1/72 Type IXC U-Boat Build Log

Good idea. I have not got any of their DVD's, I just bought certain products and then cuffed it. But it might have been handy to get some of those. Will look forward to seeing what you think.

I was just checking AK's site, which seems to have changed. I think they have changed the name of their werathering sets as now the naval ones are set 1 and set 2, theres no German set, but No 1 seems to have been what was the German one.

Set 1 has a wash for grey decks and set 2 has a wash for dark wood decks. Not sure if the Type IX decks are black as with the Type VII, but if so, I wonder if the other wash might be better suited.

Well the other thing I'm considering doing is getting some oil paints and mineral spirits and making my own filters and washes. I'd get a range of colors:

Raw Umber

Black

White

Yellow Ochre

Raw Sienna

Orange

Burnt Umber

There seem to be a lot of folks who use oils instead of pre mixed washes and have g

-ood results. :)

I have been using oils for a while and despite starting to use the ready made washes and filters, I still find oil really handy to have. That range of colours  are probably must have for any armour builder5 and I think should be ideal for a ship build as well.

Picked up the oils and the spirits yesterday. Gonna practice on this first:

Also spent time mixing up a brownish black color for the deck. I started brush painting but didn't like how it looked so I masked everything off and used the airbrush. Then i went back with a darkened version of the color and sprayed in an irregular splotchy pattern. Might go back with even more black, but not sure yet.

The anti fouling/wood preservative that was brushed on the teak decks was a dark grey almost black. It would wear out on heavily foot traveled areas and expose a brownish tint. It also provided camouflage from above to help blend the deck with the dark sea as seen from an aircraft. The decks would be repainted at the end of the patrols to preserve the wood. Look up Dougie Martindale's piece on this.

As far as using the pre made washes, IMO is a waste of money as I can make tons of the stuff in multiple shades using artists oils and gum turpentine that works the same for a ton of less $.

Re read Dougie's article about the deck paint and he suggests Dunkelgrau 53 with areas of darker and lighter grey drybrushed on. And then minimal streaks of brown over the worn out areas.

Here's my base coat of dunkelgrau 53 on the aft section of the deck:

Next, I'll try post-shading a darker grey around the edges of things. Thoughts?

I had some time today, so I brushed on some lighter grey areas, and then some brown areas. Then I dry brushed some flat aluminum on the metal pieces.

That looks very good.  Remember that sea water will quickly corrode metal so I would touch up the flat aluminum pieces you dry brushed with a rust colored mix of oil paints. The rusting, discoloration and streaking were substantial on these boats as seen in pictures after a war patrol.  The Spitfire looks great. What scale and manufacturer? 

The spitfire is the Airfix 1/72 Mk1. I picked it up in London at the Cabinet War room museum. I just applied a dark wash to it, and then another coat of future to seal it. I think I might do just a little bit of sponge chipping in a couple of spots and then I should be done. I'll put a dull coat on it and call it finished.

Re- the deck...

That's a great idea. I'm trying to figure out the order of the next few steps. Here's what i'm thinking.

-Dab on some smaller areas of darker black and darker brown

-Run a light grit sandpaper lightly along the deck, to maybe create some grain

-Use a filter on the deck (but what color filter is my question)

-Seal it with future

-Apply a wash (brown or black??)

-Apply chipping with sponge around metal parts

-Apply rust wash around the exposed metal parts

-Seal it with future

-Apply dull coat?

What do you think?

The Spit looks great. I would love to go back to the Imperial War Museum. Last time I was there was in 1985 and it was an awesome place to visit.

For wood grain effect try a small brass brush. As a deck filter I would use a burnt umber oil wash for a wood grain effect. No need to seal it with Future, just let it dry for a few days and continue on your weathering. You want a flat surface to give the oil weathering/streaking some bite. Then seal with clear flat.

Here's the finished Spitfire:

I took your suggestion and applied a brown filter to the u-boat deck. I'm very happy with those results. I also went back and applied some rust to the exposed metal parts. I've never done any of this before so I'm learning a lot. I mostly like the rust, though I'm wondering if the rust looks too much like the exposed wood on the deck.  Here are some pics:

Looks good from here. Sometimes the camera doesn't catch the true effect.

