Bronco Type XXIII in 1/35th scale

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Over the weekend I laid down the black base-coat. Nothing reveals open seams, sanding and file scratches and other imperfections better than black! And I want all the corners, edges and tough-to-get-at stuff black so that when I lay down the colors I won't have to deal with light areas where I fail to get complete opacity.

The black check-coat was covered with a heavy clear-coat and sanded down after it dried. And what a chore that is, having to cut around all those weld and screw heads. To make the sanding task a bit easier and precise, I punched out these little #600 grit sanding discs from double-sided sandpaper with brass punches.

All in preparation for the two basic 'colors'. Dark gray below waterline and a lighter gray above waterline, with a black boot-topping serving as the demarcation band between the two grays.



To show you guys how to paint on the cheap, I employed Krylon rattle-can paints for this project. Most of the spraying has to be done with a proper air-brush, not out of the damned can ... shooting paint on a model from box-store rattle can is like hunting mice with a nuke!

To decant, you shake the can, punch a hole to vent off the propellant, and transfer the paint to a holding-jar. This is something best done outside, very carefully, and by the Wife.



And here's the shot we'll use in the catalog and packing-list. It defines all you get in a 1/35 Type-23 fittings kit.

[trout]

Can I get a video of you decanting the paint Krylon rattle-can?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Can I get a video of you decanting the paint Krylon rattle-can?

Smart-ass!

No. But, here's a still:

[goshawk823]

Smart-ass!

No. But, here's a still:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20117[/ATTACH]

lol. poor Ellie.

[redboat219]

Won't you get a shot of paint and propellant in the face when you do that?

What's the olive branch thing in the upper right in the fittings kit photo?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Won't you get a shot of paint and propellant in the face when you do that?

What's the olive branch thing in the upper right in the fittings kit photo?

(Ellie just found this thread ... she was not amused!)

Those are indexing tabs mounted to the inside of the upper and lower hull halves -- they work to pull the two structures into alignment when assembled.

[goshawk823]

Won't you get a shot of paint and propellant in the face when you do that?

What's the olive branch thing in the upper right in the fittings kit photo?

Alignment tabs for upper and lower hull David?
eh.. just saw you posted...

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Bla, bla ... bla, bla, blah!!!!

[MFR1964]

Blah, Blah more Sir!

Manfred.

[trout]

David, I see you painted the seams and weld lines first, was this for coverage or weathering effect that the last pictures do not show?
Otherwise please, keep it coming. I may need to arrange my build list to bump this model up.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Better get hot Manfred, the finish-line is in sight.

Tom, I hate counter-shading -- a practice so much in vogue with the airplane kit-assemblers. No, I block things out that have high and low relieve and otherwise would not get paint during the heavy lay-down strokes -- that's what your seeing in the photos. Just before the heavy spray passes of 'color'. (Guys like you and Alec, who are IPMS types, are detail nuts, so I know what you're thinking). I have yet to see a prototype plane or tank sitting there with discolored panel, access plate seams, and control surface breaks highlighted with a uniform run of discolor. Leaking oil, paint-chipping, dirt from fingers, yes. Counter-shaded breaks in the structure no! Today it seems you can't place at an IPMS contest unless you pick out the panels with an air-brush or wash.

I'm freezing the Type-23 paint job at this point so I can get it ready for the maiden patrol this Saturday at Nauticus. After that I'll dry-dock it for the boot-topping, white bands around the sail, and some heavy duty weathering. Stand by!

All in all, the Bronco 1/35 Type-23 model kit is a fun assembly task. Well engineered, tight fit, thick plastic where it has to be thick, and thin where it should be thin. Highly recommended.

This one's for Mike, the show-pony (assembled and painted for the Caswell-Merriman instruction article) model will be mine.

David

[goshawk823]

can't wait to see it all done. looks awesome David.
-Sam

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Of course it does!

[Warpatroller]

I'm freezing the Type-23 paint job at this point so I can get it ready for the maiden patrol this Saturday at Nauticus. After that I'll dry-dock it for the boot-topping, white bands around the sail, and some heavy duty weathering. Stand by!

David

The boat is looking good! My only nit picks are the following:

Below the waterline should be dark gray (Dunkelgrau) instead of black. Or a medium gray if you're depicting a boat that has been out in the elements for a long time and its paint has faded. There should not be a black boot-line between the two grays (unless someone can produce a wartime photograph showing otherwise). The training bands / stripes around the sail are said to be YELLOW, not white (at least that is what all the so-called U-Boat experts have concluded). All the model companies put white stripes on their box art and painting instructions, especially of the Type XXIII. They also seem to commonly add a black boot-line.

The color yellow, when photographed, in black-and-white, does indeed look very much like white. When looking at black-and-white photographs of U-Boats sporting training bands, they do appear like they could be white.. It would be nice to see an original, war-time, color photograph of any U-Boat wearing light-colored training stripes, to see if they were indeed yelllow or white. Some of these training bands are dark gray in appearance (in black-and-white photos) and I personally believe that those dark gray looking bands were RED. Some boats could have a mixture of both yellow and red stripes / bands.

Steve

[Warpatroller]

Here is a photo showing a full suite of tower markings on a XXIII. This particular photo supports the "yellow" training band consensus. We know that the UAK (Unterseebootsabnahmekommando) markings were either white, black or red. The UAK mark (upper left quadrant) on this boat is clearly white. Thus, it looks like the horizontal and vertical stripes on the tower sides are indeed most likely YELLOW (like the experts claim they were). In addition, this boat has a dark stripe running vertical on the tower front. It is my opinion, that this darker stripe was RED.



This is another commissioning photo, taken in December 1944. The men up on the bridge are wearing their midnight-blue, peaked visor caps and dress coats both commonly seen in commissioning photos.

In addition, one can see "Die Hölle Glocke" (The Hell Bell) mounted in the tower.