                                            The second problem I experienced was with the decks. You can not double the folding areas, which are used to connect pieces. I had to cut these deck pieces therefore first out of the original paper and trace then the actual deck part only on 0.8 mm cardstock, which caused some deviations. I also had to learn the folding of a strengthened part, like in this example of the structure fold, which has to be bend to fit in the deck logically extends the width of both sides by 0.8 mm. That means that the folding lines have to be moved inward by 0.8 mm on both side, if you want to avoid the fitting problem I had when placing the decks.  Diagram 1 shows this on example. The lines are obviously not accurate on the picture, you have to draw parallel 0.8 mm to the lines, but this way it can be seen better. The achieved stability of the hull structure and made it more difficult to put the decks in place, particularly the folding flaps as in the picture below there in the way, but I finally achieved to get the pieces in place as you can see.

The next problem I encountered at the assembly of the hull. Although the hull fitted very well in length and height, I had particular problems at the stern as can be seen in the picture to the left. On the top the hull has to bend substantially, this causes  the bend to cave in as the piece is cut vertically at the top as you can see. This part should have been designed as a separate part, as too many forces are working against each other, when you start forming and gluing it to the hull structure.  I had similar problems with the hull itself as it caves in between the hull structures. My guess is that some structural elements are missing in the design to give the strength to the hull. I will keep this in mind for the next model to experiment with ways to increase the hull strength. The finished main structure can be seen below in the picture

All printed windows I cut out in models because they miss the realistic three-dimensional look. After the cutting I print myself window foil on Overhead projector sheets in the color I suspect the windows to be colored on the real ship. I established on photo material that they have a light green coloring. In the photo below you can see windows after this preparation.

The windows with folie

The window material can be seen at the corner also the portholes are made by stenciling them out and applying the same window foil. All railing was replaced with a photo etch set from HMW to give the model are more real look.