8

P R O D U C T S
www.FineScaleModeler.com

Thank you for your order!

Enjoy your FSM Direct–Downloadable Article.

Please remember that this copyrighted material is for your use only.
It’s unlawful to share or distribute this file to others in any way including
e-mailing it, posting it online, or sharing paper copies with others.

Sincerely,

The staff of FineScale Modeler

Troubleshooting Guide:
Please note: Packages are color intensive. To save color ink in your printer, change your printer
setting to grayscale.

Saving package
Save the package when you download the PDF. Click on the computer disk icon in Adobe
Acrobat, or go to File, Save.

My printer won’t print the text correctly

Close all other programs/applications and print directly out of the Acrobat Reader program,
not your Web browser. Printing problems are caused by not enough free system memory.

Pages are not printing full size

Set your printer to print 100% and make sure “print to fit” is not checked under printer setup
or printer options.

If you have suggestions on how we can improve this product or have topics you’d like to see in
future FSM Direct packages, please contact us at editor@FineScale.com

FSPDF023
 FSM DIRECT –DOWNLOADABLE ARTICLES

Modeling submarines

FSPDF023
 Last of the
U-BOATS
This WWII German Type
XXIII display makes a great
weekend project
By Matthew Usher

A little extra work turns ICM’s basic

Type XXIII U-Boat kit into a model
worth a closer look. Bill Zuback photo

© 2009 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form
without permission from the publisher. www.FineScale.com
 1/144 Scale | Ship | How-to

1 2

That’s it? Yep, all of ICM’s 1/144 scale Type XXIII U-boat kit comes on a A lot of the kit’s parts were covered with a thin film of oil – likely a left-
single parts tree. Despite the low parts count the kit is nicely detailed and over from the molding process. I started by cleaning everything with Polly S
sharply molded. Plastic Prep.

3 4

The hull is split into halves, and that makes for a loooong seam to glue I used a twist drill to open up the holes in the aft section of the conning
together. After lining them up and tacking them together with masking tape, tower, which is a real focal point of the model.
I glued the halves together with gap-filling super glue, applied a little bit at
a time with the point of a hobby knife.

5 6

The kit’s one-piece stand is small and short, so I decided to mount the model I filed the holes until 1/8" brass tubing fit inside snugly. I worked slowly
on brass tubing over a new base. The model’s keel has two slots for the kit and carefully with the files to keep the holes at right angles to the keel.
stand; I opened them up with progressively larger round jeweler’s files.

I
think a lot of modelers will agree that
simply finding the time to build a
model is one of the hobby’s biggest
challenges. However, a few weeks ago I
found myself looking at a blank schedule
with at least two or three days off from
work. How did I manage that? I caught a
terrible head cold. After muddling
through for a couple of days, I admitted
defeat, called in sick, and planned for a lit-
tle R & R around the house. I’d quaran-
tine myself until the cold passed.
And what better place to rest than my
workshop? The challenge, though, would
be finding the appropriate project to tin-
ker with, since I clearly wasn’t firing on all
eight cylinders, and the cold-medication
wasn’t adding to my mental clarity. A
Formula 1 car? Too complicated. A tank?
Too many little pieces. Revell’s
Constitution? Er, no.
Then I spotted ICM’s Type XXIII U-
boat on top of a pile of unbuilt submarine
models. Not too many pieces, not to many
colors to paint. A good choice, I thought.
Armed with the kit, my dog-eared copy of
U-boats In Action, and a bottle of cough
syrup, I sat down at my workbench and
looked at what I could do with the kit.

February 2007 www.finescale.com 29

 7 8
Unfinished pine bases like this one are available at most craft stores for less
than a dollar each. I had a variety of shapes in a box under my workbench,
and this one looked like a good fit for the U-boat.
9 10
Between doses of cold medication, I snuck out to the garage and used my
drill press to drill the 1/8" holes into (but not through) the pine base. While
the model was still in progress, I used the base to help hold it, after placing
it on short pieces of brass tubing. I used gap-filling super glue to add the
delicate hydroplanes to the hull.
11
I decided to paint the hull before adding the periscopes and the other deli-
cate conning-tower details. Some Type XXIII’s had a white band around the
conning tower, so I airbrushed it Tamiya flat white (XF-2).
30 FineScale Modeler February 2007
To properly position the holes for the brass tubes, I first cut a piece of typ-
ing paper the same size as the base’s top. Folding it into quarters located
the center and both the centerlines. I traced over the folds with a pencil and
a straightedge, then taped the paper in place on the base. Using a compass,
I measured the distance between the holes in the model’s hull, and trans-
ferred the marks to the base.
The kit has a ladder molded to the front of the conning tower, but it’s poorly
detailed and split by the hull seam. I sanded off the ladder, smoothed the
seam, then replaced the ladder rungs with new ones I bent from music wire.
I left off the middle rung, however, to make painting easier, as I’ll show
shortly.
12
When the white paint was dry, I masked the stripe using a strip of blue
masking tape. The stripe crosses the middle ladder rung I left off.
13
With the stripe masked off I airbrushed the hull Tamiya neutral gray (XF-
53). Peeling off the masking tape revealed a razor-sharp white stripe
underneath.
15 16
While the hull’s paint dried, I decided to work at I added four stick-on rubber feet from Radio
dressing up the base. After knocking off its rough Shack.
spots with some medium-grit sandpaper, I painted
the base using Krylon’s suede-finish Bordeaux
(No. 1245) spray paint. It’s a textured paint that
helps hide the inexpensive base’s imperfections.
18
I used an old razor saw to cut the brass tubing. A file cleaned up the rough
edges so the tubes fit smoothly into the base. The right-hand tube is longer
since it extends into the model’s conning tower.
14
With the stripe in place I installed the missing ladder rung and brush-painted
it to match. I masked a line around the hull using more blue tape. Thankfully
the Type XXIII’s hull isn’t terribly curvy, so it’s not too hard to mask a
straight line from the bow to the stern. With the tape in place, I airbrushed
the lower hull Tamiya flat black (XF-1).
17
A little brass polish and a rag brought the brass
tubing to a high shine suitable for inspection.
19
After a little trimming, the model dropped onto its display stand and sat
dead-level. I added the periscope, snorkel, and direction-finding loop to the
conning tower, then added the propeller.
February 2007 www.finescale.com 31
20 21

The rigging is decidedly low-tech – it’s a piece of one-pound test fishing line The model was essentially “done,” but it was far too clean to represent a
I colored with a black permanent marker. late-war Atlantic-cruise veteran. A little weathering was in order.

22

I mixed a little burnt umber and black artist’s oil paint with mineral spirits
to make a dark wash. I applied it with a wide, flat brush and let it flow
down the hull from top to bottom. The wash gave the finish a war-weary,
streaked appearance and helped bring depth to the limber holes.

23

Finally, I ground up a little dark-orange pastel powder and added some rust
stains using a fine detail brush. With the last details in place, I put the model
on top of the TV, and tried to pick an appropriate movie for the rest of my
sick-day recouperation: Das Boot? The Hunt for Red October? Operation
Petticoat? Hmmm...
The Type XXIII deserves a place in anyone’s submarine collection: U-2336
scored the last U-boat victories of WWII against two British freighters on
May 7, 1945. Bill Zuback photo.

32 FineScale Modeler February 2007

 Dan spent more than five months adding a
scratchbuilt interior to his Revell U-boat.