Making slow progress. Painted and weathered the deck in the tower:

Señormodeler

Here's the finished Spitfire:

I took your suggestion and applied a brown filter to the u-boat deck. I'm very happy with those results. I also went back and applied some rust to the exposed metal parts. I've never done any of this before so I'm learning a lot. I mostly like the rust, though I'm wondering if the rust looks too much like the exposed wood on the deck.  Here are some pics:

I really like the look of this, especially the effect around the edges of the metal pieces, how did you do that.

For the pieces of the deck that are supposed to be metal, I drybrushed them with flat aluminum. That seemed to highlight the edges of the metal and make them look worn. Then after letting that dry, I took some rust colored oil points (yellow ochre, orange, raw sienna) and dapped them on some of those exposed areas. Then I took loaded some mineral spirits in the brush and wiped most of it away. That's it really.

I was going to get a few washes and filters from AK Interactive, but I decided to just get some oils and mineral spirits and experiment with my own washes/filters. I gotta say, they're very forgiving and I've been very happy with the results.

I really like the effects you got on the metal, and after seeing this, I may well save my money and do my own washes as well. Looking forward to seeing more.

More filters and weathering:

I do believe you nailed that weathered effect on the wood deck. Why spend all that cash on the pre mixed washes when you can mix your own for just a few pennies.

Thanks!

Getting closer on this project, but I'm having trouble with the seams!  I am trying, and failing miserably at blending the main seam in the hull between the front and back halves:

I'm trying to preserve the line of rivets right next to it, but it's not happening. Here's what the other side looks like:

I'm using Apoxie Sculpt. Is it just a matter of using more putty and just forgetting about that row of rivets? 

Any suggestions?

When I eventually build mine, I plan on using Past I Weld in a Touch and Flow applicator to get a tight fit and laying each half flat on a table to get good alignment. It will take some fiddling.

Not as time consuming as oil canning but you can carefully sand and smooth the join then slice some stretched sprue to replace the sanded rivets. I believe Archer makes a set of replacement rivets if you rather go that way. Either way, a very delicate task.  

Don't remember what scale you are working in but this might help

http://www.micromark.com/ho-scale-decals-with-raised-3d-rivets-and-other-surface-details,9968.html

"Although described as for HO scale (typically for model railroad use), they are useful across various scales for the type and size of surface details needed for your model."

Now that does look like it will be a challenge, I hadn't thought of that one. I think I would go with the spure.. On the 88 I did a few months back I used some plastic rod. I drilled a hole where each rivet need to go and then inserted a small piece of rod. Once dry I cut it down and sanded them to round them off. It was a much larger scale and there were only 16 to do, but I think I will give that a go when my turn comes.

I did a bit more work on the seam and it's better, but not perfect. And that's just the way it's gonna have to be. The primer really brings it out but hopefully after painting and weathering it'll be a little more subtle. 

In the mean time I've been working on a basic pressure hull, or rather something that can block the view from one side of the hull to the other.

I bought some .01" styrene, rolled a sheet of it up and laid it in the hull. Works pretty good just like that but I want it to sit exactly 12mm below the deck (according to Glen Cauley's site). So I made a mark on the ribs, cut the styrene down a bit, and laid in some sprue on either side to give me something to glue the styrene to, to hold it in place.

There's a small gap between the edge of the styrene and each of the ribs, so I glued a short piece of sprue on the ribs to bridge that gap. It also gives me something else to glue the styrene to so that it stays at the height that I want.

I also wanted to add some detail just inside the stern flood holds so I took a piece that I didn't end up using and cut it up. This is the first piece I glued. There are about 4 spars on each side (didn't get a pic of the finished work).

Interesting idea, are you painting the whole inside black.

Not sure. I primed the styrene last night and I was thinking of pairing the inside German Grey. I don't know what color the real pressure hull was. Do you?

More than likely black or very dark grey anti-fowling paint. It's going to be almost impossible to truly see anything once the deck goes on. You just want to provide the look of something in there. Like with the deck in place, all the nice details on the expensive resin AM pressure hull for the Type VII can't be seen.