1/72 Type IXC U-Boat Build Log

Absolutely beautiful. Now that's a nice trick with the screws. And that anchor is amazing, did that come with the kit.

Thanks Bish. The anchor came with the kit. It's plastic.

The screws are from the Technoart u9 fittings.

Very Well Done.  your skill is certainly evident  

I've done some more weathing on the hull. On the port side I've been focusing below the waterline and on the starboard side i focused on above the water line. Once I get back from vacation I'll reverse things.

Here's the aft starboard side above the waterline. On both sides you'll see I had trouble with the decal. I think i'll just need to blend it in better with oils. Not sure though.

Here's the bow port side, with most of the work done below the waterline. Again, I'm disappointed in how the decal turned out (although it's not as bad as the previous one) and I'm hoping to be able to blend it in more with weathering. I'm trying to decide if I should pull back on the rust here. I don't think I'll push it any further. Any thoughts?

You are right about the deCal (lower Case C wont type for some reason). It looks too Clean. Not sure how you would reCtify that. As for the rest, looks totally natural and unforCed to my untrained eye. Any more weathering might be exCessive.

Haven't posted in a while but I'm still slowly adding more weathering to the u-boat. Here's where I'm at with it. 

She is really looking sweet.  

looking really good senor. Defiantly going to have to read back though this and see how you did that weathering. that's my biggest concern when it comes to doing one of these.

Thanks Marcus and Bish.

This is what I've done so far (after a coat of future):

1. Dark wash over the entire hull x2

Above the waterline -

2. dot filtering method with a handfull of different artist oils (raw umber, burnt sienna, blue, white, black)

3. burnt sienna in specific places and then streak downwards with mineral spirit.

Below the waterline -

4. White wash overall to fade paint

5. diluted mix of white with lighter fluid, applied by flicking it on with a flat brush. This makes it splatter. Lighter fluid makes it dry quick leaving irregular areas of fading. (Got this method from Siara).

5. Applied rust wash (burnt sienna, yellow ochre) to various areas

6. Brown wash to various areas

7. Dullcoat

8. Another round of diluted white with lighter fluid and then blended in with a flat brush.

9. A regular white filter (white w/mineral spirit) over all of this, to blend

10. Specific rust areas with burnt sienna and yellow ochre on seams and welds

That's what I've done. Totally just trying things out and seeing how it looks. Each time I do something I worry that I've gone too far. But I noticed that the dullcoat did a lot to blend things in, so the next dullcoat will probably help to blend as well.  And I also plan on using a pigment over the hull to blend things (maybe a whitish pigment).

Feedback welcome. Thanks for looking.

Thanks for that. I will note all that down. I am hoping at some point soon to do my 125th U-99 kit so I can practice all this first.

Awesome weathering!

Mike

That U-99 kit looks pretty sweet. Would love to see that build.

I did build it many years ago, but it hasn't survived. After I got the 72nd Type VII, I thougt it would be an idea to do the 125th kit first. Not only do I get this kit again, but I can practice paiting and weathering on a kit that hasn't cost the earth. If I mess up a £10, that not to much of an issue. But a £100+ kit would is another matter.

Hopefully I can get to the 99 in the new year.

I hear you. I probably should have done something similar. But I couldn't wait to put this one together. It's my third model since getting back into the hobby and I just thought I'd give it a shot. I think my u-boat would be better if if practiced though.  

I know what you mean about waiting to do one of these. The only thing holding me back is the lack of display space. But I think you have done a cracking job on this, if mine come out like it I will be well chuffed.

Currently I'm trying to add a little bit of a scum line along the water line. This would be a little bit of algea build up where the antifouling paint has been the most worn away. The first two photos were taken after I applied the blue-green algae. I think I may have overdone it. So I pulled it back with some AK Interactive Streaking effects for winter vehicles (third picture). I may need to do more of this to bring it back further. But it seems to be adding a good effect.

Really superb weathering! I'm building one too and am enjoying getting schooled on how it's done!

Time for an update.

Wow!  If it weren't for the background and the table it's sitting on, I'd be hard-pressed to discern that as a model vs. a 1:1 example.  Very Nice Work!  