Inside the
WOLFPACK
Superdetailing a cutaway Type 7c German U-boat

By Daniel C. Jayne • Photos by Chuck Stewart

© 2009 Kalmbach
24 FineScale Modeler Publishing
September 2006 Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form
without permission from the publisher. www.FineScale.com

M
odeling certainly has taken me in directions I
wouldn’t have expected. Recently a modeling
friend suggested I should build a cut-away
German U-Boat. I quickly told him it couldn’t be
done. It would be far too complex and diffi-
cult a project.
However, that seed of thought
remained in my head and continued to
grow. Later, when I purchased the
Revell’s 1/72 Type 7c U-boat kit (No.
05015), I started looking at it as a possi-
ble cut-away project.
The ship-modeling community anxiously
awaited Revell’s release of this three-foot-long U-boat kit,
and we weren’t disappointed. “Phenomenal” was the
first word that popped into my mind when I opened the
1/72 Scale | Ship | How-to
giant kit box. “Wow!” came to mind soon after. Still, I
had many doubts about building a cut-away submarine.
U-boats were notoriously full on the inside.
Soon, though, my mind started to change. In
Geschichte des Deutschen Ubootbaus by
Ebber Rossler, I found German U-Boat
plans showing all internal structures,
bulkhead, deck, and equipment lay-
outs. I had these plans blown up to
1/72 scale. With full-size working plans
in hand, I found further U-Boat informa-
tion on the Internet. I decided the project
might be possible, but only if an inner pressure
hull could be fabricated from sheet plastic. With its com-
pound curves, it would prove to be one of the most diffi-
cult items I’ve ever attempted to scratchbuild.
September 2006 www.finescale.com 25
 1 2
Dan started his cutaway project by carving a pressure hull from a 27”-long
piece of cherry.
3 4
The conical ends of the hull were the trickiest to form.
5 6
Using his references as a guide, Dan drew 1/72- Bulkheads helped define the sub’s internal compartments; Dan used a contour plotter to help make
scale plans for all of the sub’s internal compo- them.
nents before he started scratchbuilding.
Under pressure
I decided on .030" sheet plastic for the pressure hull skin. First I
traced the pressure hull dimensions off my full size prints onto a
round piece of cherry wood 27" long and 2½" in diameter. I
sanded this to exact dimensions. After many different techniques
failed, I attempted to sheet over the wood buck, 1, with 1½" wide
strips cut with positive and negative compound curves. These
plastic “plates” were welded together with Tenax, 2, and were
quartered in diameter. .020" square strips were glued over each
joint for further strength. This worked very well.
After the aft section was built, the middle and bow section
followed, 3. Then I simply glued the two sections together. I then
cut away the starboard portion of the pressure hull, and sheeted
the interior with large bands of .010" sheet to hide the original
seams. Would this pressure hull fit into the kit sea hull halves? It
was time to find out, as everything hinged on this.
Cut-away or bust!
At this point, I removed the kit’s starboard sea hull half from it’s
sprue, marked out the cut-away areas, chucked my Dremel with a
saw blade and cut up a $50 kit not knowing if the pressure hull
would even work. It did! 4
And after I performed that well-known modeler’s “I did it!"
dance, I cleaned up my cut-away areas using a splinter edged cut,
26 FineScale Modeler September 2006
Dan skinned the pressure-hull buck with carefully formed sheet-strene
plates. He bonded them together with Tenax 7R liquid cement.
Success! Dan’s scratchbuilt pressure hull fit between the kit’s outer-hull
halves perfectly. The inner reinforcements Dan added are clearly visible here.
rather than my usual wavy edge. I then made two mounting
brackets using ½" square plastic tubing that firmly mounted the
pressure hull into the left kit hull half. That allowed me to
remove the pressure hull, and replace it again when test fitting
through out construction.
The drive units
Referring to my plans, and looking through a book, The Type 7
U-Boat, by David Westwood, I traced full size patterns of the
port and starboard diesel engines, the E-motors, clutches, and
their location on the shafts, 5. I fabricated the diesels from
Evergreen square stock, tube and rod. The E-motors were cut
from ½" plastic tubing with end caps from my parts goodie box.
Again, using the plans, I set the proper location within the pres-
sure hull for the diesels and motors, built the aft main bilge keel
and engine/motor mounts. I drilled through the kit hulls and
pressure hull with a ⅛" drill bit, and aligned ⅛" aluminum shafts
from the E-motors out to the shaft supports aft.
At this time, I could set the pressure hull into the kit sea hull
halves, install the kit top decking and tape the whole mess
together to check clearances and fit when needed.
Lost in space
Now that the diesel room and deck location was established, I
 7 8
Lots of styrene stock and lots of bits from Dan’s spare-parts box went into
the sub’s internal components
9 10
Dan’s scratchbuilt forward torpedo tubes are worth a closer look. The Type
VII U-boat had four tubes in the bow and one in the stern.
proceeded to plot out all main deck and bulkhead locations with
in the pressure hull, using my full size plans as a guide, 6.
With these lines drawn in ink, I proceeded to install the inner
hull framing with .040" square stock from bow to stern. Deck
support strip followed, then .020" sheet decks that were fit
between bulkheads of .030". My trusty contour plotter was used
to make the bulkhead patterns. With all decks and compartments
roughed out, it was time to fabricate all the internal equipment.
Details, details, details
After finding the proper height and width, I drilled out the tor-
pedo tube holes on the pressure hull end caps. Four forward, one
aft. I used ⁄" plastic tube for the torpedo tubes, and fabricated a
dozen torpedoes from ¼" tubing.
The main battery packs fore and aft were made with ¼" square
stock glued together. All pressure tanks, bunk beds, equipment,
furniture, gauges, box’s, etc., were scratch built with tube, rod, sheet
and goodies from my spares box, 7. Again, referring to David
Westwood’s The Type 7 U-Boat for detailing reference, I detailed
each compartment and set the items aside for painting. I wound up
with 20 boxes of subassemblies all marked for location later, 8, 9.
Those darn vent holes!
With this stage complete, it was time to open all the sea hull
The forward torpedo room would end up being one of the model’s focal
points. He added crewmen to give the compartment a sense of scale.
Bulkheads, bunks, and batteries – Dan’s model gives viewers a sense of
how jam-packed U-boats were.
flooding vents. Using a Dremel, I thinned the plastic over these
areas from the inside and also thinned the plastic to a scale thick-
ness around my cut-away edges. For very tight and confined
spaces, I find that cutting each vent hole out by hand with a
hobby knife works best. After opening all vent holes. I cleaned
them up with a sanding stick.
The last refinement of the hull construction was to install
inner main deck support beams, hydroplane drive equipment and
anchor chain locker to the exposed areas within the sea hull for
and aft of the pressure hull ends. Detail was also added around
the opened torpedo door area and brass vent plates were installed
to the upper saddle tanks using the Model Brass etched set (No.
WM7201).
A flawless finish
Another favorite task for me had arrived: painting. I painted the
pressure hull interior with Testors dark gull gray using a Badger
airbrush. Testors camouflage gray was dry brushed over this to
bring out the details. The outer surface of the pressure hull was
sprayed neutral gray, and also got the same dry brush treatment.
At this stage, every item to be installed into the pressure hull
compartments were painted separately, detailed, and set aside.
Aero Master dark wood paneling decal material (No. 48-604),
was installed around the captain’s and chief ’s quarters, on the
September 2006 www.finescale.com 27
11
The boat’s handwheels – all 52 of them – are model-railroad parts.
13
Cast-resin crewmen from CMK lend a sense of scale to the cramped quarters
inside the boat.
bulkhead side panels and on all cabinets and tables in officer’s
country, 10.
Done is done
After all the dry brushing was finished, I assembled all 20 boxes
of pre-painted and detailed subassemblies and equipment into
the pressure hull compartments. Gauges and fuse box’s were
scratch built. All conduit was solder. All valve hand wheels, 52 of
them, were HO and N scale handbrake wheels, 11.
The diesel engines, E-motors and clutches fit with out any
problems to their mounts, and lined up perfectly with the alumi-
num shafts as planned, 12. For an added touch, I installed
numerous CMK resin U-Boat crewmen through out the com-
partments and topside areas, 13. I had over three months into
building the pressure hull alone, and now, finally, it was time to
assemble the hull components.
Wooden main deck
The kit deck isn’t bad. It’s nicely detailed, but the flooding gates
were not molded open. I wanted to use an unpainted wood deck,
with gray fittings, like the U-505 in Chicago’s Museum of
Science and Industry. I purchased a laser cut wood deck, with
open flooding gates, from Nautilus Models (No.WD-5015A).
As the fore and aft ends of the deck is sheet steel, I cut both
28 FineScale Modeler September 2006
12
Thanks to Dan’s planning and detailed drawings, the engines lined up per-
fectly with their mounts and the propeller shafts.
14
Why stop now? Dan’s friends talked him into making the tiny conning tower
visible, too.
ends off the kit deck, and grafted them on to the wood deck.
Nautilus also provided resin hatches over the service ammo lock-
ers. I installed .060" square stock along the kit’s deck mounting
edge to beef up the bonding surface for the wood deck. I glued
the finished pressure hull into place.
I mixed up 12-hour epoxy, and using a toothpick, laid a bead
full length on the deck mount strips. I set the deck in place, and
used Tenax to cement the hull halves together taped everything
together tightly and let it dry overnight.
The wolf takes shape
With the basic hull/deck assembly finished, the hull’s outer gear
was used straight from the box. The forward and aft hydroplanes,
rudders, keel brace, bow cable cutters were cleaned up and
installed. The kit’s screws got the brass paint treament, which
brought me to the next project before final hull exterior painting.
More fiddly stuff
My modeling friends suggested I cut away the side of the con-
ning tower, 14. I soon buckled under their persistent pressuring
and cut the conning tower side away where the pressure hull
dome would appear. The dome’s interior was scratch built,
painted and the conning tower side walls at the cutaway area was
thinned with a Dremel to scale thickness. The conning tower
15
With the interior complete, it was time to paint and weather the outer hull.
17
The finished model is in permanent drydock on its nicely finished wooden display base.
itself was built box stock with some photo etch and brass wire
grabs used around the aft periscope housing. The kit tower deck
was also used. The aft 20mm anti-aircraft gun and the forward
88mm gun were assembled straight from the box.
Painting the wolf
Painting the hull’s exterior was the next order of business, 15. As
this model does not represent any actual boat in history, I chose
my own mix of Testors dark red on the bottom, a black boot
stripe, and Testors camouflage gray on the top sides. Using my
trusty Paasche, I airbrushed dark brown over the rivet areas and
raised weld seams. A lighter rust color followed. I then dry
brushed camouflage gray very lightly to pick out the rivet and
raised details. The last steps were to add scuff marks and chip
wear using a Prismacolor dark gray pencil, adding a light shade of
rust in spots and then dull coating the entire hull to blend it
together, 16.
The deck
In keeping with my idea of having an all natural wood deck, I
fabricated all the hatches, deck fittings, photo etched bits and
cleaned up all the kit’s deck parts. I painted them camo gray
before installing them to the wood deck. The kit’s main deck rail-
ings, conning tower, home made flag, deck gun, and rigging fol-
16
The Atlantic took its toll on U-boats, as Dan’s realistic weathering simulates.
lowed. The beastie was now finished, and it was installed to its
display base, 17.
Conclusion
Despite my research, and over abundant amounts of data, there
are some small mistakes and minor glitches in the finished proj-
ect. It was, at times, very overwhelming. So I will stand in the
corner, wearing the modeler’s dunce cap, and except the criticisms
and jeers from the many U-Boat geeks with guilt, disgrace and
degradation.
I don’t really know how many hours I spent slaving away on
this challenging project, but the building period spread out over
five months, and several times the building came to a complete
standstill while I racked my brain trying to figure out how to fab-
ricate certain key elements of the hull structure. This was a satis-
fying model to finish partly due to the fact that it was progress
for such a long time, and partly due to the huge challenges it
brought. I would like to thank Chuck Stewart and Lester Palifka
for their support in making this project possible. FSM
SOURCES
Deck Nautilus Models, www.nautilusmodels.com, 770-973-5666
Photoetched parts Model Brass, www.modelbrass.com,
574-361-9868
September 2006 www.finescale.com 29
 f i
A ou sh t o f water
© 2009 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form
without permission from the publisher. www.FineScale.com

