discussion 1/350 U-Boot Typ VII C

[Wouter]

Hi there

A while ago I decided to do a quick 'fun' project. I'm massively fond of the work of Belgian modeller Werner De Keersmaecker who is an ace at seascapes and he is well known for his U-Boote.

I decided to buy the HobbyBoss rendition of this well known submarine.
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The kit is well engineered and practically falls together. It comes with a little etch as well. The only parts which I decided to get from an aftermarket set were the periscopes and gun barrels. Other than that it's completely OOB
This build will have my first seascape as well, quite exciting and frightening as well, but will be a good exercise for my massive 1/350 Yamato. And even if I fail there's not too much harm done. This kit sure isn't overly expensive :smiling:

Anyway, I think an hour or three work and it's already prepped for paintwork. The tower is still dryfitted for easy of painting.
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Hopefully I manage to paint her soon ^^

Cheers

 

[spanner570]

Excellent boat, Wouter.

If you fancy it, take a look at the members 'Completed Submarines' Plenty there to view...

Ron

 

[Wouter]

Thanks Ron

Well, I already did , some ace work there! Loved the seascape you did on yours btw!

Cheers

 

[langy71]

totally excellent U-boot Wouter,
this is another genre of build i've always wanted to take a bash at, but never got around to it..

 

[Steve Jones]

Wouter
Terrific work mate. It would be a shame if it doest get a coat of the wet stuff. That would really make it a classic Wouter build. Well done mate
Steve

 

[BattleshipBob]

Very nice wouter. How is the mighty Yamato coming on?

Bob

 

[Tim Marlow]

Like it Wouter, like it....
Tim

 

[Wouter]

Blimey, almost a year now ey, and this was supposed to be a 'fast' build :rolling:. Well, first of all, thanks for the great comments chaps.
Second: I have some (hopefully good news). Watching the first episode of the new 'Das Boot' series (not as good as the original, but seems promising) sure gave me a kick in the behind.
The hull and conning tower received their colors. And after that I painted the details like the wintergarden, railings, bollards and so on. Needs some tidying up here and there but getting there. The periscopes aren't painted in their final color yet.
I must say I was also very VERY pleased with the provided decals. Only two tiny ones (seem to be based on the red devil on U-552, but in black this time) with thin carrier film. One application of SOL was needed to set them nicely in place.

That's all for now folks!

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice to see you back at the bench mate. Decals looking good. Keep it comin mate.

 

[Guest]

As Steve says nice to see you back Wouter. A year , wow how time flies.
Looking good, how long is it please .
John .

 

[Mini Me]

I'm loving this, I bought one of these in 1/87 scale out of Holland 2 years back and have not regretted the purchase even @ $190.00 US. I feel it is a bargain because it is unique. I have always had an idea of a sub pen scene similar to the one in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", overhead crane, rail line tracks, lots of supplies...you know the drill.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Wouter]

Steve, thanks a lot mate, sure feels good to be back, though I've always been at snailpace :smiling2:

Hi John, thanks bud. Haven't measured it but it's not that big, I think the hull is the odd 20cm long or so. Next update I'll make sure I'll add an object or a finger to show the size in comparison ^^

Hi Rick, wow, 1/87th U-boot? How large is that thing? :dizzy: A scene in a sub pen sure sounds good, you must be living in a mansion then LOL

Cheers

 

[Mini Me]

Hi Wouter, It's actually not that large. A little over 76cm or approximately 2.5 ft. long. Here's a shot of the box art, let me know what you think.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Wouter]

Actually I find that quite large, it's as big as my 1/350 Yamato then and I find that already disturbingly big for the bench :smiling2:. Looks good though, never heard of that branch.

 

[Wouter]

After the decals had firmly set I applied a pinwash to all the details. I must admit I took a risk this time by not applying varnish to protect the decals.

When the pinwash had dried the first real stage in the weathering process was started: a filter.
First I wetted the surface using odourless thinner, I didn't do the complete hull at once but worked in areas of a couple of centimetres

On the wet area dots of oil paints were added, I used greens, blues, ochre and white tones.

Using a clean flat brush, slightly moistened with thinner I dragged the oil dots downwards.

When dry the filter is very subtle, it's hard to capture it with a camera but it's there.

When the first filter had dried I added a second one. This time I used humbrol Flesh and Radome tan to simulate salt streaks. Again, the result is very subtle and much more visible with the naked eye.

Mind though the lower hull isn't properly weathered since that won't be visible.
In the process of filtering the initial pinwash was toned down a lot.
To counter that I decided to try out something new for me. It's a technique Marijn Van Gils uses. Rather than letting a pinwash flow around the details I painted the shadows around the details with less diluted paint. I used a mixture of Humbroll black and Raw Umber oil paint.

Immediately after that I blended in the edges using a clean slightly moistened brush.

I'm still in the process of painting the shadows. It's much more time consuming but worth the effort. So far I have done the two hull sides in about three hours time. So when finished I'll show the photos. Looking at them tells me I urgently need to do some dusting by the way :rolling:

Cheers

 

[Jim R]

Hi Wouter
As John says - a year! Time really does fly.
Weathering looks to be coming on a treat. Must be kept subtle and 'in scale'. That first grey pin wash - is that acrylic or enamel? The oil dot method does work well. I have tried it but not been brave enough to use such a variety of colours. Painting in and blending out the shadows is a new one on me - very effective though :thumb2:
Jim

 

[Guest]

Subtle indeed, nothing worse Wouter than when its over done, that will look good.Liking this a lot, too big for my bench at 750mm .
John.

 

[Steven000]

Looking very good Wouter, I have a 1/144 on it's way a few days ago :smiling6: .
Nice details and weathering for this small scale :thumb2:
Cheers
Steven

 

[Wouter]

Hi Jim, glad you like it. The pinwash is enamel, it's of the Ammo brand.

Morning John, thanks chap, and so true. I think you are mistaken the size of my sub here. My 1/350 Yamato is about 75cm long. This sub is a bit smaller luckily :smiling2:. The hull is about 19cm. That's about the size of a 1/35 tank I reckon ^^

Hi Steven. 1/144 ey? That's a bit larger indeed :O. And thanks ^^

Cheers

 

[Guest]

Sorry Wouter, senior moment there,thought the photo Rick posted was it !
John .