Remember the aggressive grinding incident? I made one of the limber holes look kinda like this:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg204...png&res=medium

I cut the top of the hole until it was even all the way across. Not sure if this was neccessary, but hey, I'm learning here.

I then CA glued a small piece of quarter round styrene behind the hole, trimming it away from the neighboring holes.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg88/...jpg&res=medium

This is the finished repair after filling with Squadron White putty and shaping/filing/sanding.

The bottom of the hole is kinda ugly. I'm thinking of melting a bit of sprue and using it to fill that spot, using a tiny jewellers screwdriver as a putty knife. Will test it out a bit before I make the attempt.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg37/...jpg&res=medium

Started opening up the lower vents. WOW, was scraping/sanding the aft vents intense. I kinda botched it a bit, but it should be a simple fix. Pics next week.

The order for the Griffon Type VIIC PE set went out yesterday. Should pick it up next Friday (payday). Also, waiting for a copy of Type VII Uboats by David Westwood to arrive at the house.

See you next week.

The book arrived yesterday! It is going to be quite a help.

As promised, pics of opening up the lower mbt vents on the port side.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg856...jpg&res=medium

Oops! Turned two vents into one long vent on the forward end. Should be a simple fix.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg840...jpg&res=medium

Forward vents worked out OK.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg268...jpg&res=medium

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg231...jpg&res=medium

Been almost a month now. The research is going slower than hoped, but still moving along.

I just picked up the 1/144 scale PE brass Type VIIC kit from Griffon Models. Obviously I cannot use all the parts, but many of them will work.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg846...jpg&res=medium http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg845...jpg&res=medium

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg28/...jpg&res=medium http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg822...jpg&res=medium

Resumed working on the limber holes/vents on the hull this weekend. I'm going to be making a couple of drill patterns for a few vents. Now that I have the PE kit I can make a step-by-step list of tasks required to complete the model!!

There are no 1/144 scale wooden decks that I know of, but I consider myself a fairly skilled wood modeller, so... ...gonna have a go at making my own. Hardwoods are surprisingly durable at that scale, and since it will be stained/painted dark, any light/medium colored hardwood should work.

Wish me luck!

Ok, here we go. Opening the various vents/holes on the starboard side didn't go quite as smoothly as the port side.

The plastic was so thin in this area, much moreso than the port side, that it was not possible to save the horizontal division below, but it was a simple fix using .75MM quarter round styrene. Still some filing to do to clean up all the holes in this area.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg41/...jpg&res=medium

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg20/...jpg&res=medium

OK, I thought I had ruined the model with this one. I didn't see any way to fix it. A little aggressive grinding turned the red circled area below into one big hole. The thicker vertical part was still there, but slit through the middle.

Note: this pic is obviously post-fix. I was too mad at myself to think to take pics of the botched job.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg801...jpg&res=medium

Here's a pic of the fix from the back side.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg17/...jpg&res=medium

Using an X-acto knife and #11 blade, I thinned a piece of .75mm quarter-round. The thicker piece below, used for reference, is the remainder of the piece. (I forgot I had .50mm quarter round)

Using 3 drops of Model Master Plastic Cement held the piece in place until it would hold by itself, about 60 seconds. Came back in an hour and trimmed off the excess.

The curved black line above the fix is one of my eyelashes. I'm very pleased with this one. (the repair, not the eyelash :O:)

We'll see what it looks like after it is primed.

More later.

Back to the port side aft vents I Borked a few weeks back. Simple fix with the .75mm quarter round.

.50mm would have been better, but I found it after this repair was complete, and I seriously didn't feel like cutting this out again.

It looks fine. Just a little sanding so it isn't quite so proud.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg405...jpg&res=medium

Upcoming projects:

1. Opening the existing flood holes below the tower, port and stbd, and adding a few holes so the pattern will be correct.

2. Moving the 4 bumps, 2 per side, forward one frame and raise them a bit. Not sure what these are exactly, but they are definitely misplaced.

3. Sand and fill the louvred vent on the bottom of the saddle tanks. I've come to doubt these were original equipment. I believe they were added to U995 after she was raised.

4. Locate and drill the new limber holes above the forward end of the saddle tanks. Both sides.

5. Relocate the diesel exhaust port below the waterline. Time to head to the party store to find some of those tiny straws used in mixed drinks. Cut at an angle, it should mimic the new exhaust perfectly.

Better idea, take the wife out to dinner tonight and order a few cocktails! Keep the wife happy, and obtain building supplies! Two birds, one stone!

That's all for now. Have a great weekend! :up:

Glued resin piece behind the exhaust ports. Ground the ports down and filled the holes. Still need to fabricate new ports below the waterline.

Drilled 4 new limber holes below the old port location on each side. The first one was ugly, but I get better with practice. :up:

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1314713346


Opened the small holes below the tower. That worked out fine on both sides.

After a bit of research, I need to fill the three bottom holes on the left of the photo, and add another to the top row. Also need to add a couple further back along the side. (Using U-295 as a model) These are tiny holes, and my smallest bit will barely do the job. Wish me luck.

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...e/IMG_1092.jpg


The area marked by the red oval is charachteristic of later batches of VIIC/41s and VIICs with the type IV turm. The only 2 photos I've seen of U295 clearly show no bulge in this area. Looks like I have a bit more alteration to do here. Also note I filled the louvred grate area on the RFO/MB tank. Need to add a skim coat and finish sand the area on both sides.

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...e/IMG_1089.jpg


Drilled the two ports seen above, and was test fitting the PE pieces for this area when it occured to me that these ports may not have had louvred grates as the PE pieces would suggest. If they were intakes, they probably would, but if they were discharges, they would not.

*sigh* more research

More later!

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.

http://www.uboat.net/media/photos/flak1.jpg

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.
:damn::damn:

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:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg560...jpg&res=medium


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.
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg220...jpg&res=medium


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

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg694...jpg&res=medium


http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg849...jpg&res=medium

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...

Might as well resurrect this thread since I've pulled myself from a watery grave and rejoined the Kriegsmarine!

The model sat idle for a number of years as I was unable to find/build a suitable 144th scale Flakvierling 38. 3D printing has now made a suitable piece. I'll simply have to replace the thick barrels with metal rod.

The turm is complete, the hull nearly so. Now to mate the two, add finishing touches and finish the paint.

Pics when I get the chance. I'm a busy bee these days. :Kaleun_Wink:

The model looks great so far. I saw in the forums a while back where someone had made their model/ U-boat look weathered and battle weary.


Nice work. :up: