Trumpeter build as U-371

[Katuna]

It was suggested that I start a build page so here it is. Please be patient as my availability of spare time is somewhat limited. I'm hardly a master modeler (not even close) and I'm coming off of a roughly 35 year hiatus of building, other than a stint of model railroading for about 5 years. For some unknown reason I thought it would be a wise idea to jump into this kit with only a 1/35 Polish TKS tankette as a warm up. It proved to be about as challenging as the U-boat kit. So tiny!


A little history on U-371 and why I picked it as my focus. I always like doing something unique (hence the tankette) and I didn't just want to build another U-559. I had watched a couple builds online and they looked great but I wanted something different so, I started researching U-boats and came across Uboat.net. Not having any idea what patrol area I wanted, I picked U-371 simply because I liked the number. After that scientific approach, I began researching the boat. I love researching a project and while finding information on a somewhat unknown boat was a challenge, I found its story intriguing. It had a fairly long career as U-boats go, consisting of 18 patrols, most of them in the Med. Most were under the command of Waldemar Mehl. He and most of his crew left U-371 after the 17th patrol. It was sunk on the next patrol.


The boat was an early war Type VIIC and had been retrofitted with a Turm IV tower after its 14th patrol. Refitted with twin 20mm on the upper platform and initially a quad 20mm on the lower (there is conflicting info in the interrogation report as to whether it had the quad 20 or single 37mm at the time of the sinking). I am choosing to model the boat during its 15th patrol.


There are only two photos of U-371 that can positively be connected to that particular boat. The insignia of Waldemar Mehl, a dragonfly riding a torpedo on the front of the original Turm and a screenshot from a forum thread on Uboat.net of the insignia on the side of the Turm IV which also had armor boxes added. This was exciting to find as I would have not known there were armor boxes and adding that to the model only increases its uniqueness. Unfortunately, I've never been able to find the video that this picture was pulled from. The post is about 10 years old and the YouTube link is dead.


So, hopefully I don't embarrass myself too much with my build skills. My hearts in the right place anyway.


 

[Raymic1]

Hi Katuna
Welcome. You have an ambitious challenge ahead of you.
The Trumpeter kit is woefully inaccurate. However it slightly makes up for that by being the only 1/48 interior and also the parts although inaccurate fit together beautifully.


In regards being another U552.
I considered that too as there are hundreds of wonderful (and some not) U552 mainly exterior builds out there in all scales.


 But in regards to the Trumpeter U552 most are built out of the box with all the Trumpeter inaccuracies.
I cant understand some very skilled builders who build it OOB showing wonderful finishes and skills but the model looks rubbish due to inaccuracies.
One builder had a beautiful finished kit OOB on Ebay trying to sell it for $2000 Euros!!!.
Any true UBoat fan or expert  wouldn't want it .

I estimate from looking at over 2000 pictures and videos that the Trumpeter kit is about 10% accurate.
The only builds I have come across so far that are at least trying to improve the kit are mine and Biancos Fillipo.

In regards to my build I have taken the stance that because I am not an exert builder and due to the fact that some parts of the Trump kit are beyond my repair skills that I'm trying to make a more detailed model that although not always 100 percent accurate to experts will give me some personal satisfaction.
If I get from Trumpeters 10% to maybe 70% accurate Ill be happy.
I'm also using "artistic licence" to improve the kit but not always achieve 100 % accuracy.


An example  is adding all the underfloor pipes and valves. It is beyond me to build and add everything but adding  some detail for effect will enhance.

It frustrates me that I'm not quite skills wise up to the task. Maybe one day someone will  do a 100 percent accurate build.
That would be great to see.


Good luck.

[Katuna]

Raymic - You and I are on the same page. I know I'm not at the skill level I would like, I like a good challenge. 35 years ago I was a mediocre builder and I was fine with that. However, what was available then compared to now is a day and night comparison. I watched several different builders on YouTube doing things I never imagined all those years ago. I took several of the techniques I saw and incorporated them into my little tankette and was pleasantly surprised at how well I picked up on those techniques.


