Force9

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

The Bow Hawse Pipe
 
The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.
 
The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.
 
There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.
 
If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.
 
Here I go…
 
First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.
 
At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.
 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.
 
The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.
 
Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.


 
I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.
 
This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!
 
Cheers,
Evan

Ahoy @Kelp!
 
I appreciate your continued interest and look forward to seeing your efforts down the line...  Happy to assist in any way I can.
 
Here are some quick looks at fiber optic filament inserted in a port:
 

 
You see the filament intentionally poking out to get a sense of the fit.

 
Here it is pushed flush to the exterior.  I haven't treated the end at all... I'll likely need to buff the ends before final fit to get the best look.
 
I agree with your concern that acetate set behind the drilled out ports will not have the right effect given the thickness of the hull.  You could come back and fill in the space with clear canopy glue or some clear resin (hardened with UV flashlight) but that would seem to be many more units of effort than using filament.  Probably more expensive too.  I'd have to recommend the filament route... Just be careful to size the drilled out ports in relation to the filament and not in relation to the historically accurate scale diameter.
 
I purchased my filament online at a very reasonable overall cost.  I have 10 foot lengths each of 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm. 2.5mm and 3.0mm with a total cost (incl. shipping) of around $20 US.
 

 
Filling the ports is a long ways away for me... Many steps remaining before I even smear any paint on the hull.
 
Cheers
Evan

Hi Evan,
Thanks for taking time to show me how the fiber optic cable would look in the porthole.  I am leaning towards this method.  The Midwest Model Shop’s fiber optic portholes looked nice when he turned on the LEDs.  
 
Don

Ahoy @Kelp!
 
I appreciate your continued interest and look forward to seeing your efforts down the line...  Happy to assist in any way I can.
 
Here are some quick looks at fiber optic filament inserted in a port:
 

 
You see the filament intentionally poking out to get a sense of the fit.

 
Here it is pushed flush to the exterior.  I haven't treated the end at all... I'll likely need to buff the ends before final fit to get the best look.
 
I agree with your concern that acetate set behind the drilled out ports will not have the right effect given the thickness of the hull.  You could come back and fill in the space with clear canopy glue or some clear resin (hardened with UV flashlight) but that would seem to be many more units of effort than using filament.  Probably more expensive too.  I'd have to recommend the filament route... Just be careful to size the drilled out ports in relation to the filament and not in relation to the historically accurate scale diameter.
 
I purchased my filament online at a very reasonable overall cost.  I have 10 foot lengths each of 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm. 2.5mm and 3.0mm with a total cost (incl. shipping) of around $20 US.
 

 
Filling the ports is a long ways away for me... Many steps remaining before I even smear any paint on the hull.
 
Cheers
Evan

Ahoy @Kelp!
 
I appreciate your continued interest and look forward to seeing your efforts down the line...  Happy to assist in any way I can.
 
Here are some quick looks at fiber optic filament inserted in a port:
 

 
You see the filament intentionally poking out to get a sense of the fit.

 
Here it is pushed flush to the exterior.  I haven't treated the end at all... I'll likely need to buff the ends before final fit to get the best look.
 
I agree with your concern that acetate set behind the drilled out ports will not have the right effect given the thickness of the hull.  You could come back and fill in the space with clear canopy glue or some clear resin (hardened with UV flashlight) but that would seem to be many more units of effort than using filament.  Probably more expensive too.  I'd have to recommend the filament route... Just be careful to size the drilled out ports in relation to the filament and not in relation to the historically accurate scale diameter.
 
I purchased my filament online at a very reasonable overall cost.  I have 10 foot lengths each of 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm. 2.5mm and 3.0mm with a total cost (incl. shipping) of around $20 US.
 

 
Filling the ports is a long ways away for me... Many steps remaining before I even smear any paint on the hull.
 
Cheers
Evan

Ahoy @Kelp!
 
I appreciate your continued interest and look forward to seeing your efforts down the line...  Happy to assist in any way I can.
 
Here are some quick looks at fiber optic filament inserted in a port:
 

 
You see the filament intentionally poking out to get a sense of the fit.

 
Here it is pushed flush to the exterior.  I haven't treated the end at all... I'll likely need to buff the ends before final fit to get the best look.
 
I agree with your concern that acetate set behind the drilled out ports will not have the right effect given the thickness of the hull.  You could come back and fill in the space with clear canopy glue or some clear resin (hardened with UV flashlight) but that would seem to be many more units of effort than using filament.  Probably more expensive too.  I'd have to recommend the filament route... Just be careful to size the drilled out ports in relation to the filament and not in relation to the historically accurate scale diameter.
 
