Author Topic: U-889 from Revell U-505 kit plus U-534 conversion  (Read 8232 times)

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Offline Bob Tomlin

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U-889 from Revell U-505 kit plus U-534 conversion
« on: 01 Mar , 2016, 06:57 »
Hi Gents,
I'd like to hopefully build the U534 using the Revell 'U-505' kit with the forthcoming rcsubs conversion seen here:-
http://www.rcsubs.cz/index.php/80-uvod/132-ixc40-534-172

I wondered if anyone on here might know of the existence or not of any wartime shots of this particular boat and if so which publications they're in, or if there are any other good references?
The only shots I've seen so far are one taken from the attacking Liberator and another one which might be of her in a much earlier fit in harbour.
My intention was to put her in a 'seascape' which will involve cutting her down a little, but will let me concentrate on the 'normally visible above the waterline' bits.

Any pointers to references or potential pitfalls with this would be very appreciated, thanks.

Bob.



   
« Last Edit: 20 Oct , 2016, 06:59 by Bob Tomlin »

Offline Bob Tomlin

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #1 on: 20 Mar , 2016, 08:57 »
Thanks very much for the offline help so far, much appreciated.

I'd been wondering about what the best way for me to have a go at this model might be.
Like I said before, I thought it'd be a nice idea to have her running on the surface and I've been very inspired by Chris Flodbergs tutorials on seascapes, (which I came across) so I'm going to have a go at that.
I've got the materials in and am first going to have a practice run on a surface minus the sub to see if it works for me.
I also thought it might be a good idea to have a sort of plan in place as to what I'm aiming for, so I did a quick sketch where I think I'd like her running on fairly smooth sea, cutting some waves.
Looking at photos of this, a fair number of drainage slots will be covered by water, so that could save some internal work?


I thought I'd also try modifying the areas behind the drainage slots that are visible, adding some card to give a bit of depth hopefully like this (but I'd be happy to hear of any better way of doing it).


Cheers Bob.





Offline U-boater

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #2 on: 20 Mar , 2016, 11:49 »
I like your idea. I'm certain it will greatly improve the look of kit's vents.  8)

Offline GlennCauley

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #3 on: 22 Mar , 2016, 07:36 »
Yup, you got the right idea!    That's essentially what many of us do.

Don't kill yourself to make the pillars triangular, they can be square (since those baffle plates extended upwards).
Thankfully the plates are easy to place, as they are in line with the vertical rows of rivets.

Keep us apprised of your build.  :)
« Last Edit: 22 Mar , 2016, 10:51 by GlennCauley »
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Offline SG

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #4 on: 22 Mar , 2016, 09:38 »
A most clever idea and marvellous sketches! Am really looking forward to see the WIP shots of your project!
« Last Edit: 22 Mar , 2016, 17:33 by SG »

Offline Bob Tomlin

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #5 on: 26 Mar , 2016, 17:28 »
Hi again.
Thanks very much for the inputs about the vents.

I've been trying to pin down as much information as possible on areas I'm not certain about, in order to try and plan ahead to avoid pitfalls.
One grey area for me on the U534 is the Schnorkel mast restraining bracket. Like in this sketch of the front part of it.


I realise looking at this that I've left the outer bolts off where the 'rubber?' lining is bolted onto the curved recess.
This is only the front element of the bracket which bolts onto the part that fixes it to the tower.
In the the absence of any shots of this on U534 itself, I was trying to find photos of mounts on other boats to best work out how it would've fixed to the 534.
 
Other Type IX boats seem to have their masts further forward and the restraining bracket near the front of the tower on the right side.
However, from what I can see in a photo, the position would be more or less where the bottom of the railings of the top 'wintergarden?' meet the tower plating on the U534.
There looks also to be a fairing which goes along the side of the tower below the spray deflector which may house the control rod for the locking mechanism on the restraining bracket too.

