yvesvidal
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Everything posted by yvesvidal
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Decisions...decisions!! I am about to start working on the sail or what is also called the "Conning Tower". The name "conning" comes not from the conical shape but from the English term of "to conn a vessel from a vantage point or from a high structure". On a U-Boot, that was not so high and conning made you very wet, when the sea was rough. So, the Chinese Trumpeter screwed up royally. It is probably the biggest "quack" in the kit. The starboard of the hull is see through, but for the sail, they decided it was the Port side. Duh.... Was this intentional, was it a mistake? We will never know, but the consensus among modelers, is that they got it wrong. Another problem is that the inside of the sail port side is not available or represented, since it was supposed to be transparent. To show it properly, we would have to rebuild entirely, the little tub parts. Besides, I have no idea what the Port side looks like from the inside. Finally, the opening is really small and no larger than a small postal stamps. There would not be much to see. Finally, I kind of like the sail being "solid" as it blends more harmoniously with the bridge and provides a more realistic depiction of the upper part of the U-Boot, than any contraption I could design and which would probably end up far from the reality. With that being said, I think we are going to build that sail "solid" and focus on the visible and outside details with plenty of plastic and Photo-etched parts. We will also add some lights to increase the complexity of the electrical circuit. The sail will not be glued on the bridge, until I figure out how the various periscopes, air intakes, antennas and access hatches work out with the control room, underneath. Yves
- 760 replies
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Kevin, thank you for the compliments. However, rest assured, this is far from being completed and you will read me for a few more months.... ☺️ Yves
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What a beautiful trawler. Very British in appearance and timeless in its lines. Yves
- 337 replies
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- finished
- mountfleet models
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Thank you all for following and appreciating what I am doing. It is a lot of work and it is starting to pay off, finally. At this stage, I have to assemble the sail/conning tower and the three remaining compartments. Plus a multitude of details, with the deck, guns, rigging.... Yves
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Yes, I have been thinking about this. Right now, it is all fresh in my mind, but in a few months.... it won't. I will be drawing one, for sure. Yves
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Going through the wiring (relatively complex) of the lights and features of the submarine. The stands are made of usual plumbing parts and provide a stable base for that heavy model. I have finished wiring the torpedo compartments and the officer's quarters. All the connections have small connectors to allow me to take the whole enchilada apart. I suspect that the building of the remaining compartments and the conning tower may require an easier access to the hull and therefore, it is swell to be able to disassociate it from the base. The result is quite impressive and massive: Close up on the radio equipment and batteries compartment: The hull as it stands today: Close-up on the various compartments: All buttoned up: Hope you enjoy that night tour of the insides of a German U-boot. Yves
- 760 replies
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Usually, masking tape has to be removed when the paint is still fresh and not cured. By waiting, the paint may go in pieces and crumbs, when you remove the tape. Yves
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The base is close to completion. After three or four coats of primer, putty and sanding, I gave it an industrial look with a glossy dark gray. This will provide enough contrast with the matte aspect of the hull: I am also working on the electric wiring board to control independently all the lights. Adjustable resistors are used to fine tune the amount of light through each compartment. Finally, the Officers quarter has been glued into the hull, and the wires inserted through the stand receptacle: I am going to use small connectors to allow the capability to remove the hull from the stand, in case of maintenance and during the building of the three remaining modules. Yves
- 760 replies
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After a few weeks off, it is time to resume our build. First, I had to fix the lower part of the keel. Trumpeter designed a few slots to allow the passing of electrical wires. That does not apply to me, since all electrical connections will go through the brass tube supporting the model. So putty and paint: I will have to repaint the other side of the hull, and finalize with a soft weathering. Next, I have been working on the stand for this large and very heavy model. I need to have room for a few switches and for the various resistors that will allow me to fine tune the intensity of the various LED circuits. I wish to have an harmonious amount of light throughout the vessel. Building a thick base was the best way to go. That base can later on be installed in a larger display