yvesvidal

Kevin, You wish you had a "James H." ahead of you, with his wonderful pictures and instructions. It looks right from our perspective. Yves

This ship is going to be top-heavy 🙂 Yves

That is strange. I would get in touch with CAF and ask them. Could it be the plan which is a tad too small? Will the frames fit if you sand everything down by 1 mm? How does it fit into your building stand? This seems like a lot of sanding to me.... Yves

Very well said Kevin. You are a poet and a philosopher. Yves

eyesight and sanity.... Yes, 1/700 is a real challenge and this destroyer is a little masterpiece. Yves

WOW !!!! Kevin, you are relentless !!! What a fantastic kit. I will be following with a lot of interest as I would like to acquire a kit from CAF (but a prohibited one...the Chebec 😉 ) Working at the scale of 1/48 or 1/32 is also the best way to include a lot of details. In addition, when you are tired of it, it will fit perfect next to my submarine at the same scale.... 😉 Yves

You are turning a very old and crude kit by Airfix, into a little marvel!!! Yves

RGL, Here are four paintings of the French cruisers and battleships of that time, painted by Roger Chapelet (or Michel Bez), if I am not mistaken. All four ships were offered by Heller, unfortunately in the 1/400 scale which was their reference long before the 1/350 became a standard: Quite a fleet. Yves

Superb work KPNuts. I like that you went through the trouble of wearing the tires a little bit. Your model is so realistic, it can be easily taken for the real thing. Yves

For the main 88 mm gun, I just found out that EDUARD was proposing a resin/brass kit for the Trumpeter kit. For $20 on E-Bay, I decided to purchase it and give it a try and see how it compares to the Trumpeter gun, spiced up with the RCSubs PE. At first look, the details on the EDUARD kit are extremely impressive and this kit is a project in itself: Lots of parts in this little kit: And lots of explanations and assembly sheets. EDUARD proposes two ways of assembling the gun: Submerged or ready to fire: I will take the submerged option as this is how I am representing my model (no little people on the deck). Yves

I just installed the rear 20mm Flak gun: This is done with the Trumpeter kit and enhanced with the PE by RCSubs. Yves

Fuji, The underwater observation chamber allowed one person at a time to look underneath. Yes, the bow thruster may have been added later on and would be a nice addition to the model. Billing Boats missed that point (and so did I). Yves

Very sleek hull. It is starting to take shape. Yves

Excellent choice of model. I built that model about 35 years ago and enjoyed it very much. It combines plastic and wood assemblies, which makes it very interesting. The model can be radio-controlled (mine sailed in the Mediterranean sea as well as multiple lakes in France, Boston and North Carolina. I still have that beautiful boat and would need to rejuvenate it a little bit. If you are looking for a challenging build, you could try to plank the hull with wood. A few people have tried it. I am not sure they ever finished it. I will be following your build with a lot of interest. Yves

Superb paint job, as always. You know so well, how to render that old salty patina on these behemoths of metal. Yves

Maybe the OSS was very persuasive with their threats or promises for Citizenship..... Yves

Another exciting project that will end up in an exquisite model. Maybe Chris Watton should offer additional wood sheets to build various models based on the same hull..... Yves

Katuna, No, I do not believe this is from Snowman. It is not his style. They are on the Internet and I suspect that they may be part of an upcoming 3D book on the Type VII-c. Yes, they are incredible of details and realism: Here is a link: https://blenderartists.org/t/cutaway-type-vii-u-boat-wip/1119855/65 Yves

Really nice. I love the details. Yves

Good catch Gentleman. I have seen various pictures of models, showing different orientations. I also could not find a clear pictures of the real thing. I will definitely reverse the shoulder-rests on my model. Thank you. Yves

Interesting arrangement, probably dictated by the narrowness of the hull. I like the fact that you show some blue prints to explain the details of the model. Yves

Below are the two deck guns, painted and ready to be glued on the deck: Yves

Let's review the assembly of the rear machine gun: The Flak Gun of 20 mm. That specific weapon was used to fight against air crafts, whereas the 88mm deck gun was used to attack nearby boats and ships. U-552 was an early Type VII-c and as such only had the single 20 mm MG151 gun. Later submarines, would see their Flak gun doubled and the platform to operate them, was also increased in size. The Trumpeter implementation of the FLAK gun is not too bad and a definitive effort went into the meshing used to collect used ammunition. Once again, the PE set from RCSubs helps bring that little model to a higher level: The two sets combined do provide a nice and accurate rendering of the FLAK gun: Yves

