Building 1/144 WW2 Subs, US & German

The first coiple are the 1/125 Revell U 47. I will hav e more of them finished, but lost them.

 This is the start of reworking the Academy to a display sub. It comes with 1 large prop & 1 rudder. That has to be cut off & a ton of putty everywhere.

I am short of pictures as I erased some of them. I will try to find the U 47 with the interior. It is nice.

Nicely done, especially the conversion work.

Love the Gato.  Have the same kit on the shelf of doom to finish one day.  Have the 1/72 Revell Gato as well which will be my next big project.  Have shapeways 5" and 20mm's and the full big ed, White ensign, and a brass prop set for her.  To be done as Wahoo leaving Pearl on her last patrol.  Hoping to donate it to our state VA office

     Beautiful FIX on that Academy Motorized IXB 1/150 kit.  That stern area looked like it would be an impossible task.

Excellent Photos too.

   Thanks for Posting them.   I know you will find those dozens of other shots.

   Nino.

just love watching your work gene .

Excellent work on all.  I was surprised at how well a 1/144 submarine can pack tons of detail into a small packge.

I have done the 1/144 ROG Type VII/C and Trumpy Gato using extensive pe and 3-d printed parts and the details are incredible. I built my Gato as the 1943 refit version with 3" deck gun and Oerlikons done in 3-d printing by Shapeways and the details are just mind blowing specially on the main gun. 

Goldhammer, that big Gato should be a real beauty. I hope you put pictures of it on the Forum. I did the big VIIC about 7 years ago.

    Thanks to all of you for the great comments. I will take some better pictures  including my new 1/144 VIIC 41. Thats about the 4th one I have built of that kit.

  I just took some pictures of all 4 1/144 & 1/150 & 1/125 subs. I have the pictures of my new Revell 1/144 VIIC41 sub & it is the best 1/144 sub made. I remade the connig rails with .020 plastic posts & .015 rails. They do look better.

The Gato & VIIC41, both in 1/144 & what a difference in size. I will be right back with pictures of the IXB & U 47.

Looks great! I have that one in 1/72 in the stash and it’s huge.

The Revell 1/125 U 47 VIIB.

The IXB 1/150.

 I am having trouble getting more light in my pictures, but I am no better with a camera than I am with a computer. If it wasn't for nino I would be lost on both. Thanks nino. 

I built these 4 in the last 2 months & also the 4 1/200 in the last 3. I am back to the Victory now as I have had enough subs to satisfy me . I do love to build subs, but I wouldn't ride in one, leave that to warshipguy.

Junkie, Get us some pictures, your models sound great.   Gene

Looks great in the bright light.   Now I can really see the U-47 interior.

     The "Mororized" Academy 1/150 IXB turned out looking like a real nice model. Some folks may think it is a good kit.  From what you told me It Is Not!. Don't forget,  I can get you a couple of brass propellers for it.  lt me  know.

      Remember those Photo's I sent of all the valves on the bulkhead?  Kidded about how to flush the toilet?  I bet they would have looked awesome printed real small and pasted inside the U-47 compartments. Although I guess you would have to leave a magnifying  glass nearby for your "tour-group" to see it.

Did you find all the older pictures?  You did fantastic work on 8 Subs of 1/200 and 1/144 scale, and all in 3 months.  You don't want to lose those Photo's.

Exemplary work Gene. I am trying to catch up.  Good thing I have 20 years to do it.

  Jim.

gene1

Junkie, Get us some pictures, your models sound great.   Gene

 

Here you go Gene  as you requested. Click on the pictures for closeups.

My 1/144 Trumpy Gato as in the 1943 refit. PE shears on the tower, 3" 3D printed deckgun and 20mm Oerlikons.

Tower and shears details

Deck gun, a little jewel

The Gato went back to Mare Island in 44 for her final refit sporting a 4" main gun and cut down tower to name a few.

ROG 1/144 Type VII/C with griffon super detail set that included all pe details like railings, small tower and deck parts, etc. It also brings the turned metal periscopes and gun barrels.

Tower and gun details

got this one in the stash

I also have the 1/72 Type IX and the old Revell Type VII/c with the interior somewhere in the garage.

By the way, the discoloration on the TypeVII/C's deck is not rust but the teak wood deck color peeking thru the anti fouling deck paint. The flash makes it look brighter but it's a faint wood tone.

  Really beautiful models Junkie. The guns are really nice/ I used to love to build guns with all that detail, Your nicely weathered subs are even better. After I painted the Gato, I didn't have the heart to weather it. I had just done a 1/200 Riich 1944 Gato in the same paint scheme. 

        Your workmanship is really superb, & the weathering too. I have been building models since 1941 & still emjoy it. I'm hoping to still be buildng at 90 & am only a year & a half away. My right hand is real shky &  it makes it hard to do fine work, but I will keep trying. I feel better sitting downstairs building models than anytime. 

    If you haven't read Shinano, by Joseph Enright the Captain of the Archer- Fish that sunk the Shinano. It is a super sub story & all true. My brothers battleship Indiana & the South Dakota were ordered to go & sink the Yamato. They weren't to happy about that as they were 35,000ton battleships against the Yamota's 70,000 tons. When they got there about 400 carrier planes had sunk it. It was a sister ship to Shinano. The Japs had turned it into the biggest carrier in history back then.

  I got the book on ebay for $6. 

Gosh Gene, I'm humbled by your praises, thank you Sir very much. Your subs are very well done too, love that U-47. That is a fine job scratching out the rails and posts. My hat's off to you for modeling for so many years.   This hobby is my escape and relaxation so I understand why you feel better when building models, cause I feel the same when I'm in my mancave building my miniatures.

That Shinano was impressive indeed and thank God the Balao Class Archerfish sunk that monster. That beast was over 800 feet long! Great hearing stories like yours, thanks!

I forgot to add that all my bases are temporary & I have oak bases that have to be routed. My son did all those for me & he is gone. I did building & no cabinet work so I never used a router. 

  I am back building my big HMS Victory now.  I am sort of subbed out for now.

Gene,

 Those are your best pictures yet of your latest Subs.

I think more folks would be even more WOWed if they new or had experience with the Academy 1/150 IXb "motorized" mess of a kit.  Your Prop-Planes-Rudder-Shaft fix is the best scratch building I have ever seen on this "model"!

Don't forget, brass properllers are on the way. Stick'em where they will look best.

   Jim. 

Gene-

If you route the bases, do the ends first, then the long sides.  Routers can do a little tearing on the corners of endgrain, and if you do those first, the side cuts tend to take care of any tearouts.   Just feed the bit in slowly, maybe making 2-3 passes on the ends to get to a full cut.

Jim, thanks again & that kit was a mess to make decent looking. It was 3 parts in lemgth & 3 high plus filling in the middle. It had one big prop & a square edged deck that I should have sanded down more & filled  before I painted. When I got to the Trumpeter Gato & the Revell VIIC 41 in 1/144 , I was back in model heaven. Those were beautiful kits.

Goldhammer, thanks for the router help, I know tools but never used a router & at 88 I have lost hand strength & figured I would screw them up. My son in law is comming in a couple weeks & he does hobby super cabinet work. He will do them for me. Thank goodness I can still see & build models. They have been a joy to me forever.  I love to airbrush & put a model together, but rigging gets a little hard. That's why I fall back on subs. Even I can rig them.