OTW vs. 32nd Parallel XXIII

[warpatroller]

When comparing the old 32nd Parallel XXIII kit to the currently available OTW XXIII, which of the two kits requires more work and time to assemble and get in the water?

Bob sent me an older OTW build article by Sam Reichart, but I have very little info about construction and assembly of the 32nd Parallel model. I'd appreciate hearing from people that have actually worked with both of these models. I believe the OTW is the more detailed kit of the two and of course is a little larger. Do they each require a similar level of scratch building? Perhaps the OTW hull is more robust and durable?

Any links to a 32nd Parallel build article would be appreciated as I have mostly just seen photos of the finished 32nd P. model.

Thanks,

Steve

[Guest]

One is a vac formed

One is a vac formed kit with minimal hull detail, the other is a GRP hull with full plating and rivet detail.

No contest really.

Andy

[Wheelerdealer]

Yes no contest, the OTW

Yes no contest, the OTW kit wins hands down. A GRP hull will deifinately be more robust than a vac formed hull and far easier to repair/remodel GRP than plastic. I cant imagine that one will take much longer to assemble, but if you want the OTW to stand out like Sam's then the detail work will be the bit that takes time. There is another build article of the OTW version in the current issue of the SCR as well.

[warpatroller]

Thanks for the replies and

Thanks for the replies and the mention of the recent SCR article. I knew that the OTW has superior detail but was primarily wanting to know if there was any big difference in the amount of assembly work and scratch building. Looks like they might be about the same then for the basic boat, without all of the extra details that people have scratch built for the OTW one.

The dive planes and rudder on the OTW model look excessively thick (thicker than scale). Maybe this was to add extra strength and meat for the metal shafts to be bonded too. The OTW can use an internal rudder linkage, whereas the 32nd P. was designed for an external rudder linkage from what I can see. Up close though, you guys are right, the OTW generally looks to be the better depiction of the subject as a scale model.

Anybody know when the OTW boat actually debuted? I was told that the 32nd P. version first came out in the mid 1980s.

[sam reichart]

sorry I missed this thread

sorry I missed this thread earlier.
Double check with Bob about when his XXIII debuted. I got my first one from him in '97, I think. Yeah, I have another one; I love this boat...kind of like a baby XXI. I do know that the OTW XXIII was featured in photo on the cover of Norbert Bruggen's Model Submarine book.

I had a 32nd P Type XXIII, courtesy of Matt Thor. The ABS plastic and the external linkage kind of turned me off. Don't get me wrong; I have seen some beautiful models of the 32nd P kit, but once I saw the OTW, I was hooked.
To do it right, you will have to scratch build a lot of the inside of the tower. But the hull is huge, there's plenty of detail to enjoy (you can still add more detail too) and it's impressive in the water; it's about 56 inches in length. Plenty of room for torpedoes and I believe a camera could be worked into the conning tower as well.

Also, OTW is still around; Sheila and Simon are not. If something breaks or is missing, Bob's customer service is top notch.

Hope that helps some.

[warpatroller]

According to an email that

According to an email that Bob sent me, he now supplies an inner bridge structure for the tower along with a main hatch, schnorkel head, and the loop part of the DF antennae. I guess everything else in the bridge area would still need scratch fabricating. In your 1999 SCR article, you had to scratch ALL of the inner tower detail, so the earlier version didn't have the extra parts he mentioned to me.

I would image it to be quite impressive in the water because of its large size, as you have noted.

[sam reichart]

According to an email that

According to an email that Bob sent me, he now supplies an inner bridge structure for the tower along with a main hatch, schnorkel head, and the loop part of the DF antennae. I guess everything else in the bridge area would still need scratch fabricating. In your 1999 SCR article, you had to scratch ALL of the inner tower detail, so the earlier version didn't have the extra parts he mentioned to me.

Yeah, I had to fabricate all those parts. Yep, Bob has added those bits to the kit since then. He also delivers a rudder that is smaller in cross section and closer to scale. You'll have to work out the lights, the bell, the binoculars; railings, life vest, antenna brackets....
Make sure you pick up a copy of Vom Original zum Modell Uboottyp XXIII for the best reference. The text is all German, but it's full of photos and details.