The rest of the bracket mount looks like it's been 'streamlined' for 'hydrodynamics?' on the U190, with fairings blending it into the spray deflector, but other boats may not be like this?
The only boat I've seen a shot of with the bracket in a similar spot to where it was on the U534 looks to be the U234 (which I realise was quite a different sort of boat).

Any help to pointers of where I can find more shots of these brackets and the way they attach would be very appreciated (if it's in a book, I'd happily look to get it).
Thanks, Bob.

 

 


Offline Bob Tomlin

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #6 on: 28 Mar , 2016, 02:03 »
Here's what I think the rest of the mounting bracket looks like from photos (but please feel free to point out where it's wrong as that's why I'm doing this).
The part I drew in the first sketch, mounts onto the plate with the six bolt holes in, in this sketch.

The revell IXC/40 boat parts seem to be fairly close to this (I've left the large pipe bits off as the U534 didn't have them).
What I next have to do is figure out if the mounting was similar to this on the U534 or not (with it being positioned further back as on the U234 and U516).

Not having done any seascapes before, I thought I'd have a trial run based on Chris Flodbergs tutorials, so have been messing around with Styrofoam, bits of torn up paper and liquitex acrylic medium and varnish. I've not managed to get the 'high gloss' varnish yet and haven't got any blue paint, but am so far encouraged with first impressions.








Hopefully going to get some close-up shots of 534 next weekend.
I did wonder if anyone's tried removing the dividers between the drainage vents completely and replacing them with thin card or not (as an alternative to filing behind them)?

Cheers Bob.

 
 
 

Offline SG

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #7 on: 28 Mar , 2016, 08:40 »
Looking good ;) . Have you thought of using oats to reproduce the waves texture, like Chris Floodberg usually does?

Offline Bob Tomlin

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #8 on: 29 Mar , 2016, 06:09 »
Quote
Have you thought of using oats to reproduce the waves texture, like Chris Floodberg usually does?

Yes I did wonder about that, I like the appeal of being able to make waves so simply by just making impressions in the oats with fingers.
What put me off that one was where he mentioned the fumes and vapours from soaking the oats with CA glue.

I might have misunderstood it, but the way I read it, he wrote he usually uses the Styrofoam method now instead of oats (of course he might have changed his mind again since I read that bit).
He wrote that can be messy too though, with the carving and sanding and all, which was why I went for the other way he mentioned which is to make the initial wave indentations by holding a lighter flame about 8 inches below the foam. This allows the foam to indent in a 'controlled' way and gives a nice random effect. It doesn't leave all the mess over the floor that way either.

Just spent a morning filing out all the ventilation holes in the port side of the sub, so at least I'm doing something with the actual kit plastic now.
Cheers Bob. 


Offline Rokket

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #9 on: 04 Apr , 2016, 03:29 »
Wow, great sketches, ideas, and test water is excellent! first rate.
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Offline Bob Tomlin

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #10 on: 11 Jun , 2016, 05:25 »
Hi all,

Getting stuck into the hull internals at the moment. Just modified my post here having seen something in a plan.
Can I please ask if anyone knows what lies internally behind the rectangular outlet/hole towards the aft end on the side of the hull?
It's been pointed out that 'steam' appeared to be coming out of that location in one post looking at a photo.
This 'hole' is rectangular on this IXC/40 in photos but there's a semi-circular 'hole' in the same location on the revell U-505 kit.
Just trying to find out what to put behind it (e.g. rectangular trunking, or whatever).
I've got the Vom original sum Modell book and on page 60 at the top, it looks like pipes climb up and then aft from the diesels, travelling aft below the outer deck to exit at the spot I'm asking about, so
I'm thinking this is either the outlet/inlet for the diesels?
Is that's the case, would this have a baffle/door/valve to stop seawater pouring in?
Thanks for any help/pointers.

Amendment to this:- Just seen that the ducts bend forwards towards compressed air tanks.
Still don't know if they'd just be 'open' to gape into or have a sort of baffle in there though.

