Alan P Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Hi I've finally got my mojo back after a disastrous time with a 1/32 Su-27 which ended up in the bin. Decided to start last year's Christmas present, the CMK waterlined Type VIIC U-Boat in 1/72. I have a very useful reference book, plus some very informative PDFs from AMP This fantastic book was a snip at just £18 from the antiques cabinet at the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth! It's some very substantial lumps of resin - I've glued the two hull halves together with Devcon 5-minute epoxy, filled, sanded and primed. Some of the weld lines and rivet groups disappeared in the process, Archer Transfers will rectify that! The conning tower fittings cleaned up and primed. All the castings are near-perfect, just flash and cleanup required. The only assembled pieces so far - deck gun and 20mm C/30 AA gun. Both barrels needed straightening with a hot bath and pliers. Great casting detail - this whole tower is one complete piece. Dunno how they do it! The following pics show the crispest of detail on the hull pieces: All I've done so far is attach the torpedo loading hatches, which are separate to facilitate a dockside diorama. I'll be posing this with crewmen on deck as a "returning from patrol" diorama. The sea base is 100x20cm! Handling the completed hull is like trying to paint a javelin (as in spear!) it's a long, thin and heavy lump at the moment. Going well so far, hope I can manage not to mess this one up, even though I got it half price from Hannants sale last year, it was still a very expensive kit. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Hi brokenedge great job, look forward to following your build. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billydick Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Mmmmmm this is going to be interesting. Going to follow it . BillyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantGoodale Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Nice work. I built the Revell version and one major problem was spray painting it. Way too big to fit in the spray booth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Look forward to this genre of building. I have been to Portsmouth's Royal Naval Museum. Fascinating. Good start . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 (edited) Thanks everyone. Hope I can maintain such interest! First round of painting completed - all colours used were WEM Colourcoats ( will be very missed by me for one) I used Dunkelgrau 51 above the waterline, Schiffsbodenfarbe III Grau for the saddle tanks, and a mix of Admiralty Grey AP507A and Night Black for the deck. I might have done the deck the wrong way round - after 3-4 weeks at sea a lot of the the black wood treatment would have been washed away. I probably should have done the wood colour first. That might be a reason to not go mad weathering the deck! The conning tower wood effects look better - they will be stained with the black wood preserver with rubbed off parts where the crew would have been standing. I need to remove the cast rail circled in the picture This is where the decals need to go, and it's the easiest way rather than cutting up the decal. Speaking of decals, there are very few options for the kit as provided. Like the Revell "Wolfpack" kit, it represents an early-war Type VIIC. But there are few options provided to enable a good representation of any particular boat of that period - no optional parts for bridge, trunking, spray shield or breakwaters - it's a purely generic example. Given that I wanted to build one of the Germaniawerft boats (U94-98), I opted for the best documented and probably most-represented example: U96. A modelling cliche it may be, but I just didn't have enough original reference material to make U94 or U98. Much research later, I decided to place it in the timeframe of Jan-Feb 1941, which would have most likely matched its appearance shown by the kit. The main features are the forward net-cutter (fitted), midships breakwaters (not fitted) and early conning tower spray shield (unlike the Revell kit, there is no option for the last two features). U96 returned from this patrol on 27 Feb, and that is how I want to display the finished boat. U96 had the famous "Lachender Sägerochen" emblem, but its appearance has been much interpreted, after it became the official emblem of the 9th Flotilla later in 1941. U96, a 7th Flotilla boat, would have also had "Der Stier" as its official flotilla emblem, and there are photos showing both in situ. The best documented design for U96 was green, and of a simpler and less stylised version than later more popular versions (like the black one seen in Das Boot - red is also a popular choice, as well as the blue suggested by Revell!) The simple design on the left, and the more stylised and popular rendition on the right. I ended up making my own sawfish decals, and using AMP's Snorting Bull to go on the front. They turned out very nicely. Used Klear as a setting agent and they have not silvered! Need to look at weathering next - don't want to overdo it...! Edited December 8, 2014 by Brokenedge 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 good progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Like it !! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billydick Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Interesting ! BillyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Thanks again guys. Started some weathering, first the deck: The wash is still wet at the front, I'm using a sludge wash made from Tamiya Nato Black acrylic. The wood effect is Testors Model Master Wood over MM Leather, mostly dry-brushed. Looks a lot more effective now, but i have to stand miles away to fit it all into one frame! Started the weathering of the hull - right side only, using Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey: Looks a bit rough and ready now, but still have loads to do! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Cracking job, keep it up Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Nice work so far, did the Revell U 552 in 1/72 some years back, not easy to handle but VERY visible. Your weathering looks impressive, i will follow this with high interest. Currently, i have put my both Eduard 190s aside, and i am finishing Revells Type VIID minelayer in 1/144 Cheers Bernd 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Great work as always Al. I like the way the weathering is progressing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 good progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Thanks chaps it's easy to overdo this when you get going, as the next pics will show! Went up to 11 on the conning tower: I will need to tone down or at least vary the rust spots here, they look too uniform and probably too large around the railing mounts. It's only pastels so should just wipe off with a wet brush (I hope!) Went to the next stage with the deck, and I think this will do at this point! Stage 2 weathering for the hull: The streaks and rust marks were done using Lifecolor Tensacrom filters. quite easy to work with, but very little needed. U96 was on patrol for 30 days in February 1941, a particularly harsh time to be out, so I want it to reflect that, although it probably wouldn't look this beaten up as they were still well cared for early in the war. I'm using this build more as a test bed for severe weathering techniques, and to try to replicate some or all of the effects of sea abuse all in one snapshot, which isn't necessarily the most realistic, but looks pretty good to me! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Great weathering, looks good. will be looking great in "real" water :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 The weathering is starting to come together beautifully; within reason I think it's pretty much impossible to over-weather a U-boat! They really got the crap kicked out of them, and some of them ended up looking seriously knackered; I guess a tidy paint job wasn't exactly top of the list of priorities! Good work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Thanks again guys, managed to do a bit more this evening! The weathering is starting to come together beautifully; within reason I think it's pretty much impossible to over-weather a U-boat! With that in mind.... (sorry for the blurry photos, the light was really bad) Stage 3 weathering - rust effects with pastel chalk. Trying to get the tower and hull to "match" in the degree and type of weathering: The top view shows the deck weathering and the rust streaks on the top of the tanks: I think this is about ready to go in the water..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forlornhope Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Big kit, coming together nicely and I love your weathering, looking forward to seeing your ocean base 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 (edited) Big kit, coming together nicely and I love your weathering, looking forward to seeing your ocean base Thanks! It's going to be a harbour base, contrasting the weather damage with the smooth, tranquil waters of the harbour, which hopefully will tell a story in itself. It starts with an MDF base: I drew round the outline, and laid sheets of cling film under the sub. The open hatch covers provide a very convenient place to screw it down to the base! With the sub firmly attached, I can pull the cling film tight around it, which masks it from the rest of the base. Now I attach cardboard strips all round the perimeter of the base board, making a well to contain the sea. When it's all tightly taped together, I seal all the inside edge with PVA glue. That'll take a while to dry, so I will make a start on all the tower fittings and the pesky cable tensioners - none of those provided in the kit, unfortunately. Till later.... Edited December 16, 2014 by Brokenedge 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Looking good, never done a waterline kit, i will watch this with interest, good luck with the detail work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 It's taken 5 days for the plaster of Paris to dry completely. I must have mixed it too wet. Anyway, after all the Christmas madness has passed, I'll be back to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngstROM Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Truly superb -a Masterclass in weathering! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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