Building a German Type XXI U-boat and dry dock
W
hen the 1/144 scale Type XXI
U-boat was released by Revell
Germany, I was pleasantly surprised
to learn it is a really nice kit – in fact, it’s
one of the finest plastic injection subma-
rine kits ever offered.
The kit provides decals for several hull
numbers; U-2518, U-2536, or U-3504.
However, obtaining detail information
and supporting photos to differentiate
among these three boats may prove diffi-
cult. Some details on this model are not
found on any wartime boats, since this
model was produced from measurements
taken from the museum ship Wilhelm
Bauer (ex U-2540) in Germany. Although
restored to her World War II appearance,
subtle details remain from the Bauer’s
once-modernized configuration.
This kit was so nice I didn’t want to cut
it down to the waterline format I typically
use for diorama displays. I wanted the
sleek appeal of the full hull, but I didn’t
want a “showroom” model, either. I
decided a dry dock scenario would be a
good way to display the entire ship. That
1/144 Scale | Ship | How-to
By Ken Hart
meant, however, I would have to cut away
part of the dry dock. Otherwise, most of
the sub would be obstructed from view.
Fabricating a cut-away dry dock pre-
sented a more complex display, but it
seemed like an enticing challenge. I dug
up all I could find on the Type XXI and
specialized dry docks, including books,
photos, drawings, and written histories. I
sketched out what I had in mind, then
went to work on the first step of the proj-
ect, researching and building the Type
XXI U-boat.
January 2006 www.finescale.com 47
 Ken opened the limber 1 2
holes and flood ports
along the hull, then
added frames and a
false pressure-hull
wall.

Opening the deck hatches meant creating compartments in the pressure hull
to show details under the deck openings.

Internal framing on the inside of the conning

tower provided details that could be seen once
the hatches were opened.
Right: Ken removed the molded-on grab-
handles and replaced them with pre-shaped
wire replacements.

