Mornin' Folks
Browsing ebay over the Xmas period i came across Hachete's partwork "Build the Bismark" all 140 issues unopened

A deal was struck and completed and i recieved the goodies in good time

I wisely decided not to start the build until after the Hogmany celebrations

During this time i opened all the issues and only found one setback
One of the antiaircraft guns moulding was not complete

A search for back issues on ebay was not successful for the one issue i required

But i did come across someone who was selling spares and one of the photos showed the items i required.

So now i have a complete kit and spare decking and plastic fittings

The parts are the usual ply and various types of wood for the hull and superstructure and main gun frames etc

Brass is used for superstructure/main guns walls

There is a lot of plastic parts which at first glance i thought was a bit naff (Deags Yamato/Akagi are metal)

But on reflection once painted who can tell what material they are made off......but mainly.. as the model can be converted to R/C i have convinced myself the main reason is to keep the weight down to prevent her becoming top heavy

Hi Allan thanks for lookin' in

Despite this partwork ending a few years ago the Bissie seems to pop up on ebay on a regular basis...and a great bargain can be made

As this model has mouldings for the pointy end and the bow it can be a good intro to planking the hull as no drastic bending off planks at he ends

http://www.ebay.co.uk/it...amp;hash=item2c9924a9b4

Oooh nice, looking forward to seeing this come together.

I will be watching that ebay link with great interest

Nice start on her and are you going for the static or R/C version

Thanks for comments guys

@ARPurchase...i am humming and hawing over conversion to R/C

Firstly i will need to make sure my build is suitable to be seen in daylight

My other issue is that at the moment the instructions say that the middle deck is removable for access..

Will that mean that the deck planking will have a noticable gap straight across the deck at those two points

Am thinking that access may be available by removing the superstructure parts instead

Food for thought

Anyhoos no sign of the big guns yet...onwards with the frames
They all seem to square up nicely together

Coming together nicely, shaping the plank is the best way to solve that little problem you could also have planked around it letting the upper planks lie as they want and then filling the gap left with a shaped plank.

Hi Alan
My purchase was pick up only as well

A courier picked it up from the seller way down south at 0900
Picked it up at my local PO (spar shop)next day
Lady said it had been delivered previous PM

All 140 issues in a taped up cardboard box
Only cost About a tenner via online courier service

Might be to your advantage to pm the seller and ask if a pick up from a courier is acceptable

Its looking great Budgie

Well thats it Folks

Build diary now up to the stage i am at with the model

1st planking sanded and a layer of filler was spread all over the hull and slowly sanded to a smooth finish

Thanks for lookin'