Mylo's 1:25 type VIIc/41 part III

[mylo]

This step is the re-doing

This step is the re-doing of the main deck molds/castings so, there is no additional "Time to Complete" added to the build. As a note it did take 30 hours to build the masters, molds, and then finally, the castings. The cost was $270 in materials.

In re doing the main deck mold, I decided to change a couple things. The most notable being that I separated the main deck into two pieces instead of one. Reasons:

1) Easier to handle.
2) Allows for some minor adjustment upon assembly where the two halves meet.




In all, I was able to make better masters for the molds in particular giving more attention to how far I was driving the nail into the balsa strip which was to represent the plank bolt heads. On my first master, I put this nail in a little too far which dimpled the balsa more than I wanted. I made sure not to repeat that on these new/improved ones.

Just as the first had done, the process of making the rubber mold destroyed the master. There is a bit of "pucker factor" picking all the tiny pieces of balsa out of the mold because if something went wrong with the mold, the entire master would have to be rebuilt...again. (to the tune of another 20 hours and $30 in balsa stripwood). I was happy to discover that although the master was toast, the rubber molds turned out very well. The rubber molds were then inverted and placed back in their mold box to provide a rigid support, so that I wouldn't cast a slightly curved part should the rubber mold have a slight bend in it. (these are big chunks of rubber).





Castings were made from the molds. Both pieces turned out nicely. They were then sanded down to uniform thickness of approx 3/16".





To finish the castings, I first sprayed the entire part with flat black. This was to fill in the gaps between the planks. After that dried, I rolled on a medium brown rust paint, applying very light pressure with the roller, one of those fine sponge rollers, so as to not fill in any of the flat black gaps between the planks. After that dried, I brushed on some pastel chalks just to give the planks a better, more weathered appearance as well as take some of the shine off the brown. Then....I applied two coats of satin finish out of a spray can. Then....the hatch and deck bolt details were painted.









.....that's a wrap for Christmas. I'll be back at 'er in the new year.


Mylo

[anonymous]

WOW!

Steve

WOW!

Steve

[landlubber]

Excelent work Mylo,this is going

Excelent work Mylo,this is going to be a real masterpiece when complete.
The good part of living in Sask.is you get lots of building time in the winter.
M-xmas.

[scott t]

That deck does look "wow".

That deck does look "wow". Nice job.

-Scott

[tmsmalley]

As they say in the

As they say in the current vernacular... sa-weeeet!

[mylo]

Gents,

Yeah....I'm happy with how

Gents,

Yeah....I'm happy with how the deck turned out. If you ever get a chance to get up close and personal with this boat, you will see it has it's share of flaws (I think the word "masterpiece" is a bit strong, but thanks anyway) and the deck is no exception, but it was a blessing that I had to re-do this particular part of this sub because I was able to make some nice improvements not only to the looks of the deck, but the ease of install. It was a little tough to convince me of that when my old mold got wrecked. Those deck pieces are just set on the hull for the photo shoot, I've got to install the schnorkel to the bow half before installing it just yet.

This boat is coming along nicely, but it's not great, too much trial and error learning along the way, with some errors not all that fixable, more like "patchable" at best. I've just done a good job at NOT photographing these imperfections. My NEXT VIIc/41 will be nice

I'm supposed to be busy doing Christmas stuff, but I managed to get a start on the schnorkel installation......just can't help it.

Lubber, for sure, Winter is my model building season. Long model building season here in Saskatchewan.

Mylo

[rick]

Looks great Mylo, Merry Christmas.....Rick

Looks great Mylo, Merry Christmas.....Rick

[mylo]

Step 88 ]


Using the

[b]Step 88 ]


Using the plans, a hole was cut out in the main deck to accomadate the inset schnorkel. The deck casting was then inverted and a hardboard "box" was built according to the shape. This box was glued onto the casting using gorilla glue. Once cured, the area was sprayed with flat black paint so that it remained concealed under the deck because, given the flood holes, it is possible to look in under the deck. In my r/c version of this boat, I will build this box out of styrene in order to be water proof. I didn't have styrene, and so decided to go with the hardboard for this display model. At the end of the box where the schnorkel pivots, I drilled holes for the stainless steel rod already in place on the schnorkel to fit into. The schnorkel will pivot at this point, allowing for both up or down display / operation. I'm sure some mechanical mastermind could make this an r/c function.












[b]Step 89 ]


With the schnorkel installed, the main deck could then be permanently attached to the hull. This was done by drilling small holes in the same places where plank bolt heads are on the casting. The deck was literally nailed to the hull, much like tacking the sole of a boot on. This method worked well as it avoided glue (and the seeping of glue, which would have had to be painstakenly removed), and the nails acted like indexing pins to hold the hull into perfect alignment with the deck. I'll have to re engineer something different for the r/c version, as this "tacked on" method is permanent, but I will likely use something similar with the nails as they worked very well to index the deck to the hull.



[b]Step 90 ]


The railing on the upper wintergarten deck of this particular boat has a railing which extends back over the lower wintergarten deck somewhat. I don't know what purpose this railing served, but none the less, it's modeled. Why now ?? .... I don't know. This railing can be seen in the last pic of the schnorkel installation step. A jig was built in order to shape this railing. It was made out of 3/32" brass rod, just like all the other wintergarten railings.


[b]Step 91 ]


The main deck railings were installed by drilling 3/32" holes in the main deck in order to insert the railing posts. I had intentionally built the railing posts on these parts just a little longer so that this could be done. With the rails installed, I then used scale "cable" by stretching picture frame wire while heating it with a torch until red. Once that wire cooled, it was straight as a board. I just crimped the two ends where they attach to the railings, applied a little gap filling CA glue and then painted the glue grey to give the area a bit of a hardware look.




More to come.


Mylo

[raalst]

the "VOzM : typ VIIc"

the "VOzM : typ VIIc" book says that this railing is limiting the travel of the
3,7cm Flak. These railings appeared spring 1944 (page 26 lower right)

that would mean you plan on installing a 3,7 cm Flak on the lower garten ?

[mylo]

Ronald,

Thanks for clarifying that.

Ronald,

Thanks for clarifying that. That makes sense.

Yes, a 37mm Flak will be installed on the lower wintergarten deck as well as two 20mm Flak on the upper. I believe this configuration on this type of tower to be somewhat "standard".

Mylo

[mylo]

Step 92 ]


The actual

[b]Step 92 ]


The actual castings for the hatches were made some time ago. What I'm doing at this point is putting the assembly all together. The hatch handles and hinges were made in the exact same manner as the wintergarten hatches were by scratch building out of brass. The hatch assemblies were all glued onto a piece of styrene, which replicates the metal decking in this area, and then sprayed with the same grey primer as the upper hull. Then, the entire piece was glued onto the main deck.





More to come.


Mylo

[mylo]

Step 93 ]


The antanae

[b]Step 93 ]


The antanae are made from picture frame hanging wire. The wire is stretched and heated to straighten it. Quite a bit of liberty was taken in replicating the parts of the antanae, namely the turnbuckles and insulators as well as other bits and pieces of hardware. The hardware was made from brass. The insulators, which took most of the time in putting the antanae together, were shaped out of dowel with a hole drilled through to mount to the antanae. The actual components and assemblies on the real boat are much more complex, but I felt that as long as there was 'something' to detail the antanae on the model, that would do. Once everything was in place, all the hardware and insulators were painted. The final look is as good as I feel it needs to be.












More to come.


Mylo

[landlubber]

Looks great Mylo, 766 hours

Looks great Mylo, 766 hours were going to nick name you "Iron man." for this build. Regards Kent.

[mylo]

Kent,

....what was that ?? .....

Kent,

....what was that ?? ..... did you say "Iron Head" ?? Yes, I suppose that fits.


Mylo

[raalst]

found pictures of a 37mm

found pictures of a 37mm on another forum. might come in handy.

I'm not sure it's from a Uboat, but the schrapnel screen sure looks like
the thing.

http://www.betasom.it/forum/index.php?showtopic=22918