Building the Type XXI
I went about the tedious task of drilling
out and filing all of the limber holes, free-
flood apertures, and flood ports on the
hull, deck, and conning tower. I also cut
open any doors, hatches, and access plates
that I wanted in the opened position on
the finished model.
A motor tool would have been faster,
but I find them tough to control in tight
spots, and they often take the thin kit
plastic down too quickly. By opening each
shape by hand, they came out clean and
uniform. Patience pays off.
I drilled two .125" diameter holes, six
inches apart, into the keel as mounting-
post holes. With so many opened limber
holes and flood ports, I knew I would
need to fabricate a false pressure hull,
framing members, and bracings to show
detail through these various openings, 1.
A good supply of Plastruct I-beams, angle
stock, Evergreen strips, styrene sheet, and
rod was needed.
The hull
I started working on the hull, bending and
gluing lengths of Plastruct I-beams to the
curvature inside each of the two hull
halves, patterned carefully between groups
of limber-hole openings. I measured, cut,
and fit photoetched stainless-steel grates
into the cut-open flood ports and attached
them with super glue.
To represent the pressure hull when
viewed through the limber holes and
opened deck hatches, I measured and cut
sheets of styrene and attached them to the
I-beam frames. False stowage compart-
ments and entryways had to be fashioned
from scratch, 2.
I glued the deck assemblies to the hull,
sanded the seams, then applied filler putty
where needed. After sanding and feather-
ing the puttied areas, the hull assembly
was ready for its first coat of primer. I
primed the model with light gray to help
reveal any spots that might require further
touch-up. Once I was satisfied, I gave the
hull its first base coat of paint. I applied
the topside color, which was a light stone
gray. Next, the hull was masked for the
medium dark gray color I sprayed below
the waterline.
Weathering
Before I applied the dark gray, I experi-
mented with a technique I envisioned for
achieving a realistically weathered appear-
ance. I soaked a sponge in dish soap and
warm water, generously swabbed the hull,
and immediately sprayed on a coat of the
darker gray paint. As I had hoped, the
soapy water displaced some of the paint,
and the paint also displaced some of the
soapy water – the result, when dried, was a
splotchy, irregular coating. The effect
worked perfectly.
I used old Polly-S acrylic paint for
weathering, including goblin flesh for
“new” rust, armor red-brown for “old” rust,
and oily black for grease and oil stains. I
used moss green to create the band of
marine growth, commonly referred to as a
“moustache,” at the bow and waterline.
I carefully weathered with the Polly-S
“dust” and rust paints using both dry-
brushing and wet-wash techniques. Some
areas of well-seated “old” rust were first
dry-brushed, and then “new” rust was
carefully applied as a wash.

48 FineScale Modeler January 2006

 5 6
The mast arrangement, periscopes, snorkel, and radar arrays
all required modifications and improvements.
8 Ken weathered the buildings with
The conning tower
After I opened the limber holes and doors
in the conning tower, interior components
would have to be visible inside. I scratch-
built a false conning tower pressure hull
and periscope support and test-fitted
them into the kit halves.
The side navigation lights on the
model kit were represented as simple
scribed outlines. I cut these open and
reconstructed them as angled depressions,
using thin strips of styrene sheet, 3.
I drilled pilot holes for the grab-han-
dles on the sides of the conning tower cas-
ing. By bending lengths of thin brass wire,
I made the grab-handles and attached
them with super glue. I created the inter-
nal framing with Plastruct I-beams and
7 Using Plastruct and Evergreen
Evergreen square strip stock, 4.
The top of the conning tower wasn’t
detailed enough for me, so it had to be
modified. I scribed the missing details on
the twin 20mm AA gun turrets and bored
out the ends of the gun barrels with a
small twist drill. The kit’s radar array was
replaced with one I scratchbuilt from
piano wire and brass mesh. By cutting a
rectangular piece of photoetched brass
mesh and carefully rolling it into a cylin-
der, I was able to replace the less-detailed
kit part. The new antenna was then super-
glued to a length of wire, 5.
The kit’s array of small whip antennas
was replaced with thin lengths of steel
wire, keeping only the plastic bases.
Hinges for the port and starboard watch
The dockyard machine shop started
life as an N-gauge model-railroad
building.
styrene stock, Ken added a complex
variety of details to the machine
shop.
washes and dry-brushing and set
them aside until the drydock basin
was completed.
guards were made and voice-tube funnels
added, all scratchbuilt and fashioned from
odds and ends out of my trusty old junk
box. Without a doubt, I’d be lost without
all those odd little things that accumulate
in my junk box.
Every detail on the conning tower
assembly was examined and touched up as
needed. Once permanently assembled, I
painted the conning tower and weathered
it prior to gluing it to the U-boat’s deck.
Detailing
After attaching the conning tower to the
hull, I installed the prepared detail parts,
including modified deck-hatch grates,
conning-tower doors, masts, and railings. I
scribed the conning-tower doors from sty-
January 2006 www.finescale.com 49
rene sheet trimmed them to size, and
painted them to match the light-gray of
the hull. Then, I cut inside overlays from
sheet stock about .003" smaller than the
doors, to be glued in as the interior sur-
faces. Miniscule strips were cut from sty-
rene stock for the internal door framing. I
sliced tube stock in half, then cut it into
sections for hinges and locking handles. I
painted these off-white before the com-
pleted door assemblies were appropriately
weathered. I greased up the hinges and
handles using Polly-S oily black acrylic
paint.
I built the deck-hatch grates by cutting
squares and rectangles from photoetched
stainless grating and adding framework
made from styrene strips. The frames and
X-shaped cross-supports were attached to
the grates with super glue, and I painted
the assemblies light gray topside and off-
white beneath.
With a twist drill and pin vise, I bored
small pilot holes at measured intervals
along either side of the deck for the railing
stanchions. I installed short lengths of
thin steel piano wire with super glue to
the proper depth and then brush-painted
them to match the hull color. I used
stretched sprue for the railing cables, then
attached it to the stanchions with super
glue and trimmed as needed.
I used stretched sprue for the radio-
antenna rigging, with acrylic brown paint
dabbed on in beads to form the insulators.
The pre-painted masts and whip aeri-
als were installed atop the conning tower,
and the pre-painted propellers were
installed. Type XXI U-boats used cast
steel propellers instead of bronze, so they
should be painted a dull silver and weath-
ered just enough to leave a dull sheen.
I simulated glass lenses on the mast-
head light, stern, and side navigation lights
by dabbing Microscale Krystal Klear onto
the parts. The addition of the captain’s
pennant and the German Kreigsmarine
ensign completed the Type XXI. I stored
it safely away and turned my attention to
the dry dock and diorama effects.
The buildings
With the Revell kit molded in 1/144 scale,
N-Scale (1/160 scale) model-railroad
accessories were close enough to be com-
patible with the U-boat. A couple of N-
gauge building kits I found at a local
model-railroad shop looked suitable as a
machine shop and administrative building
for a dry dock.
The sawtooth-roofed machine shop
building was a Green Max kit (No. 37).
This building kit came with plenty of
additional parts and accessories that would
be useful around the diorama display, 6.
I cut open the main high-bay doors,
then scratchbuilt a completely detailed
interior since the inside of the building
would now be visible to the viewer and the
camera lens. I enjoyed scratchbuilding the
I-beam framework, electrical service with
step-down transformer and bus-bar distri-
bution system, a ducted ventilation system,
an overhead-rail crane hoist, and various
floor machines, 7. Bending lengths of thin
solder and brass wire, I went as far as
making conduits down walls and beams to
disconnect switch boxes. The thought that
very few people would ever look inside the
building amused me, and I put even more
effort into fine details that maybe only I
would ever know were there! If you’re not
having a little fun with your model build-
ing, it just becomes another job.
I painted and weathered this building
inside and out, using both dry-brush and
wet-wash techniques, 8.
The other large building, an adminis-
tration and planning headquarters, was
another N-gauge model-railroad kit. This
one was a cheaply manufactured model kit
by Heljan/Con-Cor (Kit no. N654). I
painted this one a dull brick red since it
featured a brick texture. Despite this
building’s many windows and skylights, it
needed no interior since visibility through

