How to ... build a model Pre-Dreadnought Battleship from scratch

Having experimented with the use of basswood/linden to build smaller model ships, I decided to use the skills I had acquired to tackle a somewhat larger and more complex warship. I chose the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein (as she appeared in 1939) as the basis of my design.

Tools
I used the tools shown in the following photograph to build my model:

They include:

• PVA Wood Glue
• A razor saw
• A craft knife/box opener
• A steel ruler
• An aluminium mitre block
• A number of modelling clamps
• Two types of emery board
• A triangular set square
• Two pin vices (each holding a different sized drill bit)
• A pencil

I also used a cheap re-chargeable power drill that could hold larger drill bits than the pin vices and a sanding block.

Some basics

1. Remember to use any tools carefully so that you do not risk injuring yourself.
2. Always let the glue 'cure' before you attempt to move on to the next stage in the production process. (The PVA Wood Glue that I use usually takes about an hour to 'cure' but does not reach its maximum strength for twenty four hours.)
3. Always clamp and/or support any glued joints until the glue has 'cured'.

The Hull
The hull was constructed in two parts, and lower hull and an upper hull. This was done so that it was possible to model the distinctive gun casemates carried by the Schleswig-Holstein.

The lower hull was constructed from two 8"/20cm and eight 2"/5cm long pieces of 0.5"/12.5mm x 0.5"/12.5mm basswood.

The shorter pieces were glued together to form blocks at either end of the model and the sides were then glued on to form a hollow rectangle.

The upper hull was constructed from two 8"/20cm and sixteen 2"/5cm long pieces of 0.375"/9mm x 0.25"/6mm basswood.

These were also glued together to form a hollow rectangle.

A piece of 3"/75mm x 8"/20cm x 0.25"/6mm basswood was used as the bottom of the lower hull. The position of the hole in the hollow rectangle was marked on the basswood and small blocks were glued in place to act as guides/tabs to hold the two pieces in place when they were glued together.

A piece of 3"/75mm x 8"/20cm x 0.125"/3mm basswood was used as the top of the upper hull. It also had guides/tabs glued to it.

The two parts of the lower hull were then glued together ...

... as were the two parts of the upper hull.

The excess 0.125"/3mm thick basswood was carefully trimmed off the upper hull and pieces 0.375"/9mm x 0.25"/6mm basswood were cut to form the shape of the casemates. These were then glued in place.

The excess 0.125"/3mm thick basswood at each end was carefully trimmed off the upper hull. Because Schleswig-Holstein had a very distinctive stepped-down stern, a small 0.25"/6mm section of the stern block was carefully sawn off.

Tabs/guides were then glued into place ...

... and the upper and lower parts of the hull were glued together.

The rough shapes of the bow and stern were then sawn off ...

... and then carefully sanded smooth.

Tab/guides for the superstructure were then glued into place.

The Superstructure
The superstructure was constructed in a very similar manner to that used to build the upper and lower parts of the hull.

The main part of the superstructure was constructed two 2.25"/5.7cm and four 0.5"/12.5mm long pieces of 0.5"/12.5mm x 0.5"/12.5mm basswood.

These were glued together to form a hollow rectangle. A 2"/5cm x 0.5"/12.5mm x 0.5"/12.5mm piece of basswood was glued to the front end of the hollow rectangle and a 2"/5cm x 0.5"/12.5mm x 0.25"/6mm piece of basswood was glued to the back end of the hollow rectangle ...

... thus.

A 2"/5cm x 3"/7.5cm x 0.25"/6mm piece of basswood was then glued to the top of the hollow rectangle to form the main part of the superstructure. A 2"/5cm x 1"/25mm x 0.25"/6mm piece of basswood was then glued across the end of the top of the block to form the rear of the superstructure and two pieces of 2"/5cm x 0.375"/9mm x 0.25"/6mm basswood were glued along the centre of the superstructure, forming a 'T' shaped raised area atop the superstructure.

