Old Revell U Boat

[dodgy]

Jun 24, 2024 20:04:54 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Nice, i like the deck coloration!

Thanks mate. I have read that the timber used on the decks was mahogany, which if I remember correctly is a dark wood, so I tried to work a combination of dark wood painted grey and worn by use and the ocean. Painting and weathering scares me silly, so I really appreciate your comments. Also always open to constructive criticism.

[dean48ws]

Jun 24, 2024 4:54:26 GMT -5 dodgy said:

Jun 24, 2024 4:01:16 GMT -5 dean48ws said:

Looking good mate!

Hey thanks Deano. What have you got happening??

Hey Dodgy, Got my cab over Kenworth ready for priming, just haven't had the opportunity to warm up the paint shed. Started a Western Star that I'm going to make into and truck and dog combination using a resin bonnet. Have a bust I'm working on but going backwards with, still building up the nerve to start my Focke Wolfe build. There's heaps calling to me but trying to ignore that urge lol!

[tcoat]

Jun 25, 2024 2:56:52 GMT -5 dodgy said:

Jun 24, 2024 20:04:54 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Nice, i like the deck coloration!

Thanks mate. I have read that the timber used on the decks was mahogany, which if I remember correctly is a dark wood, so I tried to work a combination of dark wood painted grey and worn by use and the ocean. Painting and weathering scares me silly, so I really appreciate your comments. Also always open to constructive criticism.

I have never seen a reference to them using mahogany for the decks. Maybe really early ones? All the references I ever found said they used fir or pine that was local to the shipyards where they were built. This material was far cheaper and lighter than mahogany. Since mahogany would have to be imported into Germany from Central or South America it would not be a practical material at all (especially from 1939 onward).

The lighter coloured woods used were then treated with a special coating that was dark grey trending towards black and then painted the same colour as the upper works. 

When weathering the boat you want staining and surface marring but not huge wear marks or actual rust tones. Early in the war these boats were pretty much repainted after every patrol so U-99 would not have shown much if any actual rust or paint wear. Rust is often overdone on WW2 subs and ship but repainting was often used to keep the crews busy when in harbour so beat up paint would not be as common as common sense would make it seem. Subs had the added incentive for keeping rust under control in that you DO NOT want weak spots to develop. Often the period pictures you see of rusty ships were taken just because it was so rare to see such things. 

For right or wrong here is my take on weathering U-96 based on what it looked like in the movie Das Boot which I have to assume they did as accurately as possible.
modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/13932/das-boot

And no you US based spell check "colour" and "harbour" are NOT spelled wrong!

[dodgy]

Jun 26, 2024 2:24:59 GMT -5 dean48ws said:

Jun 24, 2024 4:54:26 GMT -5 dodgy said:

Hey thanks Deano. What have you got happening??

Hey Dodgy, Got my cab over Kenworth ready for priming, just haven't had the opportunity to warm up the paint shed. Started a Western Star that I'm going to make into and truck and dog combination using a resin bonnet. Have a bust I'm working on but going backwards with, still building up the nerve to start my Focke Wolfe build. There's heaps calling to me but trying to ignore that urge lol!

Yep, I hear the voices too. 

[dodgy]

Jun 26, 2024 6:50:51 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Jun 25, 2024 2:56:52 GMT -5 dodgy said:

Thanks mate. I have read that the timber used on the decks was mahogany, which if I remember correctly is a dark wood, so I tried to work a combination of dark wood painted grey and worn by use and the ocean. Painting and weathering scares me silly, so I really appreciate your comments. Also always open to constructive criticism.

I have never seen a reference to them using mahogany for the decks. Maybe really early ones? All the references I ever found said they used fir or pine that was local to the shipyards where they were built. This material was far cheaper and lighter than mahogany. Since mahogany would have to be imported into Germany from Central or South America it would not be a practical material at all (especially from 1939 onward).

The lighter coloured woods used were then treated with a special coating that was dark grey trending towards black and then painted the same colour as the upper works. 

When weathering the boat you want staining and surface marring but not huge wear marks or actual rust tones. Early in the war these boats were pretty much repainted after every patrol so U-99 would not have shown much if any actual rust or paint wear. Rust is often overdone on WW2 subs and ship but repainting was often used to keep the crews busy when in harbour so beat up paint would not be as common as common sense would make it seem. Subs had the added incentive for keeping rust under control in that you DO NOT want weak spots to develop. Often the period pictures you see of rusty ships were taken just because it was so rare to see such things. 

For right or wrong here is my take on weathering U-96 based on what it looked like in the movie Das Boot which I have to assume they did as accurately as possible.
modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/13932/das-boot

And no you US based spell check "colour" and "harbour" are NOT spelled wrong!

