yvesvidal
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Everything posted by yvesvidal
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Dave, I am with you and have a profound hatred for wars and conflicts in general. They only profit the ones that are behind the scene: the canon makers and international bankers and an elite who only wishes to control and enslave human kind. Now, that being said, like many modelers I have a passion for certain instruments used to fight wars, not so much for their ultimate purposes, but for the engineering that went into them. I abhor all armored vehicles and deplore that current trend in plastic modeling at replicating all these weapons of civilians destruction, in the scale of 1/35th. On the other hand, I enjoy all the sea vessels going on the surface of the water or under it. It is one of these polarities that makes us humans and that we have to reconcile and forgive. Yes, I am compassionate of your father and the sheer terror he may have felt during his Atlantic crossing. The terror was shared on both sides, as more than 75% of the German sailors did not come back. The movie Das Boot, clearly depicts the unbearable life of a German submariner, during WWII. Once Man refuses to fight unjustified wars, then all this nonsense will stop. Women should refuse their bed to all men who are partaking in wars. That would put an end to it, immediately. Yves -
I am waiting for new blocks to realize the rigging of the sail. I ordered some blocks from Syren, but really went way too big with the size ordered (1/4 inch). I was fooled by the size and thought like an imbecile that it was the scale (1/48th). I am trying to depict insulators and not blocks and got carried away with the size. This time I will get the 3 mm ones that should come closer to the 1/48th scale ceramic insulators. So, to spend the time on these rainy and windy weekends of November, it is time to start a new module: the Diesel engine room !!! It is a very complex module and it will take a certain (read loooonnnnggg) time to complete it. I also wish to replicate both sides of the compartment, having the incredible opportunity (sheer luck, really) to have most parts in duplicate. Here again, the "Trumpeter" has taken some regrettable short corners and we will get in more details as we build it. The first task is to build the frame that will support the diesel engines! Yes plural for engines as I have two of them! This is exciting! First, this is how the "Trumpeter" envision the assembly of the frame. Basically, for the observer, you only see a flat piece of framing (T1 on the assembly manual). All the nice ribs are hidden and on the non-visible side. They are used to support the diesel engine. Once again, the "Trumpet Player" could have duplicated the ribs and offered the observers (and enthusiasts) a better rendering of this extremely interesting part of the Type VIIc vessel: Thus, thanks to the incredible generosity of The Nautilus Drydock (Thank you Bob !), I am able to build a full chassis with symmetrical framing: You will recognize that it has more punch than the original design. The two bulkheads are also slightly modified, to accommodate the new starboard framing: Once we insert the frame in the hull, it offers a beautiful depiction of that extremely sturdy section of the Type VIIc: For modelers who do not have the luxury to use a second set of parts, it is worthwhile to replicate the parts with plastic sheets, but it is a lot of work. Of course, some adjustments will be required as the original Trumpeter kit is not exactly symmetrical (the starboard - transparent - side being thicker) and I will have to do some sanding of the hull, internally. Overall, it fits almost perfectly, a little bit tight on the stern side. Yves
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I agree with you that they are not made of wood. However, wood blocks can be made to look like these insulators, better than a flat PE part. We'll see how that goes. Yves
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Just a couple of pictures showing the sail in color, and matte clear coated: There is still plenty to do but the lights have been wired and most details installed. I still need to create the lenses (out of clear sprues) for the navigation lights and perhaps do a very subtle weathering. I am representing the vessel in the early days of teh U-552, and as you can see from this famous picture, the sail was very clean: I have ordered some blocks from Syren and will try putting together some of the rigging. That should be interesting. Note that Trumpeter have nothing planned or described about the wires and antennae and I did not purchase the Photo-Etched set from RC Subz for the rigging. As you can see from the picture, the blocks are round and not flat as would be photo-etched parts folded on each other. We'll see how this goes. Another first for me.... Yves
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Impressive of realism. Fantastic work. Yves
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Beautiful boat and excellent choice. Yves
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Coming to a closure on the conning tower. First the attack periscope and its strong platform with a compass: Details of the compass. I need to find some print of the compass, scale it down and glue it in place, once everything is painted. Below is the front of the platform: Observation periscope shaft, the UZO holder (used to hold all kinds of pointing devices and binoculars), the round Direction Finding antennae (DF) for taking bearings on beacons and for receiving Very Low Frequency messages from the U-Boot Commander In Chief (BdU). Front Compass: Attack periscope in place: I still need to finish the wiring of the navigation lights, paint the whole tower, decals and final matte clear coating. Yves
