Wooden deck question

[FoxbaT]

On pics of the deck from the U-995 i see nails in the deck (see pic)




I know the U-995 deck is not original anymore, does someone knows if the nails are correct?
On wartime pics i cannot see those nails?


Thanks in advance,


Karel

[Seewolf]

Hello Karel,
I don`t know if the nails historical correct on U 995, but the boats had nails or, I think, could be screws. I have here a close up pic. from U 309 from 12 August 44 there it is to see that there is something like that. But they are not over the surface of the wood, I would say more even or a little bit under the surface of the deck. That means they are still black, thats maybe the reason why the are not good visible at the most pics..... handle with care a lot of gueesing in my words. Hope somebody know it more exectly 

[FoxbaT]

That`s exactly what i thought, thanks so far  I will try to find more info on the net.



Karel

[Pat]

Karel, Seewolf is correct, there would not be nails used on the deck of a U-boat.  Since the ribs and bulkheads are steel, there is nothing for the nails to be pounded in to.

Planks on a boat are attached by one of two methods.

The oldest method, dating back more than 2,000 years, is to use

[Seewolf]

Pat sounds interesting with this wooden plugs, would be a good explaination why this stuff is so heavy to identyfied at the most Pics.

Here are some pic`s from U-309, they rescued some of the crew members of U-981 (first hit by mine) 12 August 1944, during the rescue action they get atacked by Moskitos. U-981 get a full hit and sunk quick, U-309 had more luck and shoot down one Moskito and damaged a second one. After the Moskitos gone, they managed to leave the minefield and bring the survivors to shore.

(interesting water deflector in front of the snorkel)

The Pics was made from Lothar-G

[Pat]

Seewolf, interesting pictures.

You can see in the closeup of the deck the sort of thing I'm talking about, although it's not possible to tell (at least on my computer) whether they're screwheads or wooden plugs covering the screwheads.  I'd still go with the wooden plugs, as it's a standard way of covering screwheads, and if the plugs themselves were slightly countersunk, it would explain why they're so dark, since the black preservative wouldn't get worn away by foot traffic like it would on the bare planks.

Also of interest is the edge plank along the outside of the deck, but it doesn't seem like they joggled the deck planks into it, while the Revell kit does show joggling into the sides of the casing.

Note also that there seems to be some sort of edge protection along the deck plank on the inside of the schnorkel opening.  My monitor is too dark for me to tell what that is.

And yes, the water deflector in fron of the schnorkel opening is interesting too.  I've seenpictures of a similar deflector on the deck in front of the 88mm in some early war pictures of type VII's, but never on a late war boat.  You can see where the deflector goes goes when you look at the framing underneath the deck.

Looks like the inflatables were probably yellow to make them easy for rescuers to spot.  I guess not planned for clandestine landings at night, or perhaps they had one black inflatable or a covering to hide them at night when needed.

[Rokket]

Battleships use the screw/wooden cap method too.

[NZSnowman]

Pat, it's all make sense about the wooden plugs, however, now I will need change all 1,769 screw on my deck with wooden plugs

[Pat]

ROTFL Simon.

No, just cover the countersunk screws with a little bit more of that black preservative gunk they used (can't remember what it was called, but basically like creosote) and you won't be able to tell the difference.

BTW, if you REALLY want to make it look accurate for that, how it's done in the tall ship models is that after the deck planks are glued on, you drill holes where each screw/trunnel/wooden plug would go, and then insert a tiny wooden dowel stained a different colour from the deck, (or even a thin wire would do) and just sand it off smooth.

Voila!  Instant screw/plugs in the deck.

[Rokket]

I think 1:72 is a bit small, but maybe - seriously here - you could do a little something to give the impression (keeping in mind, too, that you wouldn't see ALL anytime anyway): take a suitably small pointy device (piece of very thin wire, sewing needle, etc.) and dab a few here and there..but you are talking about something in scale at around smaller than .1mm (.007")... 1:35 might be better suited to the pin method...

[FoxbaT]

I think 1:72 is a bit small, but maybe - seriously here - you could do a little something to give the impression (keeping in mind, too, that you wouldn't see ALL anytime anyway): take a suitably small pointy device (piece of very thin wire, sewing needle, etc.) and dab a few here and there..but you are talking about something in scale at around smaller than .1mm (.007")... 1:35 might be better suited to the pin method...

And this is exactly wat i am gonna do with my deck 




Karel

[Pat]

The typical wood plug used to fill a countersunk screw in a deck is about 1/2" at the ship's chandleries.  There are some as small as 1/4" for eyebrows and interior fittings, and some as large as 3" for big screws (or perhaps multiple screws in the same hole?) for larger areas.  But I'd say that most are 1/3 - 1/2".

So yeah, small at 1:72.

The easiest method to make them that small on the deck but still show up is to poke a hole with a small pin, as Wink suggested, and then smear something dark over the deck, like thick wash of dark brown or black paint, which is then wiped off and just remains in the holes.

If you've already stained the deck for the preservative colour, and won't be doing any more colouring, then there are those wax pencils with different wood colours used to hide scratches in furniture.  But this has to be done after any deck staining.

[dbauer]

Hi!
I believe you are on the correct path on the wood on the decks of the U-Booten. My father (U-69&U-805) has told me that both u-Booten had very dark almost black decks, and by the end of a long patrol this wore in the heavy traffic areas.
regards,
Dan