Revell's Type VIIc in 1:144 scale

Treehugger
Just doing some trivial stuff while getting motivated to work on super fiddly photo etch for this other WIP project. 🙂

The entire top deck has to be grinded with a power tool, to create a shallow cavity, so that the perforations in the photo etch deck have some space beneath it. I will use a small handheld electrical drill for this, I think it will work nicely, but I haven't done something that major before. At least, there is little chance of things going wrong with that.

The reason I bought this kit is that I could make these perforations. 🙂 I will add a large piece of shaped black cardboard inside, to block the visibilty, mimicking the pressurised hull parts on the inside. I think it will look nice in the end.

Treehugger
Looking at photo #2, there are a nice amount of photo etch parts there. I realized that I had to check if the plastic tower fit the photo etch. It seems the photo etch matches the deck, leaving a tiny gap in between the deck edge, and the tower structure itself. Unsure if this gap has to be made flush or not.

Robert Podkoński
If this is a trivial stuff, what do you call a challenge? Following with amazement 🙂

Treehugger
Compared to the 1:350 CB-2 Guam kit, this 1:144 sub model seems small and trivial. 🙂
The charm of this uboat is imo the ability to drill out all the holes, it really give added detailing and depth, and the photo etch deck, with some space beneath it carved out from the plastic deck, should look stunning in the end I think.

Edit: I've created and added the photo etch product (SKU-090), somehow it wasn't already listed on Scalemates. :|

I vaguely recall having some difficulty finding this kit on sale. I think I got mine 3-4 years ago, and then I found RC subs' photo etch stuff at some point after that. 🙂

This is my 3rd kit of this type, having built one already, the Type VIIc/41. I have a spare VIIc/41 kit as well unbuilt.

The photo etch railings leaves something to be desired, they are flat not rounded, maybe some paint or liquid vallejo putty can help round off the flat PE railings.

Robert Podkoński
And all these activities are piece of cake...😄 Chapeau bas, Treehugger!

Bart Goesaert
Enjoy the build

Spanjaard
looking interesting 🙂

Treehugger
I made some mistakes and I ordered a new kit off ebay. :|

Now, this time around I am able to create my perforations on the hull with perfect result. 🙂

Don't use a drill bit or scrape the holes open, just scrape the plastic away on the backside!!! Leave the outside as is, to keep the detailed edges intact, with correct proportions.

Jan Peters
Interesting approach to get the holes opened up. On the other hand, it does lead to more work, getting the interior fittings in there🙂

Treehugger
Admittedly, I haven't made up my mind about how the interior is supposed to look like, but given the interior pressure tank has a simplistic shape, I could either re-create that shape, or just glue on some styrene and black card board paper and block the view, making the exterior holes stand out, but hide the interior, then other parts of the hull where the pressured hull isn't in the way, one would look through the hull from one side to the other. Then some stuff would be blocking like torpedo tubes and maybe some basic equipment that could be alluded to with say a silhuette of black card board paper.

I should add that this project is really on hold, because there are some photo etch that makes me worried. The guide seem to show one applies the photo etch by heating up the PE and melting the PE into plastic, which just seems wrong imo. Not sure how to apply some of the PE along the hull.

Bart Goesaert
You can have some ideas here: [img1]
I've seen builders making a master of the presure hull in (balsa) wood and build it inside the model. or use that as a master to vacform a inside hull... but only the idea is better than fully detailed. I was tempted in 1/350 to use the RC-subs PE set.. but in hindsight... some streched spreu will add more then the delicate PE and it will work faster in the end..

To place some PE it is a hard work to remove the thickness.. On my SU-27 I scraped a lot of material away to place the PE:
[img1]

[img1]

Treehugger
I see what you mean, I had that in mind, but thought it was too laborious and not ideal. Alternatively, cut a hole, but leave a thin strand of plastic as a frame, that is carved out, leaving space for PE part to be added.

Though, I got an idea that I will explore (came to think of it today right now). I may just create a hole in the plastic, then glue bits of small styrene onto the photo etch, then.. glue the PE into the hole, with Tamiya Extra Thin, gluing the small bits of styrene onto the hull. This would require shaping the PE in advance sufficiently, and annealing the PE so I can make a subtle flex without the PE bouncing back that easily.

Bart Goesaert
Very curious about this method