Revell 1/72 Type VIIC (R/C Conversion)

[ajrimmer42]

greetings chaps. If you've taken a look at my HMS Poppy build, you'll know that I finally managed to get hold of Revell's 1/72 Type VIIC. I'm gonna be converting her to R/C so I actually have something I can chase the corvette around with It will only be a surface runner though unfortunately - I was going to make it a dynamic diver, i.e. using the dive planes to force her under at speed, but I just don't think I have the ability to make it watertight enough yet. And as much as I'd love to get a WTC (Watertight Compartment) set for it, I ain't shelling out £300 -£500 for one lol. Maybe one day...





So I have on order:

2x 2mm prop shafts (half the size of the Corvette ones!)
2x 20mm brass props (left and right handed, as per the prototype)
2x small 360 size motors
1x 3300mAh battery pack
1x itty bitty mini servo

There's plenty enough room in there to fit stuff in, it's just a bit narrow so may be a bit of a faff. I also need to devise some mechanism for the dual rudder too. I'll also be getting a fabric flag and some crew

So! impatient as I am, I couldn't wait for my running gear to come before I got started lol.

First up - obligatory sprue shots!







As you can see, compared to the Flower there really isn't much to it at all. All the parts look nicely moulded with little flash, the Hull is stamped '2003' so as far as I can tell it's mostly newish tooling. The Hull has plenty of raised and recessed detail which all looks lovely. Can't comment on the accuracy but it looks like a damn U-Boat to me.

I've decided to do the kit U-552 late so I will be using the decals. Not the best, not the worst, fairly typical Revell standard. I have gone ahead and ordered some waterline decals from Australian company AMP as the kit curiously leaves them out.

The crew are rubbish unfortunately. I will be getting an aftermarket set of those, along with a fabric flag as I mentioned in the first post. I was planning on this anyway, but I've realised the sheet of flags is actually missing from my kit lol, not a problem though as none would be usable - I don't think I'll be putting any kill flags on, and the Naval Ensign has no Swastika on anyway.




I began with about the only thing I can be doing to the hull until the shafts get here, I glued the torpedo tube doors in place and covered the back with epoxy putty to ensure they are watertight.




I then turned my attention to the conning tower - again about the only other thing I can really be getting on with.




I thought it would be a shame not to light it up to match my Flower, so I drilled and sanded out the moulded in 'lenses' and then actually sanded the LED's into the rough shape of a lens, something I wish I'd thought of when I did the Flower lol.




Then, using thick CA glue and some kicker/accelerator, I built up the glass around the bulb, sanded into shape and then polished up.




All dry fitted - the hull seems to fit together no problem, and the 3 deck parts fit like a damn glove! I think I'll permanently glue the fore and aft decks down, leaving the middle part and conning tower removable.








Got the Conning Tower all built up. Got to be honest it goes together like a dream, absolutely no fit issues whatsoever, even the railings at the back go in fine.












All painted up in exactly the same manner as my Flower - primed in Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey, preshaded with XF-85 Rubber Black, followed by a coat of a slightly lighter mix of XF-19 which will serve as the base colour for all the upper light grey parts. I then post shaded, followed by a drybrush to pick out the rivets and stuff, and finally applied the decals over a coat of Klear. A few details such as the life rings, wooden planking and brass fittings were also hand painted at this point.

To begin the weathering process I started with a very light grey mix and randomly 'chipped' the paint with it using a very fine brush. I then painted over these 'chips' with XF-10 brown, leaving a little of the lighter colour around the edges - this gives a 3D illusion of there being different layers of paint. After that I went round with some Railmatch BR Freight Bauxite and did some rust streaks, then I went over those streaks lightly with Tamiya Dark Yellow. A coat of Klear, then Xtracrylics matt was applied, and a good spray of Dark Dirt wash with a few patches of Mud Brown. Once dry, I went over the whole thing with a soft wet brush, removing quite a lot of the wash but still leaving it around details, and some engrained in the matt texture. This serves to give a really nice grimy look to everything.

A final coat of matt was applied over the wash. I ended by brush painting the periscopes with Mr Metal Stainless Steel, and buffed.

I think that's about all I can be getting on with until the bits I've ordered arrive. I had a call from the very nice guy at Model Boat Bits this morning (yep, half 8 on a Sunday morning! Woke my mum up, haha, she wasn't best pleased...) anyway, he was ringing to let me know that the battery I'd ordered wouldn't be in stock until tomorrow but that he'd get my order sent as soon as it came in, which was really kind of him to let me know, most places wouldn't bother I'd imagine. Also the waterline decals are on their way too!

So fingers crossed I should be able to make a good start by the beginning of this week.