1/400 U-48 WIP

[SG]

Dougie,

I use an Optivisor with 7x magnification plus its monocle, which adds 3 dioptres more, useful to check for imperfections but not for working. I must admit that i recently switched to 10x magnification lenses, but the working distance must be reduced wearing those, so it's less comfortable. My unforgiving digital camera zoom is a useful tool to check for imperfections, glue excess or spaces to be filled once the pieces are assembled. I guess an optivisor is a very useful tool for modelling the bigger scales too. Try it if you haven't  been using one already, it changes your modelling perspectives for the better.

Thanks for your kind words, am happy you like the work. Next will be the gun mount with all the arms and the safety harnesses. A nightmare. have to re-craft some arms now that 0.2 tubing is available on the market (it wasn't years ago, when i originally crafted the lateral arms). Let's see.

Cheers,
SG   

[SG]

I identified at least three main variants of muzzle cap (a, b, d) and an oddity (c). They mostly differ by the locking handle shape and lenght.
- U 48 early variant (a) photographed immediately before the boat's seventh war patrol. The locking-handle followed the locking fairing profile bending and extending posteriorly. Quite a rarity, i guess the guns equipping U 48 sister boats might have been sporting this variant of muzzle cap too.
- Standard early variant (b): long locking handle not protruding over the sides.
- Unusual variant (c): probably a (b) variant pictured in a shot blurred at the muzzle, dunno, help me w that.
- Standard late variant (d): shorter locking handle. The most frequently seen variant of muzzle cap.

Errata Corrige. After seeing the recently-published colourized version of the b/w pic (below, left) on the FB page " Das U-boot in farbe", I realized how much i have misinterpreted it. Comparing the two pictures i realized that i had mistaken one of the deck's drain holes (b) for the lateral section of the locking handle (a). In the b/w picture the images sum up looking like a single element. In fact, the locking handle had only a minimal lateral extension or none at all, and that makes sense: if the lateral branches were as long as i had originally thought, turning the handle would have been impossible due to the presence of the ring for the securing line. So dumb of me.
Therefore, I can now say with good approximation that only two versions of the handle existed: the early, long one (d), and the late shorter one (c). A recently-acquired U 48 picture confirms the new finding, so I decided to modify the locking handle that I had already crafted accordingly (e) (it was insanely difficult   but turned out fine).




https://u.cubeupload.com/SGm/Tampion.jpg

Cheers,

SG

[SG]

Gentlemen,
the mount is ready. It took me six months to assemble all the tiny components, it was kinda extreme, but undoubtedly fun. A few pics:


https://u.cubeupload.com/SGm/mountAMP1.jpg


https://u.cubeupload.com/SGm/mountAMP2.jpg

This one's for Falo! 

https://u.cubeupload.com/SGm/mountAMP3.jpg

Curiosities: did some research and identified different styles of the main details adorning the mount. 1) Pillar top elements: early version, rounded edges (1a) vs sharp edges (1c) Pillar handles: early shorter version (1b) vs later/standard and longer version(1d). The shorter version sits higher than the longer version and has a less squared appearance. 2)Upper lateral arms superstructures:asymmetric/early configuration(2a) and mostly seen in pictures, the starboard arm superstructure sits lower than the contralateral; symmetric/late configuration (2b): both superstructures have the same height. 3) Locking lever for the foldable arm supporting the after portion of gun tube. Early/standard configuration mostly seen in pictures: portside location of lever(3a). Late configuration, seldom seen: starboard side-located lever (3b). 4) The pillar top elements had different shapes given the sides. The port side showed a semicircular additional posterior element (4a) that is missing on the opposite side(4b).The arms connecting the pintles to the upper arms superstructures had a different forward insertion to the superstructure. Port side: the arm inserts beneath the superstructure medial pillar (4c). Starboard side: the arm inserts above the superstructure medial pillar (4d). The arms could have different styles as well (4d, 4e). There was a plaque on the fore surface of the mount (5a) between the butterfly bolt and the tiny arms for reeling the muzzle cap line. The writing on the plaque said: behelmierung der getriebe deckel offnen (5a). Sometimes the plaque detached with use and went missing, just like in the case of U48 (5b).


https://u.cubeupload.com/SGm/mountstyles.jpg

Photographic research also revealed what was the function of the lever that can be seen at the bottom-after part of the mount portside. The finding was confirmed byMr Kai Steenbuck from the Cuxhaven U-Boot Museum to whom am grateful. He also translated the writing on the plaque next to the lever definitely confirming my assumptions. When the lever is shifted forward the mount is free to traverse, when it points backwards the mount is locked. Take into account this finding in case you are considering to build a model showing the manned gun in action or simply traversing during the torpedo loading.


https://u.cubeupload.com/SGm/mountlever.jpg

I hope you enjoyed the progress.

Cheers,

SG

[dougie47]

Hi SG,
You will need to do a full article to write this up. Photo 3 is just bonkers (insane) as it shows the ultra-small size. Is there a name for what you are doing? For example microscopic modelling? It is not possible to see the level of detail without a magnifying glass such as the handles on the round wheels.
You mighth want to consider writing for Finescale magazine when you are finished your project.
Cheers,
Dougie

[SG]

