rowmk9 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 coming on very nicely Jason. the lighter paint scheme is nice to see, I like it just as much as the darker scheme applied to my boat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks for your comments! Yep, there's a big contrast between the two schemes, but I think both look good. And the great thing is that they both could be accurate, as U-Boats had all sorts of colour schemes, there's no one right answer! Have the Conning Tower pretty much painted now, it's the guns next... J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 More work on the Conning Tower. I followed the instructions for painting the guns and it seemed too Silvery, so I added more Anthracite to the mix and I'm still not convinced, they just look too shiny and new. In fact, the whole model looks too clean, but hopefully some weathering will help that. I can't decide what to do with the guns, repaint them completely, or maybe just repaint the seats / covers etc ( i.e. everything but the gun itself ) or just leave it. It's now all glued on and a bit awkward to get at. Of course, close up pictures always show the areas that your brush didn't reach as well! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) looking good Jason. I see what you're saying about the AA guns being too 'silvery'. I painted mine black, as I do most of my exposed guns. Here's one of my pics of U-505 when I visited her at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It's not the best for seeing the colour of the AA armament, although it is esentially the same arrangement as on both of our subs (albeit on a Type IX). The barrel of the 37mm is black/dark metal whereas the area around the main part is grey. I'm not sure how authentic this is of course, U-505 being a preserved U-boat and all that jazz. As an aside, note the damage on the conning tower from the time she was captured, about 3 holes are visible in this pic. Edited March 1, 2011 by rowmk9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Nice pic! I see exactly what you mean about the guns ( and the damage too! ). I'm thinking I'll leave the guns themselves the metal colour, and try my best to paint the rest of them ( the seats, the large flat piece covering the front of the gun - I've no idea what it's called! ) in a dark grey, maybe the lower hull colour. That should give a good contrast to the metal gun and to the Anthracite control wheels / shoulder pads. Like you said, might not be compeltely accurate, but it should look the part at least! Once the guns are done I pretty much only have the railings left ( in terms of gluing at least ). Need to paint the stand too ( and put on the decals ) and do the rigging. And then, finally, the weathering. Have really enjoyed this build but also looking forward to having it finished. Should be done in a week I reckon, maybe less ( depending on leaving time for varnishes to dry etc. ). J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I'm thinking I'll leave the guns themselves the metal colour, and try my best to paint the rest of them Fair enough! It is very tight for space once the guns are in place. You could try a black ink wash on them to give them some shadow/depth, that may help darken them for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Well, I starting thinking about that far too much, so in the end I just stopped faffing about and painted them all completely Anthracite. Not quite black, but very close, and I'm happy with the result. I think part of the problem is the guns being so big, they just take over the tower, so having them bright silver only made it worse. It's funny how one little decision can start driving you mad and you have to just go with something! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 By the way, do you see the horizontal pipe running beneath the 'upper' winter garden? Any idea what that is? I've seen something similar on the port side in pictures of the U-260 and it has me curious! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 To answer my own question, it seems it's a water-tight container for spare AA gun barrels. I'm tempted to shape a bit of sprue and add it to the U-260, a couple of the pictures I have of her showed she had it... J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 (edited) Ah excellent idea Jason, Yeah i see the tube and its prominent enough to warrant being included isn't it? Spare barrels seems logical as when you need to change a barrel it needs to be done like NOW! I've also noted now the mesh/grill on the lower section of railings on the upper part of the wintergarden - if you follow me! Probably a bit too much faff to model in 1/144, though if some spare mesh is lying around it may be worth a go. I've got some from my 1/24th racing cars left over. If you reckon its worth a go I can send it to you? here's what I mean: I may try to see if I can retro fit it to mine, but it might be too much work without breaking the AA guns. Edited March 3, 2011 by rowmk9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I just added the mesh to my U-321 and it looks a bit like this: I've since drybrushed the mesh grey and replaced the 20mm AA guns, which had to be 'temporarily removed'. I think it looks pretty good, I'll be changing my final pics in my own build thread. Like I said, if you want some mesh I can send it your way, just PM me your address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 The mesh looks excellent Rowan! However, I can't for the life of me see it in the pictures of the U-260, so I'm not certain whether to include it or not. Did you just stick it on inside the railings? Using SuperGlue? One long piece or several smaller pieces for each 'section' of railing? Actually, bugger, I've just spotted it on the picture, I couldn't see it on the near side but it's obvious on the far side. I do have an advatage, I haven't put on the railings yet, so that would make it easier for me to add them. So I might just send you a PM if that's ok? Slightly more annoying for me is the 'extension' of the railings that are visible on the upper winter garden on the U-260. Basically they're like a more horizontal railing going back from the top of the vertical