U-552 by yvesvidal - FINISHED - Trumpeter - 1/48 - PLASTIC - Type VIIC U-boat

[yvesvidal]

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

[popeye the sailor]

catching up with your progress since I last looked in Yves........I must say that this is one outstanding model!    major kudos with the stand and the wiring on this beast........top notch workmanship     all the extras you've put into her is really paying off........very impressive!

[Canute]

Outstanding work, Yves. 👍

 

And I second the documentation of your wiring work. I belong to a large model railroad club out here in westerns NC and we have a very substantial electrical setup due to the combination of a digital command and control system for operating our trains, overlaid with a very realistic signalling system. The gentleman who did the lion's share of the signalling system passed away unexpectedly about 2 years ago and didn't do a very good job documenting the work.  We have had to scramble at times to keep it operating. A word (or so) to the wise.

[Katuna]

Looking fantastic! I really like the way the base came out. Very simple but elegant. Wonderful job so far.

[Kevin]

i will miss the updates when this build is completed,  thank you for the work you have put into this

[yvesvidal]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

i will miss the updates when this build is completed,  thank you for the work you have put into this

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

[yvesvidal]

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

Edited October 21, 2019 by yvesvidal

[Katuna]

"Duh" is an understatement! This is what happens when you design by committee. Perhaps their instructions were not Port and Starboard but Left and Right. Depends which direction you're facing. 

 

Now that that's off my chest, I think yours is a wise decision. With the nearly complete lack of Conning Tower/Attack Periscope detail, you'd be much better off superdetailing the Bridge and Flak deck. There is a lot of parts available on Shapeways for the Bridge that are a vast improvement over the kit parts. That, along with the RCSubs and/or Eduard PE sets will build into a very nice "sail".

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Katuna

[7Youngs]

On 10/18/2019 at 2:00 PM, yvesvidal said:

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

Hello Yves,

 

I have been following this thread since the beginning as I am also building this kit, but not to this level of detail as I am not as experienced with PE or weathering techniques. You have sure inspired me to re-think although I had already started the rear torpedo room when I found this forum. I can only add my praises to the others in saying what a great build this will be!

 

On the subject of lighting, being an electronics and electrical engineer this is one area that I excel in and have done this with 1/24 scale WWII aircraft. For this build I have spent considerable time working out how I wish to install the LEDs and wire, which is not dissimilar to yours (different battery voltage mainly), and have drawn up the circuit. I can recommend using AutoCAD electrical, or Eplan (German version - for completeness!). If you wish to DIY then both of these are available as a demo download which will suffice for this project. The latter is easier for beginners, however I have access to the full AutoCAD on which I designed my display case so that's what I used.

 

If I can work out how to load pics (and register on this site) then I'll post my schematic diagram.

 

As a 'thank you' for your exquisite posts I am willing to draw up your circuit from a sketch if you wish?

 

 

[yvesvidal]

7Youngs,

 

Thank you for the generous offer regarding the circuit design.  Due to the expensive proposition of manufacturing such a small circuit (a couple of prototypes would cost $350-400), I have decided to go with pre-made circuit boards. It is simple enough and works perfectly. As a matter of fact, I am also an Electronic and electrical engineer and have in the past realized multiple complex printed circuit boards as one of my hobbies, is to realize High-End audio equipment. Instead of AutoCad, I have used Eagle and a couple of other programs. My favorite remains Layo 1.

 

I would love to see your model and you should start a Blog. I feel lonely at times with my German submarine, although the followers are very enthusiastic and supportive.

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

A few progress, as I am turning the sail floor into Swiss cheese. Again, the fantastic PE set from RCSubs is perfectly designed and provides a very nice fit: 

Nice instructions from RCSubs too, a lot easier to follow than the Trumpeter manual, which is rather vague: 

When I am done, that part will just be a skeleton.

 

Yves

 

 

Edited October 25, 2019 by yvesvidal

[7Youngs]

8 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

7Youngs,

 

Thank you for the generous offer regarding the circuit design.  Due to the expensive proposition of manufacturing such a small circuit (a couple of prototypes would cost $350-400), I have decided to go with pre-made circuit boards. It is simple enough and works perfectly. As a matter of fact, I am also an Electronic and electrical engineer and have in the past realized multiple complex printed circuit boards as one of my hobbies, is to realize High-End audio equipment. Instead of AutoCad, I have used Eagle and a couple of other programs. My favorite remains Layo 1.