Finally, a set of good plans is always useful when building a model. I know I used these a lot, all along the construction. These are available from the-blueprints.com: First, a late VII-C which does not fit too well, the early U-552. And then a Type VII-D, which was designed about the same time as the early Type VII-c and is identical with the exception of the 10 meters long section, used to submerge mines. I suppose these were the ancestors of the ICBM found on modern submarines: And then, of course, two of my favorite blue prints: the tanks arrangement, which have helped me bring this model to a different level of accuracy: Arrangement of Compartments and Tanks, and Tank Capacities INHALT BEZEICHNUNG SPANT BEZEICHNUNG Capacity Designation Frame Limits Cubic Meters Tons TAUCHBUNKER 2 STEUERBORD A24 - D34 11.400 11.4 MB and RFO tank 2 STAR TAUCHBUNKER 2 BACKBORD A24 - D 34 11.400 11.4 MB and RFO tank PORT TAUCHBUNKER 4 STEUERBORD D46 - D62 13.400 13.4 MB and RFO tank 4 STAR TAUCHBUNKER 4 BACKBORD D46 - D62 13.400 13.4 MB and RFO tank 4 PORT REGELBUNKER STEUERBORD 1 D34 - D36 4.700 4.7 Regulating and RFO tank 1 STAR REGELBUNKER BACKBORD 1 D34 - D36 4.700 4.7 Regulating and RFO tank 1 PORT TREIBOLBUNKER 1 INNEN D29 - D40 37.900 37.9 FO tank 1, inboard TREIBOLBUNKER 2 INNEN D20 - D40 32.800 32.8 FO tank 2, inboard SUMME 129.700 129.7 Total SCHMUTZWASSERZELLE 1 D31 - D32 0.760 0.76 Waste water tank 1 SCHMUTZWASSERZELLE 2 D53 - D54 0.485 0.48 Waste water tank 2 SUMME 1.245 1.24 Total TRIKENWASSERZELLE 1 D29 - D 31 2.625 2.62 Fresh water tank 1 TRIKENWASSERZELLE 2 D42 1/2 - D44 0.465 0.46 Fresh water tank 2 TRIKENWASSERZELLE 3 D55 1/2 - D58 1/2 0.785 0.78 Fresh water tank 3 SUMME 3.675 3.67 Total DESTILLATSCHALTER 1 D10 - D11 0.149 0.14 Water distilate tank1 DESTILLATSCHALTER 2 D13 - D14 0.199 0.19 Water distilate tank 2 DESTILLATSCHALTER 3 D14 - D15 0.153 0.15 Water distilate tank 3 SUMME 0.501 0.5 Total MOTOREN ÖLVORRAT TANK 1 D18 - D26 3.270 3.27 LO supply tank 1 MOTOREN ÖLVORRAT TANK 2 D18 - D26 3.230 3.23 LO supply tank 2 MOTOREN ÖLSAMMEL TANK D23 - D25 0.800 0.80 LO collecting tank MOTOREN ÖLSAMMEL TANK D21 - D23 0.800 0.80 LO collecting tank SCMUTZMOTORENÖL TANK D19 - D21 0.790 0.79 Dirty LO tank SUMME 8.890 8.89 Total WASCHWASSSERZELLE D53 - D54 0.485 0.48 Wash water tank WASCHWASSER VERBRAUCH BEHALTER D31 - D32 0.030 0.03 Wash water daily service tank TORPEDOZELLE 2 D63 - D69 5.750 5.75 Torpedo compensating tank 2 SUMME 6.265 6.26 Total The abbreviations A and D signify "Aussenspant" and Druckspant" respectively. They denote the frames of the outer and pressure hulls in like order. The tank capacities, given in cubic meters, are corrected into tons of 35 cubic feet of sea water. One cubic meter = 35.3 cubic feet Yves

A few more links and useful information for the Type VII-c builder and modeler: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/collection/u4a2facb6-00be-441c-a5e5-ffd7a3c3549d/U-boat This great web site provides 3D rendering of various parts of the Type VII-c submersibles. Below are a few examples created by NZSnowman: Still, on the subject of 3D rendering, a few pictures of incredible details are available: Yves