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"Alaaaaaaaarm" U-Boot Type IX C U-510 - Revell - 1/72


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Friends, good evening,

 

 

 

 

It's time to unveil my next big project; with an original choice which is more; I'm really stepping out of my comfort zone and taking risks (that's wrong). A U-Boot (I have already built 4 of them but it was before I came on this forum) !!!! But the goal is still a little to innovate, there will be a diorama ... aquatic (so the guy has never really tried and he launches it like that without pressure! What insolence!). But hey, before we get there, there is still a little time and we still lack some information on the why and how; So let's not waste any more time and get to the heart of the matter right away.

 

 

 

I wanted, despite a theme that has been seen from every angle, to try to be a bit original, and I believe to have found a period of the U-boat war very largely unknown to the general public, with the Gruppe Monsun ! These are U-boats, Somergibili and Japanese submarines operating jointly in the Pacific and Indian Ocean from bases in Penang, Batavia and Singapore. They sowed fear in this part of the world, and even that the last ship sunk in this area by the U-boats was an American freighter, sent to the bottom by the U-862 a few nautical miles from the North Cape of Nova Scotia. Zealand! Due to its overall failure, as well as a balance of power largely in favor of the allies, very few writings and documents were produced. However, since I am generous (and also because I find this subject fascinating), here are some very informative links and videos;

 

 

 

https://uboat.net/ops/monsun.htm

 

 

 

https://www.navy.gov.au/history/feature-histories/german-u-boat-operations-australian-waters

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/ExOJZGjniuY

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/kZ8P01lLOeY

 

 

 

SO; I chose after much research a U-Boote which served in the Gruppe Monsun, but which also was not sunk with an almost non-existent score (which happened very often at the end of the war). My choice fell on the Type IX C U-510 of the Käpitanleutnant Alfred Eick, which belonged to the 10th Unterseebootflottille.

 

 

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In the Lorient bunker at the end of the war; As can be seen, the submarine received a new kiosk, the Turmbau IV model, with a second platform and reinforced anti-aircraft weapons.

 

 

 

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Commander Alfred Eick, awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

 

 

 

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The symbol of the 10th unterseebootsflotilla, which was also the emblem of the submarine

 

 

 

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Here are its characteristics;
U-Boot Type IX C U-510
Launch; September 4, 1941
Commissioning; November 25, 1941
Status ; returned to the French forces, it will resume service under the name De Bouan
Crew; 54 male
Length ; 76.76 meters
Master bau; 6.76 meters
Draught ; 4.67 meters
Shift ; 1120 t (surface), 1232 t (diving)
Propulsion; 2 Diesel engines, 2 electric
Power ; 2 × 2200 hp (Diesel); 2 × 500 hp (electric)
Speed ; 7.3 knots (diving); 18.3 knots (area)
Torpedo armament: 4 at the front, 2 at the rear; With a total of 22 torpedoes
Cannons; 1 105mm deck gun, a 2cm anti-aircraft gun and a 37 anti-aircraft gun. Then 2 double 2 cm guns and a 37 gun with the Turmbau IV kiosk
Range of action ; 13,450 nautical miles at 10 knots (surface); 63 nautical miles at 4 knots (diving)
Patrols; 7
Score; 12 ships sunk, 8 damaged and 3 irreparable

 

 

 

Well, that's not all that, but it's time to present the different protagonists of this montage. I am counting on you to welcome them as they should be, they are somewhat shy

 

 

 

 

Our two main protagonists; U-190 kit and U-67 / U-154 kit

 

 

 

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And there I see you coming; why two submarine kits when you plan to build one? Well, I built the U-190 a few years ago, and afterwards I got it as a gift. not knowing what to do with it and not wanting to sell it, I put it in a corner of the workshop ... And one day, I wanted to build an IXC type U-Boot with the Turmbau kiosk IV (which the U-190 was equipped with), but with the deck gun (which had been removed from many submarines). And U-510, at the start of the conflict had a "normal" conning tower with the 2cm flak cannon, then received this famous IV tower while keeping its deck gun. So I said to myself that there was a way to take the kiosk of the U-190 model (the hull was of an experimental type not allowing to have a deck gun) and integrate it into the hull. of the model of U-67 / U-154. Hope this little explanation was clear, but in any case you will see better with the pictures.

 

 

 

The kit of the U-190 being provided with a double gun of 37 cm, it was necessary to change it for a single of 37, so neither one nor two, I invest in a Special Hobby kit in resin for anti-aircraft armament of U- Boot

 

 

 

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The U-510 will be pictured on the surface during an air attack valiantly defending its skin (or rather its rivets here), so figurines worthy of the name were needed to serve the flak pieces. Neither nor two (not even three), CMK is put to work with 3 sets of figurines

 

 

 

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We must not stop in such a good way, so the deck gun will be replaced by a reference Eduard, of any beauty

 

 

 

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Who says Eduard, says photoetch, 3 sets are acquired; 2 which are planned for the U-67 / U-154 and a third for the U-190 tower

 

 

 

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And a little doc is never too much! I managed to get my hands on the famous book of the 1/32 diorama by Andrea Das Boot (in Spanish because there was any other languages aviable, but since I speak Italian, I should be fine) and the excellent book on Gruppe Monsun written by Lawrence Paterson, a reference on U-Boote

 

 

 

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Everybody is here ? Its good ? I forgot anyone?

