atic: 1:35 Bronco XXIII with interior

[DrSchmidt]

Then I'm pretty sure, my boat was deployed in the mediterranean sea :-)

[goshawk823]

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.

[DrSchmidt]

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.

[SubDude]

Getting close now. Exciting to see it nearing completion.

[DrSchmidt]

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....

[DrSchmidt]

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.

[DrSchmidt]

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.

[goshawk823]

I watch every day for your updates on this boat. I can’t wait to see it with paint. Just awesome work.

[DrSchmidt]

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.

[DrSchmidt]

These boats were made at the end of the war when resources became increasingly scarce and time for manufacturing also became shorter and shorter. Looking at many photos I came to the conclusion that no two boats were the same. Antennas, steps, skid rails, location of limber, hatch for pressure tight compartment, all that could be different. So I basically work on the version that later on became U-Hecht (S 170), the first sub of the Bundesmarine (the German Federal Navy).

[redboat219]

Note this Type XXIII with short intermittent deck rail.

could it be that the wooden deck in the Bronco kit was based off this particular sub? You could just cut off the wood grate and use the rails in the kit.

[DrSchmidt]

That was m,y guess too. Fixing points.....that will go on as well, but at the stage when I add the final fine details. In the moment I'm filling and sanding the keel. Too much danger to rip stuff off.

[redboat219]

Found this. Looks like those tube are on the outside the wooden deck to keep it from sliding off.

[redboat219]

Found these photos of U-171 (ex-U2367) on Pinterest

There seems to be a small locker next to the vent grating.

With the closeup of the deck you can see there are short tubular stand offs. There must be some pins underneath the wood deck that plug into these.

The twin capstan at the bow are also offset to the left. On the model it's molded exactly midline.

[DrSchmidt]

Could be space issues.....here's the internal structure of the ballast tank. The round plate in the upper middle ist the valve. I guess there was just not enough room in the middle. of the roof of the tank. That said, the valve is off center, but reaches over the center line, so the tank can be vented completely.



Here's the grill in on the real thing...