Type XXI U-boat

In 1945, it was the most advanced submarine in the
world.
Shortly before the end of World War II, Germany’s
radically new Type XXI was under a massive produc-
tion rush. The design was built, without trials, in eight
pre-fabricated sections that were welded together,
enabling a large number of Type XXI hulls to be con-
structed throughout 1944 and into the first quarter of
1945. Only two were completed and operational before
the war’s end. With the bulk of the new hulls still on
the building ways, many of them were damaged or
destroyed by Allied bombing raids.
The Type XXI concept was the culmination of sev-
eral earlier innovations German engineers had been
testing. Based on high underwater speed rather than
surface worthiness, the Type XXI’s double hull was
streamlined and the battery capacity tripled. This made
the U-boat capable of submerged speeds of nearly 18
knots for up to one hour.
Fully air-conditioned, these boats could snorkel
almost endlessly. Cleats, bollards, and capstans were
made retractable for a flush deck. The deck gun was
replaced by two turrets mounted fore and aft atop the
streamlined conning tower. Originally, they were
designed for twin 30mm AA guns, but instead were fit-
ted with twin 20mm guns.
The Type XXI U-boat carried six 21" bow-mounted
torpedo tubes. Mechanized reloading eased the strain
on the torpedo crew and greatly reduced the tube
reloading times.
Weapons capacity was 20 torpedoes, 14 torpedoes
plus 18 small mines, or 12 large mines. Initially, the
Walters closed-cycle hydrogen peroxide turbine power
plants were to be installed, but problems with that sys-
tem in the also-radical Type XXIII coastal boats left
the conventional diesel engines as the only dependable
choice. An electric motor was coupled to each shaft for
quiet submerged creeping at up to five knots.
When the war ended and Allied forces got their first
good look at the Type XXI design, the news created a
stir among naval architects. Captured hulls were taken
back to Allied naval yards and carefully studied, result-
ing in new submarine design philosophies worldwide.
The U-2540 was salvaged and given a total refit in
1960. Modified and renamed the Wilhelm Bauer
(Y-888), it was used for training and experimental
purposes by the German navy. Her conning tower was
completely changed during modifications, as were
portions of the hull.
The Wilhelm Bauer was retired in 1982 and was
restored as closely as possible to her original wartime
appearance, to be preserved as a museum ship. She
currently sits at a dock in Bremerhaven, Germany.

50 FineScale Modeler January 2006

 9 The drydock basin was made from Masonite and
plywood, then covered with fieldstone-textured
styrene sheet.

Below: Ken scratchbuilt most of the details in the

diorama, using basic materials such as styrene
strip, stretched sprue, and solder wire.

the tiny window panes made from Krystal 10

Klear is nearly impossible. A careful dry-
brushing of Polly-S filth acrylic paint, fol-
lowed by a slight over-brushing of Polly-S
medium gray, lent a realistically weathered
texture to the finished building.
The small gray fieldstone lock control
building forward of the administration
building and the red-brick pump house
building in the center of the diorama were
both scratchbuilt and finished using the
same methods as the others.
The gantry crane at the head of the
dry dock basin was extensively modified
from an inexpensive N-gauge kit, but the
tall boom crane at the side of the basin
was scratchbuilt from leftover parts that
came with the factory building, along with
some Plastruct .25" styrene joist stock and
plenty of odds and ends from my junk
box. The stretched sprue I used for the
rigging on the crane worked nicely.
The large storage tank beside the gan-
try crane came with the Green Max fac-
tory building kit, and it needed only a few
slight modifications and some decent
weathering.
The figures seen on and about the
docked U-boat are N-gauge model rail-
road figures. I went to model railroad
shops and looked at a few different brands
of N-gauge figures. I settled on Preiser,
which I had to order from a Walther’s cat-
alog. The Preiser N-gauge figures are the
most lifelike in that small scale. The poses
are good, and the proportions are decent,
although they lack facial details. It was as an L-shaped riser attached to a flat base A framework built on the riser sup-
easy to manipulate the positions of arms board. A 28" x 16" section of .75" furni- ported the stepped fieldstone wall, which
and legs to avoid duplicate poses. ture-grade birch plywood was dadoed for was attached with epoxy cement. The tops
I made racks full of machine-shop raw the Plexiglas dust cover. The riser was of the walls were bordered with lengths of
stock, wood piles, pipes, steel, lumber, and constructed from .25" Masonite, framed Plastruct angle stock, pre-painted, and
assorted yard clutter from Plastruct stock, for strength and to prevent warpage. The weathered. I added Plastruct railings as a
balsa stock, and more odds and ends from whole thing was sealed with a few heavy final touch.
my good old junk box. With a little bit of coats of gray primer. The butt ends of the I fashioned a stairway and landings
painting and some weathering, I had a L-riser were painted black, 9. leading down into the basin from
busy, cluttered yard area. To form the stepped-stone sidewall of Plastruct N-gauge stair and railing stock
the basin, I used strips of vacuum-formed and carefully glued them to the stepped
The dry dock basin sheet styrene fieldstone I found at a fieldstone wall with epoxy.
The main display base consists of the cut- model-railroad shop. I achieved the On the floor of the basin are sets of
away dry dock basin and the yard with stepped shapes by using strips of wood to fixed blocks and sliding keel blocks.
the buildings and cranes. It was designed bend the styrene like a sheet-metal brake. Making all of those keel blocks was

January 2006 www.finescale.com 51

11
monotonous. I used Plastruct .25" x .25" x
36" H-beam and square stock, along with
.25" x .25" balsa stock and .125" plastic C-
channel stock for the sliding-block runner
tracks.
The keel blocks were made from .5"
balsa, with variations of stackable risers
and wedges to accommodate any type of
hull contour. These were mounted on
sleds cut from Plastruct .125" C-channel
stock and fixed in place on the runners.
I scratchbuilt the scaffolds using sty-
rene strip and angle stock, and model-rail-
road scale lumber for the planks, 10. I
kept the erected scaffolding to a minimum
so the majority of the U-boat’s hull would
remain visible. In a real dry dock, a ship
could be devoid of hull-side scaffolding, or
it might be completely surrounded. The
ladders are all from the Plastruct N-gauge
styrene product line. Some were painted as
wooden ladders, and some as iron.
Barrels, drums, cargo crates, and stor-
age canisters were found at model-railroad
shops. The larger storage tanks and the
large pump machine came with the Green
Max factory building kit. Other miscella-
neous tools, skids, and various items were
scratchbuilt.
I fashioned pump hoses, drainage
hoses, and welding cables from different
52 FineScale Modeler January 2006
diameters of solder. Solder is soft enough
to shape to conform to sags and dips along
its path. To form the various hoses in my
diorama, I first cut an approximate length
of a given diameter of solder and formed
the basic shape I needed. Test-fitting each
part allowed me to tailor the shape, then,
after spraying it flat black and touching it
up with a bit of weathering, it was fixed
into position, 11.
Stretched sprue is another favorite
medium for cables, railings, antennas, rig-
ging, mooring lines, cranes, you name it.
In this diorama, I used it all over the place.
When the diorama was just about fin-
ished, the Type XXI was permanently
affixed into position with epoxy. The scaf-
folding, hoses and lines, and sidewall sup-
port timbers were placed into their
permanent positions. The gangplank was
set into place, and a few touch-ups here
and there completed the display.
Conclusion
This project took about six months to
complete, not counting a couple of
months during which I had no time to
work on it. A good deal of time, too, was
spent in researching the Type XXI and
seeking the various items for the scenario.
Putting a model into a realistic setting
The U-boat received a heavy dose of weathering
with paint and washes, and Ken added N-gauge
model-railroad figures from Preiser.
definitely increases the appeal of the indi-
vidual model, breathing life into even a
static piece of plastic! FSM
Ken lives in Syracuse, N.Y., a
union journeyman electrician
by day and jazz drummer by
night. He’s a founding mem-
ber and the first president of
the SubCommittee, a group of
dedicated submarine enthusiasts, modelers,
and historians. He’s currently finishing up a
book on the history of American nuclear sub-
marines.
REFERENCES
Anatomy of the Ship – Type XXI U-boat,
Fritz Kohl, Eberhard Rossler, Naval
Institute Press, 2002
The SubCommittee
http://www.subcommittee.com/
USS
Gato
Modeling Revell’s 1/178 scale fleet submarine.
By Ken Hart
I
was commissioned some time ago to build a diorama
depicting three U.S. fleet submarines tied to a pier,
so I included one boat configured as an early Gato
design. This design was the first of a submarine class
developed during World War II.
Researching the early Gato-class design for the pier-
side diorama inspired me to build the namesake of the
class, USS Gato (SS-212), in her original configuration.
( Ken’s sub diorama appeared in FSM’s Modeling the
Second World War, pp. 46-52 (1995). Photocopies are
available through Kalmbach’s customer service depart-
ment, 800-533-6644. )
© 2009 Kalmbach
48 FineScale Modeler FebruaryPublishing
2005 Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form
without permission from the publisher. www.FineScale.com
Ken Hart
detailed, upgraded,
and back-dated Revell’s
1/178 scale USS Lionfish kit to
model the USS Gato as it slid off the
builder’s ways in 1941.
The model
I started with that good old 1/178 scale Revell USS Lionfish (SS-
298) (kit No. 5228), issued previously as the Flasher (SS-249) and
the Growler (SS-215). This offering has held up over time as a
good foundation for conversion projects. I’ve built plenty of them
over the years, both as stand-alone models and in dioramas.
The hull halves are the most accurate and usable parts in the
box. The fairwater (the structure sitting on the boat’s main deck,
often called the conning tower) is way off the mark, so for any
conversion, a replacement should be scratchbuilt. I discarded the
guns and masts, deciding to fabricate replacement parts and new
details as needed. After all, that’s half the fun of model building.
The fairwater
First, I drew a paper template for the base of the fairwater and
made corrections by test-fitting it to the deck. Then, I employed
 1/178 Scale |Ship | How-to

