New 1/48 scale type 7 uboat kit hits the market!!!

[greenman407]

I just saw this video from Bob Martin about a brand new kit from Trumpeter! It looks really good! Being 1/48 scale, the finished product will be about the same size as the Revell 1/72 Gato.
Dave??........You got the fittings kit ready yet??? Heres the video:

[silentrunner777]

I just received an Arkmodel 1/48 Type VII from Bob. I don't know if I can pass on a full interior job. Arkmodel's doesn't need a whole lot of extra work for r/c. Going to try a 3.5" Easy driver for this one.

[greenman407]

Silent runner, please give us your impressions of your Arkmodel as a few of us might be interested in getting one. I was on their website last night looking at their stuff

[Kazzer]

A word of warning. Arkmodel has a bad reputation for non delivery. Make sure you pay with a credit card or Paypal, so you have some comeback on delivery.

Get a tracking number if shipped from China, and make sure the package is insured.
Makes sure you check the goods before signing for them.

[silentrunner777]

Silent runner, please give us your impressions of your Arkmodel as a few of us might be interested in getting one. I was on their website last night looking at their stuff

My first impression was 'this is a nice kit', as I looked over the parts, they are cast well, with very little if any flash. All of the 'scale' deck grates and hull flood ports are molded open. The manner of the rear dive plane control horn is 'unique' to say the least and there is virtually no access to it once installed and the rear hull halves glued together. The rivet detail, to my eyes, is a bit over done, so those will get toned down a bit. As built, a 3.5" will slide nicely into place, though without inner hull mods, the length is limited to 18". A 3" would allow for a longer WTC by about 7". Torpedo tube doors can be made to open and close and, apparently, there is torpedo firing system available. The control surface bushings are already molded in, as all the nuts are in the hull, however, the bushings are a bit larger that the shafts, so there is quite a bit of slop, so this would have to be addressed. Parts fit is excellent and responds to Plastiweld and the like quite well.

[greenman407]

A word of warning. Arkmodel has a bad reputation for non delivery. Make sure you pay with a credit card or Paypal, so you have some comeback on delivery.

Get a tracking number if shipped from China, and make sure the package is insured.
Makes sure you check the goods before signing for them.

Seems like there is a lot of that going around these days.

[greenman407]

My first impression was 'this is a nice kit', as I looked over the parts, they are cast well, with very little if any flash. All of the 'scale' deck grates and hull flood ports are molded open. The manner of the rear dive plane control horn is 'unique' to say the least and there is virtually no access to it once installed and the rear hull halves glued together. The rivet detail, to my eyes, is a bit over done, so those will get toned down a bit. As built, a 3.5" will slide nicely into place, though without inner hull mods, the length is limited to 18". A 3" would allow for a longer WTC by about 7". Torpedo tube doors can be made to open and close and, apparently, there is torpedo firing system available. The control surface bushings are already molded in, as all the nuts are in the hull, however, the bushings are a bit larger that the shafts, so there is quite a bit of slop, so this would have to be addressed. Parts fit is excellent and responsed

Thanks for that. I HATE SLOPPY FITS! Do you have a plan for tightening things up some? If you got the kit from Bob Martin, then it sounds like he is a distributer. On Arkmodels website they have a large scale "Romeo" that looked interesting as well. Silentrunner, If you are willing , you could do a "Builders Thread" on it That would be Cool!

[greenman407]

Heres a Youtube video about the Trumpeter Uboat: