Greetings Everyone,
Taking a few days off from my home renovation work and managed to find some time for U-45. Leaving the conning tower aside for a bit, I focused on the modifications needed to the forward flooding vents. With one exception, the Revell kit can be modified without too much difficulty to accurately depict an early VIIB, including U-45. My main resource is the material researched and prepared by Dougie which is very detailed and well documented. Basically, U-45 had a top row of 28 flood vents on the port side and a bottom row of 19 vents. The starboard side had a top row of 28 vents and a bottom row of 15 vents. The central drainage area was the same on both sides, starting just behind top row vent no 28. The Revell kit has 22 vents on the top row and 17 on the bottom, both port and starboard. This seems like an easy modifications at first, but there is a problem on the port side where the saddle tank occupies the same space as the needed extra bottom row vents (apologies for poor spelling in the photo notations):
No problem with filling the central drainage area and making the six new vents for the top row, but the two vents (nos. 18 & 19) on the bottom row are a real problem. Other than major styrene surgery to the saddle tank, I can't see a way to add these two vents. At this point, I am inclined to accept a compromise to accuracy and leave these two vents off rather than attempt a major modification to the saddle tanks.
The starboard side has only 15 vents on the bottom side, so no problem with the saddle tank:
It is interesting to note that the central drainage area is the same on both sides for U-45. I believe this drainage area on the VIIC boats was not the same on both sides. It seems that all is required to make this modification is to fill the slot on the kit part and then make the six new flood vents on both sides. Keeping these new vents in a straight line with the existing vents may bring them very close to saddle tank, I can't be sure until I measure more carefully.
Thanks to everyone for helping me with this project. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Regards,
Bill