Gene Beaird,

Pearland, Texas

Thanks, Gene. I feel like I'm getting close to the end. I might do a little dry brush work next. I'm also talking to a guy about building a display case for it. Also need to figure out what to use for the rigging. I've heard of this stuff called EZ Line that sounds pretty good. But then somewhere else I read about someone using silk surgical thread. Not sure yet. I'd like to find a substitute for stretched sprue.

really liking the effect your getting. I know what you mean about progress not showing very well in the pics, I am sure many of us have had that. To the eye one stage looks different from the other, but in photo's, I think light and other factors can effect that.

And who said the camera never lies.

I use EZ line for aircraft antenna's and rigging bi planes. Its great stuff, but I am not sure it would be right for the wires on a 72nd U-Boat. But I am sure PJ will have some advice.

EZ Line is a slightly elastic monofilament. It's sold by a model railroad-oriented cottage industry called Berkshire Junction. Wingnut Wings also sells it for rigging WWI aircraft.  I've got a spool of it; it's nice stuff.

I've also got some fly-tying silk that's so fine my poor old eyes can barely see it. I asked a surgeon once for the up-to-date story on surgical silk; he said it was still used, but only available in short lengths with built-in needles bonded to one end. I don't know whether that's still the case or not.

For the rigging of a 1/72 U-boat, I should think almost any fine thread would work well - with one exception. Don't use cotton. It not only has a flabby, floppy character to it, but it's highly hygroscopic (it shrinks and stretches, a lot, with changes in humidity). The sewing thread sold in sewing centers and craft stores is, for the most part, a "cotton/poly mix." I've shied away from it because of the cotton content, but I honestly don't know whether humidity affects it much or now.

Nylon might be a good choice. Bluejacket (www.bluejacketinc.com) sells some mighty thin that probably would be about right.

Those are some random thoughts from an old sailing ship modeler. Hope they help. There isn't much rigging on a U-boat, but I think you're right in thinking carefully about it. This is going to be a superb model; it deserves the best rigging job you can give it.

Another thought. I think (I'm not sure) that most of the rigging of a U-boat was made of stranded cable. (I'm not sure about he long antenna wires. It should be easy to find out.)

Bluejacket sells a rather stiff bronze, stranded wire that ifs through a hole made by a #73 drill. That Sounds like it would work well.

Nice looking U Boat. I have one I got for Fathers Day that I'm not quite ready to "dive" into just yet. I like watching other builds and getting ideas.

Great subject for weathering. Nice work, looks like she's in dry dock.

Steve

Thanks for the comments, fellas. And thanks jtilley for the rigging advice. I'll check out bluejacket.

That looks fantastic!

Mike

Time for an update. I've been working on this every free chance I get so that it will be done in time for OrangeCon this saturday. All that's left to do is the rigging, the stand, and a few touchups and fixes.

I didn't much like the insulators that the kit provided so, after a lot of research, I decided to follow Glenn Cauley's (and other's) example and make my own turnbuckles and insulators. For the insulators I just just cut apart the kit provided piece and then cut grooves on the sides of them. Then I wrapped electrical wire around them. I still need to find something to use as a wire "wrap" between the insulators.



I made the turnbuckles from styrene with wire hooks on each end. Glenn has an excellent set of instructions for doing this on his WIP thread for his U-673:
http://models.rokket.biz/index.php?topic=67.msg9954#msg9954
Thanks, Glenn!



For the wire rigging I used EZ-Line (fine). But I twisted the line so that it would look like braided steel cable. I still need to paint the cable and weather the turnbuckles to knock them back a bit.















Thanks for looking!

Finally calling this build done! I made the final push last week before OrangeCon. And then was deeply humbled at OrangeCon when I saw the level of workmanship there. Very cool stuff.

I'm still working on the stand but otherwise the u-boat is finished. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to get a display case? I've looked at a few online but I'd love to get your input.

Here are some pics. Thanks for looking, and thanks for all the help.

That is ONE great effort and thanks soooo much for charting your course for us!. Could I ask you to (in a short post) summarize:

Paints and finishes used

and

After market parts used?

Senor,

Beautiful build!  The finish and weathering is top of the line.  Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Wayne