Airfix 1/600 Scharnhorst (04206

[Ratch]

[John Symmons]

Hi Ratch.

Nice Scharnhorst (double post ?? )

Made this when it first came out, but somehow it left me sort-of dissapointed can,t remembert why now. Yours looks better maybe it photographs better than seeing it in the flesh. Now wish Airfix could re-release it maybe I'd give it another go. I still have the Dragon 350 scale one waiting to be built, but to be honest it sort of scares me. Maybe one day.

Thanks for the Scharnhorst and keep them coming

Remember we do this for fun    John the Pom

[Jason Kilner]

Maybe re-release with an additional sprue for an Atlantic Bow conversion & Arado seaplanes?

[Ratch]

 I think a re-tooling to the later configuration is in order.

When commissioned in January 1939, Scharnhorst didn't carry Arado Ar 196A-3's as they weren't yet in production and she carried Heinkel He 114's. At some point in mid-to-late 1939 they were replaced with Arado Ar 196A-3s.  Around the same time (July-August 1939) she had her bluff bow replaced by a longer "Atlantic" bow.  So, as the Airfix kit has the bluff bow, then you can assume that the planes are supposed to be He114's. So, should you wish to model her at the Battle of North Cape you should alter the bow, change the aircraft and make other changes too.

Review:

                                          I bought this kit from e-bay and the end of the box was damaged. Assembly instructions are in 17 stages. All the light grey mouldings appear to be present and are detailed to the usual standard for this scale. The bow depicts her in the 1939 time frame, as do her two He 144 floatplanes.

Build:

            I began by painting both of the Heinkel He 114’s supplied with the ship. I proceeded with the sequenced subassemblies and where necessary flash and seams were sanded smooth. I decided it would be prudent to give all the components a coat of grey; at least the parts that might later become inaccessible will have been painted. The hull required careful manipulation and pressure to reduce the possibility of gapping. Although it was probably unnecessary, I reinforced the hull seam with filler.

Sanding down the filler revealed a bit of a disaster. The seam of the hull separated amidships and needed fixing. For this I liberally brushed liquid poly along the inner seam then sanded again.

I am frustrated and annoyed to find that one of the single gun turrets that I made up yesterday has become lost! Also one of the rudders is missing, although this may not have been present from the start and will be easy enough to scratch-build. Tamiya masking tape was used to define the boot topping. Much of the paintwork was retouched. One of the pins for holding a turret had been lost, so I made another from sprue, whilst another snapped when I dry fitted it; this one was simply glued in position. Inserting the decks into the hull required some manipulation to widen the sides. This resulted in the stern splitting apart and rectification using elastic bands to maintain pressure while the glue set.

My replacement rudder made a convincing substitution. I made a replacement for the lost single-gun turret from Plastikard and sprue. Whilst assembling stage 11, I discovered one of the ship’s boats was missing. Encouraged by my effort with the gun, I attempted to reconstruct a boat using Plastikard. I began by cementing two pieces of 0.04 and one of 0.01 together, from this block I would fashion a hull. To this I added pieces of 0.01 to simulate the prow, engine, windscreen and deck sides, and then the whole thing was painted. The result is a satisfactory replacement to my liking. Again assembly progressed but three further components were found to be missing. A strip of flat, sanded sprue replaced a missing aircraft-launching ramp. A missing searchlight was substituted by a cylindrical piece of sprue, trimmed and suitably painted. The most significant missing part was number 121, a part of the forward superstructure supporting a radar beacon. This was reconstructed to the best of my ability from Plastikard.

With construction and assembly finally complete, I made final touch-ups to the paintwork. These included the painting of the crests on the bows and the Eagle on the stern. I considered adding aerials using invisible thread, but quickly dispelled the idea. The final touch was to add the flags. I used kitchen foil, painted with white acrylic, and then marked with Pilot Grip pens. These were CA glued to the staffs and slightly crumpled.

[John Symmons]

Hi Ratch

Nice little write-up thanks, enjoyed reading it.

Remember we do this for fun                John the Pom

[Toboldlygo]

Interesting side note, my Grandfather took part in one of the raids on the Scharnhorst - I'll post the photos of his Hudson on return from the raid..

[Toboldlygo]

Interesting side note, my Grandfather took part in one of the raids on the Scharnhorst - I'll post the photos of his Hudson on return from the raid..

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One of my Grandfather's young crew (Granddad was in his 40's) inspecting the heavy flak they took on the Raid

[KiwiKev]

I have just acquired a very badly made version of the 1:600 Scharnhorst which I'm deconstructing back to individual parts. Lots of excess glue to clean up, and lots of missing parts to replace.

Luckily I decided to buy a sacrificial 1:600 Bismarck kit to supply the Atlantic bow and so other missing parts such as props, AA directors, boats, etc... could also be sourced.

I had hoped to also use the Arado196 from the Bismarck kit, but that was a very poor model compared to the HE114's supplied with the Scharnhorst. The floats from the HE114 in particular are so much better. A quick comparison of dimensions showed that both aircraft are close in size, and so I am currently converting one HE114 to an Arado196.

I cut off the top folded wings and the lower stub wings, reshaped and fitted the wing set into the lower position. Extended the canopy and cut off the thick plastic bars from the wings to the floats, making instead some wire struts.

Very much a work in progress, and I have another HE114 up my sleeve if need be, but quite pleased with the overall effect so far.

