Hello All,
I'm a new user to the site and a recent purchaser of the revelle 1/72 U-boat kit. As a builder of the original Revell U-99 about 20 years ago, and a huge U-boat enthusiast ever since, I can't tell you how excited I am to get this kit (even though I recently purchased the Amati 1/72 kit not knowing this kit was comng).
In regards to the whole color of the lower hull issue, I believe that like most ships, the waterline area was painted black or darker gray, and the lower hull, the part that would never see daylight, was red. I have seen many pre-war/early war U-boats dipicted as entirely red lower hulls with very light grey or white upper hulls and conning towers (as depicted on the Amati U-47 box). This is obviously not a "tacticlly" practical paint scheme, but remember prior to WWII, Germany wasn't supposed to have operational U-boats anyway. Once the war began, I believe the boats began to have the black or dark gray waterline areas with a medium gray upper. I'm attaching a photo (that scanned very poorlly) where three colors can clearly be made out on the hull. I also believe that war ships in general have red lower hulls in case the ship were ever to capsize, and the crew would want to be spotted from a far distance or the air.
A question I am debating is the color of the deck. I have seen paintings where the metal decks (not the wood ones on the XI class) were painted tan or light brown. Also, in the film Das Boot, when the boat is first heading out to sea, it has a tan deck. I'm not sure if the decks were painted tan to confuse aircraft or what, but if any of you have books that have this depicted I would like to know about them. Thanks, Ryan
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