S.M. U-1 (a new RC project)

[DrSchmidt]

Started working on the conning tower of the U1. I plan to depict it with the main hatch open. So I milled the entry hole and glued a 3D-Printed tube into it using epoxy. Then I filled the seems and sanded everything flush. Voila, we have the entry shaft.










There are 9 windows in the coning tower. To get them all equal in size, I printed window frames, and glued them into openings I drilled into the conning tower. Then I filled the gaps between frame and coning tower using polyester putty and sanded everything flush. First 4 done,,,,









For the wash boards I copied the original approach. The wooden boards were held in place by riveted L-profiles. In 1/48 scale this comes down to 1,5 mm styrene L-profiles and 3D-printed boards. I glued those together to about 50 mm length and then the boards were glued onto the hull using epoxy.

[DrSchmidt]

Before joining the hull halves I painted the mock ups and mast boxes in a dark hull red. Then I glued the top and bottom hull together using slow curing epoxy. After that I started filling the seams with polyester filler followed by wet sanding with 400 grit sand paper. I hate the mess that makes, but things are coming together quite O.K..

[DrSchmidt]

No, never considered this class. The problem with the WWI boats is the availability of good sources. U1 still exists, there are two excellent models and a few usable photographs.

[JHapprich]

This is going to be another eyecatcher! Really looking forward to the RC'd twin...thumbs up!

Have you considered making a late large patrol cruiser submarine (Projekt 47? Boxed my books for the moment for renovations) with that very stramlined hull?

Jörg

[DrSchmidt]

Next steps before I can join upper and lower hull. As the ventilation masts will be displayed upright, one will be able to look through the open frames of the mast storage boxes. To offer a realistic view, I 3D-printed pressure hull mock ups and the tubes that stored the two spare shots of the U1. Looks weird with no deck, but perfect, when the upper hull is in place...

[DrSchmidt]

Doesn't look like much, but it was quite some work. After gluing the bulkhead into the upper deck I used my Dremel drill press mount and a cutting wheel to cut the limber holes into the hull. Worked quit O.K.. I hope that I won't have to make too many touch ups. To align the deck with the lower hull, 3 mm styrene profiles were glued to the deck and the inner part of the lower hull trimmed to give a good alignment when put together. Then I glued the control planes and stabilizers into the lower hull, as well as some M5 screw for the mounts. Finally I removed the wash boards. They will be replaced by more exact replicas later.

[DrSchmidt]

What I like about 3D printing is the flexibility it provides to make quick adjusrments. I gound out that there were feedthroughs where the propeller shafts left the hull. So I made CAD models of them, printed them, and here they are. Quick and precise.

[DrSchmidt]

I continued with the lower hull and added the propeller shafts and their supports. The supports are 3D-printed. I was clever enough to mark the positions on the masters where the support struts meet the hull and where the shafts run through the hull. So no big marking issues on the glass fiber parts, just drill and glue. Fixed everything with super glue and the cemented the shafts into place using epoxy.

[DrSchmidt]

So it’s time to continue my U1 project. I‘ll make two versions, one for display and a rc one. This is going to be the display one. I started with the upper hull. I opened the deck for the ventilation mast boxes, glued the 3D-printed boxes in from below and the filed the deckopenings to match the boxes. Filling and sanding after that. The limber holes are long horizontal cuts. To support the superstructure after cutting, I glued 12 bulkheads into it. Should be plenty….

[DrSchmidt]

Got a little package with a beautiful WTC and some excellen detail parts made of resin and white metal by the grandmaster David himself. I'm very happy. So after my Type II project I'll have something new to do....

[DrSchmidt]

Got the molds for the lower hull going and Friday I laminated the second piece. Took it out today and turned ot quite good...one more to go.

[DrSchmidt]

Working on the fleet....

[DrSchmidt]

I've made molds and a few sheets of PE....so probably more than one. But I'm not a good producer for others. The little time I have for my hobby is mostly reserved for myself. Producing a kit is probably 20 hours of work.

[redboat219]

Will this be a one-off or will you be making more?

[DrSchmidt]

I have laminated the first deck section of the U1. Went quite well, despite the tight radius here and there. I used 3 layers of 80g/m^2 glass, the middle layer diagonally to give the deck some more resistance against twisting. Looks good and the conning tower fits perfectly. Going through the effort of making the three piece mold for the conning tower was quite worth it.