Martin -The only build with motors I have seen so far is the one on the buildthebismarck.co.uk site from the german guy, though its not a on line build but more the promotion of his three motor set-up with a few photos & detail posted of what he has achieved, good idea for a compilation list
Daryl -
The small prop shaft i suspect is to hang the centre non working prop on.
Germany are at issue 40 and cant see any mention of any RC installation so far in there previews.
Battery/cell pack, so far no mention what so ever of the batt pack required or and a charger for that matter (if you dont already have one), my guess is that this will be an item you have to source for yourselves as surely it should have come with there RC pack or as another additional item to buy, I have just emailed Amati the direct question on this so watch this space.
The RC gear from hachette will be on a pay for it in advance basis at some pont along the way, if you compare the 169 Euro being asked in Germany that means it will be around the £115 mark in the UK, not sure if it is good value for a very basic set-up.
Yes the German drive train does seem to differ slighlty from what has been pictured in the UK pull-out part that came with issue 1, Germany seem to have Graupner Speed motors yet the UK ones seem unbranded, not sure about the props, rudders, gears, esc & radio set as the photo only shows the prop shafts & motors, my guess is that the radio set will definately be the Thunder Tiger one shown in Germany as this is what Hachette have been supplying for all there RC product of late, they seem to have some tie-up with Thunder Tiger on RC product.
Possibly your right about the RC installation detail being supplied with the RC pack, it does say on the pull-out leaflet 'we will show you how to modify your ship for the RC version', this suggests it is an afterthought and as such will be installed very late on in the series
Recommend we all keep a very close eye on what is being supplied against photos shown, partworks have a habbit of supplying inferior version's of components shown at the outset, not sure what we can do about it as they do have a get-out clause allowing them to do this ???
Its turning out to be a right can of worms ::)