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After building the Yamato I moved on to the Bismark— Germany's super battleship. Not as big as the Yamato, it was still the monster of the North Atlantic. As with all of Tamiya's big ship kits, the hull is molded in one piece, and requires a great deal of sanding down the centerline. Other than that, most of the pieces were free of flash, and went together with ease. I used Gold Medal Models photo-etched detail set, which included floatplane struts, exhaust stack grilles, radar, crane details, etc. Definitely worth the price.
I chose to paint the ship in the camo pattern which makes the ship appear shorter. I could have chosen the splinter pattern, but didn't want to even attempt to mask the various superstructure details for air-brushing. I airbrushed the swastica emblem on the upper fore-deck, and carved off the molded on anchor chains and replaced them with model railroad chains.
After viewing a National Geographic exhibition of model ships I realized that the kits I've built, though nice, only come close to scratching the surface when it comes to detail and accuracy. I'd love to be able to revisit all of my ships to add more detail. Unfortunately, the price is somewhat prohibitive, but alo I lack the space and probably the time. Another recent Bismark encounter for me was the recent program on the Discovery Channel that was filmed by James Cameron using cutting edge underwater photography techniques. The documentary which accompanied the film of the wreckage on the sea bottom was OK, but the big plus for me was being able to see special 3-D footage that was taken at the same time as the other footage. Regretably, the 3-D film was only shown to a few network and investment folks, as well as a Smithsonian Associates audience in D.C. (of which I was one, lucky me!). Believe me, though the models and movies you have seen may give you some idea of the scale of this ship, the 3-D film made me realize that this ship was absolutely Massive. Oh, and for you history buffs -- the dives made on the wreck for the program add more support to the German claim that the ship sank more as a direct result of crew scuttling than British firepower (filmmakers found a near complete absence of damage below the armor belt of the hull, suggesting that the ship, though virtually immobile, was not in any immediate danger of sinking).