1 2

Ken laid out a paper pattern for the fairwater on The completed fairwater’s frame construction is
.030" styrene sheet. The bridge and gun decks ready to receive the gun deck, bridge deck, and
were made the same way. overheads.

3 4

Ken split a length of plastic tubing to fabricate This is the outer skin pattern laid out and trans-
the bridge coaming and installed it between the fered to .010" styrene sheet.
front overhead and the bridge framing.

Fleet submarines
in service
The Gato class, packed with
cutting-edge technologies of its
day, went into production on a
major scale after Pearl Harbor.
The keel for USS Gato (SS-
212) was laid down at the Electric The finished fairwater shows the stiffeners against the inboard surface of the skin.
Boat shipyard in Groton, Conn.
It was launched on Aug. 21, 1941,
and commissioned on Dec. 31. 6 7
Most of the U.S. fleet submarines
that gained fame during WWII
were Gato-class boats. Many of
them were upgraded and served
well into the Cold War years.
Although the boats of a given
class may have begun their careers
as identical mates, by the war’s end
no two boats looked alike. Shipyard
overhaul improvements and field The parts for the periscope masts and the skin The periscope-shears framing and mast wells are
modifications made each unique. that will surround them are finished. ready to recieve their outer skins.
by Ken Hart
February 2005 www.finescale.com 49
 8 the ol’ “looks about right” method rather than complicating the
process with mathematical tolerances. The corrected paper tem-
plate was transferred to .030" styrene sheet, and the fairwater’s
base was cut out, trimmed, and sanded, 1. The gun deck, bridge
deck, and overheads were fabricated the same way.
I used a lot of I-beam stock and C-channel stock in various
sizes from ⁄" and larger to fabricate the fairwater’s skeleton.
I calculated the fairwater’s height and cut strips of ⁄" I-beam
stock to build the framework. These frames were arranged
around the styrene-sheet base according to a shipyard drawing
Ken wrapped the .010" outer skin around the scope-shears assem- that I had seen.
bly and adjusted it to fit. I cut pieces of .030" styrene sheet for the bridge deck and gun
deck, then cut notches into the decks to accommodate the taller
frames and fixed them atop the short support frames. The taller
9 frames were installed, and the secondary internal framework of
.020" x .020" square strips was cut to length and added to support
the structure’s outer skin, 2.
Then, I built the slightly raised, contoured bridge coaming
located above the front of the fairwater. A length of ⁄" plastic
tube stock was split in half and trimmed to fit between the .030"
front overhead piece and the bridge coaming front frame, 3.
Next, I calculated the fairwater’s skin area, drew it on paper,
cut out the pattern, and wrapped it around the framework. It was
test-fitted until it looked about right. Once I was satisfied, the
paper template was transferred to a sheet of .010" styrene sheet
and cut out, 4. The forward view ports and the side doors were
also located, marked, and cut out.
Range light I used a blow dryer to heat the skin and soften it up before
gluing it to the framework. A drop or two of super glue applied
to the frames located at the forward end of the part held the
carefully aligned plastic skin firm. When I was sure it fit, I
applied super glue to all the frames, wrapped the outer skin
Ship’s horns around them, clamped it, and then ran a bead of the adhesive to
fill the seam along the structure’s trailing edge.
Old photos show that inside the open gun deck (also called
the cigarette deck), upright stiffening frames were placed along
the skin. I fashioned these frames out of .020" x .020" square
stock and installed them at deck level, 5.
Grab rail
Periscope support shear
I scratchbuilt the streamlined support-shear housing for the
Many of Ken’s fabricated details including the range light, ship’s periscopes using the same methods described in the fairwater’s
horns, the port grab rail were installed on the fairwater. construction. The mast-well sleeves were made from ⅛" plastic
tube stock, and I used ⁄" solid rod stock for the attack periscope,
search periscope, and radio antenna mast. I was able to secure the
The fairwater also received port and starboard blinker lights, rod stock in my motor tool, and use it as a lathe to turn the stock
navigation lights, and side vents, along with a search light and a as I tapered these parts with sanding sticks and jeweler’s files, 6.
loop antenna. The scope-shear framework and mast-well sleeves were attached
to the base, 7. Then I laid out the skin around the support-shear
10
10 framework, glued it up, and sanded the trailing edge flush, 8.
Searchlight Blinker light
Down to the detailing
Loop antenna All of the details needed to complete the fairwater structure,
including the .50-caliber water-cooled machine gun and its
Navigation light raised platform, the ship’s bell, horns, braces, and lights, were
Vents fashioned from styrene tube, sheet, rod, and strip, 9, 10, 11. I
used .010" brass wire to form the railings. They were assembled
with super glue then inserted into pre-drilled pilot holes on each
side of the fairwater. The loop antenna and its supports, and the
side-antenna-rigging support braces were fabricated and installed
the same way.

