1/72 Type IXC U-Boat Build Log

No certain date but he said in the coming months some items from Europe will eventually surface. The Technoart stuff is new and I think they will come out with more things eventually.

I saw that but read "out of stock" too. I ordered props from WEM today for my VII?

I'm leaving town for 10 days so I hustled up and finished this. Made some mistakes but overall I'm happy with it. 

Nice work. have a good trip and look forward to seeing some more when you get back. We will be here waiting.

What do you guys think about the nautilus wooden deck vs the PE deck? Here are the links. Which would you choose? Or would you stick with the kit deck?

nautilusmodels.com/72-508.htm

www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php

Personally, I would rather go for wood as its closer to the real thing. I have not seen a PE deck up close, but I do like the look of the Type VII wood deck.

If I was to replace the deck then I would go with the wood one. It has the correct texture and will look better than the pe. But then, you can take a brass brush and run it a couple of times on the plastic deck to create some wood graining and save yourself $60. Even though the decking holes are clear, you cannot see the pressure hull underneath, and that's why my cardboard PH idea comes in.I personally like the details of the plastic deck and rather spend the dough on outer pe details that will sharpen up the model. Just my worth.

I like the PE deck. The detail seems sharper.

Speaking of AM sets for sub kits, I have just got the weekly e-mail from Hannants and this is due from Eduard in June. The timing seems a bit odd, if I understand it right, the Type IX carried a 105mm deck gun, so this seems to be for the Type VII.

www.hannants.co.uk/.../ED672034

I got my hopes up at first and then realised its no good for back dating the IX.

Bish

That gun is for the Type VII. There is one 105mm in the works from an European firm for the Type IX. Forgot where I saw it but it looks very good.

Thanks PJ, I will keep my eye's open. I am hoping that nautilus come up with different conning tower options, that will save some trouble.

I was just going through AMP's forum. One of the members had got an e-mail from CMK. They are producing a 105 and railings as well as some other items. This is the reply he got.

"Hello,  thank you for your interest in our future products.   Considering your question, exterior sets are not designed, yet.  But you can expect to find in these sets parts that will enhance the exterior - railings, antennae, periscope, etc.   Weapon set will contain highly detailed double 20mm and 40mm cannons. Weapon Conversion will contain 105mm gun, double 40mm and some 20mm cannons.   All the sets will be announced in advance at our site and on modeller website.     If you have any other question, just let me know.    Best regards, Jan Hajicek, Admin, www.cmkkits.com"

This is the link to that page on the forum.

models.rokket.biz/index.php

Great bit of info Bish. Will be looking forward to these future releases. Freetime Hobbies did say that he heard of future releases but did not know which ones.

Since the info on AMPS forum is over 3 months old, I shot CMK an email asking for any progress on the future releases. Will let you know if I get an answer.  

I checked there website, but nothing on there yet. From what I have seen of CMK aircraft and armour AM items, I'm sure these ship set sets won't disappoint. They seem to have really expanded in the last few years.

Beautiful work so far señor.  I do like what you did with the Flak gun as well as the photo etch parts.  I built the VIIC a couple of years ago and it is posted somewhere here, and wanted to know how good or bad the fits were?  I haven't decided if in am going to pick this up for my stash, but I need to complete my 1/72 Gato first.  I am running out of room quickly!

Steve

That is some superb work you are doing my Friend......Cheers mark

Thanks, surfsup. I'm out of town for a week but when I get back I'm going to finish work on the flood holes on the hull, build the propeller sections, and then work on a simple pressure hull. After that I should be ready to do some preshading. It'll be my first time doing that so I'm going to be asking for a lot of input.

Bish

Yea, I checked their site too and nothing but what the heck, asking doesn't hurt.

Certainly doesn't, I have done it myself a few times. I'll try and remember to check the site every couple of weeks, see if anything comes up.

Well, CMK answered back in just a few days since I sent them an inquiry. That is very good to know that they actually read and answer our questions. This is what I got:

Thank you for your email.

We are really pleased that people get informed about the prepared sets for Type IXC.

First of all, we will release the interior sections, particularly

N72011 – U-Boot IX Front Torpedo Section

N72015 – U-Boot IX Front Crew Quarters

N72016 – U-Boot IX Captain’s & Officers’ Ward Room

The rest will be released as when it is designed and approved. All sets should be released within the end of 2014.

Sounds like most of the goodies will be out just before the Christmas Season. Can't wait to see the rest. 

make sense for them to do interiors seeing as they did them for the Type VII. Good to hear they are onto the rest. Cheers PJ.

After being out of town for a couple of weeks, I finally was able to pick up where I left off with the u-boat build. I have most of the conning tower sub-assembly primed and ready for paint so I moved back over to the hull. I finished most of the flood holes, but I'm leaving the ones on the bottom of the stern. I made some mistakes while cutting away the plastic at the base of the bow and didn't want to make things worse. I'm fine with the compromise.

The hull is clamped together and cemented in place.

Here's where I screwed up.

I was cutting away the plastic from the inside and went through it where I shouldn't have. The real mistake was applying the PE  before cutting away the plastic. I did this because I didn't think I was going to open up the wholes. Then I changed my mind. Oh well -- learned a lesson.

While I was in London I visited the Churchill cabinet war rooms and picked up an Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Mk1 from the gift shop.

I figured it would be a good way to practice with my new airbrush (an Iwata HP-C Plus!):

Once the hull is done drying, I'll insert some styrene or cardboard in the bow to block the view through the flood holes. Then another piece to block the view in the flood holes along the top of the hull.

Then I'll prime her and fix things. That's the plan anyway.

That does look a wopping boat like that. Can't wait to see some more.

I have never been to the war rooms, how was it there. Nice looking airbrush.

For those thinking about the Eduard PE sets, they have just released them as a BIGED. At this price, you basically get the 107 set free.

www.hannants.co.uk/.../EBIG5321

I primed the hull but still need to paint the interior of the hull. Was thinking of a dark nuetral-ish grey. Also thinking ahead to the weathering stage and wondering if I should go for AK or Mig products. Either way I think I want a dark, brown, and nuetral wash. But on the filter side of things I'm confused. This is my first time weathering anything and so I'm trying to figure out what does what.

I see that MIG has something called a German Grey Transformation set. And also a German Filter set. But then AK has something called a German Naval Warship set. If anyone has experience with any of those sets, I'd love to hear about it.

Any suggestions?

I did some pre-shading on the conning tower yesterday:

And today I mixed up a shade of greyish blue that I thought would work, but now I'm having second thoughts. I may go over it with a more greyish grey. Not sure.

What do you guys think?

I can't speak for the authenticity but it looks fantastic. Not to belittle anyone's work, but I often look at some of these fine builds that people do on these war ships and they just look kinda washed out and boring in terms of the paint scheme. No pop. This pops.

Thanks, arnie. I have the urge to use this coat as another level of preshading and go into the central panels between the rivets with a slighly lighter, more grey coat. But maybe I'll wait and see how everything goes. Still not sure.

I felt like the paint job was a little dark, so I mixed up a batch of lifecolor schlickgrau 58 and tamiya white and lightened the conning tower up a bit.  I think I like this better. 

Liking the look of that Senor.

I have been thinking about trying the AK German naval weathering set. I have used some of their products for armour and really like them, but I have not seen anyone use the naval set yet.

Thanks!

Yeah it looks like it could be a good set. I ordered the DVD from them called weathering german ships. I've heard it's very informative and shows you how the ak stuff works. It should arrive next week. Lull let you know what I think.