...and further amendment:- Just read the post ref exhaust outlets and see this is what Dougie calls a type 2 outlet so that's what it is. Would still like to know if you'd see anything looking into the hole from the outside (e.g. Mesh or similar, or just the duct itself).
Cheers Bob.


« Last Edit: 11 Jun , 2016, 12:36 by Bob Tomlin »

Offline Bob Tomlin

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #11 on: 13 Jun , 2016, 13:02 »




Hi again,
Managed to finally start some work on the sub itself after delving into the research.
First off, I decided I wasn't going to go in for a great deal of internal detail for the hull (except in the schnorkel bay areas).
With that in mind, I opted for a basic internal structure that you won't really see through the slots.
I used B&Q smooth surface pipe insulation for a 'sort of pressure hull' (I really just wanted something with a smooth top rounded surface in the interior of the boat). This stuff was great for my purposes as it is very light, adheres with polystyrene glue, is very easy to carve to shape
and will bend and contract to fit into spaces.
So this was where it begins (and it's a small beginning but who knows where it will end).
I kept the kit internal frames for hull support after modifying them to not show up through the hull vents (I've kept top sections to strengthen the upper hull when I chop the lower hull off (gulp!).


Onto this I've attached the 'shelves' which form the tops of the drainage vents (sort of similar to real thing cross sections)-see rough shot.



With the 'shelves' in place, you can't see through the sub from one side to the other.


There's been a lot of filing, thinning out the pillars in between the drainage vents, so this afternoon, I couldn't resist doing a small bit of
actual constructive work, by seeing how the 'baffles' might look in the vent holes. I don't think they look too bad myself, but just in case,
I can always adjust the swell if it doesn't look right.









I'd like to add a thin strip to replicate what I've seen on the originals in photos that runs along the top of the vents but I'm not sure what to use for that yet.
It's on the U-534 and U-889 but not on the U-505 from what I can see in photos. Anyone replicated this in the past and have any tips?


The plastic deck's just in place in the photos to make sure nothings's altered width-wise at the top and to keep shape.


Cheers Bob.




 
« Last Edit: 13 Jun , 2016, 13:11 by Bob Tomlin »

Offline SG

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Re: U534 conversion
« Reply #12 on: 15 Jun , 2016, 01:44 »
Looking Great, Bob! keep up the v good work!

Offline Bob Tomlin

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Re: U534 conversion with mods making U-889
« Reply #13 on: 22 Jun , 2016, 10:17 »
Hi again,


As you may have noticed with the title, I made a slightly radical decision to change the subject boat to the U-889 from the U-534.
This was mainly because of a need to find out about a couple of small details on the 534 that I was unsure of and secondly to give me a bit of a practice before tackling the 534 (with this being my first ship/sub).


The U-889 has very good period photo reference shots and is another IXC/40 with very similar (but slightly different layout).
One obvious thing that marks it from the rest is the 'Zwiebel' on the bow, so this was added using miliput (shape will be refined later).


At some stage I was going to have to face cutting this model down for the waterline scenario (gulp!).


Here she is prior to any cutting sat on the foam sea base.



Here she is again after the dreaded cut with the tool of choice (hated taking this to the model).




Next stage was to cut out the boat shape in the foam for it to sit in. The boat was drawn around before making the cut at an angle.
Test fits in the foam base.






The next phase was to make some basic wave indentations


 


Next thing was to add an acrylic gel bow wave and the first layer of tissue surface to the sea.
After the test fits, the hull and sea won't be together again until both are very nearly finished.



















This is the very basic first part of the sea modelling and will need lots of layers, acrylic varnish and then foam and wake adding, but it gives an idea of where we're heading I hope.


Cheers Bob.

« Last Edit: 22 Jun , 2016, 14:30 by Bob Tomlin »

Offline Rokket

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Re: U534 conversion with mods making U-889
« Reply #14 on: 12 Jul , 2016, 01:46 »
really nice ocean, especially for a first time!
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