1/350 DKM Scharnhorst (Dragon)

Building Dragon´s 1/350 DKM Scharnhorst Operation "Cerberus" 1942
Text and images: Rainer Michalek, IG Waterline

Many years ago I received the Airfix Scharnhorst kit as a Christmas present from my parents. The kit was assembled very crudely the next day – those were the days ...!! Later on I learned that my grandmother’s cousin had perished when the Scharnhorst was sunk in the Battle of the North Cape, so I gave her the model. Fast forward many years: When I learned that Dragon had produced a new state of the art Scharnhorst kit in 1:350 scale, I was very excited and tried all I could to get a review sample. When I received it, I did not regret it!

The kit:
Dragon has again raised the bar with this kit, beginning with the most informative box illustrations showing CAD images of the subassemblies. Lifting the lid discloses 29 sprues with 1,300 parts waiting to be assembled. Dragon´s commitment to detail is visible throughout the kit and I can say that it made my heart beat faster. The deck is cleverly divided so no unsightly seams will remain. The hull has a waterline option and is engraved just as beautifully as the rest of the parts. The kit also includes five frets of etched brass and a display stand for the full hull version. The informative instruction sheet details construction in 19 steps. Colour callouts are for Model Master paints, the supplied camo scheme is that worn during operation „Eastern Front” in 1943. The decal sheet comprises flags and aircraft markings. As no rigging plan is supplied, a good plan will have to be bought separately. Apart from this minor quibble it’s a superlative kit.

History:
Scharnhorst was built in Wilhelmshaven. She was launched on 3 October, 1936, and commissioned on 7 January, 1939. She sunk the armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi on 23 November, 1939. On 9 April 1940, she and her sister ship Gneisenau fought the British battlecruiser HMS Renown off Norway. On 8 June, 1940, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sunk the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and two escorting destroyers. On 22 January, 1941, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau embarked on a raid lasting 60 days during which 22 merchant vessels - displacing 115.000 ts - were sunk.

This operation ended on 22 March, 1941 in Brest, where Scharnhorst sustained bomb damage in July which was repaired in August. The air threat situation in Brest becoming untenable, the two battleships were secretly returned to German waters from 11-13 February 1942. This daring dash through the English channel was known as Operation „Cerberus“.

In March of 1943, Scharnhorst was deployed to Norway. From 6-9 September, 1943, she participated in Operation „Sicily“, the German raid on Spitsbergen. On 26 December, 1943, she was deployed against the convoy JW-55B off the North Cape. Here, Scharnhorst encountered a superior British battle group in very poor weather. Very soon in the action, Scharnhorst´s radar set was destroyed, rendering her unable to fire effectively. After sustaining thirteen hits of 14 inch shells and fourteen torpedo hits, Scharnhorst sank. 1,803 of her crew lost their lives, only 36 were saved.

Specifications:
Length 236 metres
Beam 30 metres
Draught 10.5 metres
Displacement 31,850 / 38,900 t
Propulsion :Twelve Wagner boilers, three sets of BBC geared turbines on three propellers 160,000 hp  =  31.5 knots Range: 10,000 nm
Armament: 9 x 28 cm / 12 x 15 cm / 14 x 10.5 cm AA / 16 x 37 mm AA / 38 x 20 mm AA / 6 TT 53.3 cm / 4 Ar 196 seaplanes / Complement 1,800

Building the model:
Due to the overall good fit, construction proceeded fast. All plastic parts were glued using Tamiya´s liquid glue. For PE parts, super glue was used. The only weak point (literally) is the styrene main mast, which does not stand the pull of the rigging and will bend. A machined brass substitute would be very helpful. I had my replacement  mast machined by BMK Kleinserien of Germany.

Paints used: Revell 6 flat black, Humbrol 34 flat white, Revell flat 77 medium grey, Revell satin 374 light grey, Revell 57 flat dark grey, Humbrol flat 66 red, Revell 9 flat anthracite, WEM CC 01 Teak.

Photography:
I wondered how to adequately present this model, until I followed an idea I had when I sculpted the sea base for my earlier Yamato model. Looking at that kit´s box art, I saw a heavy sea under a dark, overcast sky – I wanted to simulate that atmosphere. So I took a piece of blue wallpaper and started painting it with various shades of grey. Later on, I simulated a sunset using reddish hues. The result is astonishingly close to images of real ships, provided a frameless base is used, so no frame will distract from the effect. Moreover, an upward viewing angle should be used in taking the images, as if the photographer had sat in a ships boat. As regards lighting, only natural or artificial lighting should be used – never a flash, as it kills the effect and will distort the colours.

Conclusion:
This is a wonderful kit of the Scharnhorst which is more than good value for money. Loads of modelling fun is to be had for a retail price of around 120 €.

References:
1:200 Scharnhorst plan set

(translated from German to English by Frank Spahr )
 

Gallery updated 2012

© ModelWarships.com