| Perhaps the best known ship of all time,
the Bismarck has been the subject of many books, documentaries, and even
dive expiditions. So I am not surprized to see that Dragon has upgraded
their original Bismarck and Tripitz to a premium edition kit. Their original
kits are some of the most detailed available in this scale. This premium
edition adds some new photo etch and fixes some of the shortcomings of
the earlier release. See the review
by Tom Kristiansen for details.
You already know the history, so lets cut to the chase and have a look
inside the box. |
| HULL AND MAIN DECK PARTS |
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| The hull halves are molded as one piece with a bow
and stern deck insert. The two parts join at the location of the forward
secondary guns. This makes it easier to hide the seam. The lower hull is
molded as two halves and are well done. |
Click images
to enlarge |
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| Deck detail is pretty good overall. Deck planking is well
done and there are plenty of hatches and hose reels molded on.
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| SPRUE B (Bismarck only) |
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| The main superstructure part is one part, with very nice detailing
on the deck surface. There is a lack of detailing on the sides due to the
way the part is molded. Photo etch panels are provided to supply that detail,
see below. The main superstructure parts are molded in halves with lot
of surface detailing. The funnel caps include grate detail that looks very
good. |
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| SPRUE C |
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| The light anti aircraft guns are found on this sprue. They are very
small and fine for 1/700 scale. Some of the superstructure parts are included
as well. |
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| SPRUE D |
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| Medium weapons and main gun barrels are on this sprue. Detailing is
good, overall. I am impressed with the size of the mast parts. Very small
for injection molding. |
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| SPRUE E |
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| Gun directors are included on this sprue for both Bismarck and Tirpitz. |
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| SPRUE F (Bismarck only) |
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| The original kit included a funnel and other superstructure parts are
molded in Vinyl. Modelers didn't like this choice of material so Dragon
responded with this all new sprue in plastic. These versions will be much
easier to work with and there is plenty of detail. |
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| SPRUE G |
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| Main gun turrets are really nice. The rivet detail is a little overdone
but really makes the turrets stand out, especially if the modeler applies
a light wash to accent the detail. |
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| SPRUE H |
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| The float planes and ships boats are molded on a clear sprue. This
is done so you can have a clear canopy on the aircraft. The drawback to
this is that clear plastic is a brittle and harder to work with. I would
rather paint my own canopy than have to work with this clear material. |
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| DISPLAY BASE SPRUE I |
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| A ship stand is included if you want to display your ship
as a full hull kit. |
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| PHOTOETCH |
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| A new relief etched brass photo etch sheet is provided with railings,
platforms, and some walls. The latter are included to make the otherwise
plain plastic parts stand out. |
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| DECALS |
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| Decals include flags unfortunately presented in their politically
correct style without the swastika complete. But you can put the parts
of the decals together to complete the decal. A nameplate decal is also
included as well as what appears to be camouflage sheets. I am not sure
how these are to be used with the kit though. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| Instructions are well done with several subassembly views that show
a step by step approach to building the ship. |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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Dragon USA lists this kit with an MSRP of $28.50. A great price
for a ship of this size with photo etch. |
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