I Love Kit 1/700 Bismarck part 1.

Well, this is going to be a long build.

The box is not very big, but very sturdy – I will have to find it a new purpose once the build is done.

When you open it, you will find a couple of sprues -really not a lot-, and two HUGE sheets of PE foreshadowing your fate. The base kit is Trumpeter’s 1/700 Bismarck (the link shows you the photos of the sprues and the instructions), and honestly, it is not a bad kit on its own. (The Scalemates link is also worth checking out if you are interested in the different versions of this model.) As far as aftermarket goes, Flyhawk has its own set for this model. It is similarly gigantic; I would not guess which one is more dauting. The camo will be an all-gray paint from 1940, because I do not like the “classical” paintjob very much.

What I realized real quick is that you need to treat each superstructure element as a separate kit. They require the removal of molded-on detail, sanding, and attaching the PE. Meanwhile you need to sync two sets of instructions, and sometimes it is not clear what you are supposed to do and in what order. (Furter annoyance is that the update’s instructions use the appropriate naval terms for left/right and front/back. I will have to put up a post-it to make sure I understand what they want.)

So patience.

So far I started all main sub-assemblies; here they are. (Apologies but I am not yet familiar with naval terms, so they will be “superstructure” and funnel.) None of it is finished, but getting there. I find the process strangely meditative, honestly, as long as I do not try to rush it. So far the funnel is the most fun part – never thought I would be able to handle so tiny-winy pieces of PE. (I did buy some quality tweezers, though.)