Author Topic: Full build report: Uboat XXI (1/72) – sunk and raised (years later)  (Read 12549 times)

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Offline falo

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Deck

The deck had to built with the supplied photo etched parts of the kit and with plastic sheet. Again I used the plans from Koehl/Roessler („Vom Original zum Modell – XXI“) for control purposes. IMO the pe parts matched the plans very accurate, so it was no big deal to cut the plastic sheet parts to accomplish the deck from bow to stern.

As I mentioned before the XXI should be part of a kind of sculpture which required some kind of retainer or mounting. So it was necessary at this stage of the building progress to connect the deck with a hull half so I could later add the retainer into this half. Certainly it was the hull half with the two open torp doors which was  connected with the deck. It is the same principle which Trumpeter opted by constructing their VII/C kit (1/48 scale) – one hull half is moulded with the deck. I suppose here that Trumpeter had a RC option in mind for modelers who don’t want to build the inner sections.

To brace the deck temporary I built some rough support beams. which later were removed during closing the hull by adding the second half of the hull ("0053.jpg").

Regards
falo

Offline SG

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Amazing build Falo, also, very neat and accurate modelling. Top notch

Offline falo

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@ SG


Thank you!

Offline falo

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Interlude – conning tower

At this stage of the building progress I was totally „hull sick“, so I opted to lay the long hull halves beside for a while and began to start preparing the conning tower.

As mentioned in the second post of this thread before, the ct is a one piece 3-d print with open flood holes already. Due to the the 3-d printing process the surface was rough so I had to sand it to smooth the surface and start the scribing procedure again by using the plans of Koehl and Roessler. The thickness of the the ct hull was not scale accurate so I had to thin out the flood holes a little bit. This was no time consuming process and worth the effort. Here and there some filler was necessary but this was no big deal.

This ct intermission gave me enough motivation to continue with the hull halves. Learn more about that in the next post which will be called: „A sort of pressure hull and ribs“

Regards
falo
« Last Edit: 03 Dec , 2018, 09:09 by falo »

Offline Islandern

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This looks great to me! Keep up the great building and posting of pictures for us. :)

Offline falo

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Hi Anders,

thanks for you for the compliment.

As mentioned in the first post of this thread this is a fast forward-build limited by sorting all the pictures and notices so the XXI is already built ("0196.jpg"). Meanwhile I caught some very useful parts from eBay auctions for my planned sculpture where the XXI will have a major role. I hope to complete my proposal in February or March (2019 of course).

Regards
falo

Offline falo

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A sort of pressure hull and ribs

Again I had to keep in mind that I needed a retainer for my sculpture plans (as mentioned before), so I built a very quick and rough upper pressure hull from cardboard tube to check the position of pressure hull and planned retainer. The cardboard tube was designed to get a quick solution for further mounting plans for the retainer. But later I recognized that you would not see much of the pressure hull when the two halve were glued together. So I decided to keep the provisional arrangement in place, shoddy work lasts longest.

Later I revamped it with some elements like a winch, hatches and a inner structure for the conning tower.

Regards
falo

Offline 42rocker

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Very Interesting build. Looks great. Thanks for sharing. 
 
Later 42rocker

Offline falo

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@ 42rocker:
Thanks for your comment and stay tuned.

Regards
falo

Offline falo

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Hairspraying a conning tower

As of late I’am using the so called hairspray technic. Maybe some of you know this technic which creates random patterns and chipping effects. For those who are not familiar with this procedure I have written down this short how-to guide because this technic is IMO very helpful for modelers.

I used a inexpensive hairspray from the supermarket near by, but you can also make use of commercial chipping fluids which you have to apply with airbrush. Products sold by Mig Jimenez through his label „ammo of mig“ for example.

Step A
Once more I used the hue „steel“ as a primer for the conning tower just like I did with the two hull halves before. I let the ct cure for a few hours. The hairspray was applied after curing for 10 Minutes I sprayed the ct with a hull red tone (anti fouling paint) again straight from Tamiya aerosol can (picture „001“).

Step B
Don’t wait to long starting with the chipping effects (it’s fun!): So 5 minutes later I submerged the whole conning tower in hand-hot water for roughly 60 seconds. After that I start wiping with a stiff (old) brush to rub down the hull red and the steel tone appeared as random patterns, that’s the effect we are keen on (picture „002“).

Step C
Next step is to seal the ct with clear lacquer to protect our previous work for further tasks. Again I gave the ct time to dry for a fistful of hours (picture „003“). Then I repeated the above described steps: Applying hairspray, waiting for 5 minutes, spread the next paint (Tamiya „Haze Gray“, to simulate the upper hull color) and so forth. Now a steel and hull red pattern appears (picture „004“). After drying seal your work once more. Now you have a good basis for classic weathering actions like applying salt streaks, rain marks, rust, grime and so forth. The Tamiya hull red lost the brigthnesss during the afterwards weathering process.

If you have any further queries referring to the hairspray technic, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Regards
falo


Offline falo

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Hairspraying hull halves

No big deal here: After spraying the hull halves with steel I used again the hue "anti-fouling red" from Tamiya (called dull red, as said before). Previously I applied hairspray straight from the can as a chipping agent. Therefore the same procedure as described in the post before "Hairspraying a conning tower".

Regards
falo

Offline falo

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More "Hair do" to the hull

Now I airbrushed the upper hull "grey" after I covered the lower hull with Tamiya tape and newsprint of course ("035"). Previously I covered the hull red with hairspray and proceed as described before. This stage of the built was real fun and IMO the bounty for the endless sanding sessions earlier. Unforgotten my imposition during the DiBond matter!

The pics "036", "037" and "038" are showing the outcome of the above described efforts.  The pics "041", "042" and"045" are showing the upper hull after finishing.

Regards
falo
« Last Edit: 28 Jan , 2019, 06:07 by falo »

Offline falo

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Blocking rehearsal

Well, the conning tower and the hull halves got their first weathering treatment and I was curious how they interact (pic "046", "047" and "050"). As said before I kept the hull halves open because of the planned retainer. In addition the very bright grey hue of the upper hull is based on the color of U-2511 (a XXI-Uboat of course). The commander of U-2511 Adalbert Schnee gave order to paint the upper hull nearly white due for camouflage (by his own account).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/U2511_Bergen.jpg
(in the middle of the picture you can spot U-2511)

But as written before I had no specific XXI in mind during modeling because the model would be later part of a sculpture. Thus I was free to mix U-2511 colors with the weather-beaten look of the raised U-2540. OK I post this statement on AMP (Accurate Model Parts) so please bear with me.

Regards
falo

Offline SG

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Great techniques, Falo, Thx for sharing!