by Jeff Sissons
Model photographs by the author
It was on a very wet and windy afternoon in June that I decided to commit my energies to a truly SUPER MODEL: the Halinski Bismarck. At 1:200 scale, this project would keep me (and articles in the magazine) going for months. I will promise an article at least every two months!
My wife had just undergone hip replacement surgery, so I decided to take off my pretty Blue Nurses Uniform and recover my model making clothes. I started off by perusing the large A3 volume: eight pages of illustrations, ten pages of formers and 16 pages of parts. The cover painting is excellent and very atmospheric, and it deserves to be framed.
Along with the model, I also ordered a set of turned gun barrels, We will cover the fitting of multi-media features in future articles, including brass etched railings, fuse wire, fishing line and plastic tube and strip.
The first stage, as far as I was concerned, was to separate the formers and parts that were marked with ***. The three stars indicate that the formers and keel are to be glued onto 2mm card. Okay, so I cheated, not wishing to be laminating card together; and I already had in stock five sheets of 2mm balsa wood. I know, I know; forgive me just this once! (But balsa does come from trees, as does paper....)
I used solid glue sticks, the larger variety, that has a diameter of 1 inch. This stuck the formers to the balsa wood very well, and as an additional experiment, I used spray mount to glue the four keel parts. Both methods worked very well and the parts stuck like the proverbial leech.
Additionally, there are parts to be glued to 1mm card ( ** ) and to 0.5 mm card ( * ); but first I decided to cut out the 2mm parts. With a good stock of number 11 blades and a razor saw I started work on this task. Soon wood was flying everywhere; and a pile of hull formers was building up after two weeks of work on my cutting table. Some light sanding with medium grit sandpaper soon straightened up any wayward edges. Don't forget to chamfer the edges thus marked whilst the sandpaper is to hand. These are the sharp edges that have to be removed to allow the hull plating to form a nice smooth finish whilst covering some of the sharper curves (the bow and stern ends in particular). Yes, card can be sanded, especially if you are building this model with laminated card. But remember, gently does it! Experiment first with some scrap card.
The center keel comes in four parts, making a hull length of just about 48 inches. The trick here is to join the four keel plates absolutely straight and accurately glue them together. I used some scrap 2mm balsa and, gluing one side, lined up the next part whilst flat on the table. Then I glued the top parts of the joint strips. This way the whole thing sat straight when joined in a four foot length. Keep watching this edge when installing the ribs, for this is the stage when warping occurs, and can spoil the whole model. So be diligent and keep watching this edge all the way through the fitting of the ribs and the longitudinal pieces. And, a tip here: whatever you do to one side. do to the other! Wood glue is notorious for pulling at timber when it is drying, and when I was making wooden galleons, this applied when sticking on planking to one side of the Hull. the plank glued to one side, had to have its twin glued to the other side. this way warping would not occur. So remember, if using wood glue, apply both sides of the joint and use a heavy weight to hold it down.
A few photos illustrate the early stages of this construction.
The ship will need a cradle to support it and to protect the rudder and props during construction of the superstructure. So draw an outline around formers w11 and w15 onto a piece of card and keep it safe until later when we will discuss making a cradle.
The hull former count is 25 and all the formers fit perfectly to the keel. I used a 3-inch metal square to make sure each one is upright and at right angles to the keel. The four lateral formers BII to BIIII hold the keels whilst drying; and before long the whole assembly, with the additions of BI to BIV laterals, form the hull ready for the hull plating.
I allowed a few days for drying, and then set to work with a sanding block and some medium grit paper. Smoothing the frame is a task well suited to the outdoors with a mask on. I have to use one, and advise others to do so as well. Disposable paper masks are cheap and, those lungs do need protection, believe me!
This concludes Part I. The next installment will cover attachment of the hull plating, decks and sides to this amazing model.
In conclusion, the main tip in this first article is to make sure that keel is flat and true along its length. The ten photos give you some idea of the monster you are tackling. Happy modeling.