The front and rear corners of the superstructure block were then cut off. (The corners were trimmed off at angle of 45 degrees. The front corners were trimmed off by 0.25"/6mm and the rear corners by 0.375"/9mm.)

1"/25mm long bridge wings made from 0.375"/9mm x 0.25"/6mm basswood were then glued to the front of the superstructure block and two pieces of 0.25" thick basswood were glued to either end of the superstructure block. The rearmost piece was 1.125"/28mm wide and the foremost piece was 1.375"/35mm wide. The outer edges of both pieces of basswood were rounded off before being glued into place.

A piece of 2"/5cm x 1"/2.5cm x 0.125"/3mm basswood was glued on top of the bridge wings and front end of the superstructure block after the front corners of the piece of basswood had been cut off at an angle of 45 degrees 0.5"/12.5mm from the back.

The rest of the superstructure components were then assembled. The bridge and distinctive foremast was constructed from a 0.75"/18mm x 0.75"/18mm x 0.625"/15mm block of basswood (the fore bridge), a 2.75"/7cm long piece of 0.375"/9mm dowel (the mast), a 0.75"/18mm long piece of 0.5"/12.5mm dowel (the fire director), a 0.5"/12.5mm x 0.375"/9mm x 0.25"/6mm basswood (the mast platform), and two short pieces of cocktail stick (one used to form the arms of the rangefinder and one to act as a support for the mast platform). 0.375"/9mm holes were drilled through the bridge block and the mast platform and into the fire director.

The rear mast was a 2.5"/6.25cm long piece of 0.375"/9mm dowel (the mast), which was to be fixed into a 0.75"/18mm x 0.75"/18mm x 0.625"/15mm block of basswood (the rear bridge). A 0.375"/9mm hole was drilled into the block to accept the lower end of the mast.

Note that short pieces of cocktail stick have been glued into several of the pieces, and corresponding holes have been drilled into the superstructure block. This assists in the correct placing of the pieces when assembly takes place and reinforces the glued joints.

The final parts of the superstructure to be constructed were the funnels. The foremost funnel has a very distinctive shape as it was the result of the original two funnels being trunked together. It was constructed from two pieces of 0.5"/12.5mm x 0.5"/12.5mm basswood (one of which was 1.5"/37.5mm long and the other [which was cut off at an angle of 45 degrees] was 0.75"/18mm long) and a piece of 0.375"/9mm x 0.5"/12.5mm x 1.5"/37.5mm basswood. The rearmost funnel was made from a piece of 0.5"/12.5mm x 0.5"/12.5mm x 1.5"/37.5mm basswood.

The edges of both funnels were rounded off to produce the 'flat-sided, rounded-ended' look of the original funnels.

The Turrets
Two turrets were constructed, and from the outset I decided that they would have to be capable of turning.

The main part of each turret was constructed from pieces of 0.375"/9mm x 0.1875"/4.75mm basswood. Three pieces (which formed outer sides of the turret and the middle part of the turret) were 1.5"/37.5mm long and two pieces (which were used as spacers) were 1"/25mm long.

These pieces of basswood were glued together and then glued to a piece of 1.5"/37.5mm x 0.9375"/24mm x 0.125"/3mm basswood. The latter formed the base of the turret.

Another piece of 1.5"/37.5mm x 0.9375"/24mm x 0.125"/3mm basswood was then glued to the top of the turret to form its roof.

The length of the turret was then reduced to 1.25"/31mm by sawing off 0.125"/3mm from each end of the turret. This was done to ensure that the end of the turret were flat prior to sanding. The corner of the turret were then rounded off by careful sanding.

A 0.09"/2.5mm hole was then drilled into the bottom of the turret and a 0.75"/18mm long piece of 0.09"/2.5mm diameter dowel was glued into the hole. This was to be used as the turret spigot around which the turret would be able to rotate.

A circular piece of 0.125"/3mm thick basswood (with a diameter of 1.5"/37.5mm) was then glued to the bottom of the turret, with the dowel placed through the centre point of the circle.

