Revell VIIC 1-72 scale my way...
 

Im going to atempt to put together the model of submarine type VIIC by Revell.
The model spent last couple of years on the wardrobe gathering dust , while i was ploughing my way thru aray of unfinished projects from the past :oops:

The choice of aftermarked parts is good , and everyone can find the figures , and photoetched parts to suit their taste.

My choice was Eduard P/E , combined with some metal barrels , and crew for 88mm gun and sentry with some deck crev. Im still undecided on that one though.

The furnishings probably will be chosen along the way , as im still awaiting the Eduards P/E (bloody post) and im holding the talks about barells still.
Hopefully they will turn up this week and i can start doing some work.

The reason im writing this post is simple. For one it will provide me with much needed boost , and hopefuly you can help me on some technical problems along the way , as there are some issues with the kit , which need to be corrected.

To be continued...

Have fun drilling out the limber holes with a pin drill and filing them all square with a needle file, I remember doing that with that kit, it took bloody ages:rotfl:

:D Chock

Any photos?

Are you going to go with a wooden deck? A nice looking one is available from Nautilus Models ( http://www.nautilusmodels.com/U-02/turm2.htm ). If I were building one, that's what I'd use. :yep:

http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/m...robertoubb.jpg

You can ask here :
http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/

Thanks for comments.

First of all i will have to decide which U-boat im gonna try to replicate.
Judging by the photobase available i was edging myself towards U-552 (as i think it is a beauty of its kind , and Erich Topp gets my vote anyday).

nikimcbee - of coursei will be posting the pics , what sens in topic like this without the pictures? :yep:

Here are some stills of the box:
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4190/boxez3.th.jpg

The hull is big. The biggest model ever atempted by me , for visual comparison i placed the hull of the Type VIID Minenlager in 1-144 scale inside.
Even though the model of Type VIID is longer than standard VII the size diference is obvious:
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/2...lubawu4.th.jpg

First glance inside the box and everything looks in order , parts are neetly kept apart by some spacers on the mould / no more cracked wintergartens /.
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/9...uts2yk3.th.jpg

The detail is of good quality , even out of the box this model will look the part:
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8...uts1zy9.th.jpg
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4...uts3fe4.th.jpg

Instruction is clear with choice of diferent U-boat possibilities covered:
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/7097/kalkicg9.th.jpg

That is to be decided before i open the floodholes , as they difer from one boat to another.

Bill Nichols - i was looking up the websites with wooden decks , and only thing i can say is : only wood can give true effect of the wood , but i`ll wait for my eduard P/E to turn up , before spending more money on something that i may not use. But is a food for thought. :up:

I once had a type VII as a model and put it together, the hull on one side was open from stern to bow, so that you could have a glance at the interior. I was around 12 or 13, and in an effort to make it look more Klingon, I choosed an awfully wrong selection of dark colours. when I was done, it looked almost like the "Black Terror" when the sun had hidden behind the clouds.. :lol:

The decision has been made , and its gonna be U-552 early.
There isnt lot of diference between early and late 552 , just water deflectors around the 88mm gun , and some small cosmetic stuff regarding conning tower and exhausts.

First line of attack is sorting out the flood holes , as Revell just riddled the hull with as many holes as they possibly could.

I decided on using the photoetched parts from White ensight for lower parts of the hull , because the areas in the model are totaly off scale and the pattern of holes is from Mars.

Upper part of hull isnt much better . For casual modeler that is not the problem , because it still will look the part , but if you decided to make the model nearly identical to the real thing , you need to start drilling and filling.

First port side.
Front flooding holes look ok , all is needed is filling 2 holes.
The holes neer exhaust need lot more work as some are wrong shape, some are in the wrong place, and some are missing.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7...olesid7.th.png

All the holes are going to be open in my model.
For that task im using Dremmel tool and sandpaper. To beginn with graze the inside of the hull with Dremmel untill you see the light thru the holes , then switch to sandpaper. Its easy to overdo with power tools , and the last thing i wont is rushing the job.

For the filling im using White Putty from Squadron.

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/3...age3nh4.th.jpg
You can see the plastic in this areas is quiet thick , but be careful with power tools...
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1966/image4qo1.th.jpg
Front flood holes are in the wrong place and are to big. Some

U-boats had these vents arranged in pairs. The paired

arrangement featured in Blohm & Voss boats such as U 552, U 556 and U 564.
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/8...age5bi8.th.jpg

TBC...

Still drilling and filling , theres so much to be done...

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/820...e005lk2.th.jpg
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6...e003qw3.th.jpg

TBC...

Starboard side is even trickier.