case, although it is unlikely it will ever happen. I will show how the tubes are secured in a future picture. It is a heavy duty assembly. No jokes. The panel for all the switches: - Push button for the propulsion motors. - One switch for the outside lights (rear, top of the sail, positions lights). - One switch for the internal light, through the six compartments. - One switch for the special lights (battery enclosure, equipment dials.....etc). This will give you some ideas of the massive assembly: I thought about gluing some precious woods on that base. The base is 32 inches by 6 ..... After going to my local Woodwork shop and being horrified by the price of a piece of wood large enough to cover the top, I have decided to instead paint the base and give it a little bit of an industrial look. I will use a sander and multiple coats of primer to obtain as smooth as possible of a finish and probably paint the base. Not sure which color yet.... Yves
- 760 replies
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Fantastic videos. A nice display of multiple technologies, from the camera all the way to the submarine and torpedoes. Yeap, your neighbor has a very nice pond.... among other things. Yves
- 55 replies
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- auguste piccard
- submarine
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Gorgeous carbon sails. I love the modern look that it offers, as compared to the traditional white Dacron. Yves
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You need to add a French vessel to your collection: I believe this one is now available in 1/350 scale. Yves
- 345 replies
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- graf zeppelin
- trumpeter
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Very Nice decals. How did you do it? Printed on decals paper? Yves
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Beautiful model. Yes, very much Museum like, but also very realistic. Yves
- 24 replies
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- pontos
- king george v class
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Great endeavor! Thank you so much. Yves
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Et voila.... There won't be any updates as I am travelling for the next three weeks. Have fun building models.... Yves
- 760 replies
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Beautiful work Jack. You have been busy. I bet it was tedious, but the result is splendid. Yves
- 190 replies
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- ragusian
- marisstella
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Working on a few details for improving the stern. 1) I installed the "Clutch" to hide partially the neoprene tube. After painting, it looks a lot more palatable: 2) I redid in brass wires (0.8 mm size) the two stern railings. These will be a lot stronger and I should be able to attach the two lines going back to the conning tower: Before filing..... and after, installed: Now, to paint them. Yves
- 760 replies
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The shrinkage that you see, could be due to the strips being wet during the installation and drying/shrinking later on....? Since you will paint the hull, you can always use Bondo, lots of sanding, primer and a few coats of paint and varnish. Yves
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Moving along with the "extremely delicate" insertion of the rear torpedoes module. Delicate because we have the commands of the rudder to insert, the rear torpedo tube and the two propeller shafts. Before it, I had to install the rear deck light and wire it. Again, no coming back is possible, without damaging the bulkhead. I verified that both propellers are turning as they are supposed to (contra-rotations in the proper direction): So, we basically have the two ends of the submarine pretty much completed. I broke the plastic railing surrounding the rear deck light on one side. I am going to replace these plastic parts by brass wires shaped and soldered. This stuff is supposed to withstand the tension of the lines coming from the sail and the plastic part will not resist the rest of the construction. I also need to find a solution to hide the ugly couplers between the shaft and motors. In retrospect, I wish I had not cut so low...but I wanted to show the torpedo resting underneath. We'll see. Propellers, rudders and diving planes. I wish brass props could be provided either by Trumpeter or by RCsubs. The Revell folks at 1/72 have all these goodies available on the grey market. It feels almost real... Lots of wires starting to pile up: Blue and white for the rear deck light and four wires coming out of the rear module for the motors and the lights. Yves
- 760 replies
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Fabulous work and great pictures to explain your approach. That is a difficult deck, because of the convex shapes in both directions. Yves
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Trumpeter's solution to the mechanism of the front diving planes. Actually not too bad and quite close to the prototype. Again, the kit implementation of the anchor windlass. 95% of it will be invisible. Can you pinpoint the original Vallejo primer peeling away from the PE parts? That primer is excellent on plastic parts but to be absolutely avoided on brass parts. Fortunately, all this decaying is not visible. Yves
- 760 replies
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