My U-69

[TRM]

Hello Guys!

I figured I will start out here on SMA. I have been working on this project since year. I am using Revell's 1/72 VIIC U-boat. There are multiple add on kits I have purchased along the way including some scratch building as well. I'll attempt not to make the same mistake by posting way too many pics from when I started, just a select few in the attempt not to bog down the post and hopefully not bore anyone.

Scope:

I plan to have a static display of her closely based on the following shot. This is the U-69 returning from her 3rd patrol


The beginning....from this point pretty much everything but the out shell of the hull gets removed, moved and/or modified....

The vents are opened


Oil canning effects (rippling in the hull), moved anchor well forward, new drain vent, added sonar....


Internal framing, pressure hull, more vents, sand, sand sand....















Modifying the modified parts....




More framing...


tbc....

 

[TRM]

I finish the update hopefully rather quickly here.




I know most of the pressure hull will not be seen when the deck is on, but I wanted to fill the empty void....









As she sits now. I am still wet sanding and touching up. There is some more touch-ups to do before final priming, then on to replacing the rivet.






Thanks for stopping by and checking it out. As always, any questions, comments and/or concerns are always welcome. ;D

 

[ScarredKustoms]

wow great stuff!! Tons of work going into this build will be interesting to watch.

 

[TRM]

Thank you! Didn't realize when I started, it was going to get this involved. It just kind of went down the road. Hope it's worth it in the end!

 

[Exarkun77]

Wow... contact ! incoming good looking build ! straight ahead !

 

[TRM]

;D Much appreciated!

 

[scratchmod]

Yeah baby, been wiating for you to post the Sub here. After seeing this build I had thought of getting that kit but the price tag scarred me away from it. I'll just be happy seeing you build this.

scratchmod

 

[TRM]

Sell one or two of yours???? The kit was cheap, $50 (I got luck). A friend was in Jersey swung by an old local hobby shop, haggled with the guy, BOOM, it was on my desk at work. The add-ons though....once you buy one, that's it. : Thanks for coming by! Catch you on the rusty side!

 

[Quaralane]

wow.
A LOT of work going into that build, and it shows

 

[noname]

Wow, you are really going aboard of this thing. Tell you the truth I don't even get some of the stuff your doing. I really like these 1/72 subs. Like to get one someday. I've seen a few built and they look pretty cool when weathered.

 

[TRM]

Thank you!

Noname, This is, umm, the quick overview of the project. Any questions, just fire away. If you can get your hands on one, go for it. She is big, but, small??? 1/72 is still braille scale. The boat is about 30" long but all the pieces can be microscopic. The weathering will be the fun part.

Thanks again!

 

[DXM]

Absolutely Amazing
How did you do the oil canning?

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Its apparent to me that ALOT of thought went into that model and the results are showing it!

Cheers!

 

[TRM]

Thanks guys! Right now the results are sanding, sanding, sanding.... I'm getting there. :

DXM,

The oil canning is done with a new sharp #10 blade. I have seen others tackle it with sandpaper or hit it with a Dremel and sand after the fact. The # 10 scalpel blade is nice, draw the blade across the surface removing the material...not so little as the sandpaper and not a quick as the Dremel. But definitely effective!



With the curve you are less likely to hit the panel line and/or rivets if you are careful. This is where you can learn from others before you... : I had at it and removed a bunch of rivets assuming I was going to just add em back in easily... ;D There are 1000's of them! Fotunately they have the rivet transfer set for these from Archer. Expensive for this model, but worth it!



Lightly drawing the blade removed desired amout. Make sure to change up your blade frequently. You will get a chattering feeling and effect, if you don't. Don't throw the blades out, they are still sharp and can be used for everything else. I think I used about 5 or 6 blades for the whole boat. with 30" each side, that is 5' of scraping :-X. smaller applications are certainly not this arduous.



Take small amounts to show light rippling on newer steel and on ships and go deeper for older and/or steel like on submersable things :, tractor trailer boxes where the metal would be thin gauged and more likely to ripple.



The effect can be amazing...



Sorry, a little long winded but hope it helped!

 

[noname]

Right on! I can see the effect much better in these last photos. Thanks for sharing that, a great tip. I can see using this trick on certain aircraft as well.

 

[Chris S]

Nice to see this one again T , That oil canning looks very effective , there's a shed load of work gone into that puppy ,I look forward to it progressing ;D

Chris.

 

[TRM]

Noname, I agree, I guess you do see an awful lot of panel rippling in aircraft. Glad it helped!

Thanks Chris. I too look forward to it progressing! I might be living in the "shed" if I keep starting projects. . Should have build the 1/10 version, at least I will have a place to sleep if she has enough. ;D

Just kidding....she is unbelievably supportive! :-*

Case in point, here she is telling me I am #1 :

 

[DXM]

Thanks TRM
I figured it was something time consuming but the effect is great.

 

[Chiefpettyofficer]

Wow, nice work. You get the photo eched parts? I built mine straigt OOB.
Hope, you dont need 3 Years like I :-III

 

[TRM]

Thanks Chief! Rolling into 1 year next month. I have dragged my feet a little the last couple. As for the PE...Think I got em all ModelBrass Deck, Eduard, AMP Torpedo Doors. WEM 2cm, CMK, Archer Rivets.....

This will be the only kit I think I will ever buy all the bells and whistles to this scale. At least it was spread out over a year so far. Still have some AMP stuff to get, they have scale flags and waterline marking transfers and may add a barrel to the WEM 2cm....still on the fence about the crew for the deck WHewwww! :

Thanks for looking! ;D