The official Submarine Warfare Group Build 2016 - 2017

Cody- a few miles south of you, and we just caught  the edge of it, and it is still miserable today, but at least the roads are clear and dry.

Started on the scope shears today.  3 hours, 6 pieces of PE, and not even halfway done with the bottom third of the assembly.  Also got the WT locker doors and front hatch PE on the fairwater.  My language skills got a workout, not even sure my old boss, a Navy Chief from the '60's, would have understood half of it. 

Got a couple of pics of todays work, will take more as I go and try to get them up tomorrow.

Well, after another 3 hours fighting with the PE shears with little to no progress today, that idea is going in the round file.  Just not able  to work with it in that size, an exercise in futility and frustration.  After looking at the kit pieces, going to go with them.  The resin 4" deck gun came out OK, but don't know about the 20mm's yet.

Will try and use the PE SJ and SD antennas, and the lifelines and railings, but pretty discouraged right now and taking several steps away from it before I either round file all of it or toss it on the railroad tracks.

I have to take a break when I work on a PE intensive build. Take your time, there's several months left.

I cleaned up some of the resin guns and was looking over the pe parts getting ready to start on mine when I got slammed with 3 comissions so now I have to work those into the equation. I need to start on my Gato pronto!

I wish I could help out with some of those commissions.

Steve

Any luck with the one link I sent you?

No, he didn't answer.

Thought it was about time i posted somthing on here. I built this kit once before many years ago, before i knew any better. As i understand its not all that accurate for a Type VIIB and some feature like the railings are to thick for scale. But i am not to worried about those with this build. My reasons for bulding this are, well, its the U-99, thats enough. But also so i can get some practicing at weathering before i tackle one of the big 72nd kits.

I started a few weeks ago when i had some spare time, just geting the flood holes drilled out and getting the hull and conning tower together.

Then after finishing my 251 a few days ago, i could focus on this. The deck was a bit of a pain. I put the front half on first and then when i put the rear half in, it overlapped by a couple of mill. I had to trim it an dthis has thrown the tower out by a fraction. You can also see plenty of sink holes that needed filling.

And then tonight i managed to get the construction done. I am leaving the deck gun off until after painting.

A couple of parts of the frame around the back of the tower had broken off and needed replacing with styrene rod. The 20m isn't all that well detailed, but it will serve.

Overall its gone together pretty well. Lots of flash to clean up, and of course all those sink holes.

I am going to focus on my Imperial Shuttle from tomorrow. But i plan on getting this primed and painted so by the time the shuttle is done, i can concentrate on weathering.

Nice start Bish. It looks like it went together fast except for the flashing.

I assume you were going to do some rusting. I found that priming the surface with a Burnt Umber or even something like Testors brown, then hitting areas with AK Interactives worn effects or hairspray and chipping with an exact blade can help with that chiped look

Iearning from PJ, I'll add Burnt Umber oils for old rust and Burnt Sienna oils for newer rust, especially around the flood holes.

Looking forward to seeing the next installment. 

Thanks Steve. Ye, it has gone together pretty quick.

One question about hairspray. Am i right in thinking it only works with Acrylics. I am going to be painting with enamels, so if the hairspray won't work, i'll add some chipping by dry brushing instead.

I was going to go with oils for the rust, so thanks for that info. Is there anything else you would recomend to give it a used look. I am used to adding dirt to planes and armour. But i can't imagine a ship would get dirty in the same way.

Unfortunately the hairspray method only works with an acrylic, but that will only make chiped paint look right. The oils will be great for the rust.

Ship hulls won't typically rust under the waterline since you need air to assist in the rusting process. The builds you see with rust on the rudders and such look great but are a tad inaccurate. You will more likely see crusty sealife at the waterline and below. You can accomplish this using a stipple action with a thin filler like Mr thinned putty or something, then dry brush with a light gray and pastels. 

The upper hull can be streaked with a light color pastel to duplicate sun and salt caused paint fading. 

The deck paint should be worn to show shades of the teak wood. The paint wouldn't last long with the crew trampling all over it after being submerged again and again. 

Hope that helps.

Steve 

As Steve mentioned , the hairspray method works only with acrylics. I tried using enamels as an experiment and it did not work. The longer you wait the harder it is to penetrate the acrylic paint coat so it's best to start attacking the paint when it's dry to the touch.

Another reason why rust is not seen below the waterline is due to the anti fouling paint that protects the metal. This is the same paint used on the teak decks and where some modeler incorrectly used rust colors on wood. Rust can streak down from above the waterline for a few feet as in the anchor pocket.

Bish

The U Boat is looking great so far. Opening up the flood holes do detailing wonders. Hey for some reason after seeing your pictures, the vision of a movie I saw as a young lad in 1966 came to mind. Talking about "Assault on a Queen". 

Thanks guys, tahts really handy. I will be making nore of that and going throuh the builds as i start the weathering. Just got the primer on.

So, on a U-Boat, you have the lighter grey on top and the darker one on the lower par of the hull. I am guessing thats the anti fouling paint, so the rust needs to be on the lighter grey.

PJ, wasn't to bad opening those up, i can't imagine its quite that easy on a 72nd boat. Never heard of that movie, is it worth checking out.

Bish

Its a really cool movie about salvaging a sunken UBoat and used to pull a heist on the Queen Mary. Frank Sinatra is one of the main dudes in the script. I saw that movie when it came out so can't remember what type of sub they used. I have to see it again .

Will have to check that out, thanks.

Bish

Found it on You Tube. Looks like a Type II. 

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btf8GMYLWlU    

You might well be right there PJ.

My U-Boat is not progressing. I'm wondering if I canchange my entry to Verlinden 200mm U-Boat Captain bust.

Cheers

Tony

Sounds fine Tony. I like the Sh-- eatin grin he has.

Looking forward to him.

Great description of the grin MC, think I'm really motivated now. Better go and dig it out of the stash right now.

Cheers

Tony

I haven't taken any more pix of my Typhoon, however I have manage to drill 20 holes in a piece of 030 evergreen. Dropped that down over the tubes to simulate the pressure hull. Gonna try add in some bulkheads as well. I will post a couple pix before I close it up. Kinda happy with it so far, took some noodle scratching but i got it figured out. Great job the rest of ya motely crew.

vanpelt

Am I allowed to join this using Airfix's old Sunderland kit?

 

Yep! The Sunderland's were harsh on the U-boats. I got you down.

Armornut, I'm looking forward to the pics.

taxtp

My U-Boat is not progressing. I'm wondering if I canchange my entry to Verlinden 200mm U-Boat Captain bust.

Cheers

Tony

 

Nice. I have been eyeing up a couple of U-Boat commander busts. Will be looking forward to seeing this.

I think there are better ones around Bish, but this has been in my stash for 15 years, needs to be completed.

Cheers

Tony

Here's is what you get in the box. It's typical Verlinden resin, of course. The molding is very clean, apart from the underside of the torso which is rough and needs some bubble holes to be filled, and a general block sanding. All of this is very typical of the other Verlinden busts that I've painted. I've given it a wash in some vinegar and water, so I'll get than done then then drill out some holes for locating pins, then prime it.

Cheers

Tony

Even the old ones need some love Tony. That does look like a nice bust.

Hey guys, here are the pictures of bulk head progress on my Typhoon.  Its a sheet of .030 styrene drilled out with a drill and then slipped over tubes.  Currently working on baffles between each tube set.  Thanks for looking.  More pics after paint.

Looks like some work. That's a larger kit than I thought