Revell Type IX C (U505 Late) 1/72nd

[salmon]

The doctor ordered me to occupy my mind (which is proof I have one) while I recover from the surgery. Of course that put a grin on my face and a roll of the eyes on Tina’s (my wonderful wife) face. She instantly knew what I was thinking.

The original plan was to build the Bronco Type XXIII (again), but the Type IX was gnawing at me to build. I needed some ground rules I hope to stay within. Try not to get crazy detailing it because that will soak up my time and with all the aftermarket stuff out there, eat up my finances. So, I will TRY to build it out of the box.

Opening the box, I was a little surprised at how big the box was for how few the number of parts there are. There is plenty of detail (I am aware of some of the discussions about accuracy), but overall it is a great kit. Another surprise was the size. It is over 41” in length about 10” shorter than the Gato and about 5” longer than the Type VII in the same scale. Anyways, I am not disappointed by this model.

The first decision is to open up holes. Originally I was going to do all of them, but I changed my mind to most of them.

First using a Dremel or in my case a Foredom.

I began by estimating where the flood holes are and holding up to a desk lamp began grinding on the inside cutting to make sure I was getting the material I needed out. You can also see how close you are to stopping by thinness of the plastic judging by how much light comes through.

You can see the plastic getting lighter and lighter as the plastic thins.

Some holes like the limber holes are pretty easy to find, others took approximate guesses and using the light, looking at the finished side or outside, to see how close I got and make appropriate adjustments.

Practice makes perfect….or in my case, I mess up so I can learn new ways to fix and repair damaged areas (and if you believe that, I have some land for sale).

Wow do I give myself lots of practice. I did get better with time.

The best tip I can offer is go lightly. I made most of my mistakes by being impatient and trying to grind away too much, too quickly.

OK, that was a little silly. It is out of the box still.

I have a few more holes to do and will post more when I have something interesting, like how I fixed my mess ups!

[scott t]

Kind of like a dentist. Grinds big holes in your teeth and then glops filling material in. Or covers it with a cap/crown.
Now if you grind your fingers and get some blood flowing you will really be like the dentist.

Scott T

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

There are times I want to just drill holes down the bottom center line and then paint all the flood holes and vents black.
I really don't like cutting all those holes.
Could be why I have never built a old sub.

Nice work there Tom.

[thor]

Very professionally done, Tom. Good job!

[salmon]

@Scott, yuck. Although I have bled on models in the past.

@Ralph, drilling down the centerline and painting the holes black works well! I just like pain I guess.

@Matt, very kind of you. Thank you.

[bwi]

I'm watching and learning Tom

Grtz,
Bart

[salmon]

Bart,
You are the one that could teach me a few things.
Anyways, Got to fix my mistakes, at least a portion of them. For the most part, my detailing and fixes will be done later. My primary focus is to get the sub in the water. Then go back and detail, fix, clean up, paint and so on.
That being said, lets see what can be done with these areas circled in red


The materials being used are Bondene cohesive, a small round file, and something I have been making a lot of, styrene chips.


Needed to reinforce the back side of the flood holes. I should have used a smaller bur on these openings because even being careful, too much was removed. Once the plastic was put in place, it was given a liberal amount of cohesive.


The exterior area was done the same way, adding bits and pieces then adding cohesive glue to melt the plastic into one big blob. I let it set for a small amount of time and used the round file to move some of the melted plastic to pre-shape the opening. Now I will let it dry overnight.

I will do this for some of the misshapen openings and for two supports in the limber holes.

[mar7ck]

I'm glad i'm not the only one to do that.

[salmon]

Today's progress....
The fluffy grindings that the burr makes (lower right corner in photo) become a wonderful styrene putty that works great for a type of filler. I wet the area, place one of the pieces on the area to be filled and touch more glue to that. In moments it dissolves into a sticky, thick, goo that once hardens will become one with the base. Until it hardens, it can be spread, pushed, and pulled.

Looks O.K. so far, a little filing and shaping then paint, who will notice? For the most part, people will not notice or look at the flood holes and certainly once it is in the water even less will see it. In the meantime have plenty of other things to do, so I will let this dry.

[salmon]

Mark, have you built the Type IX?

OK, I just had to do a little more on the flood holes. maybe you can see the difference.


The bell crank for the rear planes needs room to move and will need to be ground out. Marked out in the picture. I removed way more than needed, but I just want to have the extra room just in case. Also, I remove unnecessary flash and internal structures not needed like the injection molding also shown in the picture.

The removal of the molding area was easy with a flush cutter

Ground out the area for the rear rudder bell crank.

I noticed I missed some flood/limber holes on the rear pieces. I tried a different burr to finish the excavating the plastic out. A small round burr. That seemed to give me a little better control.

[PaulC]

Wow, talk about control, Tom. You really have a good eye and steady hand. Not to mention patience. The results equal PE detail in my opinion. It looks great! Nice technique for spot repair too. I will be borrowing that.

[salmon]

We learn from each other my friend. While I appreciate your kind words Scott, I look at my flood holes and see an amateur attempt. It will pass, but I need a lot more experience!

[salmon]

We learn from each other my friend. While I appreciate your kind words Scott, I look at my flood holes and see an amateur attempt. It will pass, but I need a lot more experience!

Paul, forgive me, I typed Scott, but meant you. Must be sniffing too much of this plastic dust. Please forgive me. No offense to Scott either!

[salmon]

I marked the parts so I do not get confused. I even put L for left and R for right on the outside.


The propellor shaft strut is glued together with cohesive glue. If you look closely you can see the melted glue ooze out along the seam on the top. This is good. When it dries, a little sanding and filing and no seam will show. I ran a round file through the opening to make sure nothing blocked the prop shaft.


Sliding the shaft through the strut, I marked the point it emerges out and then when the shaft is clear of the strut. Big red arrows point to those locations. I sharpie the points so later it can be transferred to the hull.


Now placing the strut on the keyed notch on the hull, I transferred the marks. I also outlined in pencil so that I can make sure we stay in the same position.


in-between our marks of the shaft passing through the strut, draw an oval this area is what will be carved out.


Then do the same for the other side.


Ground out a trough that eventually punches forward.


Then using a round file, continued to shave away until the file lines up with the strut bearing on the skeg. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it was temporarily taped down.


Then check the shaft travel and remove plastic until the shaft turns easily.

If I should ever make something as clear as mud, please let me know!

[southern or]

That looks great so far. Reminds me of when I converted a Revell Voyager for lighting.