U-552 - doing it my way.

[Rokket]

Thanks Don! (and Siara)

[Don in Cincinnati]

Do you suppose he's getting a kickback on all this? )

I wish.
The only think im getting is the sattisfaction from knowing that youll use the best things on the market, and it will help your model making great deal.
I gained that knowledge from other experienced modelers, an im just passing that knowledge on. Thats all.

It was my feeble attempt at humor, Siara. My apologies if it was offensive.

In truth my boat -which is in the very early stages of the build- is already far better for knowing you and being inspired by your thread to to reach a bit higher. For example, I would never have known about -much less ordered Koki paste had it not been for your recommendation. I could name perhaps over a dozen other improvements to my U96 already that are a direct result of studying your build thread and blog. As with Dougie, Rokket, Greif and a few others, I consider you a cyber friend. Hope you feel the same.

Don

[Siara]

I feel the same  

BTW: Does that wood look like the one on the grampa furniture?

[Rokket]

It does - "crazing" technique with water-based over enamel?

[Siara]

Wink- i used artistic oils over the acrylics. Oils nicely blend the courseness of the acrylics, and create shading similar to the wood grain.
Heres how it looks like at he moment:

Im generally pleased with the final result- it helps to add the detail , and color to the plain body of the box.
Im planning on some extra items like the Kar 98, Signal magazine, possibly empty wine bottle, and maybe long waterproof coat, so the inside of the box will be busy.

[Rokket]

phone is very nice, esp. the earpiece.

[Don in Cincinnati]

phone is very nice, esp. the earpiece.

Chaos reigns in the shipyard this morning. The subject that has me confused are the Modelbrass saddle tank inspection covers. The fret has 10 large plates and four small ones.
Since modelbrass included no directions, I went to their web site which shows five covers per side, three large and two small, all set with the long side of the plate at 90 degrees to the long axis of the boat.

Deck plans in Robert Stern's book Type VII U-boats (p.44) show five plates as well with three set at 90 degrees and two with the long side parallel to the long axis of the boat. It's hard to determine size, but they appear to be all the same i.e no small ones.

In David Westwood's book Type VII U-boats (P. 26) three large covers are shown at 90 degrees to the long axis of the boat and two small ones are shown parallel to the long axis. Also in his book the frontpiece shows a photo of U99 which clearly shows five cover locations, but the covers appear to be removed. As best I can tell all seem to be the same size and set at the 90 degree angle.

For context my boat is U96,  Circa 1940, A Type VIIc.

Question #1
Am I correct in assuming that the Type VIIc of my vintage had five plates per side on the saddle tanks?

Question #2
Are all the plates the same size i.e. large, or are they a combination of 3 large and two small?
 
Question #3
Are they all mounted at 90 degrees to the long axis of the boat, or some combination of the above?

And one final question;
If they are all the same size where do the four small plates on the Modelbrass fret go?

I'd appreciate any help as I don't want to attach them until I'm sure they will be accurate.

Don

[dougie47]

Hi Don,

I believe the drawing on P26/27 of Westwood's book is correct. This shows 3 covers at 90 degrees to the axis and 2 covers at 90 degrees to the axis. This is supported by the photo of U 69 (the caption says U 99 but it is U 69) on page 2/3 of Westwood's book. The Modelbrass set was rushed into production for commercial reasons (accuracy wasn't the main goal). All you need is the five oval covers per side.

Cheers,

Dougie

[Don in Cincinnati]

Hi Don,

I believe the drawing on P26/27 of Westwood's book is correct. This shows 3 covers at 90 degrees to the axis and 2 covers at 90 degrees to the axis. This is supported by the photo of U 69 (the caption says U 99 but it is U 69) on page 2/3 of Westwood's book. The Modelbrass set was rushed into production for commercial reasons (accuracy wasn't the main goal). All you need is the five oval covers per side.

Cheers,

Dougie

Dougie:

Thanks for your input. I will go with your recommendation. I appreciate the time you took to help me.

Don

[Don in Cincinnati]

Hi Don,

I believe the drawing on P26/27 of Westwood's book is correct. This shows 3 covers at 90 degrees to the axis and 2 covers at 90 degrees to the axis. This is supported by the photo of U 69 (the caption says U 99 but it is U 69) on page 2/3 of Westwood's book. The Modelbrass set was rushed into production for commercial reasons (accuracy wasn't the main goal). All you need is the five oval covers per side.

Cheers,

Dougie

Dougie:

Thanks for your input. I will go with your recommendation. I appreciate the time you took to help me.

Don

The covers are installed thanks to the timely reply from Dougie.

I used the installation method employed by both Siara and Glenn Cauley i.e. super gluing them in position and then heating the brass covers with a soldering iron to melt them slightly into the plastic. As a final step I sanded the small plastic ridge aroung the edges of the covers.
The above works particularly well with the Modelbrass PE which is pretty thick and hard to shape. The inspection covers now sit nice and flush on the saddle tanks.

For those who have concerns about the heat method, let me assure you I am not a master class modeler, but I found this step remarkably easy. One tip: try a test with a piece of scrap brass of the same thickness on an old model first.

Thanks to Siara, Glenn and Dougie for the information.

Don

[Don in Cincinnati]

Re: Koki soldering paste as recommended by Siara:

good questions because I'll need some too...

Rokket:
Just received an E-mail stating that my order for the paste has shipped from Poland. All seems to be going well as of this message. If you are still interested I will post updates  here. I'm really looking forward to trying it as my soldering skills are about a minus three  on a one to ten scale.

Don

[Siara]

Don- i was the same before i got my hands on that paste. U-552 is the first model i have tried soldering.

[Rokket]

Thanks for the info Don. It's especially nice to point out that scary things aren't always scary!

[Don in Cincinnati]

Don- i was the same before i got my hands on that paste. U-552 is the first model i have tried soldering.

 The hallmark of a true craftsman is a willingness to share information in an effort to help others improve their skills.  It is to your credit that you have done this so freely here. I'm sure I am not alone in offering sincere thanks and appreciation for the thread.

Don

[Siara]

Im glad i can help.