 

I would love to see your model and you should start a Blog. I feel lonely at times with my German submarine, although the followers are very enthusiastic and supportive.

 

Yves

Hello fellow engineer - we are not alone!

 

Yes, I may well start a blog for my build. It would be useful to see an 'out of box' build alongside your 'super-detailed' build, although it gives me a 'naked' feeling doing so ....if that makes sense!  😲😳

 

Here's the schematic of my lighting circuit: -

Parts in dashed areas will be on stripboard (Veroboard), as you did with the trimmer pots under the base. I will use separate resistors to balance the light level in the Control Room to the other compartments. As you rightly say, it's not worth getting PCBs made for this. I would highly recommend the fuse F1, especially during assembly and testing...just in case!! Switch S2 selects either white or red for the Control Room/Sail lights, H1-5 being bi-colour LEDs - I can't remember if you did this.

 

I watched 'Das Boot' and 'U-571' recently and I thought I noticed green and blue lights in one of the boats - is there any reference to these colours being used?

 

If you would like your circuit drawn as above just send me a 'fag-packet' sketch. Files will be dwg/pdf/jpg format.

 

Apologies for 'bombing' your blog. I promise not to again!

 

More of your build please.....

Paul 

Edited October 25, 2019 by 7Youngs

[Katuna]

In reference to the lighting in Das Boot, the Red & Green in the Engine Room denotes Port & Stbd engine commands from the Bridge and/or Control room. That's why you see them flash for attention. This let the engineers in the Engine Room know a command was being sent for a specific engine. 

 

I know the Red lighting was restricted to the Control Room and Conning Tower/Attack Periscope areas. 

 

As for the Blue lighting in Das Boot, I've never come across anything regarding these lights on an actual boat. If I remember correctly, the blue lights were shown in the Torpedo Room.

[yvesvidal]

I agree with Katuna regarding the colors of lights. The Blue lights used in the movie Das Boot, may have been used just for dramatic purposes in the movie.

 

The Red lights allow you to keep your nocturnal vision intact and that is why they were used in the control room and conning tower, for the officers and crew in charge of watching outside, during night time. 

 

I am not planning to use any Blue LEDs in my model, even though a lot of modelers have been doing it, due to the movie depictions.

 

Yves

[Kevin]

LOL the 100's of hours i have spent in red lighting, at periscope depth, and on the surface when at watch diving (the memories come flooding back) which is dimmed so much it then becomes black lighting

[Old Collingwood]

2 minutes ago, Kevin said:

LOL the 100's of hours i have spent in red lighting, at periscope depth, and on the surface when at watch diving (the memories come flooding back) which is dimmed so much it then becomes black lighting

I understand  bro.

 

OC.

[yvesvidal]

The creation of the Swiss cheese is almost over: 

There is not much plastic left on that part. But the light test reveals that all has been cut accordingly: 

Time to glue the PE on top of the plastic skeleton and to add the hatch lid: 

Again, the RC Subz photo etched part are a very nice and close match to the Trumpeter parts. They definitely enhance the appearance of this model.

 

Yves

[mahenke]

Hi... I've been following your build as I have just purchased the kit and started as well... you mentioned you used Tamiya XF-24 for the main light gray color... but for me here in Canada Tamiya XF-24 is dark gray???

I am trying to match the 2 main colors in a spray can but having hard time locating... I have also purchased several of the Kriegsmarine color set from LifeColor and Vallejo. What 2 main colors did you wind up using and how did you apply... the main hull is my concern too big to air brush imo?

 

Regards

Edited October 29, 2019 by mahenke

[yvesvidal]

Mahenke,

 

 

If you re-read the part related to painting the hull, you will see that I have not used Tamiya but Humbrol/Revell paints. Tamiya was only used for the deck.

And no, the main hull is not too big to be airbrushed. I did it with a dual action Paasche airbrush, using one of the largest nozzle I had. It takes some time but can be done actually quite well.

 

Yves

Edited October 29, 2019 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

Few progress to report. Not much going on but very time consuming.

I drilled the opening for the fresh air admission for the starboard diesel and glued the PE grill. The position light was also opened. I am still debating how I will make it working as even 3 mm LED will not fit. I will probably use a micro SMS LED with a colored piece of translucent plastic for the lens. Trumpeter did not care to drill the large amount of holes on the side, either. I wished a PE part was available for that section of the sail, but RCSubz did not include it.

