Tail-Dragon Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 ... or, beating my head against the wall! I've always liked the submarine kits available in 1/144 scale, especially the U-Boats. Almost every class is available, the Type II, VIIc, VIIc/41, XXI, XXIII, even the Walter Type XVIIb. The only major class missing is the Type IX. In a perfect world, the Academy 1/150 Type IXb would fill the gap. This is NOT a perfect world! While reasonably accurate in outline and scale, the kit was, unfortunately, engineered as a pool toy, motorized with a single vinyl prop and rudder, and rigged to dive and surface, and covered with large holes for switches, levers, and a huge stern keel to house the motor. Only a mad man would attempt to make a display model out of this, that's where I come in. The conning tower is barren, and features a large slot in the back and deck for a lever to control the stern planes. That had to be filled with .180" of plasticard and shaped, air intakes routed out on the sides, many details added (not finished yet) Before: After: (work ongoing) The stern had a single screw and rudder, and a huge square keel for the motor: The ugly parts were cut off, and filled with .060" card, and sections of a 1/48 P-38 drop tank (right shape and radius!), and shafts, props, diving planes and rudders from a discarded Revell 1/125 Type VII kit were resized, reshaped and fit ... All the holes in the hull and deck were also filled with .060" card (the white line along the hull is also plasticard, as the kit had a rubber gasket along there) I don't know how long this is going to take, but I've convinced myself that it is, at least, feasible! ... like I said, beating my head against a wall! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 Gidday, that's very clever work that you've done. 10 minutes ago, Tail-Dragon said: I've convinced myself that it is, at least, feasible! Looking at what you've already done I think so too. Good luck with it. Regards, Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knb.1451 Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 This one will be a neat one to watch. You have very tidy work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted December 19, 2023 Author Share Posted December 19, 2023 I'm tackling this one section at a time (worst first), and I've pretty much got the stern finished. ... it was actually more complex than I thought at first, while the tapered stern was from a P-38 drop tank, the stern torpedo doors were P-51 'paper' tanks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 On 17/12/2023 at 03:38, Tail-Dragon said: feasible The excellent upgrades already done demonstrate its feasibility. I like the way you are recycling your spares box in the process. Very creative working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 5 hours ago, Tail-Dragon said: the tapered stern was from a P-38 drop tank, the stern torpedo doors were P-51 'paper' tanks! Gidday rather ironical in that parts of US warbirds get used to modify a German U-boat. 🙂 But very clever work here. Regards, Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 I started looking at the bow segment, and found that the rake on the stem was too acute, and straight. I sawed back to the planes cutout to split the bow, added a piece of .030", and trimmed to shape. It will be faired in with Milliput when dry. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted December 25, 2023 Share Posted December 25, 2023 Considering all the excellent work done so far, it looks far more than feasible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Timmy Posted December 25, 2023 Share Posted December 25, 2023 I have built one of these, and I can tell you from experience you're doing a fine job of turning a pigs ear Into a fine looking U-boat. ( I gave up on accuracy with mine, and just built it as the pool toy that comes in the box. But, as far as function goes, ... it can dive and move about in the water .... at about a scale 150 knots per hour ! ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 A bit more of an update ... ... this would have been a lot easier if Academy had made a model, instead of a pool toy! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted December 31, 2023 Share Posted December 31, 2023 8 hours ago, Tail-Dragon said: this would have been a lot easier if Academy had made a model, instead of a pool toy! Ah yes, but where would the challenge be? 🙂 I've sometimes felt the same with some of the more crude and simple Airfix ship kits. but then, they're relatively cheap. (When you could still get them). I think you've done a marvelous job of this and it certainly doesn't look like a pool toy now. Regards, Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 That just makes the build that much more special, and even outstanding. The difference between 'nice' and 'wow.' This is wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 More work done on the tower, carved a new anchor, and have started to add details to the hull. This is looking less and less like a pool toy! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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