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yvesvidal
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Everything posted by yvesvidal
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Katuna, I am not planning to drop any pistons, but you are right about the pairing. That is exactly how they worked. Also, Pistons have a little crown on top, made of 4 segments. Enough insanity for me.... 😉 Yves -
The starboard engine is more or less completed: Each cylinder of the engine has a bore of 400 mm which is about 8 mm at the 1/48 scale. I happen to have aluminum tubes of that exact size, for their inner diameters. I have decided to represent the engine during its construction or rather during extensive repairs. The long threaded rods to hold the head and block around the sleeved cylinders, are made of brass rod. I did not have a 1 mm die (smallest I have is 2 mm), otherwise I would have tapped the extremities of each rod. I hope it does not look too bad....from a distance. At this point, the second engine can be placed on its cradle: This makes for a cramped compartment, as is the prototype. It also allows a nice view on the Port engine with all its finished details. Some funny views.... Soon, we will be closing the lid (installing the ceiling) on these engines. Yves
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What a gorgeous little boat. I love how you built that spine. Yves
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You may not like what you are doing at that moment, but we sure do enjoy it, from our perspective. 🙂 Yves
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- master korabel
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Katuna, I think I know which modeler you are referring to. This is gorgeous but if it is the Hachette kit, they only have two compartments to build....not the entire vessel. Besides, once inserted in the hull, you cannot see any of these incredible details. Finally, I do not have the patience for this level of details, nor would I know where to find the information. But thank you for the picture....it is quite incredible. Yves
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Well, the engine has been installed in its cradle, similar to what these mechanics were doing on these historic pictures. I have tried to shorten the stand of some of the rockers, to give the overall engine a more realistic look. If all the rockers were in the same position (as implied by the Trumpeter kit), then the engine would have a hard time running. It is not perfect, but at least it is better than what the kit is proposing. Also, I have added the six hand valves on top of the engine. Again, these are present in the PE sheet, but the instructions are not mentioning them. I added a small washer between the shaft and the bulkhead, to make it look more convincing: Still trying to focus my poor camera on these gauges: And finally, giving the engine some offset, like the prototype:. The rear of the engines are closer to each other than the front (shaft/output) side. Now, to work on the ceiling and on the other engine. Katuna, I am still debating about that oily look... It is very tempting but also difficult to represent in a realistic way. Yves
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A few pictures of the engine. It is almost finished and I have waived the oily look.... I was ready to use real dirty oil (from my car) but decided otherwise: I still have to paint the exhaust and assemble it. Yves
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Katuna, you beat me for the posting. Yes, of course, I noticed these wonderful and historical pictures posted by RAYMIC1 on the models.rokket.biz forum. Quite a different perspective: Those diesel engines are colossal: Finally, a picture taken from the library of "Das Boot". Yves
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Very true. There are so many short cuts with basically no savings at the end of the day for the Manufacturer. This kit could be "top", with a little bit more care and a few more parts. Yves
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Don, I am humbled that the famous Mr. Prince is taking a look at my model. I am in awe at the extraordinary amount of work you have done on these German submarines and have learnt so much by reading your book (the PDF version). Also, thank you for introducing Mr. Tore to this community as he is probably one of the very few men having served on a Type VIIc vessel, still in existence today. There will be more of your material being used in this Blog. It is my absolute reference. Yves
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My eyes are exploded. That engine is a challenge to build and to paint. It must have at least 100 parts to put together. I am building it pretty much out of the box. The only change I made was to cut the plastic pushers and replace them with metal wires for more realism. Not an easy thing to do: you need to drill 12 holes with the proper alignment. Trumpeter has been placing a lot of hoses and it makes the assembly a challenge: at the scale of 1/48th, these hoses are too big and are crammed, preventing a nice organization of all the parts, especially around the rockers. I have seen some modelers push the insanity at replacing the plastic valve springs with real springs. I just cannot do that. Besides they are almost invisible once the engine is in place. After painting the entire engine, some kind of "Hemp" color, it is time to install the pushers and paint all the details. My eyes are too shot to go any further today. Yves
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Thank you Katuna for all this very interesting material. I have thought about showing the oil pan on the engine and regrets that Trumpeter did not include that part in their otherwise extremely well detailed engine. I may fabricate it for the starboard engine, as nothing will be visible on the port engine. I wish you could show in a separate thread, the beautiful work that you have done with your engine, all the piping and oil tanks in the frame of the compartment. Maybe you will start your own thread on the U-371, as you are depicting it, in the Mediterranean sea. Yves