On the other side, a few more details have been glued: wood slats to protect the crew from the cold and shocks as well as anti-skidding steps for the vigil. Again, Trumpeter did not care marking the wooden slats with the three lugs to hold them to the side of the sail. I did it with a small drill.

 

It is worth spending some time on the conning tower as it is one of the highlights of a submarine. Most likely, this section will take many days and weeks before it is completed.

 

Yves

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

We are now working on the inner hull of the sail. That part of the submarine was built extremely stiff and re-unforced to withstand underwater explosions and air attacks.

The inner or pressure hull of a submarine has the shape of a cigar with a big wart on the top. You can also see the large opening just above the Diesel compartment, to allow the insertion of these giant engines (no, they could not pass through the main hatch access 🙂 even through the torpedoes chute 😞

Unfortunately, the inside of the sail will not be visible but I could not resist the pleasure of putting it together with all the provided parts: 

Here you can see the attack periscope that provided another point of vision for the Kaleunt or officer in charge of launching the torpedoes.

 

That periscope is finally mounted on the deck. It will be used as a guide to position very precisely the inner pressure hull of the sail:

Let's not forget the hatch lid: 

All the above will be of course, completely non-visible, once the lid is placed on the deck: 

The "wart" is glued with acrylic glue for a very precise and slow positioning. It will provide the correct orientation and height of the sail bridge: 

In the front is the observation periscope tube. A ladder will be inserted before gluing the sail deck, but will not be visible.

 

That assembly explains quite well, how the U-boot Type VIIc was built.

 

Yves

 

 

Edited October 31, 2019 by yvesvidal

[7Youngs]

On 10/29/2019 at 8:11 PM, yvesvidal said:

I drilled the opening for the fresh air admission for the starboard diesel and glued the PE grill. The position light was also opened. I am still debating how I will make it working as even 3 mm LED will not fit. I will probably use a micro SMS LED with a colored piece of translucent plastic for the lens.

 

I did wonder if a 3mm LED would fit. Fortunately I have some SM LEDs in green/red left over from a previous build so I will probably use these. They fit neatly between the strips of copper on Veroboard as below: -

A challenge to solder, but worth it.

 

By the way, is there a reason why you've left the Diesel engine compartment? I'm currently building this and would be interested to see how you handle the build and colours for the engine, and the PE table stand (PE5). I had considerable difficulty with this part and will scratch-build my own using plastic sheet. Good luck...although your skills are better than mine with the PE I think.

 

Sail assembly is looking good.

[yvesvidal]

1 hour ago, 7Youngs said:

By the way, is there a reason why you've left the Diesel engine compartment? I'm currently building this and would be interested to see how you handle the build and colours for the engine, and the PE table stand (PE5). I had considerable difficulty with this part and will scratch-build my own using plastic sheet. Good luck...although your skills are better than mine with the PE I think.

 

Sail assembly is looking good.

Yes, simply lack of time. It is a very complicated compartment and I intend to build it with a lot of details. So, it will wait in the future..... 

Same for the Control room and the kitchen area. It is more important for me, at this point, to prove the feasibility of that big model with all its electric connections.

 

The great stuff about that Trumpeter kit, is that you can take it at your own pace and build the modules as you wish.... well almost as you want...

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

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

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by yvesvidal

[cog]

Yves,

 

Still great build. Question about the sails. Wouldn't the hatches be more flush with their suroundings?

[yvesvidal]

15 hours ago, cog said:

Yves,

 

Still great build. Question about the sails. Wouldn't the hatches be more flush with their suroundings?

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

Edited November 2, 2019 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

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

Edited November 3, 2019 by yvesvidal

[channell]

I thought those little access hatches looked strange sticking out too but with paint on 'em they disappear nicely into the surrounding structure. Nice work! 

[Katuna]

Hatches look 100% better now. Good work! Trumpeter has not made it easy, have they? 

 

I've got to get my RCSubs sets ordered. I wonder if the Eduard set is any thinner. It's a lot (a LOT) of money but having both sets to pick and choose which parts look better would sure be a plus.

 

Funny how fast a $400 model becomes a $1000 model. 

[yvesvidal]

5 hours ago, Katuna said:

Funny how fast a $400 model becomes a $1000 model. 

Very true. I was doing a quick calculation recently and I came close to the same amount....

 

Yves