1/72 Type IXC U-Boat Build Log

How did you determine the AA difference and lack of gun?

Also, I see 2 emblems for 156 here: www.uboat.net/.../u156.htm

I just got my kit this morning, and boy it look really nice. Having looked at the deck, I am wondering if the wooden one will be needed. But I will decide that after doing the Type VII.

Sorry to go off track a bit. The box is marked U-505 Late. I assume this means that alterations were made to the Type IX at some point, I am guessing in the AA defences. I haven't looked into it yet, but do you guys know what these are. I would like to build U-156 so hopefully some more markings options will be released. Going to look into that further.

But its a great looking kit.

Edit, theres no deck gun on the later version. And the rear flak gun appears to be a Flakvilling 38 on the early versions, so a bit of modifications will be needed for a 1942 boat. Have I got that right.

Freetime Hobbies has all the current Eduard PE for this one but I'm holding out for Griffon, hopefully they will do one.

Where all do you guys order PE parts from?

I have only heard great feed back on the WEM paints. I think they are the same as Humbrol? I know that the Humbrol paints have excellent qualities. I used MM enamels on my TypeVII and not freaking out on a "correct" shade for this or that. Too many variables to alter paint shades so I settled on approximating the color and go from there. I used artists oils and MMP powders for all my weathering. Keep in mind that the deck was teak but was covered with a protectant black paint that would fade out on heavily traveled areas, revealing a brownish hue. I did this using brown oil washes to provide a subtle wear pattern.

Ye, I know the feeling PJ. Though to be honest, I don't have the space for anything that size at the moment. And I would like to do the Type VII first and before that, I plan on doing the 125th U-99 to practice painting and weathering, so I reckon a good couple of years yet. Plenty of time to see what comes out and pick up some pointers.

Senor, I have the WEM paints for the Type VII and S-100. I have not used them yet, but I have seen a couple of sources recommend them for ship builds.

As for weathering, I have been looking at some AK products for weathering ships. But again, this is a new area for me, so I will be interested to see what others think.

I will let you guys know what they say.

In the meantime I'm trying to decide on the paints I want to buy. I thought I would just follow Glenn Cauleys lead and use white ensign model's Schlickgrau 58 for the Tower & upper hull, and Schiffsbodenfarbe III Grau I for the Lower hull.

This will be my first time doing any kind of airbrushing so ill definitely get some practice first. It in terms of these colors, what do you guys think?

My plan is to preshade the kit with Tamiya black. Then use the WEM colourcoats. Then put some kind of gloss protective layer. Then do some weathering. Still researching this subject so any input you have would be very helpful.

Senor

Please let us know what they say about the part.

Bish

I have mine too and I'm just waiting to see what comes up in aftermarket things. I hate it once I start building something and along comes pe or resin stuff to make it better. You mentioned you have the Griffon set for the S Boat. I have both the Revell and Airfix boats and plan on getting that Griffon set for the Revell. I haven't seen anything for the earlier Airfix offering. Have you?

Cool!

Plastic, I looked through those pics. Super cool stuff. But yeah I think my UZO from Technoart might be incorrect. I sent them an email and the photo.

Well, I just took the plunge and ordered mine off e-bay. Should be here by the middle of the week. Its going to be some time before I get round to building it, but will be nice to know I have it. So will be following even more closely now.

That looks like the UZO or torpedo sighting device but have no clue as to the part sticking out. Go here and scroll down to see some really great pictures

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=179694&page=225

Thanks!

I primed the tower. I'm leaving the radar assembly and the periscope assembly and the AA guns as separatesub-assemblys. I'll prime and paint them separately and then put them together.

I don't  have an airbrush yet, so I continue building the rest of the ship and the guns before I take the tower any further.

My question now is about something weird that i noticed.  There's a piece that goes in the tower, but I'm not sure what it's called. There's a brass aftermarket replacement for the piece, but there's a piece of brass jutting out of it that I'm not sure is supposed to be there. Here's a photo:

Is the aftermarket piece more correct? I don't have any reference images that shows this part of the tower. I looked online but didn't find anything.

Thoughts?

Easy and excellent fix on the railing. Looks great.

Nice fix, looking good.

More progress. I fixed the missing section of upper railing:

Added the tubing that runs along the midsection. It's way too big for this scale according to the pictures of the actual u-505, but my scope in how detailed I get with this project is limited.

Ye, I have the Griffon 72nd set for the S-100, they really do pack a lot in. I already have all the other bits for the 72nd Type VII, so I might even try making my own. Need to practice soldering a bit first.

I used the Griffon super detail set which brought even the barrels and periscopes, a ton of details over all. Sort of an Eduard Big Ed set on steroids. For some reason, Griffon has complete sets for both the 1/444 C and C/41 but not in 1/72 scale. I'm hoping the lights up and they make it in the larger scale.

Would normal PE railing be to thin for this, I imagine brass wire would be better. What did you use on the Type VII PJ.

That's probably the smart thing to do, Plastic. Im it's so into this model and want to build it. Got the aftermarket stuff that's already out but I'm def gonna miss out on some good stuff.

Yep, nothing yet about brass railings. I'm sitting back and patiently waiting for one to be released.

No. There's just some wire mesh to put on the power have of the railings.

Do none of the Eduard sets have replacement PE for the railings.

I stretched some sprue and was able to make up the missing part. About halfway done with the fix. If they do come out with a brass replacement, I'll lop off the whole thing and replace it.

I'm looking at my sprue and everything is there. It looks like it broke off since an attachment point is on that part. Something tells me it's luring somewhere in the box. I know you said you looked , but it's a tiny thin part and it could be hiding in a crease in a corner or even in the bag mistaken for scrap.  That has happened to with other kits. If in fact you cannot find it, then stretch out some sprue to fill the dimensions you need. This is a very easy fix. I'm hoping someone will come out with a brass replacement one in the meantime.

In the absence of some styrene rod, I think some sprue would be the way to go. It should not take that long to shape a piece. Looks odd as it doesn't appear to be broken. The right hand section, I think I would cut that back to the upright and fit the new piece right across.

But maybe someone has another idea.

Okay, I've got a little problem. I've been working on the tower and it's going great. Except for the railing on the upper deck. It's missing a section.

Here's the whole thing:

And here's a closeup of the section of railing that's missing:

I'm not sure what happened. I double checked the sprue and I didn't leave any pieces behind. Maybe it was molded wrong, or broke off somewhere. 

In any case I need to mirror the railing on the other side. I know there are a lot of scratch builders on this site who could knock this out in a heartbeat but I'm kinda lost. I thought maybe I could get some sprue and sand it down into the various pieces, and then glue them together. 

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

I have the 1/48 scale Elco on pre order with Freetime. That looks like an awesome kit too.

Yeah, I saw that it became available. I decided not to replace the kit deck mainly because I'm just getting back into this hobby and I thought I might be biting off more than I could chew. The kit looks great as it is. But I'm sure that either the brass deck or the wooden deck will add an enormous amount of detail.

Is that for the Type IX.

I just received an mail from FreeTime that my Nautilus replacement deck was shipped today.