yvesvidal

Working on the Officer's quarters. I am no longer following Trumpeter's guidance, because of the arrangement done underneath. In the official manual, you are not supposed to glue the final bulkhead until the end. My approach is a little bit more complicated and delicate. Nothing near the bulkheads can be installed yet. The main floor will slide into the pressure hull from behind: And the toilet facility: Yes, real paper.... Yves

And so it is.... The wood effect is created by first painting all the parts flat white. Then with Burnt Sienna acrylic paint, do a very light dry brush with a flat and wide brush. Go gently first, and then increase as you wish. Finally, a coat or two of ClearKote to varnish the whole. Personally, I do not want my woods too shiny. I doubt that during the war, they had perfect and highly polished sheets of wood installed on all these submarines. Beds are done with micro-bubbles plastic sheet (the one provided in the Kit, to protect the sprues) covered with real fabric, neatly folded and glued. The last bed is the Captain's bed and I need to find something that will mimic the leather. Yves

Gorgeous pictures. Yves

We are now moving to the top floor of that section of the ship. Let's present the challenges with a few plans: From the right (bow) to the left (stern), we have: - Toilet room with a small lavatory (port side) - Groceries/Food closet on the other side (starboard) - Four bunks for the less ranked officers. That included the chief mechanic and Engineers. A table is permanently erected to allow them to write or take their meals. This area is located between Frames 71 and 74. - Four other bunks for the main officers. Usually there were only three of them in service and thus one of the top bunk was always folded against the wall. On the starboard side, there is a tank with fresh water that will not be represented on this model. Space is between Frames 71 and 68, approximately. - The captain quarter: only one to have some kind of privacy with a curtain, a small table and a bunk covered with leather (and not fabric like all the other bunks). - On the starboard side, we have the listening room (hydrophones and early Sonar systems) and then the Radio room. - On the Port side, there is an electrical closet where all the wires from Battery bank #2 are terminated and switched. - In the hallway, there are three openings: one to access the ammunition magazine (left side), one opening to access the waste tank and one opening to access the battery bank #2 (center). These are used to replace cells or to allow a technician to perform the maintenance of the batteries on the little sliding tray, suspended to the ceiling. The doors to the radio and listening room are missing from the Trumpeter kit. The doors that are currently on the U-995 have been installed to prevent the public from tampering with the delicate and precious radio and electronic equipment (left picture). In fact, when looking carefully at the plan and from archive pictures, the doors were likely made of two panes such as below (right picture): The final drawing from U-Historia clearly shows the internal arrangement: Below is the Trumpeter rendition of the compartment under study: Lots of work and details in perspective..... Yves

We are coming to an end for the lower section of that Officers/sub-officers compartment. I have spent enough time on that little area of the ship, which will be barely visible from the outside. Again, it is just the pleasure to know that it is there, as it should be. The diesel fuel has been completed (at least for that section): This is done with three heavy coats of automotive clearcoat. It is actually pretty realistic and depicts the clear diesel fuel sitting at the bottom of a somewhat dirty tank. This fuel will also be present under the next module (control room). To help the observer and draw his/her attention to that specific location, I have installed two LEDs: one for the battery compartment and one for the ammunition magazine. The magazine will have a fellow sailor, resting one hand on the ladder, while inventorying the ammunition. From the outside, not much will be visible and you will have to twist your neck and strain your eyes to perceive the essence of that section: One last picture before we seal the battery compartment for ever.... From left to right, ammunition magazine, wasted water tank (middle), two fresh water tanks and a large Battery bank #2. On each side, fuel tank #2, merging under the control room (module located to the left). The second half of the fuel tank (port side) has not been represented. Enough insanity like that. Finally, the module in place in the hull: Next: - The gun stand - The officers and radio compartment. Lots of wood simulation for that one. Yves

Dirk, Have you looked into the HMS Alert from that Chinese team of modelers, for your next model? It looks very promising and quite an incredible model to do. Yves

That is a gorgeous Frame !!!! That wood is magnificent. Yves

What a lovely boat: The perfect daysailer. I am looking forward to see how you will build that model. Yves

The insanity continues. I have decided to show some fuel (Diesel) in the tanks: This is done with Automotive Clearcoat (not pulverized/sprayed) and therefore a lot less toxic. Diesel fuel being transparent, epoxy resin did not fit too well (at least I do not have a clear resin at hand). We will see how it goes and if it finally dries as there is a thick coat in that tank. Next is the support for the canon, on the deck: Please someone calls the "White Coats"...... Yves

I have been doing more reading and studying the plans of the Type VIIc and there is no way I can accept the crude implementation of "the Trumpeter" for my model. So, we are going to do some delicate surgery to open the bulkhead and represent the Fuel tanks in the correct way: Basically a "U" shaped tank located under and around the batteries and slightly under the control room. Below is the bulkhead between the Battery #2 compartment and the Control room (in the process of being cut): After cleaning the opening: Similarly the battery compartment is opened to match the contours of the fuel tanks on each side: and... I still have to cut the openings for the saddle tanks. More details will follow. I need to fabricate a round shape to implement the end of the fuel tank. There is a big mistake (not the first, and not the last) in the Trumpeter kit and it has to do with the floor of the control room. The kit provides a flat control room floor, where in fact the main platform was concave with just a flat plate in the middle. It is just impossible (at least for me) to modify the kit and that would prevent the observer to look into the control room and appreciate all the details of that very complex room. So, it will remain flat..... Yves

Jack, That boat is a statement of your incredible skills. Very impressive. Yves

Should you not have a hole under the latrines, or are they using buckets? Yves

I love that distressed wood. So well done. Yves

Another small piece of details, in that compartment: the ammunition magazine ! The kit is very crude of course and I added another stack of ammunition boxes and a ladder to go inside the magazine: Not much will be visible once the floor is in place, but the satisfaction to know it is there is enough to justify a couple of minutes spent on that small room. Access was through the floor and some removable plate. Same for the battery room access done through another plate, in the floor. Apparently, the ammunition magazine could be flooded to prevent explosions in case of fire on board (I still have to find definitive explanations about that one - It would have been a controlled flooding (spray like) and the water would be removed via the bilge pumps). Yves

Thank you Guys. It is fun to improve on this kit. Lots of possibilities if you do a little bit of research on the Type VIIc. I wish there was a PE set for batteries connections. That would have been insane.... I am trying to replicate some more details on the bottom section of that module. More to come.... Yves