[KiwiKev]

Fitting an Atlantic bow and anchor recesses to an Airfix 1:600 Scharnhorst model. The bow and anchor recesses come courtesy of an Airfix Bismarck kit bought specifically to supply missing parts for this conversion. So far its donated the bow, some decking, propellers, AA Directors, more boats and 6 inch turrets. As you can see, all I managed to get was an already built kit of Scharnhorst, and very poorly put together, but most of the parts have been removed and cleaned up so what you see is primarily dry fit at the moment. The "Anatomy of the ship" series publication on Scharnhorst is very detailed, almost too many choices, as the ship was changed a lot over its short life. This book confirmed that the basic structure of the kit is fairly accurate and a good base for detailing and photo-etch. The only gripe is that the row of scuttles above the armour belt are a little too low, and prevent adding a second row there that did exist on the real ship. Had I known this earlier I would have drilled them higher, but that's what happens when you are waiting for your reference book to arrive and "have to do something".

[KiwiKev]

Some of the modifications needed to create a "post 1940" version from the Airfix 1:600 Scharnhorst are evident under construction in this shot. New bow, extended hangar, Arado 196A, and new tripod main mast. Also added is a degausing cable and bilge keels.

The basic model is surprisingly accurate for its age. I don't know how many times I've seen small alcoves in the superstructure in the "Anatomy of the ship" book on Scharnhorst that I thought I'd have to add, only to check and find were already there.

There isn't a lot of detail on the superstructure walls though, common for this age of kit, and so there will be a lot to be added. Lifeboat arrangements also need work. Post 1940 none of the boats were on the weather deck, they were all on raised platforms that need to be built, and the locating holes on the deck filled in. It's been a month since I ordered the WEM Photo etch and no word, so that's a bit of a worry. Fingers crossed it turns up soon.

I have to say that this is a great looking kit and I can't wait to see it finished in all its post 1940 glory.

[Sailorman]

You're doing a marvellous job of this kit. Can't wait to see the end result.

[KiwiKev]

You're doing a marvellous job of this kit. Can't wait to see the end result.

Interesting to admit as I pore over pictures of this class of ship, and the model taking shape, that I have to agree with some other observers that they were one of the most beautiful ships of WW2. Looking at the detailed drawings in the "Anatomy of the ship" series gives you an appreciation of just how well designed almost everything on these ships was, and how balanced and graceful they were. Hopefully I can do it justice and get all those platforms on the new main mast sitting parallel!!

[KiwiKev]

Slow progress, lots of detailing to be done and this always does my head in and tests my patience as you seem to be doing lots of work and achieving very little. The new bow looks great though and you'd never know it wasn't part of the original. The forward superstructure requires a lot of detailing including drilling a great many port holes, fitting PE doors, ladders, and servicing grab lines and platforms. Love the WEM PE, although it's quite delicate and so you definitely have to take care of it until it's firmly glued in place. The bridge wings have yet to go on in this shot but they are exquisite little works of art. The funnel has yet to have it's funnel cap and other detail added.

[KiwiKev]

Slow progress, but really quite amazed at the difference some small changes make to this model, especially to the secondary armament. It helps to have an accurate set of drawings to compare things with. The twin and single turrets are OK, but the barrels as supplied are ridiculously long and out of all proportion. Luckily cutting a bit of length off the base of the barrels isn't hard. That makes a huge difference. Another thing to do is to determine exactly where the barrels come out the front plates. My model originally had the single mount barrels coming out almost at deck level, and that looked a truly awful caricature of the real thing. Once the barrels were shortened and moved to about 3/5ths the way up the front plate, the look changed completely. I also added some additional shielding to the rear of the single mount, as it is open just a small amount at the very rear. I'll have to post some before and after shots once I've got one side complete with modified 6 inch and scratch-built 4.1 inch mountings, as I'm pretty sure the transformation will be stunning. I think this is going to end up being a brilliant model. It helps that it has such a good overall shape and proportions to start with.

[KiwiKev]

Compare the shortened secondary turret barrels below with those above, and a prototype scratch built 4.1 inch mounting in white above them. Note also the twin turret front face slots for the barrels extend into the turret roof, but not right to the bottom of the front plate. All are showing a massive potential improvement on the originals.

[KiwiKev]

Work in progress. A nice shot showing the handsome lines of the Scharnhorst to good effect. Funnel cap yet to be added, and midships and aft superstructure detailing yet to be completed. Once that is done, we will be closing in on the final look, approximately 1940s, although keen observers will note I have added the enclosed bridge that actually came a bit later. Just couldn't help myself on that one, slightly inauthentic for 1940, but oh well.

[KiwiKev]

Another view of work in progress. No secondary or tertiary armament fitted in this shot, but the main mast has had its first coat. The funnel is still untouched and needs extensive detailing and the cap added. No boats yet, although some of the above deck platforms for them have been added. Both this model and Bismarck had boats plonked on deck when they should be on raised frames with walk-ways underneath.

[Sailorman]

Looking really good!

[KiwiKev]

Close to finished. Main deck railing, cranes, 37mm AA and some cable reels still to be added. The paint job really needs a touch up on some imperfections on the hull and waterline, something I should have done before all the detailed work. Hopefully I can mask and paint that again without damaging previous work. I'm promising on my next project to do some better "project management" and plan the sequence a bit better.

[KiwiKev]

Basically complete. All parts fitted. Very happy with the finished product, but it took a while. Great old kit.

[KiwiKev]

A close-up showing some of the added superstructure detail and photo-etch.

[Sailorman]

Lovely job!

[KiwiKev]

[George Barnes]

nice work

[KiwiKev]

Some follow up shots in the "bath tub".