Bismarck

by Bo Tomkie

Model Images

About the Model

The basis for the model is a 1:200 scale kit by Trumpeter. Bo’s quest to achieve a high degree of historical accuracy led him to fashion perhaps 300-400 additional/replacement parts, primarily for the model’s rigging, anti-aircraft weapons, auxiliary lighting, spotter aircraft, bridge supports, and peripheral railing. For these he used primarily scrap polystyrene plastic from other kits, scrap photo etch, common tiny household parts (just a few), and plastic scrap sprue. At times it also required a bit of creativity and imagination, which was assisted by his research books and materials.

The use of photo etch brass (made by the Eduard Company) added an additional 700-1000 parts of all uses, shapes, and sizes. A selective use of Eduard photo etch also entirely replaced many crude(ish) and/or out-of-scale polystyrene components. But most of all, the incredible detail/accuracy offered by photo etch greatly enhanced the overall historical accuracy, and beauty, of this scale model. His conservative guess is that the model consists of 3,000-3,800 total parts of all kinds, and of various materials.

He assembled the model over 4.5 years, completing it in May, 2019. It has since been donated to the Mariners’ Museum.

About the Model Maker

His “quality objective” as a modeler has remained, from the beginning, to achieve museum acceptance standards, whatever that meant. For him, this was to be embodied by emphasizing the detailed nature and appearance of a World War II-era Battleship.

To do a “downtown” scale modeling job of a mega-detailed, large-scale kit of the German Battleship Bismarck was a goal of Bo’s since his latter elementary school days. He engaged in a life-long quest to read everything he could lay his hands on regarding the Bismarck’s design, construction, mission, her incredibly famous WW2 engagement with HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales in the Denmark Strait (May, 1941) and her tragic (to Germany’s naval war effort) demise.

A self-proclaimed amateur (armchair) American history buff, his primary focus throughout this build was to maintain historical accuracy as far as practicable. To this end his research focused on duplicating Bismarck’s appearance as she looked on May 24, 1941 when she sank HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait during a critical stage of the Battle of the Atlantic during World War 2.

Bo lives in metropolitan Detroit where he is retired from the automotive industry. Bo joined the Mariners’ Museum in 2019 due to his continuing interest in the ongoing U.S.S. Monitor conservation effort. This had, initially, nothing to do with finding a home for his 1:200 scale Bismarck. However, his phone conversation with museum staff regarding membership and his desire to make a donation led him to sending photos of the Bismarck model. The museum’s enthusiasm over his desire to donate the model was most encouraging. Once the “Acquisitions Committee” accepted, plans began for a spring 2020 auto trip to from metro-Detroit to Newport News.

Links

• Wikipedia
• Trumpeter