I'm looking to pick up a set of plans for the Moltke class battlecruisers. I see that both Taubman's and George Goff list themselves as having plans for the Moltke, does anyone have any thoughts as to which might be the better set? Are there other options for plans beyond those two sources? I'm not constructing the hull from scratch, so I'm primarily concerned about the dimensioning and positioning of the minimal superstructure elements, turrets and casemates.
Taubmans carries both Goff's & SMC plans for the Moltke. I have the SMC plans for the Moltke and they are "okay" (but they are in the wrong scale), I have not seen Goff's plans for the Moltke. If you just need it for superstructure/turret positioning I would just enlarge some of the line drawings you can find via google and print them.
Nick, Personally, I think that Goff's plans are the worst available. I've never seen a Goff plan that I consider worth the paper its printed on. Taubman's offer two sets of plans for this class. The first is a 1/144 RC Combat plan (likely a BDE plan) for the Moltke. This is probably better than the Goff plans, but not much better. The RC combat plans are often modified to add extra depth. Probably not a problem for a battlecruiser, but something to keep in mind for smaller ships. The second plan that Taubman's sells is from SMC, and is of Goeben. SMC plans are better than both the BDE plans and Goff plans in quality. They are not great, but they are OK, and are reasonably priced. If you really want quality plans for German ships, try the ebay seller das-Geschictsbuch. This seller is in Germany, but you can access their store from the USA ebay site, and then some of it will be in English. stores.ebay.com/Militarbuch-und-Geschichtsbuchshop Use the Store Search and search for 'planmappe' to find their plan sets. These are high quality plans, the ones that were used in the 'Vom Original Zum Modell' series of modelling books. Some are actual builders plans, but most are redrawn from builders plans. These are the best German plans I've ever seen (their prices reflect this), and they have them on a wide range of ships, covering both WWI and WW2. Right now they have plans for Bayern, Ostfriesland and Von Der Tann listed, but not Moltke/Goeben. You could contact them to see if they can get the plans for you, or just keep checking them every so often. I think I've seen Moltke plans there before, but it was a while ago. Here is another seller in Germany, not an ebay seller, but an online model shop. They also sell the Vom Original Zum Modell books and plans: http://www.sell-it-easy.de/en/model...,2,kl.html Note: Whether buying the plans from the ebay seller or the model shop, you want the items that say 'Planmappe' or 'Planrolle'. If it doesn't say 'Planmappe' or 'Planrolle', you are buying the book and not the plans (you can also tell by the price, as the book will be much cheaper than the plans). The book will show pics of the plans, but not at high enough resolution to use. The book mainly shows pictures and diagrams to complement the plan sets. I've bought from the ebay seller a couple of times before, but not from the model shop. Looks like the model shop has better prices, but I'm not sure about the shipping. BTW, it normally takes 2-3 weeks for plans to get here from Germany. Hope this helps, Carl
Very good information. Thanks all. I think I'll end up with the SMC plans. I have actually ordered from Das Gesichts Buch before - I have the plans and the two books covering the Bayern class from them. The Koop et al plans are fantastic, sadly there doesn't seem to be a set for the Moltke, despite Moltke appearing in one of the Von Original zum Modell books (which I also have).