ones ( if that makes sense? ) that are obvious in the side on picture of U-260 taken in 1943. They also have one railing going down to the lower wintergarden railings to help support them. I had considered trying to stretch some sprue ( my first time trying that ) to see if I could do it, but I think it's beyond my abilities. It, and the watertight container ( which I think I *will* be able to do with the right piece of sprue ) are the main differences I can see between the pictures I have and my model ( well, apart from the scale differences and the fact that the U-260 looks real and mine doesn't! ). I'm doing my best to ignore that fact that the two pressure containers on the upper wintergarden deck are the wrong way around ( on the U-260 the taller one was to the back, not the front ). I believe I'm very close to the 'no matter what you try, you can't get it any better' stage of this model, but after putting so much work into it, especially with the research, I'd really like to get it as close as I can, as much as I also want to get it finished! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Ah yes I see the railings that stand proud of the flag pole, they'll be difficult to reproduce in 1/144! To be honest, I'd leave them off because the only good way to do them is to get thin wire and solder to make it, but then all the other railings would look too thick and you'd end up wanting to do the whole lot! I also see the different position for the hatches and what look to be canisters in the place where my FuMO 30 radar is installed on the port side. I think in this scale you'll always be a bit limited with what you can do (without getting silly ) so maybe store all this info and research for that time a few years down the line when you build it in 1/72 That's what I'd be tempted to do. And sure I can send the mesh, just send the PM. I just cut it into a thin strip and super glued them to the inside of the railings. I'd also drybrush them grey before you stick them cause they're tricky otherwise (as I found out, doh!). Don't get too disheartend that the kit is not an exact replica, the kit itself will always prevent that without major work. To my eyes you're doing a great job of building and painting her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 I think you're right about the railings, it's just too much surgery for this scale, and I'd probably get frustrated by not getting it just right! Hopefully the container should be easy to add and that'll give the model a little piece that's 'different' from the kit. As for those canisters, I think I read somewhere that the top of the FuMo-30 was removed / added when needed, so it's probably just not on in the picture ( and anyhow, those radars were always getting upgraded ). Like you said, it's easy to get far too silly about this... I'm sent you a PM, thanks so much, that mesh looks really good and once again, is another nice little 'touch' to enhance the model. I love your hair cables, but I've already got my thread cables in place from under the deck, so I'm stuck with them. Ah well, they can be overscale along with the guns and railings etc.! Especially as I've just got back into this hobby, it's a constant battle for me between what results I want to get and what results I'm able to get, so thanks for your kind words! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 More pictures! Finally got the guns done in a way I'm happy with, and I refuse to touch them anymore! Also did my first ever weathering with the Tamiya Kit. It couldn't be easier to put on ( though it is difficult to get into tight corners - the application sponge is a bit too wide ). I did my best to only do light weathering, as I didn't want to mess it up completely. So I tried to err on the side of caution ( if I were a lot more skilled, it'd be called 'subtle' weathering! ). I'm happy enough with it, doesn't survive close scrutiny but from a distance it looks like it's meant to, rust and soot/dirt ( it does look better in natural daylight compared to the pictures ). Adding to my learning curve ( and as this is my 4th kit since I started modelling again, everything is a learning curve! ) I did my first ever piece of scratch-building. Nothing major, just the horizontal pipe you can see at the side of the conning tower in the second pic. The U-260 pics show it was there ( as do other u-boat pics ), and from what I've figured out it's to hold spare AA gun barrels. Made it from a few pieces of sprue from my Airfix Dr. Who kit ( which had the thinnest sprue I could find ). It was a doddle to make really, apart from the size of the thing. It's not perfect by any means, but at a glance ( from a distance - *always* from a distance! ) it looks like the tube in the pictures and that's good enough for me. All I have left are the railings, rigging and the stand ( I'm still waiting for the right paint for the stand ). The railings are ready to go on, but I haven't completely given up on the idea of adding to them to better re-create the U-260 railings. I reckon I'll rule that possibility in or out today. So realistically I'll have this finished by the middle of next week I reckon, as soon as the paint arrives so I can paint / decal the stand... J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 looking really nice mate. I like the subtleness of the staining. The colours of the AA guns are alot better now and the added pipe does look the business too. what colour are you going for on the base? It's kind of a blank canvas as there's no right or wrong colour, I'm just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 If 'subtleness' = 'fear of god of messing 3 weeks of work up' then yes, I went for subtle, thanks! Just really didn't want to mess too much with something I'm not used to. I felt that it all looked too clean and new, and now it doesn't, so I'm happy enough with that! To be fair, a wet fingertip or cotton bud could just wipe away any mistake anyhow. I won't be varnishing over the weathering, mainly because 1. I don't want to add even more thickness / brushmarks to the kit and 2. It'll be in a display case and won't be touched so I don't have to protect the weathering! That said, it's on pretty well and would have to be