S4Simon

So I fired up my stand for the first time... and had the same issue. So did some investigation on the capacitive switch type. The switch circuit sensitivity seems to be the issue, and this comes down to a number of issues including skin moisture content, thickness of substrate where finger is placed, and type of resistor used for sensitivity on the circuit. In the end I found the simplest solution was to remove the clear plastic cover and reassemble. So now all I have to do is stick a paperclip end into the hole (touching the spring mechanism) to activate / deactivate the stand. Simple solution to the problem.

Finished my Bismarck after a three year build. Very enjoyable build with great detail. If you've ever had an itch to build a large scale battleship then I would recommend this. Enjoy the pics.

I didn't really like how high the Bismarck sat on the stand. So I've chopped off 30mm from each post. Looks a lot better. Simple stress free mod. 🙂

The reinforcing bar is attached to the rear hull in issue 136. This resolves the rear deck gap issue.

I'm still 4 weeks away from finishing the build and remote. I'll decide whether to install a micro on/off switch into the remote. This will simply sever any electrical input into the circuit board that's causing the draining issue. Simple solution really, or we can just remove batteries when not in use. I'm also toying with the idea to lower the height of the base (to get the Bismarck to sit lower on the stand) by halving the height of the two uprights. Looks to be a simple job which I'll probably do next weekend.

I know it's not F1 based, but I'd really like to see the 1:8 Hachette La Ferrari released. That's No.1 on my partworks wish list.

Lifeboats installed.

Rigging commenced. 🙂 Not too difficult.... thus far.

Maybe something RED… 🙂

You’ll need bionic eyes for painting. 🙂

Looks good Mike. 🙂 This is one of those epic builds that you live your life for. Super detailed and super sized. And you end up with a masterpiece to show off. Well worth the money. And as you say the only real issues are whether your own body senses can keep up with the detailed work required. My eyes have seen better days, so have to wear the bionic magnifiers. I've spent the last year weathering the ship. Almost at the end with only a couple of issues to go now. Then onto the rigging. Keep up the good work.

Railings are on... Next step - Rigging.

Simple video here on how to do it.

Interesting that it would drain the batteries with the remote off. I haven’t got to that point yet (up to 130). If we had a hard (actual) switch on the remote then that would disable all power to remote ( thus no leakage), but we have a soft switch, which just turns the remote control computer on and off. When the remote is off there is still power going to the pcb (computer standby mode), so there must be current leakage ‘somewhere’ on the board. There’s no way to resolve this problem without rewriting the software for the remote or to add an actual micro on/off switch to the remote (cost a couple of dollars and half an hour to install. Alternatively, just reverse one of the batteries in the battery pack to break the circuit. That’s my thoughts. 🙂 FYI - I’m not an expert on ship remote controls, but have 35 years experience on military guidance systems… if that helps.

The splash of German colour to the bow and stern does add a lot to the finished model. 🙂

Issue 129... Almost there. 🙂

For me pretty easy. Just masked off. Spray painted red back round, Put decal on. Then use micro set and micro sol to bed the decal in. I then add weathering to blend everything in. Bottom pic shows the decal sheet i bought from custom hobby decals. Simples 🙂

First up for me. 🙂

I’ve seen no internal photos of the Bismarck. But all warships use a gloss white to create as much reflective light as possible beneath the decks. So in the end it’s just artistic license. Whatever floats your boat really.

I didn't have any problems with my front anchors. But with all the Bismarck gear boxes I apply a good amount of silicone grease to all gears and spindles and also after tightening all gearbox screws I wind them back an eighth of a turn as I find the gears bind if done up tight.

Custom hobby decals.com

Mine were 1/200 universal sailors from eBay. But you can get the German sailor variant online - not sure where. all are unpainted, so you’ll need the help of Steve Austin’s bionic eye (aka 6 million dollar man) to paint the little blighters.

I'm not up to the base yet, but I believe the on off switch in the base is capacitive (ie. not a press button type switch). It senses finger moisture, and works via passing current through your fingertip to close the circuit. That's my thoughts - could be wrong. But I know quite a few people have had issues with the on off switch, thinking that it was a simple press button switch.

No it’s not mentioned in the magazine. It just quietens down the gear boxes, and ensures everything runs smoothly.

I’m still a couple of weeks away from the crane work, but I always watch Wayne’s build videos as he always finds solutions to any problems before I get to them. 🙂