Greif's New Uboot Project

[Greif]

Hello and I hope everyone had a nice christmas.  Well, I did not get the hoped for Andrea 1/32 scale Deck Gun model.  My dear wife said it looked stupid - so she got me a 1/350 scale kit of the Bismarck.  It's a nice kit, but I have zero interest in surface ships as modeling subjects.  Looks like I'll be doing some trading!

The Andrea kit is now currently oos at the places I buy from in the states, and I refuse to pay the $236.00 it would cost by ordering direct from Andrea.  What to do?

Well.....I've had the four CMK interior kits for some time now, and have always planned a build, so "Let's get to it!" as they say.

The plan:  I will build the interiors, starting with the Engine Room, first.  Once they are finished, I will install them into a #5015 Revell kit.  I am leaning towards modeling U307.  Of course that means I'll have to do some modifications to the vent pattern; apart from that, I'll so some minor detailing to the CT.  I'm undecided if I will cut the center slit open and model the part of the internal structure as I did with U228.  I'll decide when I get to that point. 

This will be a long term build, and it is undoubtably going to have some construction pauses.  As soon as I post this, I will begin building (the Engine Room kit is already calling to me.  )  Sometime do the road, I'll have to buy a Revell #5015 kit, or maybe I'll get lucky and find someone who wants to trade one, say for a 1/350 scale Bismarck. 

Ernest

   

[Don in Cincinnati]

Hello and I hope everyone had a nice christmas.  Well, I did not get the hoped for Andrea 1/32 scale Deck Gun model.  My dear wife said it looked stupid - so she got me a 1/350 scale kit of the Bismarck.  It's a nice kit, but I have zero interest in surface ships as modeling subjects.  Looks like I'll be doing some trading!

The Andrea kit is now currently oos at the places I buy from in the states, and I refuse to pay the $236.00 it would cost by ordering direct from Andrea.  What to do?

Well.....I've had the four CMK interior kits for some time now, and have always planned a build, so "Let's get to it!" as they say.

The plan:  I will build the interiors, starting with the Engine Room, first.  Once they are finished, I will install them into a #5015 Revell kit.  I am leaning towards modeling U307.  Of course that means I'll have to do some modifications to the vent pattern; apart from that, I'll so some minor detailing to the CT.  I'm undecided if I will cut the center slit open and model the part of the internal structure as I did with U228.  I'll decide when I get to that point. 

This will be a long term build, and it is undoubtably going to have some construction pauses.  As soon as I post this, I will begin building (the Engine Room kit is already calling to me.  )  Sometime do the road, I'll have to buy a Revell #5015 kit, or maybe I'll get lucky and find someone who wants to trade one, say for a 1/350 scale Bismarck. 

Ernest

   

Ernest:

A belated Merry Christmas.

The new project sounds exciting. I hope you will keep us up-to-date as the build progresses, and don't worry about lapses. That's a  facet of our hobby.

I scratchbuilt a full interior some years back for the Revell 1/125 model  by cutting away half the hull (Port side) and it came out pretty nice. Revell had a model available back then supposedly with a visable interior but it was so far wrong as to be laughable which prompted my build.

As to the Andrea kit I suggest marking time until you can get it at a price that won't wipe you out. The U307 -or whatever boat you decide to model- will keep you busy until then.

As to the Bismarck...Trade it for something you want. (So long as it won't make a shambles of your domestic tranquility.)

Stay well, Ernest, and have a Happy New year.

Don

[Siara]

Nice idea Ernest. Im sitting in the front row, with big bag of popcorn in my hand.

[Greif]

Thanks for the well wishes and interest Don and Siara.  Well I was going to post the first pictures of the Engine, but it looks like the folder is full.  I will post them in the "On the Bench" section of the gallery.

The first picture shows the engine after standard construction, "stock" if you will.  The next three show the engine after scratchbuilding and detailing is complete.  I used a few parts from the "spares" box; for example, the small knobs are 1/48th scale machinegun sights.  As you can see, I used assorted sizes of copper and plastic rod for the piping. 

I need to find a place to buy some 1/72 scale hand wheels as I am out; and the spare parts box will only take one so far.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Anyway, I hope a few of you take the time to have a look and, as always, comments, both positive and negative are welcome.

Ernest

[Rokket]

Sounds exciting! (Why donn't wives understand?...) I've never been able to find them, but I've heard that HO scale train parts are close to 1:72 for the handwheels. Some freight cars have them (old style) for coupling cars.

[Don in Cincinnati]

Thanks for the well wishes and interest Don and Siara.  Well I was going to post the first pictures of the Engine, but it looks like the folder is full.  I will post them in the "On the Bench" section of the gallery.

The first picture shows the engine after standard construction, "stock" if you will.  The next three show the engine after scratchbuilding and detailing is complete.  I used a few parts from the "spares" box; for example, the small knobs are 1/48th scale machinegun sights.  As you can see, I used assorted sizes of copper and plastic rod for the piping. 