 

 

 

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So FEUeR FREI

 

 

 

 

I start for once with the resin, with some fears because it had been a while since I had touched it, and in any case, I can say that the CMK resin is probably the best in the world, in addition to be embellished with photoetch. It is solid and very easy to assemble; The 37 gun went up in just 1 hour

 

 

 

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The 2 double 2cm cannons are also builded rapidily

 

 

 

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Eduard's 10.5 gun is just as excellent but assembly remains tricky, especially regarding the grips. But after two evenings of work, we arrive at an honorable result

 

 

 

 

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By observing photos of one of the last two Type IX C remaining in the world, we can see that the ballast openings are crossed by small partitions pierced with a hole in their center (I saw this on the forum, on the U-505 assembly https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235034656-172-type-ixc-u-boat-build-u505-early-revell-05114/ ) (the photo is also from below)

 

 

 

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Neither one nor two, after having hollowed out all the openings, I glue a small 0.5mm evergreen plastic triangle pierced with a 2mm hole in its center. I anticipate the question, there are 124

 

 

 

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After gluing the hull and putting all these bulkheads in place, the interior is painted black to prevent you from seeing too much through

 

 

 

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Then, we continue glueing the deck

 

 

 

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Adapting the kiosk to a stand that was not designed for was a difficult time. In the end, I decided to dig with the dremel, then to fill with mastic and to print the imprint of the kiosk.

 

 

 

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There are still some corrections to be made but it's pretty good and fairly clean

 

 

 

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Here is the future position of Flak's pieces, defending against a plane that we won't see

 

 

 

 

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Well, it's time to take out the airbrush, to paint the wood parts of the kiosks . For that, we apply an orange mixture (yellow + red + brown)

 

 

 

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We take out the oil paints for the weathering; We start by applying burnt umber to all the boards, then a few are repeated with a touch of white and the same with black. Finally, between each plank, Tamiya black juice is applied, letting it infiltrate by capillary action.

 

 

 

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Well, since I'm nice, this is what the beast looks like with all its gear (who enter other received the front dive bars as well as the torpedo tube doors)

 

 

 

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Alright, I think that's all I got for now,
Everyone have a good evening, and don't forget, build models; don't just collect kits,
Have a good evening
Vincent

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I don't know much about submarines. But I was surprised by such a large protective shield on the cannon. Does it have to slow down the boat a lot when moving underwater?
The model is beautiful, I will follow with interest.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 15/11/2021 at 09:02, Dmitriy1967 said:

I don't know much about submarines. But I was surprised by such a large protective shield on the cannon. Does it have to slow down the boat a lot when moving underwater?
The model is beautiful, I will follow with interest.

The shield was addes in 1943-44, because the aircrafts becomes more and more powerful, and I think, it will slow down a little bit but not too much

And thanks a lot man

On 16/11/2021 at 00:12, Goji308 said:

Wishing you the best during your build. Glad to see that it has begun.  

Tahnk you Brian!!!

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Hi everyone,

 

 

 

Sorry for the long silence lately, but the assembly of the U-Boot took me a long time and you will soon see why, so without further ado, let's get to the pictures;

 

 

 

In the genre "takes a long time to assemble and requires calm and zenitude", the photoetch radio antenna made up of 24 parts ... It was less difficult than I thought but still ... Without forgetting all the other parts  of the kiosk which takes a long time to glue

 

 

 

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Now let's get to the heart of the matter; the scales leading to the second platform of the winter garten are not very realistic and rather coarse, so they are redone in metal wire (I don't know what material but very malleable) (all the foot steps are also redone)

 

 

 

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I also noticed a small subtlety, with an unusual scale on the edge of the kiosk to the left, which can be seen here on the U-510

 

 

 

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And here on the U-515

 

 

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A kind of field workshop upgrade which is redone here on the model

 

 

 

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Well, what really took me a long time was the decision to replace all the plastic handrails with welded brass parts, when I had never done that ... but after a week of work , the result is rather nice for a first

 

 

 

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The railings of the two plateforms will remain in plastic, it's too difficult to redone them with welded brass

 

 

 

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With the flak guns

 

 

 

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For the pleasure

 

 

 

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The deck has received all the photo etch parts

 

 

 

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And we are already starting to work on the diorama

 

 

 

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That's it my friends

Have a nice day,

best regards

Vincent

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42 minutes ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

What a strange sloping staircase. It is impossible to use it. Maybe it's some kind of device for feeding something to the bridge? Ammunition for example.

Possibly hinged at the top and when swung out, it extends. Bit like a fire escape ?

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On 11/15/2021 at 8:02 AM, Dmitriy1967 said:

I don't know much about submarines. But I was surprised by such a large protective shield on the cannon. Does it have to slow down the boat a lot when moving underwater?
The model is beautiful, I will follow with interest.

 

I think I'm right in saying the two outer parts of the shield folds back onto itself. There's a picture here which shows it- https://uboat.net/technical/flak.htm (5th picture down)

 

Will

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  • 4 weeks later...

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