Goji308 Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 (edited) It’s time to start another U-boat build. Revell 1/72 U-boat (Atlantic version). This kit gives you several build options, decals to support those U-boats, and information pertaining to those boats such as when the hull was laid, commission dates, commanders, successes, and when, where, and how it was sunk. I am still deciding on which boat to represent. I do like the box art color paint scheme. If I’m not mistaken that boat was the U-997. Laid down: Dec. 7, 1942. commissioned: September 23, 1943. Commander: Oblt. Hans Lehmann. Successes: 7 patrols, 2 ships sunk, 1 ship damaged. Sunk on December 13, 1945 by aircraft in Operation Deadlight. Edited July 11, 2022 by Goji308 Photo issues, finally added. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 Here are the packaged sprues from the box. I believe the two sides of the hull were attached at some point, but were lose in the box upon my opening. I was very pleased with the aftermarket wooden deck by Nautilus on my last build so I picked up another for this build. I am a big fan of Nautilus wooden decks. Pictured below are the decals sheet supplied in the box by Revell for the different Uboat configurations. I plan on using this sheet of Photo Etched Details by Eduard on this build. More to come.., 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Tip Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 I am on board if you'll have me... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 will follow your build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 Welcome aboard Johnny & Mick! I appreciate the company. Today my goal is to deburr the hull edges and inner rails where the large sprue had broken or come apart before I owned the kit. One sprue connection broke pretty close to the model edge so it took a bit of careful blending to hide it. I also want to make sure there are no bumps or burrs for later when I slide the deck in. I trying to decide whether build this kit with closed torpedo doors, or open. Strangely enough, I think am a fan of them being closed. I compare it kind of looking at pictures of great white sharks eating seals and fish and it’s a pretty astonishing / exhilarating moment. But it’s also really cool watching a GW shark gliding through the ocean and it just demands awe and respect. I think I’m over thinking this.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncarina Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 I’m the same way! All my subs have closed doors to preserve the lines. Looking forward to seeing your work! Cheers, Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 Tom, thanks for sharing preference regarding the Torp Doors and the reply. Tonight I fitted the torpedo doors into their placements. They were pretty tight so I just carefully filed and sanded the profile of the door until they slid into place with less resistance. I know the little hull bridge between the upper and lower doors is pretty weak and it does not take much to stress it. Dry fit. I held up the hull against my workbench light and I penciled where I want to grind the inside to open up the holes & vents. Like on my previous build, I carefully removed plastic creating a controlled groove with the Dremel till the material in the slot almost falls out. I then agitate the slot with an undersized drill by hand. A light sand in the groove and you are left with a very clean precise slot or hole. An old toothbrush works well too. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Quality kit in good hands, I think! I agree with you about the bow doors, closed gives a meaner look 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Tip Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 I did my uboat with one side closed, one side open... but any choice you make is fine. Helluva noise dremelling those Flutschlitze, ain't it?😂 looking fine so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VolkerR. Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 I am following. I have up to date built aircraft only, but I have the "Platinum Edition" of this kit in my stash. That would be my first sub. Looking forward to follow this build and learn a lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncarina Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 You’ve probably seen these, but just in case: Dougie Martindale’s website has a series of in depth articles for modeling the Revell Type VII and IX kits. I’ve found them to be very useful: https://amp.rokket.biz/lib_uboats.shtml Cheers, Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 18, 2022 Author Share Posted May 18, 2022 (edited) Uncarina, Yes, I have visited that website in the past. Lots of great details and info there. Great U-boat resource. Thanks for sharing. VolkerR: Thanks for the reply and the follow. I hope there will be something useful for you to takeaway in this build. Congrats on the Platinum edition in your stash. I have the very same Plat Edition kit in my stash too. I am new to PE an there is a lot of it in that box. Today I caught up the opposite hull and finished all the holes, and “flutschlitze” flood slots. I also started filling in a few factory holes in the hull which will be covered by Photo Etch parts. Nothing new and ground breaking. Edited May 18, 2022 by Goji308 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncarina Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 Great work, and opening those holes make a big difference! Cheers, Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 20, 2022 Author Share Posted May 20, 2022 (edited) Thanks Tom, yes, I like the look of the hole openings vs the indentations or hole suggestions. Makes them a little more punctuated. I have been adding some of the PE parts to the hull. Some of the parts needed extra attention blending them in and getting rid of mold lines. This is my 1st experience using PE and it’s been quite fun. I brought a few pieces of acrylic home from work, makes a great bottom material to cut against. So far I use my Tamiya styrene glue to soften the plastic. Then I press down the PE part. Then I finish it off with a dab of extra thin CA. Pictured below you can see the shaft support housings finished, lots of filling, gluing, and blending. I had to fill the divot under the flange arm foot for the support. Blending in mold lines. Edited May 20, 2022 by Goji308 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 22, 2022 Author Share Posted May 22, 2022 Over the last day or so I have been steadily going through and been prepping, filing, sanding and installing prop shafts rudders, the snorkel assembly, and misc details. I can’t believe I did not remember to anneal the PE mesh at the top of the snorkel before trying to bend it. Yes, I snapped it in half by accident. I Took a break and revisited it 20 minutes later. I put both pieces under a flame for a few seconds and bent them to shape. After that they bent smooth as warm butter. I am pleased the way it came out rolling the PE fragments over several drill shanks despite the setback. I textured the plate area on the hull with my dremel rotary tool and sanded it down for a smoother look. I’ll also lightly sanded the rivets for a more subtle look that compliments the scale of the Uboat. