1/700 Prinz Eugen 1942 (Trumpeter)

This is the first model I have made in several decades and the first with Photo Etch super detailing... ever. I spent many hours choosing a subject, eventually deciding upon the Prinz Eugen from Trumpeter. Once having bought the kit I then plumped for the PE kit from Eduard. Having viewed many hundreds of models at this scale on this website for a lot of years, I decided I would try it myself, I thought ‘how hard could it be?’

Well, first of all no one told me that I would be working with nanotechnology at a molecular level. Like sub atomic particles the PE parts did not obey the normal rules of physics, often and frequently departing from the norms of classical mechanics. My first attempt to separate a tiny metal part from its sprue resulted in the said part hurtling off like a super-charged particle in the Hadron Collider, never to be seen again. Once having discovered how to keep this from happening, my initial efforts to fix a PE part to the ship proved equally difficult with the part stubbornly refusing to stick to the appropriate place but insisting on spot welding itself to the tweezers, toothpick or scalpel. It was a very sharp learning curve.

I chose the 1942 version of the warship to depict her at the time of the Channel Dash in February 1942. However, I discovered well into the construction that the camouflage pattern most likely dates from later in the same month when she was based in Norway. Too late to make a change and in any case I liked the look of it. One criticism of the Trumpeter kit, the decals were too fiddly for the likes of me. I understand (and sympathize with) the motives for splitting the swastika into two halves but I found it impossible to line the two decals up successfully, so I made my own. Yet bizarrely I was very successful in attaching the microscopic decals to the plane, I was pessimistic about the outcome but thought I would give it a go anyway with surprisingly good (for me) results. I also made some small parts myself principally the four antennas protruding from the bridge superstructure. As for the rigging I decided only to show the main lines because I did not want to overcrowd the ship with rigging that cannot be seen in even the most detailed photographs of the actual ship. As reference I used ‘Prinz Eugen Plans and References’ here. The rigging was made from stretched sprue and the sea from plaster of Paris, painted and varnished on a glass base.

Nevertheless the building of the ship was enjoyable and the result I think was worth all the trouble. Despite being very methodical and taking
my time (ten months to build) I still contrived to make many mistakes which will be all too apparent to those in the know. However, these errors maybe obscured by the low quality of my photographic skills, for which I apologize.

I am indebted to other modellers who have posted pictures of their models of this ship on this website, these I found to be extremely useful.

Gallery updated 12/9/2015

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