Thanks Tcoat. Great advice. I'll see if I can find that mahogany reference again.

[dodgy]

A little progress. Tower and deck gun glued down, a little bit of detailed painting with more to come and some tidying up. Then it's a clear coat and weathering.

[kyledehart5]

That’s looking pretty nice there dodgy. Getting into the nitty gritty now.

[dodgy]

Jul 12, 2024 12:18:35 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

That’s looking pretty nice there dodgy. Getting into the nitty gritty now.

Ta mate. Hoping to make further progress this weekend.

[mach7]

I'm just catching up on this build, Looks very nice!

Great work!

[keavdog]

Looking really good Dodgo

[scottrc]

Nice U Boat you have there Dodgy.

[dodgy]

Just a quick note to let you all know that I'm still working at the bench. Minor touch ups and repairs done. Will be applying gloss varnish today in preparation for weathering. Will let that dry for a couple of days, so hopefully some photos in a week or so.

[bakster]

Hey Ferg. I don't think I have ever seen one of your builds. Nice work on this! It looks good...

[dodgy]

Bit of an update, but first I would like to apologise to Mach7, Keavdog,scottrc and Bako for not replying to your kind remarks. It wasn't deliberate, I must have lost the plot. Sorry fellas.

A number of things have kept me from progressing this U Boat, not the least being my shakes, which at times can be pretty violent. To cut a long story short whilst trying to hold the boat to complete a task, I managed to knock off nearly every part that was glued on. Anyway I put it down and stayed away from the bench for along time.



In this image you can see the collection of bits that I knocked off.



Starting the repairs.











I've finished the main painting, now I need to give it a coat of matt varnish, touch up a couple more things and then get it on a base. The final work will be the radio wires. I also need to replace the side rails, a task I'm not looking forward to.

[handiabled]

Great recovery! Sorry to hear about your troubles being able to get to your bench. That had to be very frustrating. I hope things are better for you now!

[kyledehart5]

Good to see this one pop back up!! I think it’s continuing to look really great and I’m looking forward to seeing more!!

[keavdog]

Glad to see you back at it Dodgy! She's really looking good.

[dodgy]

Oct 22, 2024 1:56:26 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Great recovery! Sorry to hear about your troubles being able to get to your bench. That had to be very frustrating. I hope things are better for you now!

Thanks mate. The shakes are with me all the time, some worse than others, but I know I'm not the only modeller on this site with this problem. Shakes and failing eyesight, the fear of modellers everywhere, thank goodness my eyesight is fine!

[dodgy]

Oct 22, 2024 19:35:08 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Good to see this one pop back up!! I think it’s continuing to look really great and I’m looking forward to seeing more!!

Thanks Kyle!

[dodgy]

Oct 22, 2024 19:38:08 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Glad to see you back at it Dodgy! She's really looking good.

Thanks Keavdog!

[scottrc]

Looking very well Dodgy. Keep at it. Many of us are dealing with the ageing body. My eyes are transitioning and I have not been able to work on rigging my clipper ship at times as I try to learn to use three different pairs of glasses to do one simple task.

[moparmadness]

Looks like you can see the finish line! I do like these older Revell U-boats.

[dodgy]

Oct 29, 2024 10:39:44 GMT -5 scottrc said:

Looking very well Dodgy. Keep at it. Many of us are dealing with the ageing body. My eyes are transitioning and I have not been able to work on rigging my clipper ship at times as I try to learn to use three different pairs of glasses to do one simple task.

That sounds like a real pain mate. My glasses are tri-focals and I find they work well except for small detail. Thanks for looking in, it's appreciated. 

[dodgy]

Oct 29, 2024 20:26:19 GMT -5 moparmadness said:

Looks like you can see the finish line! I do like these older Revell U-boats.

Thanks fella! I must admit I've enjoyed this build.

[dodgy]

Well folks, I have to apologise, the side rails are not going back on because my shakes defeated me. I was attempting to replace them, but began knocking off other bits that I'd just fixed, so I decided to do without them. It's disappointing and not accurate, but there you are. Now I just want this finished so I can move on to the next unfinished project. Currently I have a 1/48th Kate and Zero, a 1/48th Sopwith floatplane, a Napoleonic grenadier, an Airfix 1/144th HP 42, a 1/something or other Death Dealer and a very frustrating 1/35th resin truck. So, now to spray the matt varnish, sort the stand and put the final details in place. 

[handiabled]

Sometimes you just have to say uncle and move on. I'm certain it will look great railings or not. I'm looking forward to seeing your efforts on this one!

[dodgy]

Thanks HA. Much appreciated.

[tcoat]

Kapitän had the rails cut off so they couldn't hold depth charges against the hull.