Shar2 Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 German Type IXc U-Boat 1:72 Revell HistoryThe Type IX U-boat was designed by Germany in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for Europe. The extended range came at the cost of longer dive times and decreased manoeuvrability, which is why the smaller Type VII was produced in greater numbers and used for the bulk of operations. Type IXs had six torpedo tubes; four at the bow and two at the stern. They carried six reloads internally and had five external torpedo containers (three at the stern and two at the bow) which stored ten additional torpedoes. The total of 22 torpedoes allowed U-boat commanders to follow a convoy and strike night after night.Secondary armament was provided by one large Utof 105/45 gun with about 110 rounds. Anti-aircraft armament differed throughout the war.The Type IXc was a further refinement of the class with storage for an additional 43 tonnes of fuel, increasing the boat's range. This IXc also had the control room periscope omitted leaving the boats with two tower scopes. The 105mm gun was also removed after 1943 as it was deemed unnecessary for the operations then being carried out. As mine-layers they could carry 44 TMA or 66 TMB mines, though U-162 through U-170 and U-505 through U-550 (35 boats), were not fitted for mine operations. One IXc carries the distinction of being the only U-boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, U-166.U-505 survives at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and as of 2005 has been completely renovated.The ModelAs with Revells earlier kits of the Type VIIc and Type VIIc/41 this kit comes in a large, sturdy top opening box with and artists impression of U-505 on the surface with a Grumman Avenger circling in the background, showing the moment when the submarine surrendered to the US Navy. Inside, under a cardboard shelf there are the four parts that make up the hull and a poly bag containing 10 sprues of light grey styrene and 3 deck pieces. There is also a small decal sheet, a paper sheet of flags and a reel of black cotton included.The moulding of all parts is very clean, with no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips. Detail looks to be very well done with the associated hull openings shown as quite deep indentations and plenty of rivets for even the most fastidious modeller to count. It is a shame that the flood vents and openings in the hull havent been moulded open and a representative pressure hull included, but this may be due to the fact that the kit isnt aimed at just the professional modeller, but all levels, thus some shortcuts have been taken. That said Im sure that the aftermarket companies will come up with something that will really enhance the finished model and for the more experienced to go to town on it. That said, the details on all the parts does look really good and with some careful painting and weathering it should be made into a great and certainly impressively large model. The only real difficulty to be seen is the attachment of the stern section to the main hull section as the break isnt on a natural hull line, although the dry fitting does show that it shouldnt require too much filler, just be careful not to remove the rivets and plate lines when sanding. Construction begins with the assembly of the foreward tubes out of eh main bulkhead with the tube openings, three sub-decks and two longitudinal bulkheads. The aft tubes are constructed from the tube bulkhead, a two part internal bulkhead and the deckhead. The foreward tubes are then sandwiched between the main hull halves along with two strengthening bulkheads about one third and two thirds of the length. The aft tubes are then fitted between the two aft hull parts with a bulkhead near the hull joint position. The two hull sections are then joined together and the seam carefully filled and sanded. There is a long stand which can be assembled at this point to help with the rest of the build. With the hull turned upside down the three piece sonar dome is attached to the front of the keel whilst the two piece foreplanes, bow doors, which can be posed either open or closed and the boats anchor are fitted. Moving aft, a pair of two piece prop shaft fairings are fitted, one per side adjacent to the rear of the keel, followed by the prop shafts, A frame supports and props. The stern torpedo doors can then be attached, again either open or closed. The two piece stern planes are then attached, with the two rudders and their support frame being the last to be fitted. With the hull upright the three deck sections are fitted and the joins carefully filled and sanded to prevent any loss of detail, although they are fitted at natural joins this time so there shouldnt be too much to do. The two 20mm cannon mounts are then assembled out of the base, two part pedestal and traversing hand wheel. The cannon themselves are then built up with the twin barrels, ammunition cartridges, gun mount, elevating mount, shoulder rests and pintle attached. Next in the sequence is the assembly of the single 37mm mounting. This consists of the barrel, two piece pedestal/base, splinter shield and associated mounting beams, two seat mounts, seats and two pairs of hand wheels, making up a nicely detailed unit. The build then moves onto the large tower. The upper tower halves are joined together and a panel fitted to the starboard side. The command deck and 37mm mounting deck are fitted to the two piece lower tower section. The upper tower can then be fitted to the lower and the upper and lower winter garden deck attached. There are a number of panels to be fitted to the inside of the forward upper tower, including the radar stowage and compass shelf. Further details such as the conning tower hatch, with locking wheel and the voice tubes and spray coaming are added forward whilst the rear deck supports are added aft. Staying aft of the tower there are three racks fitted each containing a life raft, along with two access ladders and the individual ladder rungs up the starboard side of the tower. Six sections of handrail are attached around the tower and five sections of guardrail are fitted around the towers gun decks, with the flag staff in the centre of the upper tower railing. The tower is completed with the fitting of the two piece periscope housing, into which the two periscopes are slotted and between which there is a two piece lookout rail. The radar, with individual di-poles is fitted to the housing on the port side, a number of smaller items and finally, the three gun mounts assembled earlier in the build. The whole assembly is then affixed into position on the main deck. Construction of the sub