Type VIIC U-Boat by Thukydides - FINISHED - HobbyBoss - 1:350 - PLASTIC

[Thukydides]

Welcome to my log for the Hobby Boss Type VIIC U Boat. This is intended to be a short side project and so this log will likely be used to document my progress rather than explaining my thought processes in detail. I am intending to keep kitbashing to a minimum on this build with the only significant addition likely to be placing the u boat in a seascape diorama.

 

Here is a picture of the box, next week I will begin planning the build.

Edited October 24 by Thukydides

[yvesvidal]

I will be following with a lot of interest.

I also wish someone would produce a 1/200th scale of the Type VII-C, someday, to go with all the larger ships in that scale.

 

Yves

[Thukydides]

10 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

I will be following with a lot of interest.

I also wish someone would produce a 1/200th scale of the Type VII-C, someday, to go with all the larger ships in that scale.

 

Yves

Part of the reason I picked this scale is if I want to do a larger ship I have the option at this scale. And my OCD demands that all my ships be the same scale. Also it is small which allows some cheating on the painting.

[AON]

Obviously you meant CDO  🤪

[Thukydides]

I began construction on the hull. The main hull was a bit warped so I had to use clamps to hold everything in the right place.

Once the main structure was together I then had to do some gap filling with milliput mixed with a bit of isopropyl to make it runny. This was then sanded smooth once cured.

Then I began work on the coning tower. The PE for this sure is fiddly, but it feels like this build is flying together compared with working on Alert. Though I suspect the painting will go much more slowly than the construction…

[Isaiah]

This is gonna be a breeze for you!

[Thukydides]

Model is now all assembled with PE attached. I still need to add the cables and then it will be on to painting. You may notice that I didn’t attach any of the propellors. That is because they will be hidden under the seascape so no need to bother with them.

[Thukydides]

With the model assembled it is time to turn my attention to the base. I found a bamboo tray at dollarama which was about the right size for the base. I flipped it over and used the bottom which had a lip and cut a piece of pink insulation foam to fit. I roughly positioned the model on it and cut out the hole for it to sit in.

Next up I painted the base. This took many layers with sanding in between. Here is what it looked like after the first coat of primer.

Then it was time to figure out the rough shape of the waves. This involved a lot of reference pictures as I have never done this before. This is only the base for them, the will be refined more in the next step.

You can see in the picture how I inserted back in some small strips of foam as I adjusted the position of everything. Next up the waves need to be refined a bit more.

[AON]

... and again I am learning something new!

[Thukydides]

17 minutes ago, AON said:

... and again I am learning something new!

I assume you mean the foam. It is great stuff. It is light and strong, but you can imprint shapes into it. I make all sorts of hobby stuff out of it. And if you have a hot wire cutter (I don't) you can get really crazy with it. All of the terrain below is made out of the foam.

 

[AON]

Yes, that is what I am now watching.

Interestingly.... I have a electric soldering gun with heat adjustment and a variety of tips, including a hot wire cutter!

[Thukydides]

Work is progressing briskly. The base of the seascape is now covered in epoxy putty.

This did not turn out exactly how I was hoping and I had issues shaping the smaller ripples in the water. My plan for texturing the surface didn’t work and I am going to have to come up with a new plan, probably involving building up gloss medium or something like that. However the other issue is the surface is not as smooth as I would like for this, I am going to have to go in with some extra putty to smooth up some of the seams and unwaterlike shapes.

 

Here is the current state of things after I cut off the overflow on the edges and trimmed the hole to allow the model it sit in it properly.

Edited August 5 by Thukydides

[AON]

I know I'm standing back quite a distance but it looks damn good from Ontario!  🤣

Will you be using any of the techniques shown at one of te NRG Saturday Zoom workshops. They have a video on the website if you want a refresher.

 

[Thukydides]

2 hours ago, AON said:

I know I'm standing back quite a distance but it looks damn good from Ontario!  🤣

Will you be using any of the techniques shown at one of te NRG Saturday Zoom workshops. They have a video on the website if you want a refresher.

 

The issue is not the general shape. I am pretty happy for that as a first try, it is seam lines where I put putty on top of other putty which really doesn't look like water. You can't see it easily because everything is white, but once I start painting they will be very visible.

 

As to the techniques the answer is some of them. I have not yet seen the workshop, but I am familiar with his method as I followed his build log for Camilla. Some of his techniques are pretty universally used, but some of them are more specific to his scale. Where I am at 1:350 it will change some things. I plan to go back and watch it before I actually start doing any painting to get some ideas, but mostly I am following techniques from this youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@studioblueocean4590

[mikegr]

Maybe use some thick gesso layers  instead of gel to smoothen up things. Its really easy to work with

[Thukydides]

2 hours ago, mikegr said:

Maybe use some thick gesso layers  instead of gel to smoothen up things. Its really easy to work with

Good idea, I may try that and as it dries I should be able to texture it a bit. I had planned to put another thin layer of putty, but that might be easier. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Thukydides]

@mikegr's suggestion worked really well. I was able to cover up all of the seams and also add some texture to simulate the smaller waves. Next up I need to attach the cables and then on to painting.

