Here you will find information and pictures about the Tirpitz-LEGO Project. The objective is to build a model of the famous and largest battleship ever build in Germany with LEGO bricks in a 1:48 scale. The model should have all the interieur as best as known and possible and motorized parts like the propellors, the main and second armament, the 10.5' AA guns. All the 22 sections are build seperately and so are the different decks for inside viewing experiences. The model is still unfinished but you may have a look at the current achievement and the progress so far. Regular updates will keep you informed. So come back often if you are interested. If you want to give a hint or if you have something valuable to contribute just contact me. If you just want to say hello it is also o.k. :-) Have fun while watching the pics.

Pics of the week AA batteries turned upwards AA batteries level 105mm AA batterie turning

June 6, 2010 (271,276+ bricks used)

May 2, 2010 (271,276+ bricks used)

9 out of 22 parts of the lower platform deck are built with real bricks now. This sums up to ~29,000 bricks. So roughly 10% of the ship is built. Lots of corrections to the virtual model have to be implemented. Some things cannot be seen in vitual reality but when you build things they suddenly appear. But right now everything went fine for the drive mechanism. New brick orders are placed and I have to wait some days for the new bricks to be delivered.

Apr. 25, 2010 (271,276+ bricks used)

The stowage level is finshed now. The first sections of the lower platform deck are also built. Right now the complete drive mechanism is to be built and tested because I want to see rotating propellors at the end :-)

Apr. 18, 2010 (271,276+ bricks used)

The stowage level is nearly completely built. It will have 20,709 bricks and 16,378 are built. It is a little bit boring as all these bricks are red but all the bricks needed are here so I will finish it soon. The plans from the Greenwich National Maritime Museum arrived here and they are of great detail. They are much better than every plan I had before. So I think I have to redesign some areas of the upper deck and above. So far no progress on the virtual model but the lower platform deck redesign will be the next step.

Apr. 11, 2010 (271,276+ bricks used)

The stowage section is now completely reworked. All connectors and all visible studs are now eliminated as well as all parts that I used but are hard to buy. The building instructions for the stowage level is finshed. Have a look at the stowage level section for new rendered pictures. For the remaining parts of the ship I stopped building because someone told me that there are good plans in a 1/100 scale at Greenwich National Maritime Museum. These plans might be a lot more detailed than any other source I used. So I wait for the eight plans to be delivered here before I continue building the ship. For the stowage level I did not expect changes so started building the stowage level with real bricks as already stated two weeks ago. Now I have 10,000 bricks in place and wait for the next brick delivery to be able to continue the work. So there might be some changed in the interior during the next weeks.

Mar. 28, 2010 (271,276 bricks used)

During the last week there was no progress on the virtual model, sorry. Instead I started phase 2 of designing and developed the connectors between the sections and the visual enhancing of the decks and sections. Stowage level, lower platform deck and middle platform deck from section XXII to XIX are enhanced. To test all things out the real model building started also this week. The stowage level on sections XXII to XVIII is finished (~3,000 bricks). I hope that I can start integrating real photos beginning with the next update. So hope to see you next week here.

Mar. 21, 2010 (271,276 bricks used)

Now the funnel is nearly complete. With it's many details it is really difficult to build. There are still some details missing like the cranes and the searchlight covers. Section XIII now is connected to the funnel and the foremast is built. Only four decks in section XIII and some details on other sections are missing. 90% of the ship should be done right now. The final model will have around 300,000 parts. I am sure that this is the largest fully virtual LEGO model of the world and the most detailed LEGO battleship.

Mar. 14, 2010 (259,873 bricks used)

The grand mast is done. With an elevation of > 130cm it will be the highest point of the ship. Section XIII reached > 70 cm and I come closer to the end of the first design phase. With some sections beeing that large the standard picture distance of 80cm from the center of the section is not sufficient any more for them. On section X (grand mast) I already doubled the disctance. Now only the funnel and the remaining decks of section XIII are missing (admirals deck and up). So I expect to reach the end in two weeks.

Mar. 7, 2010 (251,384 bricks used)

Good news! I solved my equipment problem. With Windows 7 Prof. 64Bit and 8GB of RAM I am now able to render all sections again. The missing section pictures are calculated and you can find them on the usual pages. The lower bridge deck is now finished. On the stern side of the ship I built parts of the "after fire control" deck. This includes submodels of some optical equipment like the target giver (see pics of the week or submodel page). The first mast comes together with the 10.5m rangefinder. This large submodel is mounted on section VIII and is now the highest elevation of the ship (>80cm). Now more than 250,000 bricks are working together to form one of the largest battle ships ever built.

Feb. 28, 2010 (244,276 bricks used)

The first deck is finished now and slowly I run into the limitations of my equipment. For 5 sections POVray can not render the section pictures any more because it runs out of memory. So I am sorry that there are no new pictures for those sections this week (sections VIII, X, XI, XIII and XV). This problem might be solved with my new computer. But thanks to Dell and a more than crappy customer service and delivery policy they are not able to deliver a notebook to me since November (!). I will never buy there again and I recommend to buy other products. They do not care what their customers want (what a shame).

Feb. 21, 2010 (232,071 bricks used)

Finally the hull is finished. The three anchors at the bow and lots of deck equipment are added to make the model more realistic. I changed the deck planks' color to orange-brown but this seems to be not the final choice :-). The upper deck is completed and fully furnished. You will find the pictures of the upper deck in its section now. Because of the massive changes all section pictures are new. Have fun :-)

Feb. 14, 2010 (214,508 bricks used)

Now lots more than 200,000 bricks are used! All big turrets are mounted and the hull is nearly finished. Only two sections (XXI and XXII) to build and than I will continue with the superstructure.

Feb. 7, 2010 (197,492 bricks used)

The 200,000 bricks are nearly reached. Next week the Tirpitz will consist of more bricks than the famous Yamato. All 15cm turrets are mounted and Sections I to XIV are finished up to the upper deck.

Jan. 31, 2010 (184,542 bricks used)

I hope the new layout will make things easier for you to navigate. Finally I got the renderer to work with the section models. You should have a look at the section pages and the submodels. The 15cm turret is also mounted as well as the torpedo tubes.

Jan. 24, 2010 (177,347 bricks used)

Now the sections VII and VIII are finished up to the main deck. There is still lots of work to do. Next week the first 15cm turrets will be designed (I am currently working on it).

Jan. 17, 2010 (170,760 bricks used)

After that many weeks of building I think today I reached a milestone by creating the hull of the main turrets. The mechanism to move them is still to be designed so currently they are sill empty. But I think they look really good and slowly the shape of the ship becomes visible. Four 2cm Flak are mounted and the first accomodation ladder can be seen on backboard side.

Jan. 10, 2010 (160,873 bricks used)

Now the Main Armour deck is finished and the high resolution pics of it can be found in the details section. For the first three sections I reached the main deck now. I am happy with my flagg staff design and especially I like the stern anchor which sticks inside the hull. I guess for a good looking chain Lego is not really usable.

Jan. 3, 2010 (149,138 bricks used)

A happy new year 2010 for all of you out there! I guess this will be the year when my model will be finished, at least as virtual model ;-) I am now nearly finished with the Main Armour Deck (in German: Zwischendeck). Only section XV and XVI are missing and I will add the deck high resolution pictures when they are done. Nearly 150,000 parts are now built and the hull comes closer to its finish. Above the Main Armour Deck there is only the Battery deck between me and the upper deck. I am really eager to leave the hull now after weeks of building it ... But the turrets are still to be designed and as they are one of the most important parts I guess I will have to really take care about the design.

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