Introduction

With a strong interest in maritime history, I have always been fascinated with the large-scale (1:100 scale) ship models in maritime museums. Over the years I noticed that all the models of this scale that I had seen, seem to predominantly be sailing ships and passenger steamers. As my primary interest in Imperial Germany (1871 to 1918), I wondered through the years why there were no large-scale 1st war battleship models? But eventually I discovered that the hobby of building large-scale battleships is exceptionally active in Europe. At some point I gained access to numerous photographs of incredibly detailed museum quality 1st war battleship models, and decided (much to my wife's horror) that I would like to build one to the same quality. There is one particular ship that I have always been interested in, that being the S.M.S. Pommern, which was one of the five Imperial German Deutschland class battleships, built between 1903 and 1906 which was lost with all hands at the battle of Jutland on the 1st of June 1916. I have always liked the look of the Deutschland-Klasse (Germany Class) as they seem to be bristling with guns. Although many ships of this scale are motorized and are equipped to sail with remote control, I decided to build a static display model to display with my original Imperial German Navy artifacts. For that reason, you will not see any of the steps associated with incorporating motors and remote control equipment on this project. I did not need the added stress for a model that will never see water. As is a common character flaw with myself, once this idea was sparked there was no turning back. It is important to clarify here that at the time I knew absolutely nothing about building a wooden ship model from plans alone, nor was I aware of the scope of such a commitment. It is with the virtue of naivety that I waded into the depths of this project. This was part of the attraction, to see if I could do it. I am sure that there are better techniques to accomplish much of what I have done, but these are the methods that I developed. I would ask that experienced ship model builders who may see this web site, forgive my crude methods. This project began as I begin all projects, gathering information and options. Through Amazon.com and other on-line booksellers, I purchased a considerable number of books on ship model building, but discovered that these books did not really address the zero-experience ship model builder such as myself. At the same time, a significant period of time was spent searching the internet for basic information on how to build a battleship model, but like the books I had purchased, I was unable to find much of anything that was useful. There were no straightforward instructions on how to take a set of plans and turn them into a large-scale model. This was a great disappointment, as I was left trying to figure out how to do most of this on my own, especially as I had never built a ship model before and really had no idea what I was doing. It turns out, that I really had no idea what I was getting myself into either. This project would not have had a hope of ever being started or completed without the assistance and encouragement from two gentlemen who are artists in the field of Battleship Model construction. They are Herr Peter Lienau and Herr Friedhelm Wahl. This page is dedicated to them. I am honored to have been mentored by these two fine craftsmen. I have also obtained some superb advice and assistance from Herr Lothar Wischmeyer, Herr Friedrich Prinz, Mr. Bill Waldorf, and Mr. Kurt Greiner. Without their assistance, I am quite sure this model would very different and lack considerably in accuracy. If you are attempting to build a battleship model for the first time, I hope this page is of use. As always, comments or questions are always welcome. Tony

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