1:35 mideget submarine "Molch" (Hobby Boss) - display model

[DrSchmidt]

Seems like the text of my original post ist gone....so a second time.

As my XXIII project is more or less a marathon, I squeeze a little project in from time to time , just to get something done. Last example was the 1:350 Nautilus by Ukrainian manufacturer Micro Mir. Looking for new projects I ran into the 1:35 scale kit of the German Midget submarine "Molch" by Hobby Boss.

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/04/in-boxed-135th-scale-german-molch.html

It's a nice little kit, same scale as my Bronco XXIII. In addition it has a nicely detailed cockpit. The cockpit would be almost invisible in the finished boat, so it cries for making a cut away display. So I decided to make this kit as a cut away display model with added battery compartment in the front. That's what I git so far.... Batteries are based on German G7e torpedo battery troughs 13 T 210.

[DrSchmidt]

On holiday but still time to draw a little bit. The Molch was propelled by a stern section of a G7e electric torpedo. I'm tempted to show the Motor and therefore I started modeling one. A bit crude and many sheet metal parts ar far to thick to make it printable in 1/35, but I think it 'd look cool....

[DrSchmidt]

At th time these midget submarines were introduced, the German war industry was already heavily shaken. So efforts were made to re-use pre existing parts and designs. For the propulsion unit of the Molch not only a G7e torpedo motor was used, but the whole stern section of such a torpedo, as those were easily available.

[DrSchmidt]

Did a bit more conceptual work for the kit. That's how I plan to create the opening in the bow section with the batteries. The opening will be large enough so that enough of the interior can be seen, and it's small enough to comfortably fit the starboard torpedo on the lower side.

[DrSchmidt]

Reactivated the old G7a torpedo CAD models...

[DrSchmidt]

O.K....that'll be it. From that I can build a decent model.....I guess :D

[DrSchmidt]

Back home after two weeks in England and here we go.....I took some dimensions from the kit, did some minor adjustments on the CAD-models and voila, the first prints are done: batteries and the frames of the battery room.







An after remowal of the supports...fits well.

[DrSchmidt]

Started with the real work....sawed and filed the openings in the starboard side of the hull as this is going to be a cutaway display. Then glued the frames and the bulkheads into place. Tight fit that hardly needed any corrections. The two halves put together without glue to test the looks....looks like this is going to work. I'm happy!

[rwtdiver]

Andreas,

It sure looks like another masterful quality build coming here!

I am assuming that you are using a Resin Printer for all your work? I have looked into a possible Resin unit, but to find one that does not require lots of nasty chemicals seems to be impossible!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[DrSchmidt]

Yes, I use a resin printer and the chems are a downside…

[DrSchmidt]

Some progress...the Molch was propelled by the stern section of a G7e torpedo. This part of the kit is totally wrong as the diameter of the drive section is by far to small. As I planned to display the electric motor anyway, I printed the G7e section as well and installed it in the stern of the Molch. The hard pard was to fit the kit parts to the now bigger propulsion section. Lots of filing and sanding but I like the result...







I also assembled the cockpit parts. Lots of levers and pedals, accentuated with some nice PE. Looks already nice put I will pimp it a little bit with additional valves and a hand pump that were present in the Molch but are not included in the kit.

[DrSchmidt]

Some more progress on the Molch cockpit. It's already quite detailed just out of the box, but I decided to put in some more detail. I added the valves for the compressed air lines. Latter I fabricated from 0,4 mm nylon line. I also printed additional levers and a compressed air bottle I saw in photos of an original Molch cockpit. On the front bulkhead the kit shows an empty instrument rack. So I printed a switch box and put it in. In the crates left and right of the seat I will add alkaline cartridges that were used to filter carbon dioxide out of the air and I'll add the manual bilge pump on the starboard side of the cockpit. The steering column got the steering chain (0,2 mm nylon line) that drove a wheel that actuated the push rods that drove the control planes on the stern of the Molch. Quite busy in there. Will be good when painted...

[DrSchmidt]

Progress on the 1:35 Molch. The cockpit is pretty much done. I added the Dräger alkaline cartridges for CO2 removal, the manual bilge pump on starboard and a switch box on the front bulkhead. Base coat is gray white accentuated filters and washes. The battery compartment also got it's base coat and I installed the long and slim compressed air bottle and the lower battery trays. Put together the boat starts to look like something.....

[DrSchmidt]

Here's a bigger update.....first the torpedos. As I mentioned earlier, the dimensions of the stern section of the G7e torpedo that acts as propulsion of the Molch, is completely wrong in the kit. Same is the case for the both torpedos that were suspended from the starboard and port sides of the boat. Too short, to clumsy, wrong fins, etc. pp. So I decided to support the Ukrain and ordered two G7e torpedos from Mikro Mir. This company is known for rare kits with bad ft. But if one puts a bit of work in the builds, one can get rather nice results. The only parts I couldn't use are the detonators. So I designed them myself and printed them. Gonna be good....

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The starbord side of the hull hosts the cockpit and the lower battery tray. I also included the compressed air bottle.





Next I removed the third flaw of the kit. The pressure tight section of the conning tower had a backwards-facing window. This makes only sense, if the streamiled fairing of the tower also has backwards-facing windows (like they can be seen on the originals). Those are missing in the kit. So I drilled and filed them into place. Later they will be filled with transparent sheet material. Finally the cockpit got an LED. Its constant current source is placed inside the trim tank on the port side of the cockpit.





The port side of the hull got the upper two battery trays with their support struts.



The stern section got the push rods for the rudder and dive planes and some additional weathering.





Getting there...

[DrSchmidt]

A little more progress on the Molch. The hull halves are glued together and the seams are filled and cleaned. The stabilizer fins and the control planes are in place. Some PE details and the hatch with the glass dome are in place as well, and basically that completes the hull assembly. Next I'll replace the lost weld lines and add some rivets around the windows before everything is ready for the primer.