Picture below show the paterns of limber holes in Revel kit and U-552.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/3979/48534017of1.png

I trimmed thin bit of plastic /leftover from old revell kit/ and glued it in place of missing lumber holes.


http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1...oardlr1.th.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9...eniexn6.th.jpg

Completed drilled holes.
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/716...e545ai7.th.jpg

TBC...

I finifhed drilling the main flood holes on starboard side of the hull.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3717/3483948kn6.th.jpg

Now i have to wait for P/E parts delivery.

TBC...

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread, since making one of these has been a silent wish from me as well. Thanks for covering this process skip. :up:

Thanks Von Hinten. I`ll do my best. ;)

I just realised its going to be about 1 -2 weeks untill i get the rest of the parts , so i started work on the surfacess. Because subs hull is not the straight surface i decided to give it more realistic look.
I decided to curve the tin ripple.
Carefuly scraping with the curved knife i managed to achieve this effect:
http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/8885/75757qu5.th.jpg
http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/9748/5454mc9.th.jpg

At that stage im not overly concerned about the rivets , as they are wrong shape on the model , and are sticking out to much for my liking. All the rivets are going to be replaced on my sub.

TBC...

Sweet
Very detailed posts

I wonder what uboat Revell based the model on :hmm:
Obviously not a B und V boat

First test of the rivets.

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4...8787mf0.th.jpg

It is only the test , and on the sub the rivets are much tighter.
I think it looks satisfactory. :yep:

Im having trouble finding good , clear pictures of the subs saddle tanks. Revell kit is simplyfied in this area and the surfaces are to straight , while the real boats had some dents and tin ripple to the tanks. Problem is i can not locate reference picture regarding internal ribing of the tanks. If someone has picture or drawing of that part of U-boat it will be highly apreciated.
Another aspect is the vents that are located on upper surface of the saddle tanks.
Again , the pictures i have are not conclusive , and most of the fotos are of the boats submerged wchich is of no help.

Thanks in advance.

TBC...

I've included some pictures below, but...

It will help you to understand what it goes like if you know a little bit about how they built the Type VII. It was built out of circular steel sections which were welded together, the middle two were purely cylindrical, but those which tapered to the bow and stern were basically conical. All of these were solid tubes which then had holes pierced in them where necessary, such as for the torpedo tubes, hatches and access to the conning tower, this formed the pressure hull. When the pressure hull was in one piece, the hole for the conning tower would be cut and thus things could be lowered inside to build the interior. While this was going on, the outer hull could be added.

The outer hull was basically streamlined plating added fore and aft, with a deck along the top, supported by steel ribs which were welded to the pressure hull, the ribs typically being 60 centimetres apart, the outer hull was pierced with the free-flooding holes but where it met the saddle tanks, it was supported on rib stanchions thus leaving a gap between the outer hull plating and the top of the saddle tanks, and you can see these supporting ribs on a picture I have attached. Only on the underside in the centre section was the pressure hull used to form part of the exterior shape (underneath).

So what you basically have is a big long cigar shape, with the outer hull sitting on top of it, with a big gap in between along the top so that things like external stowage, retractable bollards the anchor winch motor etc etc have somewhere to go. Sort of a bit like a 'sprung floor'. This gap being the reason for the many lift-up hatches along the deck, to allow access to various bits and pieces, although some of these access hatches were only intended to be used for dockyard servicing. The deck, incidentally, was covered with wooden planking so that it would not ice up so quickly as steel, and because it was simpler to leave a 1 centimetre gap between the planks so that it would assist in dive flooding, than it was to make something of that nature in steel.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...dbury/Sub1.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...dbury/Sub2.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...dbury/Sub3.jpg

Hope this helps. I've got plenty more reference if you need it, so just shout out if you'd like to see more.

:D Chock

Thank you for the superb answer Chock. Very important info there , but what im having problem with is the internal ribbing of the tanks. I understand how U-boat was build - regarding structure of the hull. I know there were ribs / cylindrical shaped steel rings , that were covered on outside with sheet of steel. The tanks i understand were added / welded / to the main body of the boat , with some sort of support underneath. These were the ribs of the tank. Problem is i do not know how many ribs were there per tank , and what was the spacing of them looking from the side.
I gather the welds on the tank do not represent the actual spacing , as it looks to far apart.
What i was trying to do is to shape the tanks / similar to what i done with the main body of the hull / simulating indents and accidents during u-boats life.
For that to achieve i need some reference regarding those ribs.
Picture below shows model of Wink Grisé where you can see the shadow of the ribs.
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/4...eldshj1.th.jpg

Hope you can help Chock.

TBC...

Currently scanning some pics, check back in ten mins!

:D Chock

RGR :up: