Revell 1/72 VIIC: I've got mine!

hey azrog try going to hobby town and buy dremel drill bit pack has about 8 diffrent size drill bits thats what i used on my titanic to drill out port holes. and i have just finished my 1/72 u boot but cant figure out how to post the pics.

If you're looking for 1/72 figures for this superb kit, look for the next Revell release in May 2005: German Navy Figures (item 02525). There should be 51 figures, which will allow you to almost have the entire crew standing on deck! Price shouldn't be too expensive...



http://revell.de/cgi-bin/kat/katalog.pl?cmd=overview&KOSCHL=07&grp=08&ARARTN=02525&modellsuche=&showall=true&ps_KOSCHL=&SWO=&MAS=&frei=&lang=en&kat=modell&sort=&page=3&mas=

I got my U-Boat kit on special order from a hobby shop in Winston -Salem about three weeks ago (took them 2 months to get it in) and she had no damage when opened. All railings were intact and the bow points were straight. She is one of the nicest looking kits I've built, the detail is great and problems with fit were minimal. Right now I have railings and rigging to install and she's done. I went with a dark gray hull below the waterline, as most references I've looked at show that scheme. I came across a photo of Motion Models U-47 (a Mk. VII b). She was done up with dull red below the waterline, with the saddle tanks above that line in dark gray. There was a thin line of boot topping bordering the red area, The upper hull was light gray with the decks in dark. It looked quite attractive, and I'm now in the process of building an Amati boat in that scheme. If nothing else it should provide an interesting contrast to the Revell VIIc. Then on to the S-Boat.........(got to get a bigger room).....

We just had our club contest/show and we had one of the Eboats and the Uboat also. The quality and details on both models is outstanding. Lots of topside goodies on the Eboat. The builders did a dynamite job on both and they were a great addition to the show.

I have two of the Eboats but haven't opened either one as yet. Not enough room to have four kits on the bench when one is the Uboat.

My uboat also came in with some damage. The tips of the bow were slightly bent from the pressure of the carton, and the railings for the wintergarten were in several pieces. I have them laying out deciding how I will finish the rails. I just wish I had waited on the the AM goodies.

I will post pictures when completed but it is only partially done.

I am trying to remember where I found the schematic drawing. I think it may have been from somewhere in uboat.net in the photo section . ONe of the many links had the drawings. Osprey has two great books about the uboats and one on the sub pens and ports. Lots of pictures of construction and destruction both with subs in the photos of the pens for perspective. Tremendous dio fodder.

Thanks for the ear.

Bruce

that's about $15 more than the site that I purchase from sells it for...

and I'm sure the difference is the size. (I have the E boat too...)

don't forget the VIIC is 3 feet long.

Only the price is scaring me off. That thing is just plain gorgeous.

A quick question: The Revell Germany E-Boats in 1/72 also appear to be really good, so why the vast price difference? For example, Squadron wants $72.46 for the U-Boat and $19.99 for the E-Boat. Is there a lot less detail on the E-Boat, or what?

Hi all,
Research I've done says the decks were usually painted with a dark greyish/blackish paint on the wood decks as a saltwater preservative. Usually by the end of the patrol it was a darker greyish tan from wear from the water and foot traffic.

The horizontal surfaces tended to be a dark color to reduce contrast and spying planes. The vertical surfaces were many different colors depending on the patrol areas assigned. These could range from off white in the north Atlantic and Arctic to bright vivid camo patterns in the Med.

I found a terrific schematic in german from the war years on uboat.net. It has been a while so I can't remember exactly the link. Also, Trident Hobbies now has the complete aftermarket set of goodies for the u-boat, wood decks, under deck pressure hull fittings and trunking. Great site.

Also, on the lower hull color, it could very well have been a dull red in fresh. the color was different from boat to boat and day to day as the Kriegsmarine was short of supplies. The colors were hand mixed at each yard. The basic intent was to offer a barrier to marine growth and red was a very possible color using the different ingredients and powdered metallic particles.

I started my u-boat about 6 months ago and already had the hull together before all the goodies came out. I used the dremel tool but learned to use a very sharp bit. The plastic used by Revell is very fuzzy and is difficult to clan up. I used a coat of CA in the holes to control the fuzz after opening. I also rebuilt the mast housings to include the foot rails and the handrails.

Good Luck on your boats.
Bruce

http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~03niulon/model/DSC03305.jpg
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~03niulon/model/DSC03307.jpg
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~03niulon/model/DSC03308.jpg

Hope u like those pics! A beautiful boat indeed! Salute to the brave U-boot crews of WWII.

I wish they had figures in summer uniforms. they all seem to be in winter kit. except the guys sitting on deck, would like to see them in uniform as they would be in the carribean or Gulf of mexico

What? leaving out the most important aspect? No figures
Andrea, CMK and Warriors (Verlinden) all have nice figures. Would give an even greater sense of scale
Ch

I'm currently working on a build article of the Type VII using just about everything that's out there...

The kit - yup, you need one of these, basically for the hull halves.
White Ensign PE set
Yankee Modelworks PE set
Nautilus Wooden deck
Brassbarrels.com turned brass scopes, barrels, and prop shafts
Yankee Pressure Hull
Ulad Set #2 (I think, it might be #3)

Stay tuned, more information coming!!

Jeff

Have you seen ALL the add on's for this kit!! Got mine in Oct. last year and so far have the Photo-etch Brass deck and detail set. Photo-etch conning tower and more deck details. Also have the Laser cut and resin Wood deck set. and just found the the Pressure hull detail set. If you want to see what some of this stuff looks like check ebay search "1/72 U-Boat".

I just bought a Revell 1/125 U-47 Gunther Prien boat. It also came with one part (that frame in the aft section that supports the 2 propellers, i don't know what it's called) broken into 4 pieces and the 3 of the sailors removed from the sprue.

I normally build modern fighter aircraft (my latest is a 1/72 F/A-18F Super Hornet) and this is my first departure from my usual subject.

Can someone out there tell me how tall this kit is when finished? I need to price out a display case for it, and need to know how large the case has to be. I can determine the length and width before starting the kit, but not sure of the height.
Thanks!
Frank

I really need to spend more time in this forum this is the first time i have come across this thread and iv'e just read all the post's.
You guys opening up the holes from the inside have the right idea i used that method on the old revell U-99 model and i'll use it on the 1/72 scale U-boat as well.
I'll have mine this week and the subject will be U-556 commanded by Parsifal Wohlfarth.U-556 was the U-boat present at the sinking of the Bismark,Out of torpedoes and low on fuel U-556 was unable to do anything but watch from a distance the sinking of their adopted big brother.
I have a photo of the hand drawn adoption certificate drawn by Wohlfarth himself in JAN 1941.
Here's a pic of U-556 docked at Lorient.



U-556 was lost on it's next patrol,Wohlfarth and most of the crew survived.
Had to edit the post cause the pic didn't work. JULIAN.

hi all,
i know it's probaby a little late to get on board but, I GOT MY U-BOOT DELIVERED ON FRIDAY(yesterday)!!!!!!

really impressed with the HUGE size.

the bad thing: at least ten pieces were broken off the sprues, and a number of parts were broken. the worst of these was the railing of the conning tower. one side was broken into at least 5 pieces. but in the end i managed to find all the bits and fix all the broken parts.

Can't wait to get started!!

Hello All,
I'm a new user to the site and a recent purchaser of the revelle 1/72 U-boat kit. As a builder of the original Revell U-99 about 20 years ago, and a huge U-boat enthusiast ever since, I can't tell you how excited I am to get this kit (even though I recently purchased the Amati 1/72 kit not knowing this kit was comng).
In regards to the whole color of the lower hull issue, I believe that like most ships, the waterline area was painted black or darker gray, and the lower hull, the part that would never see daylight, was red. I have seen many pre-war/early war U-boats dipicted as entirely red lower hulls with very light grey or white upper hulls and conning towers (as depicted on the Amati U-47 box). This is obviously not a "tacticlly" practical paint scheme, but remember prior to WWII, Germany wasn't supposed to have operational U-boats anyway. Once the war began, I believe the boats began to have the black or dark gray waterline areas with a medium gray upper. I'm attaching a photo (that scanned very poorlly) where three colors can clearly be made out on the hull. I also believe that war ships in general have red lower hulls in case the ship were ever to capsize, and the crew would want to be spotted from a far distance or the air.
A question I am debating is the color of the deck. I have seen paintings where the metal decks (not the wood ones on the XI class) were painted tan or light brown. Also, in the film Das Boot, when the boat is first heading out to sea, it has a tan deck. I'm not sure if the decks were painted tan to confuse aircraft or what, but if any of you have books that have this depicted I would like to know about them. Thanks, Ryan

UBoat,
My scanner here doesn't work for beans... they always turn dark. There's just a slight variation in the gray on the photos between the area that would be above and below the water line. It's just a little mystery that I wondered about. Personally, I think both color schemes look great. The gray lower hull is a bit more sinister looking.

