Lego Battle for the Bismarck | stopmotion + cgi

On May 26, 1941, Bismarck, the German battleship, was heading towards France for repairs, after she sustained minor damage during the Battle of the Denmark Strait; the battle in which Bismarck, with the help of the battleship Prinz Eugen, sank the British battlecruiser, HMS Hood.
The British had been tailing Bismarck for the following two days, and on the night of May 26, began their attack.
A group of torpedo planes were sent to strike Bismarck, and although, when released, most of the torpedoes missed the ship entirely, one managed to hit Bismarck's stern and disable her rudder, preventing the battleship from continuing on her course.
British ships began closing in on Bismarck, who was now incapable of outmaneuvering them.
The following morning, the British began their final assault by firing hundreds of shells into the Bismarck, who, tried to retaliate, but due to her broken rudder, was unable to maintain a steady course, which prevented her guns from firing accurately at the enemy ships.
Soon, the relentless shelling began to seriously damage the battleship, and she began taking on water.
With the fate of Bismarck now certain, the commanding officer gave the order to abandon ship; the crew then primed scuttling charges and jumped overboard.
Shortly thereafter, Bismarck sank beneath the Atlantic waves, taking the vast majority of her crew down with her.

[farisirizevak]

I remember they interviewed the pilot that dropped the torpedo that sealed the Bismarcks fate. He recalled how his spotter leaned down over the side to look. The fact you researched that detail is quite lovely

[forrestfire]

This is incredible! The animation is so great. You've got to do a behind-the-scenes on this one, would love to know how you achieved some of these special effects

[GreyWolfLeaderTW]

Cool Fact of the Day:
Yes, the bombardier of the last Swordfish to make an attack run on Bismarck did lean over and hang upside down from the side of his plane to guide the pilot and aim the torpedo in to its target.
It was that last torpedo that made the one-in-a-million Achilles heel hit on Bismarck's rudders (as Bismarck had previously made a one-in-a-million lucky hit on Hood's aft magazines), destroying one of them and wrapping the other around her center screw, making sea repairs for her steering impossible and sealing her fate.

[thefancytiefling]

The fact that your Lego models and the way that you shot this is more accurate than I've seen from most AAA games and even movies is astounding

[LCMhistory]

Stunning detalisation. And I can imagine the amount of backstage work... how you checked the interiors of the ship? CGI is just awesome. Like a professional History channel video.

[turtlesrprettycool]

Everything about this is so amazingly cool, the water, the machinery, the accuracy, truly a great animation.

[leepenney]

Aside from the animation and other effects, can we all take a second to appreciate the shot selections. Truly cinematic and really adds to the action. Great work

[aramisdagaz]

The John Williams-esque music really helps make this awesomely animated video all the more exciting by bringing a bit of Star Wars back to its WWII roots.

[nickfromSRG]

reading about the bismarck got me into history when i was like 6-7 years old, so this is extra epic+cool - love the classical star wars-like music, it really connects the ww2 inspirations found throughout that franchise somehow :)

[timmy]

This was exceptional, but one of the highlights was the attention to detail with the shell loading mechanism and the rammer pushing the cordite propellant charge in after.

Great stuff, you really captured the feel of the old Sink The Bismarck movie, even though it’s in colour it has a greyscale quality to the overall aesthetic which is lovely.

[michinomiya]

*Historically Accurate*

Although Bismarck had been damaged in the engagement with Hood and forced to reduce speed, she was still capable of reaching 27 to 28 knots (50 to 52 km/h; 31 to 32 mph), the maximum speed of Tovey's King George V. Unless Bismarck could be slowed, the British would be unable to prevent her from reaching Saint-Nazaire. Shortly before 16:00 on 25 May, Tovey detached the aircraft carrier Victorious and four light cruisers to shape a course that would position her to launch her torpedo bombers.

At 22:00, Victorious launched the strike, which comprised six Fairey Fulmar fighters and nine Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of 825 Naval Air Squadron, led by Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde. The inexperienced aviators nearly attacked Norfolk and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Modoc on their approach; the confusion alerted Bismarck's anti-aircraft gunners.

Bismarck also used her main and secondary batteries to fire at maximum depression to create giant splashes in the paths of the incoming torpedo bombers. None of the attacking aircraft were shot down. Bismarck evaded eight of the torpedoes launched at her, but the ninth, combined with fuel losses and increasing bow trim, forced the ship to slow to 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). Divers repaired the collision mats in the bow, after which speed increased to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), the speed that the command staff determined was the most economical for the voyage to occupied France.

With the port rudder jammed, Bismarck was now steaming in a large circle, unable to escape from Tovey's forces. Though fuel shortages had reduced the number of ships available to the British, the battleships King George V and Rodney were still available, along with the heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and Norfolk.

The ships encountered Bismarck at 22:38; the battleships quickly engaged one to the other with the main batteries, Bismarck dealing light damage to the British pursuers and the British guns dealing massive damage that rendered the Bismarck beyond no hope, and taking about some 3, 500 lives with her to the bottom of the Atlantic.

*And thus, marks the end of the terror of the seas, the pride of the Kriegsmarine*

[PUBHEAD]

This was more exciting, epic, suspenseful, emotional and entertaining than anything put out by Hollywood in the past decade

[Kisseyhersh]

Favorite little detail is how at 1:16, the shots are actually coming from their respective guns, and not just random points on the ship. That level of attention and care is awesome.

[CountDoDo]

3:33 it's pretty amazing how that one precise torpedo strike sealed the Bismarck's fate, the pilot of the plane who dropped that torpedo was called John Moffat. He is widely credited as 'the man who sank the Bismarck' Another amazing scene you could have added was where Captain Lindermann saluted at the bow when the ship went under.

[marthaswinehart]

Such a good animation just imagine if he remade his d-day with CGI that would be amazing! But how smooth everything is and it isn't blocky how most other stop motion videos are 30/10

[Armoredcompany]

This was pretty great. Especially liked the touch of making the King George IV and Rodney look like their distinct designs.

[ribbitminecraft]

The Bismarck was doomed as soon as the ammunition locker on the HMS Hood detonated. Great animation once again, JD.

Who else loved Extra History’s series on the Bismarck?

[dr.marshal]

The details, both visual and historical are incredible! As a devotee of Legos and historical events, I thank you for this content.

[shitpostingstudio]

Did this man fr just make a fluid water animation to fill in the insides of the lego?

This man is on another level.

[toniperoni]

As a person who has watched every documentary over the Bismarck ever, I love this. The historical accuracy is wild.