50 FineScale Modeler February 2005

The hull 11
I assembled the hull halves with a generous coat of Testor plastic
cement and sanded the seam smooth. Then I applied 3M Acryl
Blue auto-body putty to the remaining gaps and wet-sanded
them until they disappeared. Once the hull was dry, I improved Lookout platform rail
some of its details and corrected some shortcomings.
One of this kit’s obvious flaws is the incorrect shape of the
torpedo-tube outer shutters. On the actual ships, these shutters
were flush-fit to streamline the hull. I scribed guide lines using a
template and cut out rectangles for each shutter on both sides of
the hull. Strips of .020" x .020" square stock braces were inserted
into the opened rectangles, and strips of .010" styrene sheet were .50-cal. machine gun
fitted tight and flush against the hull.
Next, I used a No.74 twist drill to make pilot holes for each
of the many upside down D-shaped limber holes along each side
of the hull. With a sharp No. 11 blade, I cut out the holes and
shaped them with jeweler’s files, a monotonous task, but not dif-
ficult. The flood ports, exhaust ports, free-flood holes, and foot
holds were done the same way, 12. Ship’s bell

Topside detailing
I cut off the hull’s molded cleats, drilled pilot holes, and installed
Side antenna
1/192 scale H-R Products (www.hrprod.com) cast white-metal braces
submarine cleats. The kit-supplied anchor was replaced with
an H-R Products destroyer anchor that fit very nicely into the
anchor well. These two additions alone greatly enhanced the
model’s appearance. Ken added new lookout-platform rails and a scratchbuilt .50-cal.
On deck, I opened the escape hatches and companionway (a machine gun. The port and starboard antenna-rigging-support
rectangular access through the deck). Hatch tunnels, braces, and braces, and the ship’s bell are also in place.
anything normally visible through these openings were installed
on the underside of each deck half before it was glued to the hull.
I measured, marked out, and drilled pilot holes with a No. 12
76 twist drill for the deck-railing stanchions. These parts were
cut from .010" steel piano wire, and attached with super glue.
Then I used a No. 60 bit to drill into the forward deck to locate
the antenna support post. Heavy brass wire served as the vertical
mast, with a length of .010" steel wire super glued horizontally
across the top to represent the separating arms, 13. Next, I
moved aft to rework some of the stern details.
The propeller guards were way too thick, so I cut off the lower
braces and thinned the guards down to a satisfactory dimension
with 400-grit sandpaper. New braces were cut from styrene strip,
attached to the guards, and mounted to the hull. Once installed,
I used thin beads of white glue to form fillets around the joints
where the guards meet the hull. The new torpedo-tube shutters made from styrene sheet are sup-
The kit propellers are not even close to correct, so I used my ported by .020" square frames. The free-flood holes above the top
motor tool to recontour the blades. Both kit propellers were iden- tube have been drilled out.
tical, but on a full-size boat they turn in opposite directions, so I
repositioned the blades on one propeller hub in the correct pitch
configuration, 14. 13

Main armament
Early Gato-class boats were equipped with a 3"/.50-caliber deck
guns, and the kit-supplied part is the wrong gun for this conver-
sion. So, I scratchbuilt a new deck gun using everything from sty-
rene sheet and rod, thin brass wire, and numerous odds and ends
from my spare-parts box, 15. I fabricated more than 50 parts for
this gem, which measures less than 1" long. The gun mount and
barrel, seats and supports, foot pads and hand-crank wheels, and
sighting tubes, – they’re all there, 16.

Big and black

First, I attached the forward dive planes, stern planes, rudder, The cast-metal anchor is in its well, the escape hatch and compan-
propeller shafts, and their supports to the hull. Then I carefully ionway are open, and the piano wire stanchions are installed.

February 2005 www.finescale.com 51


Ken corrected the counter-rotating propellers and their guards,
then mounted them to the hull.
15
The 3"/.50 caliber deck gun
under construction. More than
50 parts make up the assembly.
17
Ken painted the fairwater and
mounted it to the hull. The
navigation and running lights
were hand painted.
Ken’s finished USS Gato rests atop
keel blocks on a finished wood base.
52 FineScale Modeler
14
16
Seats, foot pedals, sights,
frame, and other details were
fabricated for the gun, which is
less than an inch long.
18
The brass forward antenna
support post and its stretched-
sprue tension cables.
February 2005
brush painted acrylic flat black into recesses that an airbrush
might not reach. Next, I stuffed dampened tissue paper into open
hatchways and in the companionway to prevent overspray.
The fairwater assembly was spray painted black. When it was
dry, I sprayed a couple of thin coats of clear gloss onto it to pre-
pare the surface for water-soluble decals. Once the decals were
applied and dry, another coat of clear gloss helped blend the decal
film to the finish. Later the entire assembly received a few coats
of clear flat to balance out the finish.
I painted the inside of the searchlight silver and applied
Micro Krystal Klear to simulate the lens. This material also
filled in the forward view ports, each periscope lens, and each
of the running lights and navigation lights. The periscopes,
radio-antenna mast, running lights, and ship’s bell were brushed
painted, and a 1/700 scale American flag was attached to the
jackstaff, 17.
I painted the hull using the same steps that were used on the
fairwater. Afterward, some clear flat coats evened out the finish.
I removed the tissue paper from the openings and attached the
pre-painted hatch assemblies.
I painted the deck gun and propellers, then attached them
along with the fairwater assembly to the hull. An hour or two
spent stretching sprue yielded plenty of long, hair-thin “wires”
for the antenna rigging and deck railings. These were all easily
attached with super glue, 18. My fleet boat was ready for one
final operation.
Display
I secured the completed model to a wood base with ⅛" dowels
epoxied into two holes previously drilled into the keel. These
dowels allow the model to sit upright on evenly spaced ⅛" x ⅛" x
2" balsa keel blocks. A Plexiglas dust cover protects the display.
My USS Gato brings out the best in Revell’s classic kit and
reveals the graceful lines of American early-war submarines. It’s a
tribute to steel boats and the iron men who served them. FSM
Ken, 48, is a journeyman electrician in Syracuse, N.Y.
When he’s not wrangling wire, he’s outdoors with an
antique Winchester rifle from his collection, drum-
ming to “beatnik jazz,” or modeling a submarine.
His interest in subs began in 1966 with a visit to the
New London Naval Submarine Base in Connecticut.
“I was fascinated with submarines from then on,” he says. Ken is
a long-standing member of The SubCommittee, an organization
made up of submarine modelers, historians, and enthusiasts ( www.
SubCommittee.com).
 RESIN MODELING SPECIAL SECTION

IMPROVING THE UZUSHIO

A stubborn resin kit
worthy of proud display
Story and photos by Ken Hart

A
1/200 scale kit of the Uzushio, Japan’s first modern sub-
marine, was available a few years ago from a Japanese
manufacturer called “Raccoon.” Never heard of ’em? Me
either, but a few of these rare kits found their way to the United
States, and I grabbed one.
There wasn’t much to it; just two solid resin hull halves that
were cast as fore and aft, rather than the usual upper and lower;
ten resin parts; and five white-metal masts, 1.
The castings were plagued with pocks, gaps, pinholes, and
flash. The few scribed details were faint. The metal masts were
just short of useless. Regardless, I could see that it had potential
to be a decent model.
As always, research came first. A couple of Maru photo
books from Japan provided useful views of this submarine. I
cross-referenced a Jane’s Defense Annual and some other naval
books. I prepared a list of details I would need to work on, and
Ken Hart took a simple, spartan 1/200 scale Raccoon kit of
Japan’s first modern submarine and made it a showpiece.
crossed them out as work on the model progressed.
Hull preparation. The hull halves and resin parts were
trimmed, sanded, and cleaned, and I filled in the pocks, gaps,
and pinholes. Super glue and baking soda is my favorite combi-
nation for this task, 2. Noxious fumes can result when baking
soda reacts with super glue, so be sure that your workspace is
adequately ventilated.
Super glue sprinkled with baking soda cures almost immedi-
ately, but deep pocks and gaps need to be filled one drop at a
time; otherwise, only the surface will cure, leaving a bubble of
liquid glue underneath. Those trapped active resins will eventu-
ally find their way out as an oily residue, and will ruin the
finished paint job.