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 23, 2022 Author Share Posted May 23, 2022 Today I took one of my sons to a San Francisco giants baseball game. Beautiful day at the ballpark. We were treated with a cool fly over during the National Anthem. After we got home, I like to think I was as careful as a surgeon removing the deck from the wood blank. There were a few contact points that needed several passes from the scalpel to free. There was a small split in the deck so I added wood glue from the backside and made sure I got a little in the split. I also added a little extra glue on the backside and added a small piece of paper to reinforce it. Problem solved. I also tuned the middle alignment fingers or key making sure there was no light passing through and they meshed evenly bringing both halves of the deck together. I proceeded to sand the deck to fit paying attention to we’re it was overly snug. Lastly I sanded and tuned the whole deck to length. Last thing I want to do is get it all ready for final assembly and have it resist falling into place. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncarina Posted May 23, 2022 Share Posted May 23, 2022 That deck is looking very nice! Cheers, Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Tip Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 On 23/05/2022 at 23:25, uncarina said: That deck is looking very nice! What he said! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VolkerR. Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 I am watching with great interest. It looks great and there is a lot to be learned by me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 28, 2022 Author Share Posted May 28, 2022 A few days ago I was having an electrician come over to install some LED lights in our garage where my work bench is located. I moved the model into our house temporarily in our home office which I assumed would be the safest place for it. After getting home from work my wife mentioned she accidentally knocked it over and handed me a ziplock with several pieces in it. Luckily it was nothing major and I refitted the pieces back into the model and later filled any minor seams. Close call. I have sealed/ conditioned the deck and sanded very lightly. I still am undecided on which deck I will ultimately use; the styrene provided deck, or the real wood deck. I was very surprised how detailed and featured the Revell stock deck is. I will be be working on both decks in parallel till the “One” stands out. After reading ahead in the instructions the snorkel attaches to a snorkel housing that is built into the stock deck/ one piece. So… if I want to use the wood deck I need a housing. I could ether remove it and destroy the styrene deck and attach it to the wood deck … or I could try to make one from scratch. I have not made anything like this before from scratch but it actually worked well. I am glad I tried it. It was a little rickety until installed. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncarina Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 Well done! That housing looks like it will work very nicely. Dougie Martindale at AMP came out with a paper on the late war deck configurations for Type VII boats, including a list of which boats had a planked vs. slotted deck: https://amp.rokket.biz/docs/late_war_configurations.pdf Hope this helps! Cheers, Tom 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitriy1967 Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 I like this scale of boats and ships. Details are better visible, everything is clearer and more realistic. There is only one problem, where to store ready-made large models... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitriy1967 Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 A small trifling remark - add the letter C to the name of the topic. Deutsches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Tip Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 14 hours ago, Goji308 said: Luckily it was nothing major and I refitted the pieces back into the model and later filled any minor seams. Close call. "Mit Bordmitteln zu reparieren?" -"sind schon dabei." Thank goodness! There was a reason for my Boot to be the last thing (apart from some tools used) that was moved into our new house... As a U96-fan, I don't know much about the snorkel, but your work looks absolutely great, and I totally get the urge to work on both decks to see which one looks better. Am curious to see how the story goes on! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goji308 Posted May 29, 2022 Author Share Posted May 29, 2022 Uncarina: yes I have seen that article before but I am very glad you shared this with me. It’s been a while since I’ve read it. I will definitely revisit this. Dmitriy: I agree these 1:72 Uboats are impressive in definition and scale. I am running into space issues at home with my previous two builds. I do have a 1:48 scale uboat to build soon. I think a 1/32 might be out of the question. My wife would intervene plus the cost of the model would be beyond my budget. I thought I did have a letter “C” in the title. I think the problem is a left a space after the “VII”. Thanks for the mention, I’ll try to fix that. Johnny Tip: my German is weak & rusty. Thank you for posting in German though. I do try to figure it out before asking my wife or google to translate it. Thanks for the encouragement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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