Maintenance on my TypeVII

[MFR1964]

Driving the Bibers is fun, they are dynamic divers, no backbreaking efforts to get them in the water, each time i drive them people are amazed they work so well.



Controlling both Bibers happens with two equal receivers but using different channels, so that one you guessed right, that transmittor i have has two modes, PCM, which is used for the type VII, and PPM for controlling the Bibers.
It is a computer bases transmittor, pretty much a fore runner of the Wyfly we now use, it's possible to control every channel, i've got a bible-size manual with leads the way.


Both the hulls from the type VII came from a belgium club, they wanted a flottilla of type VII's, it never materialised, some where build, as i recall right, only two or three where build as functional model.
I got mine as part of a buy from a guy who stopped building those boats, my mentor type VII was laid down himself from the mold, the mold itself was CNC created and spliited in two, unfortunally it is missing, either placed on a dusty attic or ended up at a landfill.

Thanks for the complements, i gathered my skills from my mentor and trying each time, even when you fail, which offcourse is also a learningprocess to become better.

Manfred.

[JHapprich]

A shame the molds are gone, Manfred. Brings up one question, do you know if the master was built from scratch or eyeballed*twinkle* from a Schaffer U-995?

After some research and building an entire tech rack around the big 750' i decided to use the 550' instead. More versatile i have more parts for them etc. Plus the torque of the bigger engines would tear the shafts/couplings apart, i am afraid. Engel uses 540' in their Typhoon at 25 kg wet weight so i believe they are scale for an 1/50 Whiskey.

Have a nice afternoon again thanks for your advice

Jörg

[MFR1964]

Jorg,

Not eyeballed, but made after reichswerft drawings, for it's time, we talk 80's, it was a good hull to make a nice type VII.
Good choice on the 550's, the torque should be enough, as long your Wiskey is not too heavy you've got a good combination, my pleasure to give you some advice.
There is a guy at belgium who has made some new molds, drawn from a original hull which he has found.

Manfred.

[Monahan Steam Models]

Manfred,

Speaking of future Seehund builds, have you seen the 1/35 scale kit put out by Bronco? Not sure how they measure up detail wise to the resin models from Verlinden.

Nick

[redboat219]

I'd like to see Manfred tackle the 1/35 British X-craft from I love kit ( Merit).

[Monahan Steam Models]

I'd like to see Manfred tackle the 1/35 British X-craft from I love kit ( Merit).

Finish your damn kilo already

[MFR1964]

Nick,

Plastick models are only suited as wet models, running them dry is asking for troubles, it's better to make a hull from epoxy.

Your question about the Verlinden Seehund,



This is the resin hull i own, PE parts and other resin parts to make a complete Seehund.



This is the one my mentor made, i suspect he made a mold from the Verlinden Seehund, followed pretty much the same way as with the Bibers.





Same layout as with the Bibers, same method of sealing it up.



You split the Seehund this way, screw are hidden when put together.



If you like really small, builded this Marder scale 1:35 a few years ago, controlling it with a toy-transmittor, it's a suface runner, don't want it to push too far.

Romel,

That ain't gonna happen, my plate is full, got other projects to do, it seems that people forget that building micro is as hard as building big, and the result is a bathtub submarine, i'm more a open water guy.


Manfred.

[Monahan Steam Models]

Manfred,

You make an excellent point about plastic hull models versus epoxy hull models for building a dry hull boat. I’m curious as to how your friend made the epoxy Seehund and Biber hulls from the molds. Were they laid up as port and starboard halves and then epoxied together?

Nice work on the Marder!

Nick

[MFR1964]

Nick,

Traditional build as two halves from the mold, glued/epoxied to make one hull.



This is the mold i still have from the Bibers, he used gipsen to stabilise the mold, probably started it with pusing down the resin model halfway untill the gipsen turned hard, used the same method in the past, disadvantage is, only usable a few times, i used mine one time to get me the hull i wanted, smashed it to retrieve the epoxy hull.
Now i build my molds to last, those days, we wanted models which were not availibe didn't matter how.

Manfred.

[redboat219]

Wanted to try this with my Revell Type ViI, but doesn't gypsum undergo an exothermic reaction -gives off heat, that can warp the styrene?

[Monahan Steam Models]

Manfred,

Thank you for taking the time to show the mold and explain the process. Looks like he first made the soft rubber mold like rtv to capture the fine details and the gypsum as a hard support for the rubber. Very similar to using rtv rubber with a hard fiberglass backing. Very clever.

Nick

[redboat219]

This looks like a good technique for making molds for GRP copies of styrene hulls for personnal use. https://youtu.be/tbFzzueUcVs

The clay protects the styrene from the heat of the plaster or fiberglass strongback while it cures.

[MFR1964]

To keep things together i decided to give the update about my mentors work on this thread, so people can find all the info in one place.
All things has to do with the display he builded for the type VII, if i remind right he could build up three differend variations, one was torpedo loading, the other with the Bibers and the Bachelstelze and a third one with a rocket launcher on the rear deck.



This was the kit i profided to my mentor, he enlarged the PE parts to scale 1/35.





The final result on the conningtower, only thing is, this was only done on the type IX submarines, due to the room left on the upperdeck, on a type VII there isn't much room, so taking off the 20 mm flak will create some room.



The size compared to my hand, extra gizmo is a E motor hidden in the Bachelstelze, there is a electric connections present which powers the Bachelstelze.

Manfred.

[MFR1964]

Next batch,





A rocketlauncher for rockets type 40, the germans did some experiments launching them from submerged as surfaced boats, a captain of a U Boat had a brother working at the rocketcenter at Peenemunde, they wondered if launching rockets from U Boats could be done, beside some experimental launches it never materialised.





Just like the real thing it can fold down, my mentors idea was to launch baby rockets, by using glowplugs he could light the fuses, to my knowlegde he never did, due to my experience with the OSA II i know you have to guide them in a proper way, in this configuration you can wait on the mayhem after launch.


Manfred.

[MFR1964]

This is about the extra things he made to support the display.



Talking about details, he made the complete winch for the Bachelstelze complete with the internals





Both sides of the winch, tools for building up the Bachelstelze are on the inside of the hatch.



Some more items made for the torpedo display, in the background a cradle for the front torpedo and the hoist devices for lifting the spare tubes under the deck, the pole with the camera guy i made in the past, had to adjust some things to place it on this boat.



The box with the crew and some other stuff for the different displays.



The working winch for the front topedo-loader and a loplight made by me, in the past they could place this on the raised attackperoscope, later in the war they had a internal light inside the scope as a better solution.

Manfred.