Revell 1/144 Type XXI U-Boot

[mx]

Hello Kaleuns

As some of you may already heard, as i was grathering reference photos, i'm about to start building my first submarine model.
I've picked the Revell's 1/144 05004 kit, because as i've heard it's the best one you can get, most detailed and offers the most decals/camo options. It's big enough to actually see the details of kit, and small enough to put it in my bedroom when it's finished. I's also not so hard to build, and the scale will let me make my own scrap-build parts if needed. I haven't really build any kind of model for years now, so i treat this one as if it was the first ever.

The purpose of this topic is to share the whole building process with you aswell as crying for help when i'll need it and i can asure you i will
I hope that all those friendly neighbourhood model builders will share some tips

The kit arrived today:



it was the last #05004 model in stock, so i guess i was lucky.



and this is what the box content looks like:



I'm looking forward to start building it, but that will have to wait another week or two due to lack of proper equipment


As I've said, i'll use this topic to ask questions aswell, so here's my first one:



Was these 'holes' really cut out ? or just marked/painted on?
I'm not sure, because there were so many variations of the XXI sub, at least on the photos i've found so far, that i've got confused.

mx.

[StarLion45]

Hi there Mx

That kit looking very beautyful .
I am just finished airbrushing lower & upper hull on my Revell 1/125 scale VIIB
And the deck I am also finished to brush with hand . Never again will I have this kit again , it's from 1976 very old . Not detailed properly , looks like a toy
but I am satiesfied with the paint result till now by the way .
But I get the new revell VIID 1/144 scale , Wow what a kit that was comparing with the old kit from 1976 , highly detail , new tool , and 4-5 different versions Good luck building your Revell 17144 scale IXX sub

AND REMEMBER , SHOW US SOME PICS

[Thomen]

Originally Posted by mx

Hello Kaleuns

As some of you may already heard, as i was grathering reference photos, i'm about to start building my first submarine model.
I've picked the Revell's 1/144 05004 kit, because as i've heard it's the best one you can get, most detailed and offers the most decals/camo options. It's big enough to actually see the details of kit, and small enough to put it in my bedroom when it's finished. I's also not so hard to build, and the scale will let me make my own scrap-build parts if needed. I haven't really build any kind of model for years now, so i treat this one as if it was the first ever.

The purpose of this topic is to share the whole building process with you aswell as crying for help when i'll need it and i can asure you i will
I hope that all those friendly neighbourhood model builders will share some tips

The kit arrived today:



it was the last #05004 model in stock, so i guess i was lucky.



and this is what the box content looks like:



I'm looking forward to start building it, but that will have to wait another week or two due to lack of proper equipment


As I've said, i'll use this topic to ask questions aswell, so here's my first one:



Was these 'holes' really cut out ? or just marked/painted on?
I'm not sure, because there were so many variations of the XXI sub, at least on the photos i've found so far, that i've got confused.

mx.

Nice.. I got the same kit. Bought it together with the 05038 Type VIIC on my last trip to Germany. Unfortunately, I did not had any time yet to get started.

[Hitman]

I can't help you much with that, but at the spanish web u-historia there are excellent articles about the Type XXI under "tecnica/Artículos tecnicos" (Technic/Tech Articles)

I must however warn you that any modern pictures of the only survinging Type XXI "Wilhelm Bauer" will not necessarily be correct, because the sub was extensively modified after the war and the restoration conducted later is not perfect.

[conus00]

Hi there mx,
we spoke briefly in one of my previous threads. Glad to see that you finally got your model. I will try to help you as much as I can in the process of building.
To answer your first question: yes the holes are actually "holes" not painted on. You're right about the patterns on the sails being different. The difference was based on the actual shipyard which built the boat. Take a look at this picture:

[mx]

Originally Posted by conus00

Hi there mx,
we spoke briefly in one of my previous threads. Glad to see that you finally got your model. I will try to help you as much as I can in the process of building.
To answer your first question: yes the holes are actually "holes" not painted on. You're right about the patterns on the sails being different. The difference was based on the actual shipyard which built the boat. Take a look at this picture:

Thank you! that I didn't know. Too bad the Kit has those pre-added to the conning tower.

by the way, did you drill out the holes in the hull or planning to? I would love to hear some tips about how to do that safely (not damaging the kit).

[mx]

I've build the conning tower, i didnt glue it all together tho, i've just wanted to know how it would look like all together, and pretty much see what i would change in it. I guess i'll make the periscope a little bit shorter, maybe even one of them hidden in the conning tower, i dont know about the snorkel yet, i like the way it looks.
I probably wont make a realistic ladder(?) on it, because, well, first of all, i wouldnt know how to make it. I dont know even if i would make it would it look good, so i'll just pass it.




I've also started to drill out the holes in the hull. I know it doesnt look as it should be, and i've messed up the two on the right, but it's the first time i ever do something like this, so i'm learning along the way. It looks better live than on the photo btw.
I guess i'll fix the look of the holes by making symetric ones on the other side and tweaking them a little bit. I know that wont be realistic/historical correct, but at least it will look better and maybe add some individuality to the model

[Siara]

MX- you may wish to check this out:
http://u-552.blogspot.com/2008/01/flood-holes.html



And dont forget to check Conus00`s build:
http://models.rokket.biz/index.php?topic=89.0

[mx]

Originally Posted by Siara

MX- you may wish to check this out:
http://u-552.blogspot.com/2008/01/flood-holes.html

Thanks Siara
i've seen it already, the problem is with the size of the holes, they are 1cm long, but 1mm across, it's pretty hard to cut it out with powerdrill (which i've tried on the first two flood holes on the right ;p) so i'm drilling them by hand.
I guess i'll cover the most of the glitches with plastic, but that's when i'm done.

[Siara]

MX- the trick is to use the drill on inside, and look against the light. When the plastic becomes so thin that the light starts to shine through the plastic, all you need to do is to push the hole through, and you end up with clean hole. You dont drill the holes, you thin the plastic on inside using one of round router tools. Make sure you go slow, as speed melts the plastic.

Did you check the other link?

[mx]

Originally Posted by Siara

MX- the trick is to use the drill on inside, and look against the light. When the plastic becomes so thin that the light starts to shine through the plastic, all you need to do is to push the hole through, and you end up with clean hole. You dont drill the holes, you thin the plastic on inside using one of round router tools. Make sure you go slow, as speed melts the plastic.

Did you check the other link?

I can see i have much to learn on buildding submarines
Thank you very much Siara! I will try to do this your way, and report back, but i guess not before next week, since i need to get the drills first

Do you think this method will work with the smaller holes swell? maybe i'll try to drill out them all But than again it would mean lost of covering/masking them on the inside later, i wouldnt want to end up with a see-thru effect.

I need an opinion on this

And yes, i did see conus00's build, i've found it when i was doing my research on XXI type models. Not many people seems to build those, even less are showing their builds on the web.

Thanks again Siara