[AON]

I would never have thought to try that.

[mikegr]

1 hour ago, Thukydides said:

@mikegr's suggestion worked really well. I was able to cover up all of the seams and also add some texture to simulate the smaller waves. Next up I need to attach the cables and then on to painting.

I'm glad I helped. 

I remember artist Chris Flodberg mentioned the usage of gesso even to a dozen of layers to get the desired effect.

While forming the big waves is relatively easy and can be achieved with different materials and ways, making the actual surface texture in accordance always with the scale is trickier.

The Korean artist you are watching in you tube is I believe the finest in the world. However his skills are unreachable for the average modeler. Lately he has released a series of simplified versions of his works. I also found the epoxy putty quite pricey. Therefore I switch to resin, not only more affordable but also for its transparency. But also has its limitations. Of course you can't create a heavy sea with resin.

 

 

[Thukydides]

Final update before painting. I went back in and did some more touchups with gesso accenting waves and fixing minor issues I didn’t catch with the first pass. I also added the cables using 10/0 fly tying thread and then added small mod podge droplets with a toothpick to simulate the connectors on them.

[brunnels]

That looks great, what do you use to glue PE that small without tons of excess glue?

[Glen McGuire]

Just found this new build log.  I'm on board!  Looking good so far!!

[Thukydides]

36 minutes ago, brunnels said:

That looks great, what do you use to glue PE that small without tons of excess glue?

Unfortunately I don’t have much wisdom to offer here, this is my first time using this small PE. I just used thin super glue and it didn’t work out as well as I would have liked. If you look closely you will see in a few of the joints there is indeed a bunch of excess glue. The main problem I found was getting it right the first time. If you have to redo the joint several times there is inevitably a buildup.

[Ronald-V]

15 hours ago, Thukydides said:

Unfortunately I don’t have much wisdom to offer here, this is my first time using this small PE. I just used thin super glue and it didn’t work out as well as I would have liked. If you look closely you will see in a few of the joints there is indeed a bunch of excess glue. The main problem I found was getting it right the first time. If you have to redo the joint several times there is inevitably a buildup.

Acetone will remove CA? You can dissolve the build up and start over

Edited August 8 by Ronald-V

[AON]

One fellow working with CA on tiny parts used cat whiskers as an applicator for tiny deposits.

If you know someone with a house cat the whiskers fall off regularly and new ones grow in so if they spot them on the floor ask them to save you a few.

They are quite fine and stiff!

[Ronald-V]

12 hours ago, AON said:

One fellow working with CA on tiny parts used cat whiskers as an applicator for tiny deposits.

If you know someone with a house cat the whiskers fall off regularly and new ones grow in so if they spot them on the floor ask them to save you a few.

They are quite fine and stiff!

Maybe a bit easier would be hairs out a stiff, cheap paint brush. Then you also have a little more hair than the cat has whiskers 😁

[mikegr]

5 hours ago, Ronald-V said:

Maybe a bit easier would be hairs out a stiff, cheap paint brush. Then you also have a little more hair than the cat has whiskers 😁

That is what I do. I strip down a  1 dollar paint brush. Use the hair for paint as well. Some can be tear apart to 2 or 3 sections . can't find anything thinner than this.

Edited August 8 by mikegr

[AON]

Cat whiskers go to a fine point.

Paint brush hairs are cut blunt and thicker at the ends.

Which ever is appropriate for the job at hand.

Edited August 8 by AON

[Thukydides]

It has been a while since I posted as I havn’t had any progress to report. Life has been busier and I have been spending most of my hobby time doing research for Perseus.

 

However, this evening I broke out the airbrush and decided to make some progress. I love my airbrush, but I dislike the setup and teardown I have to do with it and so I often have trouble finding a free evening where I am in the mood to use it.

 

First up is the uboat itself. I primed it black and then gave it a coat of VMC German Grey. In retrospect it looks a bit on the dark side. I may have to give it another slightly lighter coat for the dark colour. Once it has fully dried I will mask it off and spray the lighter grey.

I also primed the water base in black and then gave it a coat of VMC dark sea blue. This did not cover as well as I wanted and ended up just looking a slightly bluey black (see below).

So I broke out my inks and started shading and highlighting with various combinations of cyan, white and navy blue ink. The nice thing about the inks is they don’t cover, but are super saturated so you get lots of colour that you can layer on top of itself. I don’t have any pictures of the process as it is hard to take pictures in the middle of airbrushing, but here is the final result after all the spraying is done.

This is not by any means done, I have lots of steps yet to do, but I am encouraged that it looks at least somewhat like water. I will chalk it down as a good first attempt.

[Glen McGuire]

4 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

I will chalk it down as a good first attempt.

Very well done!  The layering of blue shades looks superb.