There was a build on a forum by a guy from England and he was doing a fabulous job but he got fed up by all the inaccuracies that he just gave up on it. He has a YouTube channel now and he's a great modeler. I really wish he would go back to the some day. I rib him about it but he won't budge. Here's the site if you're interested.
http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=264400&page=1&ord=0



I will never be able to replicate every pipe, nut and bolt on this boat but I'll give it a good try.


Here's a pic of my tiny little tank in 1/35 scale. I added an interior kit which was very basic. I designed the engine and had a friend 3D print it for me. The spent shells are just bits of brass wire.

[Katuna]

Jeez, again with the upside down pics!

[Katuna]

Ok, I've got this figured out now. Note to self: Hold the camera right side up, idiot.


So, I decided to start with the Engine Room first. For me it seemed like a good place to start (oh, you silly fool). A lot of detail needs to be added to make it a reasonable representation of the actual boat. The first thing is to create another set of ribs. As described by Raymic, this kit is woefully inaccurate, henceforth referred to a WI where appropriate. As I'm a bit rusty in my scratch building skills, I decided to put the home made ribs in the rear and bring the kit pieces out front. This addition alone will make any build of this kit better as it fills a huge void in an otherwise densely crowded section of the boat.

[Katuna]

Initially I intended to recreate the lower half of the Stbd. engine. However, SOMEONE stole my idea  (most likely before I ever thought of it). So, I had intended to render some of the tanks and piping but now I think I will try and get as close to the actual layout as possible. Using NZSnowman's and others 3D drawings, original line drawings and wonderful help from Tore, I'm now getting ready to start. I ordered several sizes of both lead and brass wire and picked up different styrene shapes. Hopefully it will come out reasonably well.


Here are the center and Stbd. tanks. The Port tank is only the first cell as that is all you can see. I need to do a little more mock up and back light it to see if I need to create the top of the Port tank. The brass wire was just some I had on hand and it represents some 1" (.5mm) piping to the center tank.

[Katuna]

Oh yeah, since I figured out how to solve my upside down issue...

[Katuna]

Here's a small sample of the drawings I'm working with. I'm in the process of color coding the black & white versions as it's much easier to follow. The overhead is much easier to decipher but the elevation is brain-twisting. As there is no scale on the drawings, the pipe sizes are estimated using actual photos and working backwards to call out the different sizes. At 1/48 scale, it's pretty hard to differentiate between 1/2" and 3/4" pipe (.25 and .38mm).

[Raymic1]

Awesome Katuna
What drawings are u using?
They look like Snowmans cads?


Do u have better shots to share?

[Katuna]

Hmm, I may be persuaded to post them. I'm not sure where I found all of them but I believe they are all NZSnowman's. I scrounged and scavenged everywhere for these. I have sent some messages to him on related topics but have yet to hear back from him. It's been a while now. Hopefully he won't mind. If it's a problem Mods, please take them down.

[Katuna]

Only a little time to work on things this weekend. Making up the engine dry sump drain back valves on the center tank. The valves themselves didn't come out too bad. Used a build up of Mr. Surfacer to get the curvature on the bottom of the valve. I still need to work on the valve stem towers a little but they're getting close. Need to make flanges too. Lots and lots of flanges (gulp!). Put a coat of paint on the access covers so I can scribe a line to layout the bolt pattern.

[bianco64squalo]

Hi Katuna,
do you know the model of my friend David, a German modeler ?
I think there is not a better modeler than him...
Look at his masterpiece...


P.S. : David, I hope you will not angry because I posted some photos of your model without your permission...

[Katuna]

Filippo - Please tell me he is modeling in 1/18 scale. If that is 1/48 then I'm just going to put mine back in the box and go back to 1/35 scale tanks. 


Seriously, that is simply amazing. Would it be possible to get larger size images as it looks like several of my questions have been solved as to where certain pipes go. Thank you for posting those images. There are some incredibly talented modelers out there.

[bianco64squalo]

Hi Katuna, as you can see from the eighth image, where you can see David's fingers, the model is in 1/48 scale, like ours, is the Hachette model, widely detailed ....
However you are right, I too am stunned by David's ability ...
However I too try to defend myself, with my U-552 ...
I asked to David if he can send to me high resolution images....
Stay tuned...

[Katuna]

I am humbled. Thank you for checking on the images.