I purchased my filament online at a very reasonable overall cost.  I have 10 foot lengths each of 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm. 2.5mm and 3.0mm with a total cost (incl. shipping) of around $20 US.
 

 
Filling the ports is a long ways away for me... Many steps remaining before I even smear any paint on the hull.
 
Cheers
Evan

Ahoy @Kelp!
 
I appreciate your continued interest and look forward to seeing your efforts down the line...  Happy to assist in any way I can.
 
Here are some quick looks at fiber optic filament inserted in a port:
 

 
You see the filament intentionally poking out to get a sense of the fit.

 
Here it is pushed flush to the exterior.  I haven't treated the end at all... I'll likely need to buff the ends before final fit to get the best look.
 
I agree with your concern that acetate set behind the drilled out ports will not have the right effect given the thickness of the hull.  You could come back and fill in the space with clear canopy glue or some clear resin (hardened with UV flashlight) but that would seem to be many more units of effort than using filament.  Probably more expensive too.  I'd have to recommend the filament route... Just be careful to size the drilled out ports in relation to the filament and not in relation to the historically accurate scale diameter.
 
I purchased my filament online at a very reasonable overall cost.  I have 10 foot lengths each of 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm. 2.5mm and 3.0mm with a total cost (incl. shipping) of around $20 US.
 

 
Filling the ports is a long ways away for me... Many steps remaining before I even smear any paint on the hull.
 
Cheers
Evan

Here are the photos I've managed to collect of HMCS St Thomas.
 
From what I can tell, there are 3 different camouflages that may have been applied to her.  Looking at Pic 1, you can see a light hull background, with a darker swell or wave coming up.  
 
Pictures 2 and 3 show the light hull with a darker slash and very dark stern.  This is repeated in Picture 4 and 6.
 
Picture 5 shows a simulation of a smaller hull in a darker colour against a light background hull.
 
My intent is to 'match the swoop' as seen in pictures 2 and 3, with a darker stern area.
 
My interpretation of these photos is that it's a white hull, with a blue 'swoop', and a darker blue or dark gray stern.
 
I've carefully selected paints (the best that Tremclad sells!) that I'm going to use to do the painting.
 
First layer will be the white base layer.  Then I'll add a light blue swoop with the slash that goes across the superstructure, then a darker gray stern.
 
Sackville is white with a very light blue.  That's the source of my inspiration.
 
Anyone have any better images or colour recommendations?

NS
 

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

Thanks for all of the Likes!
 
 @yvesvidal I appreciate your note and agree that I managed to improve my Titanic.  This could have gone badly... Whew!
 
Evan

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

U-505
 
A slight diversion…
 
I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…
 
I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.
 
It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  
 
The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.
 
A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.
 
U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.
 
Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 
 
Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 
Cheers,
Evan
 

The Bow Hawse Pipe
 
The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.
 
The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.
 
There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.
 
If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.
 
Here I go…
 
First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.
 
At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.
 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.
 
The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.
 
Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.


 
I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.
 
This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bow Hawse Pipe
 
The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.
 
The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.
 
There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.
 
If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.
 
Here I go…
 
First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.
 
At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.
 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.
 
The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.
 
Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.


 
I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.
 
This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bow Hawse Pipe
 
The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.
 
The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.
 
There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.
 
If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.
 
Here I go…
 
First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.
 
At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.
 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.
 
The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.
 
Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.


 
I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.
 
This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bow Hawse Pipe
 
The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.
 
The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.
 
There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.
 
If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.
 
Here I go…
 
First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.
 
At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.
 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.
 
The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.
 
Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.


 
I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.
 
This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!
 
Cheers,
Evan

Thanks all for the kind remarks and continued encouragement!  
 
I've been traveling the past few weeks and neglecting my build log... Let me start catching everyone up.
 
Cheers
Evan

The Bow Hawse Pipe
 
The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.
 
The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.
 
There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.
 
If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.
 
Here I go…
 
First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.
 
At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.
 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.
 
The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.
 
Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.


 
I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.
 
This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bow Hawse Pipe
 
The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.
 
The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.
 
There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.
 
If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.
 
Here I go…
 
First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.
 
At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.
 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.
 
The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.
 
Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.


 
I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.
 
This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!
 
Cheers,
Evan

Beautiful and fun! 
 
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