wetted to come off. If I could change anything about the rust, I'd like to make it finer, it's all a bit too 'wide' due to the applicator. But I'm happy with the dirt on the ladders and soot at the exhausts... Yep, much much happier with the guns, they don't stand out half as much ( as they're the same colour as the upper hull and tower ) but the anthracite on the gun barrels and control wheels gives a good contrast to the light grey. I spent far too much time trying to decide what colour to go with them, so I'm happy with this decision and I'm leaving them alone now! And the fact that I've got a display case for it ( which, by the way, really improves how the model looks ) means I'll be painting the stand in the satin black, as Revell recommend, 'cos that's the colour of the bottom of the case as well. I'll glue the bottom of the stand onto the bottom of the case, so it won't slide around, and the U-Boat will sit into the stand fairly well ( as you know of course ) so that should keep it study enough for transport, as long as it's not thrown around the place! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Just a quick update! Now have the railings done, and the mesh put in too ( thanks rowmk9! ). Still have to decide if I'm gonna do the extra railings that U-260 had. Apart from that decision, all I have left is the decals on the stand and the rigging. So this is probably going to be the last picture before I post up the completed shots, probably at the end of the week. It's been a long build ( well, at nearly 4 weeks, long for me! ) and I've learned a lot from it. Probably more about U-Boats than about modelling though! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Last picture? Who was I kidding? I'd like some opinions please. I've done my best to do the extra railings that were on the U-260 ( see the 2nd picture at the very start of this thread, they're the railings at the back of the upper wintergarden that slope upwards a bit from the edge of the vertical railings, if that makes sense! ). I just can't decide if what I've done is good enough, and if it looks ok on the model. I know they're not perfect ( they are probably sloping up a little too much, need to be painted more, aren't perfectly in line, and I deliberately left out a couple of the cross bars etc. etc. ) but sometimes I think they're fine and other times I'm not sure. So, please have a look at let me know what you think, I just can't trust my judgement. Maybe it's been a long day, or more likely than not, I just don't have enough modelling experience to trust myself! Thanks! J. Edited March 8, 2011 by Jasonb13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Love the extra railing Jason, well worth keeping them in my opinion. I'm glad the mesh worked out well too, it looks cool It's been an impressive build I'd say, and I'm sure you've learnt more than you realise. Since getting back into the hobby 2 years ago I have improved markedly, but each time I start a new model I always think I'm building it with no extra skill than the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Thanks Rowan! Yeah, I think I'll keep it. They're not the exact same as in the pic, but it's pretty close, and most importantly, I think they don't stand out from the model ( in other words, you don't look at it and go 'that's not part of the model, that was added on' ). The one thing I've learned from this build is stick to larger scales! My poor eyes are wrecked from building those railings, trying to put glue on either end of a 3mm piece of wire without sticking it to the tweezers, and then stick it between two pieces of plastic is not something I'd like to do too much of! Luckily my next build is a 1:12 scale Tardis, as far away as possible from a 1:144 U-Boat! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Well, it's finally done! Got the rigging done tonight ( and quite awkward it was too ) and did some touch up of paints etc. before I added the flag in the ceremonial last piece of gluing. It's been a long enough build, 3 and a half weeks of nothing else, after a couple of weeks of research, but I'm happy with the result, and that's the main thing. Thanks to everyone all their help, advice & patience, especially Rowan who answered all my stupid questions! Some pics here, the rest in the 'Completed Builds' thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Looks brilliant mate, it really does. The rigging doesn't look too bad at all, but I know only too well what a pain it is (especially the front line that forks into two bits). The stand and display case are the final lovely touches too aren't they? really set it off. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Thanks Rowan! Yeah, the rigging was tough. The biggest problem I had was getting the thread to stick to the conning tower / railings, there was just nowhere for it to grab on to. I eventually had to cut little notches into the plastic so that it could grab onto it somewhere, and then do my best to tidy that up. Maybe that was 'cos I was using thread, not hair! The 'V' part in front of the Tower wasn't too bad for me actually. Thanks to a suggestion I got from the Dublin Branch of the IPMS, I glued the two ends of the same piece of thread to the tower, to create my 'V', and then tied the thread from the Bow to it! The only other messing I had to do was so blade work on the Decals so I could get the numbers '260' and get rid of the /41 from the Typ VIIC. The '6' in '260' is a '9' upside down! I really like the Display Case, I got it 'cos I'm giving the model to a mate of mine, and it really sets it off nicely, and it's just a little tinted too, which is cool. I've glued the stand that comes with the kit to the base of the display case. To be fair, I think any model that is put into a display case automatically looks better. It's like once it's in a display case it's more 'professional' or something! So glad to have it done, I can try to move my brain away from U-Boats now! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Jason What a great result and it's been really enjoyable to share your build along the way. Cheers Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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