Hi Dougie,
Thank you for the compliments! Am flattered.
I am just trying to do my best superdetailing a small scale model. There are many modellers that do pretty much the same in smaller scales like the 700th scale and reach even better results. Am thinking of legendary modellers such as Jim Baumann, Marijn Van Gils, EJ Foeth, Marek Targovicz, that have been inspiring me over the  years. Am happy the scale am dealing with is "only" the 400th one  , which allows to reproduce most of the details the gun  featured. Anyway, the gun is pretty unique as, so far, I haven't seen one in the 400 th scale with the same degree of detail.
Am currently reporting the step by step  build on my blog ( https://3xblackcats.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/8-8-cm45-3-46-sk-c35-gun/ ) as a sort of diary, to share the techniques used to overcome the difficulties of the build and provide useful information for the modellers wanting to assemble a fully detailed 88 gun in any scale. It would be great to write an article about the different styles of the gun, the variants and the details that I have started to notice while researching. That would fill an important gap I guess. Someday I will probably do it. Publishing on a magazine would be great but I think I am light years far from completing my project. We'll see. Thanks again for your kind words, i am glad you understood the work behind it


Cheers,


SG

[falo]

Hi SG, hi Dougie,


@SG: Is this your next project?   


https://www.kitreviewsonline.de/u-48-dkm-u-boat-type-vii-b-with-dock-in-1700-von-flyhawk-fh1101/


Regards
falo

[SG]

    Way too small Falo!


By the way, the gun project goes on silently but steady. I made good progress with the lower arms and the safety harnessess. I hope to be able to post a photographic update soon (SG Werke is shut due to Covid these days, wish me luck ) 


Cheers,


SG

[dougie47]

Hi Falo,
The drydock and photo etch looks fantastic but the scale of 700th would be hard to work with.
SG - hope you are on the mend from Covid and that your Werke can open again.
Cheers,
Dougie

[SG]

Hi,
I finally managed to complete and superdetail the tiny elevation and traversing safety harnesses and to assemble them to the lower lateral arms and then to the gun mount. The insane feat took me 9 months with an average of 2 modelling sessions per week and plenty of intervals between the sessons. Unfortunately at this stage of the build each time a detail is added the risk of causing "the house of card" to crumble grows more and more. It has become increasingly difficult, time consuming and potentially disastrous.

Am therefore proud to show you the baroque-looking    result of my modelling efforts: 




Curiosities. As usual, the in-depth photographic study of the gun components brought me to notice oddities and different styles: first of all the location of the adjusting handles. Elevation harnesses arms handles: starboard one located forward (unnamed arrow ), port one pointing aft (b). Lower arms adjusting handles: aft side of each main arm (e) and top of each transverse section (f). The traversing harnesses arms handles were located on the port side of each arm (c, d). "lambda" joints squared eyelets: early (right/top and right/center pics) eyelets sat higher than their late counterparts (top row, central picture). The upper arms levers (g) were an early feature. They had a very important purpose as they were the triggers to fire the gun.They branched with a 60-degree angle from the main axis of the upper arm. The starboard lever pointed aft while the port one pointed forward. I identified a different, apparently late variant made of a crank (h) pointing forward and a lateral L-shaped lever extending aft (i) which was probably the late version of the trigger lever. This variant equipped famous boats such as U 96, U 552, U 73 and U 203. U 96 and U 552 modellers you've been warned!
 





The superdetailed elevation harnesses waiting to be added to the mount and the usual comparison picture dedicated to Falo 




Ah, the blog's updated too: https://3xblackcats.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/8-8-cm45-3-46-sk-c35-gun/ remember to scroll down to the bottom to see the latest progress if you decide to visit.

Cheers,
SG

[dougie47]

Hi SG,
Really good work, as always. Interesting you found a different style, I suppose we should expect differences between weapons and that styles would not be just on U-boats. The more we study, the more differences we find.
Cheers,
Dougie

[SG]

Thank you Dougie, am happy you enjoyed my latest progress and yess, i agree with you, different styles also for the weapons. Gathering as many pictures as possibile of the boat one decides to build (including the weapons) is crucial. If the aim is to reproduce faithfully that given U-boat, i mean. Photographic research to me is one of the most enjoyable actvities linked to modelling. There's always something new to learn and to be surprised of. A great source of learning and a most intriguing investigating work.

Cheers,
SG

[falo]

Hi SG,

my God, I would not have believed that Gulliver (the novel character of J. Swift I mean) now also travels in the submarine. Thank you for the photo it impressed me and pleased that you thought of me   

Many greetings
falo

[SG]

I would not have believed that Gulliver now also travels in the submarine.

    my pleasure, Falo. Thanks for dropping by!

(the novel character of J. Swift I mean)

 PS: It's definitely him,  Alex and his "droogs" friends are not allowed on board .

[SG]

The gun has finally been completed, mission accomplished. The final assembly wasn't free from surprises and collateral damage, with several details breaking, detaching or simply flying off  . All was patiently re-crafted, repaired and assembled again. Particular care was given to reproduce faithfully the lines for the muzzle cap and the breech plug. Here's the result:



Below: Gulliver is manning the gun, Falo!



The gun was then dry-fitted to its pedestal. Both will be kept separated until their final assembly onto the submarine deck. The leaning forward is due to the unstable dry-fitting and it's just temporary. The bottom left pic compares the gun to its sibling provided in the submarine kit. Now you know the reason why i threw myself into this 9-year project and was so stubborn not to abandon it despite the high-and-lows of life  .  I would like to dedicate this important achievement to all of you and in particular to Tore. All my gratitude for the support received all over these years goes to our Dougie Martindale, to fellow modellers Marek Targowicz at Shelf Oddity, EJ Foeth at ontheslipway.com and to Mr Kai Steenbuck at the Deutsches U-Boot Museum. A toast to you all!




Cheers,


SG


PS the blog's updated: https://3xblackcats.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/8-8-cm45-3-46-sk-c35-gun/ . Once again, remember to scroll down to the bottom to see the latest progress if you decide to visit.

[falo]

"The bottom left pic compares the gun to its sibling provided in the submarine kit."


Hello SG,

in contrast, the original from the kit is nothing more than a lump of plastic. I am at a loss for words for your skill and patience.

Best regards
falo