is completed with the fitting of the hand rails around the tower on the main deck, the fore and aft deck hatches, bollards and rear aerial supports. The aerials are to made out of the cotton provided, but it may be better to use something that doesnt look quite so furry. Fortunately in this kit Revell have provided the isolation fixings for the aerials foreward where it splits from one to three. DecalsThe single smallish decal sheet has markings for U-505 from before she was captured and after, once the US Navy ratings had added their own slogan on the front of the tower. There are also identification decals for the stand which fit into their respective indentations. The decals look like they have been printed in house and are quite thick, with a fair amount of carrier film between the letters, but should sit well once your favourite softening and setting solutions have been used. The paper flags include two sizes of US Stars and Stripes, plus several signal pennants, and the German Naval Ensign, without swastika of course, but these can easily be acquired. ConclusionThis is a great looking kit and will build into an impressively sized model. OOB and patient painting and weathering it will look fantastic, but with more effort it could be built into a masterpiece with, say the flood holes opened up and a representative pressure hull scratch built and maybe the addition of some crew. Also it could be the basis of a number of conversions. If the tower was swapped with that of the Type VIIc you could build a Type IX or Type IXb and fit a 105mm gun on the moulded mounting point in front of the tower, whilst making the Type VIIc a late war version. You could even fix a rack of five Stuka Zu Fuss rockets on the aft casing for the Peenemunde trials. Whatever you doing it you wont regret building one, well apart from the storage or display issues. Highly recommended. My thanks goes to Dave, (Panzer Vor!!!), for his research and guidance in finding the more specialist information.Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit 3
Dads203 Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Nice review Dave, and a nice kit, the IXB conning tower was similar To the VIIC but be careful as it was larger with different details. Regards Dan
Shar2 Posted January 4, 2014 Author Posted January 4, 2014 I beg to differ about the size as they were the same. Details did change, but they only looked different due to the hull sizes.
Dads203 Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 The conning tower is of the same design as the VIIC, I'll give you guys that :-) but overall is definately larger on the IXB, looking at my ref pictures i'd say at least 1/2 metre taller and quite a bit longer. They have manged to fit another ladder on the side just in front of the wintergarden on the IXB which would not be possible on the VIIC. Next is the scope layout on the VIIC is the attack scope housing is fully forward with the air/search scope about mid point. The IXB has both attack and air/search in central position And both housings are joined. If you have a look at some pics on the web you can see the CT is alot wider on the IXB, you can get two lookouts on the VIIC stood side by side in the forward position and it looks comfy, with the IXB i have seen 3 with room to spare. The DF loop hosing is on one side (right hand) on the viic where as the IXB its off set and forward almost central. Yep it looks the same, as we all know that the Germans liked to keep with a design that worked and the VIIC design proves this but the IXB conning tower is considerably different for the modeller, so check you ref photo's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Type_IXB_submarine Almost at the bottom of the page is a picture of U1023 which shows the layout Of the IX conning tower and the difference in length is quite apparent, i think the picture was taken when the boat sailed into Liverpool after the surrender. Also the very last photo on the webpage Shows two crew on the CT of a IX boat, loads of room compared with the VIIC. http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/uboat2.html Regards Dan
modelldoc Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Here you can see a quick build from the last test shot without any extraparts: http://www.plastik-modellbau.org/ modelldoc
MikeR Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 Very tempting, but I just don't have the space. Here's hoping Revell do what they normally do and scale it down to 1/144 - much more managable! Mike.
Shar2 Posted January 8, 2014 Author Posted January 8, 2014 Sorry Dan, but you can't really accept what Wicki says can you? The resources used for research for the above statements in the review are:- THE U BOAT E Rossler Type VII u boats Stern U Boats D Millar U boats under the Swastika J M Showell Plus u boat in focus magazine The Rossler book is a tech history from U1 to the U240 class. These show that the towers were the same size
Dads203 Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Come on Dave, do you think I use wiki for my research fella..... I have most of the books you have quoted and then some. I've been researching the VIIC boats for more than two decades. The topic was also brought up on the sub committee forums a while ago About the VIIC and IXB conning towers and Jeff larue the resident U boat Expert also said more or less the same thing, same design but wider and longer. Even the conning tower footprints are different , the VIIC being teardrop and the IXB tower Having a constant width for the central section almost running parallel with the deck edge For a metre or so. I'll scan some photos later from my books and post them up that show the difference, in the office At the mo so no access to my ref materials Regards Dan
Dads203 Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Ahh Dave, You must mean the Atlantic VIIC /C41 conning tower with the double flak deck ? And not the early VIIC tower with the single flak gun. Why didn't you say fella, yes it is correct and can be used on the IX series , but check refs :-) Regards Dan
Shar2 Posted January 8, 2014 Author Posted January 8, 2014 I think we're talking cross purposes here Dan. The IXc tower, as that in this kit can be fitted onto a late VIIc and visa versa, we're not talkin early VIIc's
Alan P Posted January 27, 2014 Posted January 27, 2014 Glad we got that one sorted then LOVE this kit, it is an evolution of the earlier Type VIICs, much better deck detail and finer and more detailed fittings (hydrophone, deck guns/shields and conning tower equipment). Waiting for the PE sets to hit the market, and then we'll be off.... Al 1
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