DKM Tirpitz
by Joe Rocha

1/350 DKM Tirpitz (Lindberg)

This model was found in thirty feet of water after sinking twenty-five years earlier in a Arkansas pond. The story goes that when the original builder launched this model shortly after building it in the summer of 1977,he realized something was wrong and he waded out to retrieve it but it sank before he can reach it.

Twenty-five years later,his brother's friends went diving in the same lake looking for a sunken canoe when they found the Tirpitz laying on the bottom. The model was returned to the unbelieving original owner.A couple of years later,he decided to put it up for auction on Ebay and now it's display at my place.

The model is pretty much the way I recieved it, but I wanted to keep that 'just salvaged'look. I painted the unpainted plastic with Tamiya German gray. The original camouflage paint was kept, but masked to sharpen up the handpainted camo. The faded red hull bottom was left alone but a black waterline was added. Real rust from the electric motor covered the hull and superstructure, and this was preserved as much as possible. Soot from the fried motor had poured out from the funnel and forward superstructure, and this was also left in place. All the main guns, most of the secondary guns, and the smaller AA batteries were still attached but one of the midship secondary turrets was missing. This was replaced with one from a donor kit. Additional AA guns and tubs were added onto the deck, Bruno turret and superstructures. The white paint on main guns had come off in some places, but what remained of the paint was left intact. The barrels and turrets were painted gray, and the barrels were drilled out. The portholes on the superstructure and hull were also drilled out. I added new seaplane hangers to either side of the funnel structure and mounted a second Arado floatplane with folded wings inside the starboard hanger. Any small parts that were missing were replaced with new pieces or scratch-built with Evergreen plastic.

The good thing is that the hull didn't have holes from firecrackers or a BB gun. I sealed up the middle propeller shaft and installed new propellers. I then weathered the model above the deck with rust to match the real rust on the hull. This model has a neat story to it and I wanted to share it others in the gallery.

It has been a neat conversation piece since then. It is still being worked on during some free time. The motor is gone and the turret and steering mechanisms have long been removed and there are no plans to add a motor. It is for static display only.