Revell Germany VIIC/41 "Atlantic Version" 144:1

[Osmium Steele]

Picking it up in a couple of days! Can't wait! Too excited!

Just had to share with someone, and my wife just doesn't understand...

LINK TO MY BUILD PICS

[Castout]

I've got their biggest scale encased in a display case. It's for longevity. I mean mine, my life

So I understand.

[Osmium Steele]

I've pretty much decided I'll be building the U-297.

Someone needs to build a memorial to that hard luck boat.

Now, for the research. There are some great pictures of her out there; full port and starboard sides out of the water, but my IT dept. at work blocks many of them.

Just have to do it at home.

EDIT: Turns out these pics are of another boat, :-(

[Castout]

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

I've pretty much decided I'll be building the U-297.

Someone needs to build a memorial to that hard luck boat.

Now, for the research. There are some great pictures of her out there; full port and starboard sides out of the water, but my IT dept. at work blocks many of them.

Just have to do it at home.

If you really like U-boat you should build a bigger scale model of it and preserve it. . I mean from the sound you seem to be quite dedicated with building it.

Here's mine

[Osmium Steele]

In my youth I was a fairly skilled modeller, intermediate with a few advanced skill thrown in. The only ship model I ever built was the USS Ranger, and it was a poor job, believe me.

Cars, planes, HO scale trains and various military vehicles were my thing. My favorite being a 1/8 scale '32 Ford Coupe, until my 8 yr. old cousin rolled it down the stairs while I was at school.

Sold everything when I joined the Navy. Built an M1 Abrahms about 18 years ago for my father. It turned out very nice. Built nothing but model rockets, a couple of wooden ship models, and a small scale Space Battleship Yamato since that time.

So this model will be a chance to shake the rust off my skills, re-stock the modelling kit, and test out some new skills prior to finding a 1:72 model to build.

Hey, the wife's always saying I need another hobby.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

In my youth I was a fairly skilled modeller, intermediate with a few advanced skill thrown in. The only ship model I ever built was the USS Ranger, and it was a poor job, believe me.

Cars, planes, HO scale trains and various military vehicles were my thing. My favorite being a 1/8 scale '32 Ford Coupe, until my 8 yr. old cousin rolled it down the stairs while I was at school.

Sold everything when I joined the Navy. Built an M1 Abrahms about 18 years ago for my father. It turned out very nice. Built nothing but model rockets, a couple of wooden ship models, and a small scale Space Battleship Yamato since that time.

So this model will be a chance to shake the rust off my skills, re-stock the modelling kit, and test out some new skills prior to finding a 1:72 model to build.

Hey, the wife's always saying I need another hobby.

Oh after this 1/144 done do get a bigger U-boat and protect it. I got a feeling from your story you're not a bad modeler at all.

PS: I just take a look at 1:144 U boat model kit. It's not as small as I thought it would be. Looks quite detailed in fact. Don't forget to post pictures of yours.

[Osmium Steele]

Had a minor dremel tool accident. Made one of the vents look like the above pic. Never perform touchy grinding operations while watching a comedy.

Putty alone wouldn't hold, so I glued a piece of quarter-round styrene stock to the back side, and will try again when I get home from work.

Picked up some styrene sheet stock last night to form the pressure hull. Will firm up some plans for that over the weekend.

[Osmium Steele]

The patch on the aggressive grinding fiasco worked like a charm. Pics on the way.

Ordered the Griffon Models VIIC photo-etch set Saturday. Will pick it up in a couple of weeks. I will decide what to do with the lower flood vents when it arrives.

Also ordered Anatomy of the Ship: Type VII U-boat by David Westwood. Hoping it will give me the info I'm looking for to scratch build the parts needed to complete this project.

If anyone out there has pics of U-boats 292 - 300, or 1271 - 1279 please give me a heads up. I'd love to take a look at them. These are the VIIC/41 boats built at the Bremen-Vagesack Works and pics are extremely hard to come by for any of these boats.

Will post again when the PE set arrives.

[Penguin]

I'm reading your building report with great interest, keep on posting!
This will be my next mode, as the Revell VII in 1:72 is unavailable now

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

If anyone out there has pics of U-boats 292 - 300, or 1271 - 1279 please give me a heads up. I'd love to take a look at them. These are the VIIC/41 boats built at the Bremen-Vagesack Works and pics are extremely hard to come by for any of these boats.

So far I had no success in finding some pictures. What sources did you look up? It helps if we post them, so we don't check the same ones over and over.