Ron

Hello Ron!
Would it be possible for you to scan those pics and post them here? I'd be interested in seeing them since I do not have the book.

Thanks!
Paul

Last time I'll mention this, PROMISE!

I was just looking through a book that 'Vienna' recommended "The U-Boat: The Evolution and Technical History of German Submarines" by Eberhard Rossler and noticed an interesting pair of photos on page 133 of U-boat bows on the ways prior to launching.

What interested me was the variation in the shade of 'dark gray' below the lighter gray on the upper sides of the hull. On the type VIIC the variation occurs just above the upper torpedo tube's 'vent holes', while on the type XB you can see it on the port side of the hull (right in the photo).

This is the same slight variation I saw between dark red and dark gray when I looked at them through the black and white viewer of my digital video camera. Could these boats have had red hulls beneath the water line and the gray?

Let me know what you think if you can reference the photos.

Thanks,

Ron

Safrole,

Welcome to the forums!

Ron

I am within two weeks of an extensive PE upgrade for this kit. Shoot me an email to get on the notification list, jason@modelbrass.com

Click below for a little rundown of current inclusions, and a little graphic preview of the CAD drawings. Things are not set in stone at this point because we're trying to come in at the lower German tariff, which is based on the plate size. In a day or so I will have the final word on the interpretation of those rules and can solidify the art.

http://www.modelbrass.com/revell_viic.htm

Sorry to spam, but I am gambling this could qualify as "news".

Hey, Vienna!

I got those books you suggested last night... but could I sit at home and read them??? NO! I had to go to a training meeting for my Guard unit... Whimper, Whine. So I'll get into them tonight. From the little I saw, they're excellent books! Thanks for the heads up.

Ron

Yep pics will be posted!

The hardest part was deciding the water line?
Sure there are pictures and even diagrams showing the most comon levels but where to place it on the kit was a bit confusing. So.....I filled the tub full of water just at about the right level and placed the hull in at the proper angle and marked in several points where the natural water level was....then I taped just below about 1/4 of an inch to make up for the water effects.

Now to decide what the best water technique to use

I'll get pix when it's done.. Papa Echo, Looks great! That's the way I installed my decks. Worked fine.

Ron

Nothing like chopping up a 50.00 dollar model kit!



The deck plates fit so well into the hull halves I'm going tp paint the three deck plates and the Hull - THEN - install the decks into place! no ugly seams here!

I like the paint colors that U.L.A.D have on their instructions! HUMBROL colors are my favorites!

More pics to come!

we want pics Ron. Please?

My surprise was that the dark gray and dark red had virtually the same value in black and white. Maybe early on the U-boats had red lower hulls until necessity caused them to go gray. Not being an expert here, it seems to me that the upper vertical surfaces were also a lighter gray early on... I'm sure somebody knows the exact name for it, but I'd call it a 'gull gray'. Maybe those boats had red lower hulls and later when the gray was darkened for camouflage purposes, the lower hulls went dark gray also.

Anyhoo, I painted mine with a red lower hull as my family requested and did the gull gray above (as perhaps an earlier production type might be ??). I also painted the upper parts of the saddle tanks dark gray. I don't think anybody would want to go out sailing with two big red 'blips' on either side of thier U-Boat... I certainly wouldn't.
Most likely it's wrong (and I'll do a true gray wolf later.. probably U-96), but it'll look nice on display! I like to think of it as 'my' early war U-Boat and how I'd paint it if I were in command. Just for fun y'know. (could you imagine a U-Boat skipper with a name like Poniatowski?? LOL)

Ron

As I've posted before, I've seen a few Type VIIs (static and R/C) done with red lower hull. It definitely adds some color to what is an overall drab paint scheme. If you do one of the boats with a red lower, and a camo pattern upper hull/conning tower, it's even more aesthetic.

Besides the uboat.net site, there is also a U-Boat museum in Germany, where volumes of documentation, uniforms and other memorabilia reside. I don't remember the exact way to contact them, (or the name right now, for that matter)but someone could pose a question to the museum about red lower hull colors. If anyone has the references to help figure it out, it would be the curator there.
Just another thought...