Revell VIIC 1-144 scale by Subguru
 

Having watched with awe the amazing job Siara is doing with his 1/72 scale Type VIIC U-boat from Revell, I decided to build one of my own. Unfortunately, I can't afford the room needed for the big boat, so I'm going to build the more manageable 1/144 kit instead.

Here are the pieces as they come out of the box:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1...r081jm1.th.jpg

I'm always impatient to get an idea of what my projects will look like when finished. Below you see the two hull halves clamped together. The deck is a prototype wooden, laser-cut item produced by Nautilus Models and gratiously provided to me by Siara. In the background you can see another of my unfinished projects, Heller's 1/100 scale HMS Victory.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5...r082hj9.th.jpg

One of the first things I noticed is that the free-flood holes need to be opened up. The plastic is quite thin behind the holes, as this somewhat blurry photo taken with a strong backlight shows.

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Instead of drilling out the holes, I experimented with grinding out the holes from behind. Here's what it looks like:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6...r084mf9.th.jpg

I'm quite happy with how my experiment turned out:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3...r085xx8.th.jpg

You can also see in the above pic some of the surface detailing (rivets, weld lines) in the kit. It's well out-of-scale and I'm going to have to do something about it before I'm done.

More to follow...

The level of detail is very nice for a 1:144 model :yep:

I have here around the old 1:125 U-99 waiting to be completed, and while the size is larger, it can't stand any details comparison...no rivets, weldings...anything, the U-99 is flat :damn:

Im glad You started it Bill. It realy is as good as people are saying. The detail is almost identical with the 1-72 scale. Realy nice kit there...:rock:

Progress report: May 9, 2008

Continuing to cut and grind. All of the kit's molded-in limber holes and freefloods are now open. I've also moved the anchor well forward 1/8-inch. The kit's torpedo doors are too long, so I've scribed a new after edge. A little putty and everything will look a-ok!

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8...y081ni3.th.jpg

Here's what it looks like from the other side. The lower free floods were opened by careful (read tedious) sanding.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8...y082iy8.th.jpg

Here's my attempt to open up the free floods at the stern. Things are tough when working in this scale and not having advantage of aftermarket photoetch!

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1...y083fc2.th.jpg

Here you can see that I'm going to have some repair work before I'm done. My fumble-fingers have cut away a bit too much, especially on the port side free floods.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4...y084wg7.th.jpg

Having opened the 'slot' above the saddle tanks, it's necessary to extend the curve of the tank inward. I've also temporarily removed part of the fairwater for access.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8...y085vi9.th.jpg

A closer view. I decided to use the kit's two 'bulkhead' pieces to ensure I keep the correct shape of the hull. I've had to do some cutting of these pieces, though, to minimize chance they can be seen through the now-open limber holes.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1...y086sr9.th.jpg

A "Bird's-eye" view of the starboard saddle tank:

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1...y087vp1.th.jpg

To be continued...