Jeddahbill Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Greetings! Commissioned in June 1938, U-45 was the prototype of the Type VII B class which comprised a total of 24 submarines including some of the most successful U-boats of the war. There are several excellent photographs of U-45 taken at the time of her commissioning which show the pre-war characteristics of the early Type VII B U-boats. Rather than build another wartime U-boat, I wanted to capture the unique prewar appearance of these early VII B boats in 1/72 scale from the Revell and Amati kits using the abundance of clear photographs of U-45 as a guide. The Revell hull parts required a great deal of modification to adapt them to a Type VII B and I had to compromise in a few places. Surprisingly, the Amati photoetch deck fit very nicely into the Revell hull and was a great enhancement. A major challenge was constructing the early type VII B conning tower which involved significant modification to the Revell kit parts along with a great deal of scratch building. I also scratch built an inner pressure hull which is almost impossible to see on the completed model. Several other details such as rescue buoys, 20MM gun mount, KDB canvas cover, and many others were all scratch built from a variety of materials. Painting included enamels, lacquers, and acrylics applied with airbrush, rattle cans, and some brush work for small details. At the time of commissioning, U-45 was immaculate so I avoided any heavy weathering and just applied some subtle hull streaking and a hint of brown to the wood areas of the deck. I decided to place the 20MM gun on the deck mounting rather than leave it unmounted as shown in all of the photographs as it seems to look better. Decals were designed and printed on my inkjet printer. I struggled with several frustrating techniques to scratch build the rigging insulators and would have liked to have done these better. The completed model is mounted on brass pedestals secured to the wooden display base and protected with an acrylic display cover which I made from pre-cut panels. Many thanks for having a look, questions and comments always welcome. Cheers, Bill 26 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 More images . . . . 28 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Lovely job,she's a beauty.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Very impressive model Bill. I've only ever thought of U Boots during World War Two - not in a pre-war role, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Flawless build and Very nicely painted. She's a beauty Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Cracking job Bill very well done indeed. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Beautiful Unterseeboot ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Many thanks everyone for the comments! The early VIIB boats do represent a nice change from the more commonly seen wartime U-boats. Most everything available in the modelling world involves the VIIC, especially in larger scales. Amati has an early VIIB in 1/72 scale, but it is a difficult build and suffers from some accuracy issues. Robbe offers an early VIIB in 1/40 scale, but it too has accuracy issues. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted November 17, 2019 Author Share Posted November 17, 2019 Recently received a request in another venue for a frontal view of the conning tower, so I will post here also . . . . Apologies for the focus - a bit fuzzy . . . . . Bill 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iSteve Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Beautiful work Bill! I hope one day one of the major manufacturers will come out with a decent sized VIIB, but until then we can ogle yours. Wouldn’t it have been easier to modify the Amati conning tower than the Revell since it’s a B and the Revell’s is a C? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 great work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Callahan Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Excellent result mate. I like it much 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fridrih Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 But this VIIA. Not B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 Many thanks everyone for having a look and commenting! 13 hours ago, iSteve said: Beautiful work Bill! I hope one day one of the major manufacturers will come out with a decent sized VIIB, but until then we can ogle yours. Wouldn’t it have been easier to modify the Amati conning tower than the Revell since it’s a B and the Revell’s is a C? Initially I did consider using the Amati part, but decided that modifcation of the Revell parts would be easier and yield better results. 1 hour ago, Fridrih said: But this VIIA. Not B U-45 was the prototype Type VIIB, not a Type VIIA. This build depicts U-45 at the time of commissioning in 1938 with a deck mounted 20mm and smaller wintergarten which were similar to the VIIA boats. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Superbly done, an excellent conversion. The tower is spot on, very convincing. Must get my Silent Hunter profile up and running again... Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Thank you Alan! The conning tower was a challenge to be sure, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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