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Allot of work went into filling and sanding the hull. Building it with interior does not necessarily imply that you can assemble everything in the best sequence. This I had to put quite some work, especially in the keel. But now it's all pretty much were I want it. Then I added plenty of little details. The threaded studs next to the anti skid rails, poller, cleats, the grating above the aft vent valve, the steps up the sail (3D-printed as I neither liked the ones in the kit nor the ones from rcsubs), the mount and the ceramic isolator for the wire antenna....so it's about 90% there and I can start thinking about painting the hull.
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I watch every day for your updates on this boat. I can’t wait to see it with paint. Just awesome work.Comment
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Thanks....painting the hull will be a major pain in the ass. With all the openings it's like painting a swiss cheese while trying to avoid the holes.Comment
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Getting ready for the paint job. Sealing all the openings with putty, faom, paper, and masking tape took me two day and there are still some holes to shut. I also added some rivets and restored some weld lines using Archer Fine Transfer surface detail decals.
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Thought a bit about the paint scheme of the boat. What I found irritating is that the paint instructions of the kit as well as many models in the net show a distinct black line between the light gray upper hull and the dark gray bottom. I don't know any German boat from that time with a water line marking like that and at that time, at the end of the war, time was limited and I have a hard time thinking that they did those artful lines back then. So I looked for some references and surprise....no lines. So I'll skip the line busyness and go for a simple two tone paint job. b.t.w.: Primer is on....
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Getting close now. Exciting to see it nearing completion.Comment
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Worked on the paint job. The upper part got a base coat in Vallejo neutral gray and the bottom in Vallejo blue gray. The weathering of the immersed parts was done with David's tooth paste approach. I stippled tooth paste with a brush on the hull, let it dry, put a mist of white across, removed the tooth paste with a damp sponge and then blended the pattern with another mist of white. The waterline (not the line between the two grays) got a hint of green algae overgrowth. Done....
The upped deck got a bit more variation using a gray filter and the everything was accentuated with gray, white and black washes. The white wash was also used to make the running marks at the limber holes. A bit of dry brushing here, a hint of rust there....I like it.
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Looks spectacular!
way back in the 90s, I built OTW’s 1/24 scale Type XXIII, and when I talked to David M about weathering and waterline “scum”, he reminded me that these were cold water boats, and that scum line would have less greens, and more gray/gray browns than green. Take that for what it’s worth; I did mine using more raw umber/payee’s gray/white with some greens around the diesel exhaust area.
I can’t wait to see it done and lit up. Amazing work.Comment
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Then I'm pretty sure, my boat was deployed in the mediterranean sea :-)Comment
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Put the boat in its stand, hooked up the electric parts, and installed the snorkel. I'm very happy with the snorkel, especially because I got it straight, and that despite the fact that I included a detail, that I haven't seen on a XXIII model so far: the telescopic exhaust mast (back tube). As the exhaust mast was located above the bulkhead to the machine roam, there was no way to let it penetrate the pressure hull. So they designed it to be a telescopic mast. I build it using 4 mm and 5 mm steel tubes, connected by a 3D-printed intermediate part. To get everything strong and straight I ran a 2,5 mm diameter steel axis within the tubes along the complete length of the mast. Works splendidly. What I did as well was to tone down the algae at the waterline, as it was a bit bright for me as well, after a while. The base plate for the stand is based on 2 19 mm thick maple boards. I gave em a nice contour using a router, then stained it mahogany and gave it a gloss coat using 2,5 spray cans. The stands are 3d-printed and painted with Vallejo bright brass. I like it!
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Congratulations on a spectacular finish to this boat. One of my favorite U Boats, and you’ve absolutely nailed it.Comment
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Not quite there yet. Wire antennae i missing, I have to put some final parts into the machine room, some touch ups, and then its done.....but doable in a few days.Comment
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So the boat is done....started in December 2019, it took almost 4 years to get the job done. I was curious, if I could pull it off, but here it is. Last steps were painting the cutting edges in steel, install the hand wheels on the main electric switch board, make some touch ups and then the installation of the wire antennae. For latter I used parts from the RC boat market. The main wire is made of fishing line (stained black) and the little connection wire is steel.
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Andreas, I've been on many US Fleet Boats, English ,French Sub and even the U505 in Chicago. What you have produced is what I've actually seen and felt like on the full sized subs! In my mind you have been and still are KING of the hill in our Hobby!!! MyronComment
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Thank you very much. That feedback of someone who has seen allot means allot....Comment
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