Monogram 1/615 Bismarck from 1977
Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:59 am
I just completed a restoration of a 30 year old model that I built years ago. I have the new premium Dragon 1/700th, and before I started that I wanted to experiment with colors, schemes, and reworking pieces to make them more authentic.
It's the 1977 Monogram (not the Revell-Monogram 1/570 of the 60's), which I calculated as being at being a smaller scale but not much, than 1/600th, so the 1/615th sounds right. I see this kit is no longer available new, which is a shame because it's not too bad really, I believe far more accurate in its approximate scale ( Airfix, Aurora, & Revell).
The admiral's bridge is a shortcoming, because it lacks the windows in the critical spot where Lutjens and Lindeman commanded the ship. I figured a way to do it that came out well. Monogram should have done a decal for this, if not revise the part. I think that ships were not very successful for Monogram, despite their excellent value and quality, they got in too late, when modeling was in decline.
I'd like to share some pictures with KBismarck members, because there are no pictures in the model section of this mold, and, I went to a lot of trouble to EXACTLY follow the line drawing recommendations of this site. I am very grateful for the expert information on the ship from KBismarck.com!
I now know that the false bow wave on the port bow is a much different shape, but when these were done in about 1979, they were a duplication of the pic from Pursuit by the marvelous Ludivic Kennedy, which only showed the starboard side. Think about it.... how many good pictures of the camouflaged ship are from the port side?
What is the protocol for posting pictures? I purposely did them in in a VGA resolution so that they would be easier to post, although the 3MP examples are a lot better.
Best,
Bluemill
It's the 1977 Monogram (not the Revell-Monogram 1/570 of the 60's), which I calculated as being at being a smaller scale but not much, than 1/600th, so the 1/615th sounds right. I see this kit is no longer available new, which is a shame because it's not too bad really, I believe far more accurate in its approximate scale ( Airfix, Aurora, & Revell).
The admiral's bridge is a shortcoming, because it lacks the windows in the critical spot where Lutjens and Lindeman commanded the ship. I figured a way to do it that came out well. Monogram should have done a decal for this, if not revise the part. I think that ships were not very successful for Monogram, despite their excellent value and quality, they got in too late, when modeling was in decline.
I'd like to share some pictures with KBismarck members, because there are no pictures in the model section of this mold, and, I went to a lot of trouble to EXACTLY follow the line drawing recommendations of this site. I am very grateful for the expert information on the ship from KBismarck.com!
I now know that the false bow wave on the port bow is a much different shape, but when these were done in about 1979, they were a duplication of the pic from Pursuit by the marvelous Ludivic Kennedy, which only showed the starboard side. Think about it.... how many good pictures of the camouflaged ship are from the port side?
What is the protocol for posting pictures? I purposely did them in in a VGA resolution so that they would be easier to post, although the 3MP examples are a lot better.
Best,
Bluemill