Bismark
Herb Schmidt

Photographs by the author

Halinski Military Model #1-2/2001
Battleship (Schlactschiff) Bismarck 1/200 scale

This model comes in book form and contains:

Ø 1 page of written instructions and a brief history
Ø 9 pages of assembly diagrams
Ø 10 pages of parts to be glued to heavy card 1mm & 2mm
Ø 16 pages of colored parts. A nice touch is that most sheets are colored gray on reverse side to preclude painting when assembled. Another nice feature is that the thickness of each sheet varies according to need.

Before starting be sure the instructions and diagrams are studied. Although many, the diagrams often leave out parts or are not clear as to what some parts are for. There are some part numbers duplicated on the diagrams that cause some confusion, but usually the part on the sheet is correct. The parts for an assembly are not always grouped on the same printed sheet causing much time to locate ALL the pieces needed.

Ø No stand is provided to support the completed model.
Ø Have a good supply of 1mm and 2mm card available, you will need it.
Ø This model is large - 49½ inches long - so have a large work area available.
Ø This is not a model to make if you are in a rush - it took me over 4 months and 229 hours to complete.
Ø I made the cabin assemblies seperately then glued them to the main deck to save work space by not having the hull on the work area.
Ø Do edge and other touch up as you proceed as too much can be missed if left to the end.
Ø There are many railings to be made. My method was to use very thin color ball headed pins and fine gray thread.
Ø Making this model would have been extremely difficult without some reference material.

A web page www.bismarck-class.dk was found to be excellent. There are numerous pictures, diagrams, history and much data for anyone’s taste for detail. My final comment on this model is that I am very satisfied with it and it makes a beautiful and accurately detailed representation of what was probably one of the most famous ships of WWII, even though its combat life was less than two weeks.