U-69 Revell VIIc Another way!
 

Hi all,

Since Siara is off for a couple of weeks i thought i'd better get off my arse and post some pix of my build.

It's slow going at the moment as i'm waiting on the POSTMAN:stare: for some odd's 'n' sods.

I started on the deck gun purely to get away from scraping the hull sides and generally covering myself with tiny little bits of plastic:doh:
The breech was sawn off the gun and replaced with the slightly better detailed offering from CMK. I also added the parts from the Eduard etch sheet, very tricky, especially if you have the touch of an angry rhino like i do!:rock: I also drilled out the gun barrel with a drill bit so small that when dropped cannot be picked up again!

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...os/U-69003.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...os/U-69003.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...os/U-69002.jpg


http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...os/U-69001.jpg

Hope these pix show up as i'm a bit rusty at this posting business.

Sav.

Nice! I have a modeling magazine and it has a huge article on building Revell's U-47. I'd post it, but I think that's a copy right violation? If not, I'll fire the scanner up!

Did you really mean the 1:125 scale U-47 with open side and interior? Or the 1/72 U-552? :hmm: I'd be much interested in a good guide to U-47 that explains how to improve it, since I got it as a present but am not happy to complete it with the current poor interior :nope:

Savvy - the 88 looks sweet.
Are you fitting the original shoulder braces or custom?
How about the gun crew-is it planed?...the way the lanyard is hunging down from the barell looks like the plug is out and the gun in use.

Im planning to make custom metal poles for the braces.

Keep up the good work mate.

*about the pics- try Imageshack for hosting, it gives you the link to thumbs aswell.
Then you can copy and paste the link straight to post. :up:

Now that I think about it, it's the U-99 in the magazine. But I do have the U-47 model, and I did my own interior.:smug: I think I spent more on my "extras" than I did on the model.:o

[quote=Siara]Savvy - the 88 looks sweet.
Are you fitting the original shoulder braces or custom?
How about the gun crew-is it planed?...the way the lanyard is hunging down from the barell looks like the plug is out and the gun in use.

Siara, Shoulder braces..not sure what to do yet, i'll have a closer look at them and decide what to do as and when.
The gun crew are sitting on a shelf waiting for thier moment, these are from Hecker and Goros in white metal and are some of the best figures i have seen. Conning tower crew are as above.
The lanyard will evetually have the 'bung' from the Eduard set hanging off it, this will be bulked out a little with scrap sprue. This is also why i drilled out the barrell.

Thanks for the heads up on Imageshack.

Sav.

Guys what is a good air brush to get now? I would like to try to build one of those U-Boats.

I think the Iwata ones are pretty good value for money, there are lots in that range, so you can find one to suit what you need it for, with many of them being specifically aimed at modellers and they have some decent double action ones that don't require a second mortgage to buy. Build quality is generally pretty good too.

Check them out (and other brands) here: www.everythingairbrush.com

They've got some very nice compressors on that site too, as long as you have the cash!

:D Chock

Hi Corvette,
You don't have to own an airbrush to get a good paint job. I personally own four, and not one of them is coming to my U-Boat party!

Don't get me wrong, when they are spraying well the effcts can be sensational, it's when they decide not to play things can turn nasty.

Have a quick look at the photo below. I did all of this with one can of grey primer and one can of white primer. All the weathering was done with pastels, cheap, relatively clean to use and very controllable.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...MFalcon006.jpg

Sav

Totally agree with Savvy there incidentally, good drybrushing is generally more controllable than airbrushing for most people. I went to art and design college for four years and was trained how to use an airbrush, and I still rarely break one out for the average model. I tend to think that airbrushed models look like airbrushed models rather than the real thing a lot of the time. Skillful masking and a decent steady hand with a paintbrush blows airbrushing out of the water most of the time. Won't be using one on my Akula anyway, and even though that's at 1:350 scale, I bet you I can do it better with a paintbrush!

To be fair, one thing airbrushes are good for is late WW2 German aircraft and vehicle camouflage at 1:35 to 1:48th scale, that and things such as the temporary camo changes on Messerschmitt bf109s in the mid to late 1940s. If you intend to make a lot of that kind of stuff, it's probably worth having a decent double action one.

:D Chock

Hows the build going Savvy?

I thought you was gonna be long in front when i return....:up:

Hi Siara,

I have done absolutely nothing! I have just finished a two week stint of nights:stare:

Also the last couple of weekends have been taken up painting reindeer and a Santa for my local Firestations Christmas Grotto:yep:

Got to go and help put it all together for them tomorrow and then i'll be free to get on with U-69:up:

Still no luck with the wooden decks, sent an e-mail to White Ensign and have been told that they ordered them a month ago. Not thier fault and i've had good service in the past. I think i'm going to change my build plan to suit the wait on this item.

Sav.

The new Revell 1/144th scale VIIC is out now as well, and its a great kit. It would take some mod work to do U-47 from either the 1/72nd scale or 1/144th scale kit as it's a VIIB. I'm hoping Revell will do a VIIB in the future but what I'm really looking for is a 1/144th scale IX or type II!:yep:

Hello Chaps,

I know it's been a while but i now have everything i need to crack with this build.

I've put quite a lot of hours into the conning tower over the past couple of days, this has mostly been scraping off the moulded in details and replacing them with the Eduard etch. The CMK periscope housing needed to be drilled out to accept their lovely turned 'Ally' periscope. Easy enough! hmm....the periscope is a couple of thou too big in diameter, so a simple drilling job turned out to be a pain in the arse:stare:

Not overly impressed with the fit of parts in this area. The parts do fit well but the mating surfaces are not the best and tend to give any joint line a gaping seam that needs to be polished out. I'll post pix when i've got things looking like i've actually done somthing, if you know what i mean?

Sav.

Good to hear you back in the shipyard Savvy.:up:

I'm back!
 

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Hi all,
Sorry the postings are a bit messy here but i'll get the hang of it!
Lot's done but nothing to see really. The 'lookout' perched at the top of the periscope took about 2 hours of grinding/cutting to get him to fit around the scope. I've added a mass of etch to the decks, again very time consuming.

More to follow now that i'm up and running again.
Siara, the flood/drain template turned up this morning, Thank You very much for that.

Sav.

No problem Savvy.;)

The watchman on the periscope its realy nice , and i think it was worth the effort you put in.
Keep it up!:rock:

Hello Chaps,

With a view of cutting costs on this build i've decided to try and open up ALL the flood/drain holes provided by Revell. Most of these are straight forward enough, but the 'grill' type vents on the lower hull, stern and bow, are a different matter!
Note, when i say all, i mean the ones that are specific to U-69 as far as my limited ref (Read, 1 photo of u-99 which is/was U-69) for this boat have revealed.
So far all is well but there is a long way to go yet:rock:

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Sav.

MORE Scraping!
 

Hi all,

Having trawled through a multitude of photos of U-Boats, specifically looking at the the 'oil-canning' effect that is being seen on a lot of builds going on at the moment (Mine inluded) i've come to the conclusion that this effect is being overdone.
This appears to be more so on the pressure hull and saddle tanks where in the photo's that i have seen the effect is very subtle.

So with a half round craft blade i set out to simulate this effect. The pressure hull itself will have very little in the way of the dents and creases seen on the tanks.

Comments are welcomed, good or bad as this is only my personal oppinon/observation in this particular area.

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Sav.

:up:

You are well ahead of me Sav.