U-552 - doing it my way.

[Siara]

Gun finished:
















TBC...

[Mr.Mox]

Nice, very nice. Looks much more "busy" than the kit parts alone.

Cheers/Jan

[Rokket]

yet another real miniature!

[GlennCauley]

Before I forget, have you added the 2 doublers (the strengthening strips) that were located behind the forward planes? The green arrow points to them. Neither of the doublers are on the Revell kit. I'm not sure these 2 doublers were quite as wide as the other doublers on the hull casing but it is hard to be sure. You can also see them on page 25 and page 27 of Steve Wiper's pictorial book. 

Cheers,

Dougie

I have a question about the lower doubler as shown in your pic.

The lower doubler starts near the bottom of the casing (just above the keel) and goes fowards and upwards.

But where does it end?

a) ends in line with the upper doubler
b) ends at the rear edge of the lower flooding vents
c) continues all the way forward to below the lower torpedo door

I noticed that in the Modelbrass PE lower flooding vents, there are the top 3 rows of vents... then a wide gap... then the remaining 5 rows of vents.


From your line drawing, if the lower doubler went all the way forward, it looks like it would pass through that wide gap in the lower flooding vents and continue forward.

However, where your line drawing shows the end of that doubler ending below the lower torpedo door, on the model it would end up at the bow plane pivot hole.  Maybe it's an error in the PE vents, but to make the doubler pass through that wide gap in the PE vents... the angle makes it end in the wrong place.

Hopefully this last part makes sense... if not then I'll take a pic of my model with the proposed path of the doubler drawn on it.

[Siara]

Glenn- you absolutly right. If you install the PE flood holes for the bottom of the hull at the bow, the doubler should go through the gap in the middle of the plate. However, this means, that if the PE was installed correctly , the doublers would finish at the bow planes pivot point. This is exactly how i made my doubler look.
According to pictures ive seen the doublers should extend further- in line with the other doublers on the port side, and on the starboard sie it would be longer then other doublers, still simetrical on both sides- (remember the starboard doublers- top, and the midle one are slightly shorter)
Hope it helps.

Siara

[dougie47]

Hi Glenn & Siara,

Well done lads on noticing this. You are both right. The Modelbrass part isn't right. When the Modelbrass set was being designed I send the designer a drawing of the free-flooding holes in this area. However, rather than adjusting the "height" of the piece, he left it as it was. As he was very keen to be first to the market he didn't allow enough time to correct this. Only about a year later, when I was researching the doublers in this area, did I realise there was a major problem here. I realised exactly as you did - how the hell can a doubler run through this piece to a point under the dive planes? It was at that point it became obvious that the height of the piece is wrong.

The best photo of this area is of U 99. It is a VIIB rather than a VIIC but I think the doublers were the same -



Forget the white arrows, they were for something else. You can see that a thick doubler runs up until the holes. Then a much narrower doubler runs through between the two groups of holes and then up to a point as shown on my U 47 side profile.

I'd copy what Siara has done in this area - it disguises the problem very well.

Best of luck,

Dougie

[GlennCauley]

The best photo of this area is of U 99. It is a VIIB rather than a VIIC but I think the doublers were the same -



You can see that a thick doubler runs up until the holes. Then a much narrower doubler runs through between the two groups of holes and then up to a point as shown on my U 47 side profile.

Okay, so we aren't all suffering from mass dillusion then!  LOL
From this pic, it looks like a doubler up the the rearmost edge of the holes... but then through the holes and forward it looks like a weld bead on the casing rather than a doubler... or perhaps a single rivet-row strengthening strip?

[dougie47]

Hi Glenn,

Not sure, if I had to guess I'd say a single rivet-row strengthening strip. Have a good weekend.

Cheers,

Dougie

[Siara]

Looking at the picture sounds about right.

[GlennCauley]

Looking at the picture sounds about right.

Which one sounds right?   

The reason I think it may be a weld line forward of the bottom "new" doubler:

Look at the top "new" doubler... it ends at the rear of the vents... and then a 45

[Siara]

Im back in the shipyard, and work started on the 88mm gun crew.
Im using Warriors set.
After asembly i cut out the imitation of the 88mm projectile from the hands of the loader- i will turn the new one from brass.



TBC...

[Siara]

 

[wildspear]

Could you post a pic on your turning set up? Fantastic work on the shell.

[Siara]

Could you post a pic on your turning set up? Fantastic work on the shell.

Thanks Wildspear!
Nothing fancy- just plain set of tools.
Heres the shot of my turning/drilling set up:


...and soldering tools:


Im dreaming of the proper lathe....

[bracco_n]

Fantastic as usual! May I ask for a photo of your hand holding the 88? I would like to see the size related to the hand and see the full scale of your work.