I need to find a place to buy some 1/72 scale hand wheels as I am out; and the spare parts box will only take one so far.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Anyway, I hope a few of you take the time to have a look and, as always, comments, both positive and negative are welcome.

Ernest

Rokket is correct, model railroad brake wheeels should fit your needs. I suggest that you  consider buying an assortment in various scales as the control wheels on your boat will vary depending on their use. Both Walthers and Modeltrainstuff.com might be good sources.

Don

[Rokket]

Thanks, Don, I couldn't find any locally, thought they'd be handy for hatches.

[Greif]

Thanks for the well wishes and interest Don and Siara.  Well I was going to post the first pictures of the Engine, but it looks like the folder is full.  I will post them in the "On the Bench" section of the gallery.

The first picture shows the engine after standard construction, "stock" if you will.  The next three show the engine after scratchbuilding and detailing is complete.  I used a few parts from the "spares" box; for example, the small knobs are 1/48th scale machinegun sights.  As you can see, I used assorted sizes of copper and plastic rod for the piping. 

I need to find a place to buy some 1/72 scale hand wheels as I am out; and the spare parts box will only take one so far.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Anyway, I hope a few of you take the time to have a look and, as always, comments, both positive and negative are welcome.

Ernest

Rokket is correct, model railroad brake wheeels should fit your needs. I suggest that you  consider buying an assortment in various scales as the control wheels on your boat will vary depending on their use. Both Walthers and Modeltrainstuff.com might be good sources.

Don

Thank you Don, I will order a few different sizes.

Ernest

[Greif]

Today's update:

I finished the engine assembly, The hull wall detail and a few small sratch builds today.  The two engine pictures show a bit of scratchbuilding.  Overall I am pleased with the results.

I added detail to the hull wall using a variety of parts and pieces from the spare parts box.  I wanted to add more but due to the very restricted space when the major components are assembled that was just not possible.  The engine is a VERY tight fit, and I am going to have my work cut out maneuvering it into position without breaking anything.  Alot of the work looks a bit rough right now, but some painting will bring it to life.  

The two detail shots, poor as they are, are of the manometer board that I scratch built; right after a sealing coat of future was applied.  We'll see how it looks once a put some flat gloss on it.  I cut a piece from an old 1/48th Bf110 instrument panel for the board and added some spare small decals for the gauges.  The red emergency light is one of three I made using some domed pieces from a clear styrene tree.  I painted them with one thin coat of Lifecolor red.  The bracing is tamiya tape crossed, cut and painted.

Altogether I have about 14 hours invested in this build so far; good thing I'm on vacation.  Having to fashion reasonably, and that word is in the eye of the beholder, accurate parts from scratch and having to refer to pictures and drawings 5000 times to get the dimensions and part shapes close is taking alot of time.  The only other time I have fashioned so much from sratch was when I built the truely horrid Hobbycraft Do17Z2.  Then I built the entire cockpit, to include structural members; a project that saw that model come close to beings launched at terminal velocity more then once!    Fortunately, this build is going much smoother.

Enjoy the photos,
Ernest        

[JAORSA]

Hi Ernest!

You know this page?

http://www.dargies.de/Modellbau/u564.html

It is very interesting

Cheers!

Javier

[Greif]

Hi Javier, yep I know the page.  Frank is a fairly well know modeller in the IPMS community in Germany.  And as the website shows, he is pretty talented.

All the best,
Ernest

[Greif]

The engine room is ready for priming.  I did not do much detailing of the bulkheads as I think they will look fine when assembled and painted.  For those of you who are considering building this kit, test fitting is critical.  I found out that the center walkway, the piece in the lower center of the picture is too long.  Because of all the detail at the bow end of the piece, I cut off a couple of mm's from the stern end.  Also, the step that the walkway sets on, on the stern bulkhead is too high, making the walkway slant way too much.  I shaved off a couple of mm's on the step to ensure the walkway is level.

I plan to prime the parts using Tamiya white primer that I decanted for airbrush use.  The interior colors will be painted using Lifecolor paints:
Lower hull RAL 9002 Greywhite(LC UA023 is a good match), Upper hull RAL 9001 an ivory white(a mix of 85% LC01 and 15% LC04 gives a good match).  I will also use a variety of grey tones for various details.  The metal parts will be painted with Model Master Metalizer paints.

We'll see how it turns out!

Ernest 

[Rokket]

Looking very, very good

[Greif]

Looking very, very good

Thanks Wink!

Ernest

[Greif]

Finished general and detail painting today.  I'll let the paint cure till tomorrow afternoon then seal it with future.  The next step will be weathering.  I got lucky while priming as the Tamiya white primer, when sprayed over the yellowish resin parts was a very close match for RAL 9001; saved a step there.  As with most military paint schemes there is not alot of variety in colors and the colors are muted. 

At any rate the build is progressing nicely.  Enjoy the pictures!

Ernest