Revell Type XXI U-3504

[Mr. Bill]

Greetings,

I started this kit in 1997, but didn't get very far before it ended up in the corner gathering dust for many years.  I recently got tired of moving it around from place to place and almost tossed it in the rubbish bin.  For some reason, I put everything else aside and decided to complete this long abandoned kit.  I made minor modifications to some of the kit parts and added a few basic enhancements.  I should have corrected the front shape of the conning tower as the kit is wrong.  I also regret using the yellow training stripe decals from the kit as they have a noticeable yellowish translucent border - ugly.  In future, should I ever decide to build this kit again, I will open up all of the flooding vents and maybe the deck vents.  I decided on U-3504 with the Olympic Rings painted on the front of the conning tower, but I am not certain about the overall color scheme.  The deck may have been a very dark grey, almost black, like the VII's.  I believe that the props were made from steel rather than bronze toward the end of the war, so I used flat steel to paint the kit props after sanding them down to get them thinner looking.  I Airbrushed Testors Model Master enamels followed by Future gloss clear. Applied a thin dark coloured wash followed by some weathering and light rust effects.  Sealed everything with flat clear.  I don't know exactly why, but I needed to finish this kit - maybe just needed to actually complete a model.  Enjoy the photos, please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Cheers,

Bill

[Seewolf]

Hi Bill,
good that you not tossed it in the rubbish bin  congratulation for comission of U-3504 .
I am on the search for a XXI boat in 1/144 but no success... look like I have to wait that Revell take it back in the program... 

[TRM]

Nice work Bill.  That's what it looks like completed. LOL  I started one as well a while back.  Even made an attempt to cut the side out to some inside work, well, you know what happens next.  Great job finishing up!

Cheers!

[Mr. Bill]

Many thanks Seewulf and TRM for your comments.  Revell did a good job with this kit.  Compared to the information in the Anatomy of the Ship Type XXI book by Kohl and Rossler, I was impressed by the detail and accuracy of the kit parts.  There are some problems, but they are few and can be fixed easily.  Others have done a really superb job with this kit, it is easy to get motivated by their work.  I would certainly like to do this kit again in the future with some extra detailing.

Cheers,

Bill

[Rokket]

She looks great!

[Mr. Bill]

Thanks Wink, I appreciate your comments.  I am making a plexiglass display case for U-3504 that will be wall mounted like a hanging picture.  Need to mitre cut a frame and some other details, but it looks very nice so far.  Trying to decide which side to display and what type of background to use.  A wall mount display saves shelf space and is a refreshing change from a typical shelf display.  Once I get it done I will post some photos.

Cheers,

Bill

[Siara]

Congratulations on finishing the model Bill!
She is looking good indeed.

[Rokket]

love to see the pix and what you decide Bill