Just wondering if anyone else feels like I do. I have been looking at the photos from Battler's Connection of the Bismarck and Tirpitz hull. The photo of the profile looks perfect, but the above and below photos of the hull just does not look correct to me. Has anyone seen the actual hull? Is this hull worth buying? Or should I look somewhere else?
I have not seen the actual hull, but know the person that made the plug for it and know what plans he had made it from. I have seen the deck kit for it and it matched the plan perfectly. Knowing BC and the quality of their products you cannot go wrong.
Every overhead graphic that I have seen has always displayed a constantly curving of the side of the hull. In the Photos on the BC web site, the sides of the hull look flat with a very slight curve.
It will be good enough for our game. The other thing to remember is that fiberglass springs open a bit once removed from the mold, and it is more flexible than one might imagine... which makes a free standing hull look a skosh odd at times without installing the deck to hold it to the correct shape.
OK Lets try it this way: Here is both the graphic, and the BC photo. Can you see how the hull does not look the same when comparing the picture to the graphic? The graphic shows that the hull is one continuous curve from the center point to either the bow or stern. The photo gives the impression that there is a point where the curve changes at an angle near the point that I would guess to be "B" turret.
I got more pics , closeips of the armor belt, the skegs and the bow and stern. I should post them too.
Hi Curt. The Hull you are holding came from Ralph. So that is not the BC hull. The hull you are holding looks perfect! The Hull from Ralph also is set for three screws. In the other photo on the BC web site, it looks like it is set for only one screrw! Looks like the BC hull is not a Bismarck!
My Swampy Bismarck had no skegs and was designed for single shaft. It's fat compared to Ralph's hull but the only comment I had was that the ends were too fat and the bow was stem was too thick. Other than that though it looks like this hull probaby more on teh semi-scale side but shouldn't present a problem for RC combat. As long as the errors are not greater than 2 percent error for hull length and width and hull height. This hull looks fine enough. Heck if mine can pass and survive for nearly 17 years and it's been photgraphed and scrutinized to death by the scale modelers and the general public and the media than don't fret over "exact" scale. Nothing is ever exact when it comes to reproducing the prototype. The hull looks pretty good and it's more than adequate for the hobby.
The Ralph Coles is very accurate but the BC while only set up for one screw looks okay. Most people only run one screw and that maybe the reason for the difference or maybe the builder had different plans than Ralph, I have a copy of the original Blohm & Voss plans for bismarck\Tirpitz and the hull looks different than either hull so both hulls are not perfect as the hull by Ralph is acually a Tirpitz hull and is slightly longer than Bismarck. Tirpitz was slightly larger of the two ships. about 2.6 meters(8.6 feet) I think the guys at BC need to get better pics of the hull as the pics don't show the lines of the hull well and the bow appears to be wrong as there is no raise after A turret going toward the bow. The BC hull appears to be flat but that could be just the angle of the pics. I would like to see one up close before I will pass judgement on how good the BC hull is.
OK, so I am getting a little too tech. In the past I would build 1/72 scale aircraft and paint dials on the control panel and knobs on the radio, and put in seat belts with belt buckles on the seat cushions, put hydraulic lines in the wheel wells. I will try shy away from getting too tech. And put in my mind that other folks will just look at her as a target not as the close representation of the actual ship.
Looks like my next question should be. How do I contact Ralph about Hull pricing? I thought that he had a web site listed some where. I vagely remember seeing it. But my memory may be way off.
He used to have a account on the forums but I don't think he moved over with rest of the members. You could try contacting Bob Pottle as he knows Ralph.
I believe he is ralphster30, but I can't guarantee it... nor can I guarantee the PM system has a valid email for him.
