atic: 1:35 Bronco XXIII with interior

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I’d like to see a pic of that Nautilus.

I don't think the good Doctor will mind. After all, the model I'm presenting here was assembled from his exceptionally fine kit:




























Here's a video of it running on and below the surface: https://youtu.be/zRdQ-h9sORE

David

[Das Boot]

Thank you sir. We cut our teeth on Industrial Diaplays. I still have you magnificent USS NAUTILUS in the rotation for final detailing, painting and weathering -- maybe I'll finish it this year. Got it all trimmed out and running, and it's a great performer in the water.

This Type-23 of yours will be one for the ages.

David

I’d like to see a pic of that Nautilus.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Very nice.....you are a master of your art

Thank you sir. We cut our teeth on Industrial Diaplays. I still have you magnificent USS NAUTILUS in the rotation for final detailing, painting and weathering -- maybe I'll finish it this year. Got it all trimmed out and running, and it's a great performer in the water.

This Type-23 of yours will be one for the ages.

David

[DrSchmidt]

Very nice.....you are a master of your art

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Left behind the door the rack with the short wave transmitter Lo40K39 (top) and the respective power supply (below). I'm quite happy, but one won't be able to see too muh of it in the finished model....

We are of a kindred spirit: They may never see it, but WE know it's there!

[DrSchmidt]

Left behind the door the rack with the short wave transmitter Lo40K39 (top) and the respective power supply (below). I'm quite happy, but one won't be able to see too muh of it in the finished model....

[DrSchmidt]

Working on the radio cabin that was located port side of the control room. Walls are white, the table, similar to the VIIc boats, was painted green. Below the table on the left corner was the drive for the direction finder antenna. The direction was set by turning the hand wheel. The rotation was transmitted via an angular gear and an axle that went through the table upwards to the top of the cabin. There another angular gear made the rotation horizontal and sent it out via an axle to the direction finder antenna....getting there.

[Das Boot]

https://youtu.be/8a7gA127FrA

[tifosi12]

Unbelievable work. Congrats!

[Halcyon66]

Amazing work.

Regards,

Gregory

[DrSchmidt]

Painted the underside of the floor of the control room and glued it into place. Fits. Next I dry-fitted the pressure hull and the little cabin for the radio guy. Looks very promising. But now I have to figure out in which order to paint and assemble al that stuff....it will work.

[DrSchmidt]

I agree, there are allot of similarities between the boats. The XXIII was developed so fast and with so little resources, that the designers tried to incorporate as many existing parts as possible. And yes, integrating this via CAD is pretty rewarding.

With respect to the video: I know this little gem and actaully used it quite allot....

[jphatton]

The point you mention about drawings and details from other types of boats is an important one. As there is often commonality in masts and systems I found that often details of those could be found on other submarine types of the same country / period, particularly periscopes and masts.

I've found CAD modelling to be very powerful tool for integrating all of the collected information on projects I've researched. Particularly if only photo's are available or some aspect is not adequately covered by drawings (often this is the case for complex bow shapes in the absence of sections), the CAD model can be very helpful for getting the dimensions and shape right.

Also building the internal structure can help getting the placement and layout of external hull features correct. For example on another project I'm working on there was a significant discrepancy with the position of ballast tanks vents and flood grates between the side and plan view drawings and also these didn't correspond to the photo's. Constructing the internal frames and ballast tank layout helped getting those correctly positioned. Also as you say in the absence of other reference material some details are based on educated guesses, but again the CAD can help a lot with getting approximate estimates of dimensions and positions.

Concerning the Type XXIII I came across this Bundesmarine film of U-Hai/U-Hecht in the mid 1960's which might be of interest as it includes some internal views although it is in the later type 240 configuration

https://youtu.be/6qDs1Kv7kZE

[DrSchmidt]

I use the two books by Kohl and Rössler and the plans. For the details it's a tremendous ammount of research. The Diesel e.g. is based on plans from the Machine Museum in Bremen, the blowers for the ventialtion are based on drawings of blowers from Type IX boats that I found on Uboot Archive, I found detail drawings of the snorkel assembly on ebay, for most of the radio equipment there are good photo sources from collectors and museums....plain and simply allot of digging. The rest is approximation from photos and the decriptions in the books. All in all it took 2 years or so to get the CAD model to this stage.

[jphatton]

Manfred,

Your build is providing a fascinating insight into the construction of the Type XXIII though both your CAD model renders and the 3D printed interior model. What source drawings are you using as reference to build the model? I assume you main reference would be the Rossler and Kohl drawings (Vom Original Zum Modell book), but are you using other drawings for the details or simply estimates from drawings. I've found for my own CAD models that the photos are best confirmation of details and layout, as often there are discrepancies within plans.

I have two of the Bronco XXIII models that I'm planning to tackle building in the next few months. As something different I'm planning on building them to the configuration of the Bundesmarine U-Hai and U-Hecht, with the modified sonar arrangement on the bow, with one of the models with the Type 240 configuration of streamlined sail and 1.65m hull extension. The Rossler and Kohl drawings provide enough material for the main modifications and I've been collecting photo's for the details of both boats to prepare the build. As I understand there were three distinct configurations, the modifications after salvage in 1957, the streamlining of the sail at the 1961 refit and extension of the hull in 1963 (Type 240 configuration) to fit a different engine (intented for Type 205).

Looking forward to further posts on your build!

Best wishes,

Jason