Well, I wanted a productive weekend but it was not to be - I was sick from my COVID shot and only recently got better. I didn't manage to update the U-139 hull as much as I wanted to, but work on the conning tower is coming along well. Also have a few pix of decking for the submarine, which is more detailed than my old models.
The machine gun was swiped from my Albatros D.III fighter. Needs working on - I am proud of the barrel and the cooling jacket, which has cylinders copied from a real German MG. But the breech block needs to be reworked so it's more realistic & high detail.
My sources seem to indicate WWI Unterseeboots did not mount their machine guns aft off the watchstander's position on the CT, like World War II U-Boats did. Instead, the MG was kept unmounted (probably in the submarine) and would be set up on a tripod at the tip of the bow if it was needed. Smaller UB-I boats had the MG a few feet in front of the conning tower (like the deck gun on bigger subs)
Aircraft were less of a threat in WWI and it made more sense to dive than fight it out, so this was no big loss.
I may keep an unmounted MG or two in the conning tower as scenery.
Do not worry about the lack of interior conning tower detail - still need to add things like the periscope mounts, compass, wood trim, voice tubes, ship's wheel, electrical boxes, and more. So far I'm at over 30,000 polygons. for tower exterior alone.
Below those screenshots are images of the watertight compartments on a British battleship - note how they match the hull properly, allowing for proper pitch/roll depending on damage. Much better than the early Merchant Fleet mod ships.
