Yeh yeh, I know... "long time no hear"
I haven't done a sub model since I finished off
U-673 in September 2011. Life has gotten in the way, with a few major events (both good and bad) having happened in the meantime.
We have CAPCON 2013 coming up in late September, and I have been wracking my brains (a very quick process due to it's limited size) trying to think of a model I want to build for it. I've gone through 2 ideas and even started building, then I had an epiphany.
What got me back into modelling, what do I know, and what am I (fairly) good at building? U-boats!
It would take too long to build another 1/72 Type VII... and I would want to build a VIID minelayer.
Sooooooo........... out comes the SN Type IIA kit with the AMP upgrade set! Booyaaaahhhhh baby!
Just to make sure I had enough for the future, I actually bought TWO of these (kit & upgrade set) while the sets were available a short time ago.
Why have ONE U-boat kit when for double the price you can have TWO
![Huh ???](https://models.rokket.biz/Smileys/default/huh.gif)
I have re-read the instructions on the upgrade set, and started mentally preparing my build.
There are, of course, other things I plan to do with this kit along the way, and this is what finds me here now.
I need help. (Go ahead, laugh... I KNOW I need help. D'oh!)
Here are a few questions I need to get answered before I plan my build further.
I hope some of you can help!
1. There is absolutely NO rivet detail on the SN Type IIA kit.
Did these boats not have external rivets on the outer casing like the VIIC ?
If rivets are missing, it will take a lot of planning to add these to the build. I would likely assume the pitch and spacing to be similar to a VIIC. This includes the double-row rivets on the doublers.
2. The long flooding channels atop the saddletanks. Were there vertical reinforcing ribs inside these channels (like on VIIC) ?
3. The welds on the hull seem very uniformly squarish. I will likely replace these with more realistic textured welds (either reworking the kit welds with my patented "super weld maker thingy" tool, or using Archer welds).
4. Is there a detail set for the AA gun on the boat? I have some 20mm barrels left over from my VIIC detail sets, so I'd use those. But looking for MORE details too... anything out there?
5. Did type IIA use the same torpedoes as the VIIC? I have a few CMK detail sets with torpedoes, and it would be nice to use them if possible.
Thanks in advance!
Glenn Cauley
Canada