I looked for pics in these books:
- Lakowski: Deutsche U-boote geheim
- Bagnasco: Uboote im 2. Weltkrieg
- Möller/Brack: Enzyklopädie deutscher U-Boote
- Nowarra: German U-boat type VII
- Wiper: Warship Pictorial Kriegsmarine Type VII U-boats

the last book confirms that the mentioned boats were indeed the VII/41s built in Bremen-Vegesack

I'll keep looking!

[Osmium Steele]

* SIGH * I've juts lost any excuse I possibly had to avoid opening up some vents and to minimize oil-canning due to the 1/144 scale of this model.

This is AMAZING! Click the picture for a link to his Spanish language site.

[Osmium Steele]

I just found out that U-297 had the 4 barreled 20mm flakveirling 38. U-745 is pictured below. Hrm, I just noticed U-745 has no lifeboat canisters under the wintergarden. And, the research never stops.



Of course the kit comes with the 3,7cm flak cannon. If I cannot find a kit in 1/144 scale, I'll have to scratch build until I get one I like. The finished piece would be smaller than the circumference of a quarter.

[Osmium Steele]

I've located a wonderful resource. German Warships 1815 - 1945 Volume Two by Erich Groner shows the limber hole patterns for every batch of u-boat. for Type VIIs, it shows the openings beginning aft of the diagonal row at the bow, under the deck gun (if any), and under the tower.

As a result of the info in this book, I only need to fill these two slots at the bow:




I filled the holes I had drilled earlier. I can find no evidence of any intakes/discharges in these areas, with the exception of the Stbd side of U-995. I can find no technical drawings or schematics showing hull stops in this area. All discharges/intakes on the drawings are connected to one tank or another, or lead directly under the exterior decking.

Note the bulge at the top. In later boats with the turm IV, this bulge allows a tad more room to get around the wintergarden 20mm guns.

Unfortunately, pics of u295 do not show this bulge, and the book referenced above lists 4 slots in this area. All later batches have 0 or 1 slot here.



Eliminating the bulge. The deck will also have to be altered here, if I end up using the original deck.






Will glue some resin and fill this area over the weekend. The plan is also to correct the layout of small slots beneath the tower, open up the long slot over the saddle tanks, and begin framing. Once that is done. A final decision on how to represent the pressure hull is in order.

Until next time...

[Osmium Steele]

Originally Posted by Penguin

What sources did you look up? It helps if we post them, so we don't check the same ones over and over.

Thank you for your interest Penguin. I'll certainly keep 'em coming.

All of my research, so far, has been online. I started with Google images, and branched out from there. I've hit all the obvious websites on uboats/modelling, including a couple of german sites. I don't speak german, but have picked up just enough over the years to get the gist of what I'm looking at, given enough time.

The only book I've checked was an online scan of Type VII U-Boats by David Westwood.

The only pic I can confirm from the above batches is one of U-295:



The vent pattern below the turm is clearly the Bremen-Vegesack pattern.
(Thank you Dougie Martindale)

The only pic I've found of U-297, is a pic of the bridge area on the surface. The pic shows the correct turm and fittings for a VIIC/41, but I'll have to confirm the kaleun in the pic is that of Wolfgang Aldegarmann.



EDIT: This is the only pic I could find listed as U-297. The chin is the correct shape, the width and height of the mouth above the chin, the nose appears correct. I'm going to say that this is correct. This pic tells me a bunch about the boat.

The small pic is Kurt Kraker, the 1st officer of U-297. Looks a great deal like the individual on the right.

I'll soon be ordering the booklet on the discovery of the U-297. Hopefully it will have some decent pics of her.

2nd Edit: The book arrived! While not as helpful as I'd hoped, it has cleared up a few questions I had.
The picture above is indeed u297, but the Kaleun is actually the shorter figure at the right and Kraker is wearing the peaked cap! The author confirmed this with Aldegarmann's widow.

It also led me to German Warships 1815 - 1945 Volume 2 by Groner. This book reportedly has the exact scuppers/limber holes used by this batch of VIIC/41s! Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Fish40]

That guy does fantastic work! He must have a hell of alot of time on his hands. He's not in prison is he? Osmium keep the pics comeing! I love threads like this

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

The only pic I've found of U-297, is a pic of the bridge area on the surface. The pic shows the correct turm and fittings for a VIIC/41, but I'll have to confirm the kaleun in the pic is that of Wolfgang Aldegarmann.

Check out this site about a diving expedition to U-297: http://newfrontierdiving.com/u297.html
The guy here is the same guy as in your pic:

The caption also says it's Wolfgang Aldegarmann.

And I found a report of a crew member of U-300, though only in German:
http://www.kbismarck.com/u-boot/ugas...hschmiedel.htm

There are two pics of her sinking on this site, but they are grainy pics taken against the sun, so not too many details to see there.