The gun barrels (which were 1"/25mm lengths of 0.1875"/4.75mm dowel) were then glued into the holes on the front face of the turret.

Final Assembly
All that remained was to bring the various parts together and assemble them.

First the superstructure block was glued to the hull. Two 0.125"/3mm diameter holes were drilled into the hull to accept the turret spigots.

The fore bridge, funnels, and rear bridge were then glued to the superstructure block. The foremast was also assembled, as was the fire director.

The fore and read masts were then glued in place and the turrets were mounted.

The main construction process was then complete and the model was ready for painting.

Finished ... at last!

The construction phase of my 'cartoon' model of the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein is now complete, and although there are one or two minor problems with the model, I am happy with the way it turned out.

The very old Airfix German officer figure gives some idea of how big the model is.

It is not a perfect scale model, but I hope that it has the captured the essence of the original ... and all in a model that is just 8"/20cm long!

The next stage is to coat the model in a coat or two of PVA to seal the surface, and then I can paint it.

A modern version of a classic German 'toy' battleship

Someone who happened upon my recent blog entries about building model warships that were influenced by the designs of German 'toy' battleships of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has sent me some wonderful photographs of a modern version of of a classic German 'toy' battleship that they are building. He has asked that I do not publish his name, but he has given me permission to publish the photographs of his model in its current (as yet unfinished) state.

The hull is made of fibreglass and the superstructure and guns are made from copper and soldered .015" brass.

It is truly awe inspiring ... and rather puts my own feeble efforts into the shade! I just wish that I had the time and the skill to build such models.

Nugget 251

The editor of THE NUGGET sent the latest issue to me yesterday, and I will be taking it to the printers this morning. I intend to collect it on Thursday and post it out to members of Wargame Developments on the same day if that is possible. If not, it will be in the post by the weekend and with members soon after.

I will upload the PDF versions of THE NUGGET and THE NUGGET COLOUR SUPPLEMENT so that they are available for all members to download from the Wargame Developments website as soon as I can after THE NUGGET has been posted.

Too busy modelling (and shopping) to blog!

I have spent quite a lot of today either working on my latest model ship or shopping with my wife.

The ship is finally beginning to take shape (no joke intended!), and the hull is almost complete, as are the gun turrets and the funnels. The main part of the superstructure has been constructed, but I have yet to start work on the bridge and the very distinctive pole foremast. The latter carried both searchlights on platforms (which I do not intend to try to model) and a fire control rangefinder at the top of the mast.

I hope to tackle the bridge and foremast tomorrow, and then begin to assemble all the pieces together ... hopefully by Tuesday afternoon.

What I dream that my model battleships will look like ...

I was doing some online image research about the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein and her sister ship, the Schlesien, when I came across a wonderful piece of video on YouTube. It shows a model of a pre-dreadnought battleship (named the Schlesien) that was inspired by the model ships produced by Bing at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century.

It has exactly the 'look' and 'style' that I want to achieve with my models. It is what I dream that my model battleships will look like ...

I can but hope.

Slow but steady

I spend the late morning and most of the afternoon driving to and from Herne Bay. My wife and I do this every fortnight or so to check on my father-in-law's bungalow, pick up any post, and do anything that needs doing. Today we paid a visit to the estate agent who is acting for my wife in the sale of her father's home, and we were told that there were several people who had visited the property and expressed an interest in buying it. Whether or not this 'interest' will turn into an offer to purchase has yet to be seen, but at least people are showing an interest ... and that is encouraging.

After lunch at Macari's Ice Cream Parlour (we both had cod and chips ... and the cod tasted very fresh indeed!) ...

... and a spell of retail therapy in Herne Bay's shops (I bought a couple of lengths of 0.5" x 32 x 36" balsa from the local newsagents), we came home and I was able to resume work on my latest ship model.

