Shapeways 1/48 Turm IV

[Katuna]

Hey guys, this is my first post on here even though I've been lurking around for awhile. I've been following some of the builds and drawings of certain members that are also posted on other forums (don't worry, I won't tell). Some of the level of craftsmanship is just astounding. It shames me into striving to become a more sophisticated modeler.


On that note, I'm building the Trumpeter 1/48 Type VIIC as U-371 in the Med. In so doing, I'm am modelling it just one or two patrols after it was retrofitted with the Turm IV. I'm striving for a fairly accurate model although maybe using the Trumpeter kit wasn't such a great starting point but, my gnarly old fingers can't work in anything smaller anymore. Be that as it may, I was curious if anyone was using diStefan's 3D printed Turm from Shapeways? A bit pricey but I would rather put my meager skills into superdetailing the interior and not trying to figure out how to create all the compound curves of the Wintergarten.


BTW, what the heck is the difference between a Fairweather and a Wintergarten Turm? I looked all over and couldn't find an explanation.


Thanks for any help and thanks for such an awesome forum.

[dougie47]

Hi Katuna,

Welcome to the AMP forum, I hope we can try to answer some of your queries.

My guess is that "fairwater" refers to the faired section ahead of the main tower on the flak boat U 441.

I have only the two digital preview images on the Shapeways website to go by for diStefan's Turm IV. But it does look like the floor is a slotted deck pattern rather than the planked deck on the Turm IV. At first glance the edges of the top platform and the rear of the lower platform both look too rounded compared to Plan 3 in Vom Original.

I bought some of diStefan's 1/32nd VIIC products and was disappointed. The rudders are completely unusable as they are wrong in every respect. I'm not convinced at all by the shape of the foreplanes and there are issues with the rear planes also. Therefore I would be very careful indeed and check sources if you are thinking seriously of purchasing these expensive products.

Cheers,

Dougie

[Katuna]

Dougie-Thanks so much for the heads up on diStefan's parts. I did note recently that he has an "Updated" version of his tower. He may have addressed the issues you stated. However, for $163.00 US, I would hope it would be correct out of the box. Especially since I plan to add armor boxes as well as all the other normal detail upgrades to the Bridge and Flak guns. It all equals $$$$$!

[42rocker]

Welcome and Enjoy the build. On my list to build also. 
 
Later Tim