U-673

[GlennCauley]

Hi SG

Thank you!  
I've gotten a LOT of good tips from the people here and other forums... but mostly from here.

It was Siara who recommended the Koki soldering paste a long time ago, and I am SO glad I went that route.

I don't use solder wire at all anymore for soldering PE. With solder wire you need to have direct heat applied to the pieces being soldered long enough to melt & flow the solder wire.  By the time everything heats up enough for the solder to flow... EVERYTHING heats up.  That is not good when dealing with small PE parts (and esp. those that are close together).

With Koki soldering paste, you only need to use a VERY small amount, and it is easy to apply with pinpoint accuraty. The paste is thick & sticky enough to keep the pieces together while you heat it with the hot air blower.  That way only the solder paste gets heated and not everything surrounding it.  It takes very little indirect heat to melt the solder paste.  Just wait until you try it!   The trick is to find a good butane pencil torch with a fine hot air tip... not sure who makes these anymore.

Here is the URL for the Koki paste I get from TechGSM.  It's not cheap, but it should last a very long time considering how much you use & how much you get in a tube.

http://www.techgsm.com/Solder_paste_for_SMD_KOKI_40g,3937.html

[SG]

Thanks very much Glenn, that was most illuminating!

[GlennCauley]

The completed (?) forward AA deck. 

Filed/sanded the railing joints, added the antenna wire conduit pipes which route underneath and go vertically into the main deck below the platform), and added the platform support legs.  The latter were probably the most difficult to do correctly, as they needed to be well braced and at equal angles.  I think I nailed it. 

[GlennCauley]

Looks like I have something to change... it seems the forward antenna wire conduit was on the PORT side only, not both sides. A bit of minor (?) surgery.

And NEXT time I scratchbuild railings, better believe I'm gonna solder everything!
CA'd railings are SO fragile. 

[GlennCauley]

The kit gun deck railings clean up nicely with a bit of sanding & filing.




I found a trick to removing plastic railings from sprue frames without making them snap.

Do NOT use sprue cutters to try to nip the railing from the sprue frame... chances are the thin railing will snap!
Instead, use a dremel mototool with cutoff disk (at high speed) to cut through the sprue frames close to (5mm or so) away from the railing. The railing will come free from the sprue frame, with small pieces of sprue frame still attached.

After the railing is free from the main sprue frame, use GOOD sprue cutters to remove the excess sprue bits.

I use a Xuron 2175ET Professional Sprue Cutter which is probably the BEST sprue cutter I've ever used. Finish by sanding the part smooth.



Xuron also offers a 9180ET Profession PE Scissors which I will look at getting, too.

[bracco_n]

Awesome, can't wait to see some paint on it!

[Pepper-mint]

Hello Glenn,

Following with real great interest !!! Very pro.

Cheers, 

Pepper-M

[GlennCauley]

I used 0.65mm brass wire to make the tower ladder steps (4 per side).
After cutting 8 lengths of wire, I annealed them with my butane pencil torch (torch tip) to make them easier to bend.  

I used the "Grab Handler" tool to make the initial "U" bends, then I used my "Bug" PE folder to fold down the steps.  To get them all the same, I used a piece of masking tape on the PE folder to mark the edge of the wire.  When I installed the steps onto the tower, I used a piece of styrene to set the proper gap behind the step.

[GlennCauley]

I think the tower is DONE!!!
Now I can prime it, replace the lost rivets (Archer set to the rescue!!! hehe), and then paint it
After that the wooden decks go in, and other small bits.

The periscopes and antennas will be the absolute last things to be installed on this model, as they are very fragile.

Next up... building the remaining armament.
U-673 was an AA test bed, so I'll be mounting the 3.7cm cannon in the forward AA platform, 2x twin-20mm guns on the upper (rear) gun deck, and a <gasp> 20mm quad flakvierling on the lower (rear) gun deck. I'd have hated to be in the crosshairs of this boat!

[Pat]

I forgot what a pain it is to add tiny, fiddly, dropable, loseable PE parts!   LOL
The tricks... hydrate lots when modelling so the hands don't shake, and avoid modelling over carpetted areas!

Yes, the tiny, dropable, loseable parts are a pain for sure.  But I have a method that helps.

I always keep a flashlight beside me when I'm working on such parts.  If I drop a part, use the flashlight.

No, don't shine it down on the carpet (even a tile floor is sometimes hard to find some parts on) from above, but instead lay the flashlight down on the floor and shine the light horizontally over the floor.  You won't see the part any better, but what you DO see is the shadow cast by the part, and it makes it much easier to find.

Just yesterday, I was reducing the size of a metal watch bracelet that the store I bought it from said couldn't be made small enough to fit me.  A little U-shaped spring sprung and landed on the white, grey and blue flecked tile.  I knew about where it was because I'd heard it, but still couldn't find it after 5 minutes of trying.  So I went to the other room, got a flashlight and spotted it within 5 seconds.

I still couldn't actually see the spring when I looked directly at where the flashlight revealed the shadow, but reaching for the shadow, it was easy to pick up.

The watch fits perfectly now.

[Rokket]

That's an excellent method, Pat,  an improvement over the eyeball to floor method to see "big" objects - I like the light/shadow! But I thought the point of E was to lose al the parts? (after bending nd mangling them of course)

[GlennCauley]

Mmmmm interesting paint scheme!    
Maybe I should just leave the tower black?   Didn't they have an experimental black nicht camo pattern?   Yeh yeh... THAT'S it !!!

Okay, colour goes on next.
And the silly thing about priming it black?   Try putting on rivet decals on that!   The rivets nearly disappear as soon as they are applied.  LOL

[GlennCauley]

First order of the day yesterday was completing the one twin 20mm gun that I started before.

LUCKILY I found my CA glue tips for ultra-fine application of CA glue. That made a HUGE difference in the ease & precision of building the guns.







It took from 12PM to 2:30AM to complete the 20mm quad flakvierling... I refused to sleep until it was done, I needed to keep my momentum going!
It turned out beautifully I think.  I used a combination of Eduard and Griffon PE sets, as both had good things to offer.

And yes, I did make "braap braaaaaappp" noises when I completed the gun.   

[GlennCauley]

A bit of mockup of the tower, showing 3 of the 4 guns (front 3.7cm Flak cannon, a single twin 20mm gun, and the rearmost 20mm quad flakvierling).






Aircraft beware... stay away from that boat!

[SG]

The primed turret is A-mazing, Glenn! I can well understand why you did the "braaap" noises when completing the AA guns, since am having my own pains w a semi-scratchbuilt 1/400 20mm AA gun (which is due to be completed-i will submit it to the forum asap, not before the proper long n loud "braaapping session" has taken place   ). Please let me know your CA glue tips for "ultra-fine application of CA glue", they will be most welcome... a propos i found a butane pencil torch with a hot air tip and am looking forward to receiving the koki paste i ordered to test if the welding technique can be applied to a smaller scale (1/400 in my case).
Keep up the excellent work and thanks for sharing it with us
Cheers!
SG