Author Topic: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo  (Read 7189 times)

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Offline GlennCauley

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S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« on: 25 Feb , 2015, 09:10 »
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152547472727127.1073741867.549717126&type=1&l=d4e44f17d7


Another addition to my growing collection of 1/35 midget subs & man-driven torpedoes. This time it is the Italeri #5605 S.L.C. "Maiale" man-driven torpedo (the real one was created in 1935).
 
 I am reworking this simple kit a little bit, to replace the molded-on hoses, alter the shield, and other things along the way.
 
 This is the 4th model in a "theme collection" I am creating for CAPCON 2015 in September. The 5th model will be the new upcoming British HMS X-Craft (Midget) Submarine coming out by Merit in April 2015 (hopefully).
Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline SG

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #1 on: 25 Feb , 2015, 14:12 »
Great work on the Maiale Glenn! very clean and detailed so far.
Since you're interested in the theme, may I suggest you the book "warriors from the deep-the extraordinary history of the combat swimmers-" by Eric Micheletti, histoire & collections? I found it great.
Am looking forward to see new progress soon and am standing by for a stunning X-craft
SG


Offline GlennCauley

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #2 on: 26 Feb , 2015, 08:45 »
Excellent... thank you!   :D     
I just ordered it through AbeBooks.   

BTW, for anyone looking for books, AbeBooks is a great place to deal with.   
They are a 'broker' who list all vendors selling books you are looking for, and you purchase via AbeBooks.
Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline GlennCauley

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #3 on: 26 Feb , 2015, 08:48 »
Figure I am going to depart from the way the kit is... and change a few things on my Maiale.   Like scratchbuilding the rear rack with the twin cannisters.    (air?   fuel?   unsure what they are)

Gotta love "artistic license" in this hobby, eh?   :)

Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline SG

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #4 on: 28 Feb , 2015, 03:04 »
Like scratchbuilding the rear rack with the twin cannisters.    (air?   fuel?   unsure what they are)

Glenn, the cannisters contained compressed air.












here's a useful link for great closeups:
http://miles.forumcommunity.net/?t=39975443

keep up the excellent work!
« Last Edit: 28 Feb , 2015, 03:27 by SG »

Offline GlennCauley

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #5 on: 02 Mar , 2015, 09:57 »
THANK YOU for that marvelous link!!!

It shows very well the cabling for the rear fins... which is grossly undetailed in the kit instructions (and they recommend hugely overscale nylon rope for the cables).

Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline falo

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #6 on: 03 Mar , 2015, 08:12 »
Hi Glenn,


did you notice this nice little diorama?


http://en.diorama.ru/gallery/dioramas/1560/


Regards
Falo

Offline SG

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #7 on: 05 Mar , 2015, 12:03 »

did you notice this nice little diorama?
hehehehe great idea!!
thx for sharing, Falo

Offline GlennCauley

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #8 on: 16 Mar , 2015, 08:32 »
Made some good progress on the weekend with the Maiale.
Removed the back part of the rear seat (and filled in the resulting deep trough) in preparation for the scratchbuilt airtank rack, added scale cable conduit with drilled-out small size brass tubing.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152547472727127.1073741867.549717126&type=1&l=d4e44f17d7
Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline SG

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #9 on: 18 Mar , 2015, 10:16 »
Glenn, congrats for what you've done so far, outstanding. Check your PM inbox for a couple of closeups of the SLC control panel.
Anyways just in case you didnt get them somehow (I sent them a week ago):

a) Maiale's instrument cluster: bubble lever between depth gauge and compass. ammeter and voltmeter on the right


b) SLC's controls: pilot's hands on a wheel that could be turned and tlted forward and backward to control rudders and hydroplanes; by the knees are the levers controlling the tank pumps and between the knees a wheel for speed control


I hope this helps!
SG

« Last Edit: 18 Mar , 2015, 10:41 by SG »

Offline GlennCauley

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #10 on: 19 Mar , 2015, 10:08 »
Many thanks for that, SG !   :D
Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline GlennCauley

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #11 on: 25 Apr , 2015, 08:55 »
Being sick with bronchitis (today on Day 9) has had an unexpected upside: some time to spend at the modelling bench!

Yesterday (24-Apr) I completed scratchbuilding the aft airtank rack.
And a short time ago, I replaced/corrected the pressure lines with styrene rod & solder for a much more realistic look.   I am pretty pleased with the results so far!


See photo album here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152547472727127.1073741867.549717126&type=1&l=d4e44f17d7
« Last Edit: 25 Apr , 2015, 09:03 by GlennCauley »
Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline SG

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #12 on: 25 Apr , 2015, 11:36 »
Excellent work with the round ends of the compressed air containers, the effect achieved is very convincing, almost identical to what's in the real pictures. Great work with the rack too, clever idea to use lead foil for the top of the tray! I am follwing the progress with utmost interest

Offline GlennCauley

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Airtank rack
« Reply #13 on: 25 Apr , 2015, 18:26 »
I updated the photo descriptions to give more details about the stuff I used to scratchbuild the parts.

For the top sheet, I used 0.007" sheet styrene (not lead foil... which would have been better, or even thinner PE sheet which I did not have).  It's a little overscale, but I don't mind.   
I used tweezers to warp & tweak the edges, just like the real thing (which got pretty battered).

I'm puzzled about the airtanks, though... there are no fittings at either end, so I am wondering if the pictures show what real in-use tanks actually looked like.    If anyone has clear pics of airtank rack (like mine) with fittings/hoses on the tanks, please let me know.
« Last Edit: 25 Apr , 2015, 18:37 by GlennCauley »
Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca

Offline GlennCauley

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Re: S.L.C. "Maiale" 1/35 man-driven torpedo
« Reply #14 on: 26 Apr , 2015, 09:19 »
Thanks to the prompting of SG, I happened upon a hidden stash of metal foils that I had forgotten about!     
I found ultra-thin copper (0.0005"), aluminum (0.002"), and pewter (0.007").

I carefully removed the overscale styrene (0.007") top sheet, and replaced it with aluminum foil (0.002"), which seems to be the proper scale (in my opinion).
Also reworked the rearmost angle-iron piece, which I had installed incorrectly.

Now it looks good!
Thank you, SG.

PICS:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152547472727127.1073741867.549717126&type=1&l=d4e44f17d7
Glenn Cauley
President, IPMS Ottawa
gc-scalemodels.ca