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7Youngs, Yes I have seen this video and the beautiful realization of this talented Chinese modeler. Yes, he did cut out an opening on the opaque side of the sail and swapped the internal pressure hull sections. It is easy to do although unrealistic as you have to assume that both side were symmetrical of each other, which was not the case. The sail is so small, that I decided to skip this operation and kept it "solid". I admire the beautiful casing he did for his model but do not like the blueish color of the LEDs that he used. I wish my model could be as nice as Jacky's beautiful submarine. Yves
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I am working on the periscopes and other details of the conning tower. So, the progress are slow and small. I wanted to share with you some interesting facts about the Trumpeter kit and the real need to invest into a Photo-Etched kit from Eduard or RCSubz. Below is the assembly of the Trumpeter kit for the attack periscope and stand for the UZO (surface attack Optics) and binnacle. As you can see, details have been simply omitted: In contrast, the RCSubz photo-etched set offers many more details with a challenging assembly: I have not looked at the Eduard set, but I suspect they do improve significantly over the Trumpeter kit. So, this is where I stand as this moment: Still adding some small parts to the Conning Tower: Yves
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Welcome back! Yves
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Some progress on the conning tower. There is still plenty to do with the periscope masts and their bases. As you can see, RCSubz offers a lot of small parts to improve the Trumpeter model: After a coat of automotive primer: At the top of the sail, I added some railings for the crew. This part is missing from both Trumpeter and RCSubz, but is clearly visible on some of the pictures: I feel better about the hatches. It is not as perfect as the prototype but a lot better with the primer. Hopefully, the final paint coat will hide them even more. The compass casing and the front of the sail will need some putty. That's all for today, folks. Yves
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Very true. I was doing a quick calculation recently and I came close to the same amount.... Yves
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So, I went back to some of the hatches, removed them and sanded some more. I think the result looks better. One side of the sail is finished and has been primed with automotive primer. The rungs and handrails were a nightmare to put together, due to the size of these tiny parts. The deck is now glued to the finished side. I will work on the other side and will install the navigation lights with micro LEDs. A test fit on the main deck reveals a perfect alignment and position of the sail, on the wart. I still have to add a lot of details on that deck and conning tower. Yves
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Good point Cog, especially, when comparing the model with the real pictures. To make it perfect, you would have to carve into the sails, the thickness of the PE parts. That would be quite a challenge in itself. The Trumpeter kit provides raised panels for the hatches, which is a stupid idea. Instead they should have done a negative/in depth engraving of the hatch panels. I have tried to sand as much as possible of the existing raised hatches before gluing the PE parts. I cannot sand too much or I will end up damaging the nice riveting on the sails. In addition, the PE parts are very thick because they are made in the same sheets than the decks. I simply wished RCSubz had used less thick brass to print these hatches. I am going to try to prime one side and see how it goes. I may have to backtrack, remove all PE hatches and sand more, risking ruining the sails sides. It is not easy due to multiple mistakes compounding: Trumpeter raised panels and too thick RCSubz parts. Yves
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I am now working on the sail sides. The transparent side always offers an additional challenge: harder to see what you are doing and the material reacts differently to the grinding and drilling. It is also more brittle so you have to be extra careful. Same treatment as the opaque side: carving the admission vent, carving the lugs to hold the wood planks inside the sail, carving the navigation light openings. As far as the multiple holes near the greenhouse, I am not able to drill them using my Dremel. The material melts with the heat and the drill becomes bigger, even at very low speed. I will just mark them by hand and fill them with a wash later on. The various decks inside the sail, are being completed: Trumpeter forgot to provide an opening for the antennae connection on the front of the sail. I have added a piece of tube that will contain the ceramic insulator, later on: And finally, a little teaser of what is to come: And more pictures of the wart, that will soon disappear forever: I hope you enjoy. I sure do! Yves
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Any news about that great development? Are you still planning to release this boat as a kit? Yves
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