The progress on this project has been slow but steady. I have built the ship's main turrets, have constructed the upper and lower parts of the hull (it had to be constructed in this fashion so that I could ensure that the very distinctive casemates that house the secondary armament were represented), and begun work on the superstructure. By tomorrow the two parts of the hull will have been joined together and shaped, and I plan to complete as much of the rest of the work as I can by the end of Sunday. Whether I manage it remains to be seen ... but that is the plan that I am trying to stick to.

An eBay bargain!

I happened to be looking for something on eBay earlier this week ... and saw an out-of-production Matchbox die cast gull winged monoplane for sale. I thought that the model had potential for use as a generic interwar fighter aircraft. The opening bid was £0.25 ... so I put a bid in ... and won!

The model needs to be cleaned up and repainted, but once it is it will fill a niche in my small collection of interwar aircraft.

Not bad for £0.25 and the price of the postage and packing!

Getting carried away

I am really enjoying building my latest warship model ... BUT as I have been building it I have realised that I am in great danger of getting carried away with trying to build models that are just too detailed.

My prototype 'Monopoly'-inspired model battleship was very 'generic' in outline, and its design could easily have been modified to represent most late ironclad/pre-dreadnought battleships.

Before starting my current building project I had begun work on a follow-up to my prototype 'Monopoly'-inspired model battleship ... and I had started to add a few more details as I went. These additions had increased the time it was taking to build the model, and I suppose that I had subconsciously already begun to realise that I was starting down a path that would lead to me ending up with fewer, more detailed model ships ... and that this was not part of my original plan.

In a recent email to me David Crook suggested that what was really needed was a set of pre-cut hulls and fittings (superstructure, funnels, turrets, and a mast or two) that could be quickly assembled and painted. He cited examples of just such kits for model liners that could be bought in shops such as Hobbycraft. This makes a lot of sense, and I understand that he knows of someone who could possibly produce such kits of parts relatively cheaply.

Yet more food for thought methinks!

PS. I bought a copy of MARINE MODELLING INTERNATIONAL magazine earlier this week, and managed to read it today.

One of the articles it contained was about building a 1:72nd-scale model of HMS Campbeltown at the time of the St Nazaire Raid. The builder – Don Lewis – made the hull of his model from balsa which he covered before painting with small pieces of brown wrapping paper and PVA. After painting he described it as being 'durable and ding proof.'

This sounds like an excellent idea ... and might mean that I could build any future warship models from cheaper – and easier to work – balsa rather than basswood.

All Our Yesterdays

When I was growing Granada TV used to screen a programme entitled 'All Our Yesterdays'. It was introduced by notable journalists of the time (James Cameron [1960 to 1961] and Brian Inglis [1961 to 1973]) and featured film newsreels for 25 years before. From September 1964 onwards these concentrated on World War II, and I remember seeing film of a German battleship firing at a Polish fortress right at the beginning of the war.

This sequence came to mind as I was going to sleep last night (it was actually the modernised pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein firing at the Polish fortress at Westerplatte on 1st September 1939) and it struck me that she would make a good starting point for my current warship modelling 'project within a project'.

Schleswig-Holstein was one of the five Deutschland-class battleships that were built and entered service just after HMS Dreadnought had been commissioned. As a result she was brand new and obsolete at the same time. She survived service during the First World War and was one of the eight pre-dreadnought battleships the Reichsmarine was permitted to retain for coastal defence. She was modernised in the mid 1920s and again in 1932, and after the latter she became a training ship for the expanding Kriegsmarine.

She took an active part during the early stages of World War II (including the invasion of Denmark) and it was planned to use her in a gunfire support role during Operation Sealion. When the invasion of Britain did not take place she returned to role as a training ship until the middle of 1944 when her anti-aircraft armament was considerably strengthened and she was moved to Gotenhafen (modern day Gdynia) and used as an anti-aircraft ship. She was bombed by the RAF in December 1944 and sank in shallow water. As a result her anti-aircraft guns continued to be operational until the ship was gutted by fire, and when Soviet ground forces reached Marienburg, she was scuttled by her crew. The hulk was raised after the war and later broken up in Tallinn.