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Please, post here what you think is relevant to the Diesel engines compartment. I'd love to see what you have. Yves
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Katuna, I know you know, since we frequent the same very specialized forums. I simply hope I can get close enough to what You and Bianco are doing. I am humbled when I see the masterpieces and the extent of research and details that you are putting into these models. Katuna, I use your work as the reference for a lot of details and understanding of that submarine. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills with us. With gratitude. Yves
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Let's look at some of the information I found on the Diesel Engine compartment. As shown by the blueprint, there are three main tanks in that compartment (and there are many secondary and very important tanks to operate such complex machine). There are two Fuel tanks located under the engines and multiple lubrication tanks located right between the engines, under the walkway. These 3D renderings will help: That first drawing shows the fuel cells under each engine and the multiple oil/lubrication tanks, pipes and associated pumps. Quite complex. The drawing above shows the two engines and the walkway installed between them. Notice that the two engines are not parallel to each other. This is not correctly represented in the Trumpeter kit. I will see if I can give the model some offset on the engines. The three following drawings are showing the armature holding up the two massive diesel engines. Fuel tanks are built in between the frames, whereas oil tanks are installed as separate cells between the main longitudinal frames. I have decided to not represent any of these fuel and oil tanks, as I like to be able to show the nice ribs arrangement. Here again, the Trumpeter kit does not provide the two elevated frames marked with a warning signs. The next diagram show the cooling and anti-corrosion system used for the diesel engines and electrical motors: We saw that the diesel engines were introduced by an opening on the pressure hull. That opening was bolted and carefully made waterproof. the two following pictures show that large opening. On the second picture, the opening is shown in greater details, but it is a later model than the U-552 (possibly even a Type IX). You can also see the large pipe bringing fresh air to the engine compartment. On the U-552, that pipe would be almost straight. Finally, some views and blueprints of the engine itself: I have to say that Trumpeter did an excellent work on the engine details. It is rendered in great details as we will see. Yves
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Le Chasse Maree is an excellent magazine which has been published for many years and covers various subjects related to the sea and boats, in depth. I have a few issues at home and really like it. You picked up an excellent and traditional subject for your build. Yves
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I am now moving away from the Trumpeter instructions.... not that I have followed them very much, since the beginning. What should have been glued last, is actually done first. This is done to allow me to fine tune the alignment of the engine(s) and transmission shaft(s). If you do that task at the end, as suggested by the assembly instructions, you run the risk of having the shaft not match the opening in the bulkhead (which is exactly what is happening, already). So, some intervention will be necessary at this location. I have two diesel engines, but they are identical and not symmetrical as are the real ones. So, we need to perform some important surgery on the starboard engine. In addition, keeping the two engines fully assembled will hide the "prototypical" and correct looking engine and presents to the observers, something that is not right. So, I have decided to cut down to the crankshaft case the second engine and prepare it for a little surprise..... If I can do it. More will come later, in a few days.... This is where we stand at this moment. hopefully, most details of the port engine will be visible over the "cut" starboard engine. This is going to be a very busy compartment. Thank you for all the "Likes", encouragement and support. Yves
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This wonderful 360 spherical view of the Engine compartment is very useful: https://www.360cities.net/image/submarine-u-995-machine-room I already spotted another error done by Trumpeter, who installed the indicator lights over the rear bulkhead (wall between Diesel and electric engines) when in fact they are suspended to the ceiling, near the wall between Diesel engine and kitchen. When looking at this presentation, please keep in mind that the pictured U-995 is somewhat different from the early U-552 that we are depicting. In addition, U-995 has been modified heavily and retro-fitted with more technology than the early U-Boots. Therefore it may explains some of the differences between the pictures and the model. Yves
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Some updates, on the Diesel engine compartment: Basically, to give the roof and wall a more interesting appearance, I am doubling the molded wires with real conduits: twisted pairs from CAT5E cables. The fasteners are made of a small piece of tape sliced, to create the illusion of some metallic holders. Also, notice that I made a second hole for the exhaust of the starboard engine (missing in the kit, of course). Once painted, the result is not too bad. All the conduits blend nicely.... Highlight of some details and a touch of wash on the conduits. Still very clean overall, no grease and oil being spilled. Painting the chassis took forever, even with an airbrush: there are so many surfaces.... I cannot even imagine what it would be to paint this with a brush: Et voila, for the moment. Yves
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