38 FineScale Modeler November

© 2009 Kalmbach2002
Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form
without permission from the publisher. www.FineScale.com
 1/200 Scale
1
Project at a glance
The model is from the JMSDF Uzushio (SS 566) kit
by Raccoon in 1/200 scale. The author added acid-
etched brass handwheels from a model railroad
aftermarket set; masts made from plastic stock; and a
number of small parts (hand railings, grabhandle rungs,
jackstaffs, and antennas) made from brass wire. The
finished model is mounted on a walnut-stained wood
base with a Plexiglas dust cover.

The filled surfaces are harder than the surrounding resin, The rare Raccoon Uzushio kit had only a few resin and metal
which will tend to be sanded away faster and easier than the parts, and no decals. Note the unusual vertical hull split.
filled-in spots; check frequently to avoid uneven areas. I joined
the hull halves with super glue, and applied the same curing and 2
sanding steps to the joint seam and the other resin parts.
Surface detail scribing. Armed with drawings, photos,
and my list, it was time to scribe all necessary details onto the
hull and sail to make the model an accurate replica.
I used a variety of generic and homemade templates to meas-
ure and locate each detail on the hull. The templates were taped
firmly in place, and the appropriate shapes were scribed onto the
resin surface. I used a scribing tool, a compass point, needles, the
sharp tip of a No. 11 knife blade, and assorted sanding tools to
achieve uniform lines.
Of particular importance were the long, irregular slits along Ken filled pocks and pinholes in the hull with baking soda and
each side of the hull, up near the deck; they allow air to escape super glue. To avoid trapping glue beneath the surface, the
Uzushio as the ballast tanks flood. They required more than just deeper gaps were filled in several thin layers.
simple scribed lines, because these slits vary in depth, width, and
angle as they span the length of the hull. 3
Using the tip of a No. 11 blade held at an angle, I carefully
scraped along sideways, gradually gouging out the resin until the
slits became deep enough and wide enough. Final shaping and
smoothing was accomplished with micro files and sanding tools.
The bridge cockpit and mast wells were drilled out, then
opened to their proper shapes. I drilled openings for exhaust
ports and other hull penetrations, and pilot holes for the planes,
rudders, hatch wheels, and pad eyes. The sail was laid out,
marked, and drilled to accept wire grabhandle rungs, hand rails,
and various antennas.
Hull final prep. With the scribing done, I readdressed the Remaining hull flaws received an application of 3M Acryl-Blue
filled pocks and gaps. Even after sanding, uneven spots could be automotive putty, followed by wet-sanding with 400-grit paper.
found, so I applied 3M Acryl-Blue automotive putty to feather
them over and ensure a smooth surface, 3. I carefully wet-sand- 4
ed the hull with 400-grit sandpaper, then wiped it clean and
examined it. I applied putty where needed to feather in any
remaining flaws and repeated the wet-sanding process using
600-grit paper and a gentler, slower touch. After an overall light
wet-sanding with 1200 grit, the hull was washed, wiped clean,
and dried.
The sail, rudders, and stern planes were attached with super
glue. After the glue dried, I filled, cured, and sanded the sail
joint seam smooth.
Priming. A light coat of flat gray sandable primer revealed
any remaining flaws and filled minute pinholes. A few problem
areas did show; they were sanded bare, more putty was applied
where needed, and left to dry, 4. I repeated the wet-sanding After the first coat of gray primer, Ken sanded problem areas
steps until the desired finish was finally achieved, then applied bare, and more putty was applied and wet-sanded.

November 2002 www.finescale.com 39

5 another light, even coat of gray primer to the hull.
Red-oxide primer sprayed past the hull midaxis simulates
antifouling coating.
6 atop each hatch fore and aft. After I attached the fairwater
Ken masked the lower hull and sprayed a coat of dark gray
almost up to the deck, where detail lines have been scribed, and
bridge and mast wells cut open.
7 water-soluble. Wet-transfer decals cannot be applied to a flat
The deck and sail are flat black above the waterline. The under-
side of the bow dome has a deeper shade of red-oxide,
achieved by adding brown paint to the original mix.
8 The Uzushio now had a super-smooth, super-glossy finish
A number of parts, including hand railings and antennas on the
sail, are made from brass wire in various sizes.
40 FineScale Modeler November 2002
Paint. The mast wells, bridge cockpit, hull vent slits, and
deep hull penetrations were brush-coated flat black to ensure a
thorough coating all the way down where the final sprayed-on
paint might not reach.
I used a flat red-oxide primer to represent the underside
antifouling coating. An initial coat was sprayed up past the
midaxis of the hull, 5. I then masked the underside of the bow
dome and applied another mixture of flat red-oxide, this time
with some brown mixed in.
After the sub dried for a day or two, I masked the midaxis
line from beneath and applied a coat of dark gray almost up to
the deck, 6.
Photoetched brass brake wheels from a model railroad after-
market set made perfect hatch hand wheels; they were glued
planes to the sides of the sail, the model was ready for the third
and final color painting.
After masking the normal trim buoyancy line (waterline)
along the hull, I applied the final coat of flat black to the deck
and sail, 7. I removed the masking and left the model to dry in
a dust-free place for two days.
Decals. Since the Raccoon kit did not provide decals, I had
to check aftermarket sources. This model needed not only the
proper style and size of hull numbers, but also the many distinct
draft markings located in four places on the sub, as well as the
ship’s name in Japanese lettering.
I found a couple of decal sheets that would work (from
Skywave Models, www.trenes.com/skywave), but I still had to
do a lot of cutting and pasting in an almost surgical effort to
provide the decals necessary for an accurate model.
I finally had the decals the model needed, but they were
paint finish as dry-transfer decals can; they require a smooth,
glossy finish to lay down and adhere properly.
Clear coats. Several light, even coats of clear gloss gave the
model a smooth, even, glossy overall look. It took a few days for
the clear coat to dry thoroughly.
Each decal was presoaked and softened, its location on the
hull was wetted with setting solution, and placed into position.
When all of the decals were down flat, they were allowed to dry
before any residual adhesive was gently wiped off the model.
Another light, even coat of clear gloss over the entire model
helped to feather the decal film smoothly in with the finish. I
gave the model another few days to dry completely in prepara-
tion for the final finish coats.
that was simply unacceptable, so I sprayed several thin, even
coats of clear flat acrylic until a flat finish was achieved over the
entire model.
Details. To make this model an accurate scale replica, cer-
tain details found on the real ship could not be left out. A
modern submarine without safety hand railings and grabhandle
rungs would be incomplete, much as a car model without a radio
antenna or windshield wiper blades appears to be lacking some-
thing. These details, made from various gauges of brass wire,
had to be added after the painting and clear coats, to prevent
buildup on them. Brushed-on acrylic flat paint was applied after
they were installed.
Eight tiny preformed U-shaped pad eyes (tiedown loops at
four points around the escape hatch mating ring surface) made
from .080" brass wire were test fitted to their predrilled pilot
holes around the fore and aft escape hatches.
The coats of gloss and flat finish clogged the predrilled pilot
holes, so they had to be bored out again, and the small wire pad
eyes were super-glued and carefully inserted to their proper
height around the hatches.
Lengths of hand railings, made from .010" wire, were test fit-
ted and super-glued into their pilot holes in the sides of the sail.
The .080" wire grabhandles, from the sailplanes down to the
deck, were glued to the starboard side of the sail, 8. I did not
glue the .010" wire bow and stern jackstaffs, but simply insert-
ed them snugly into place.
After I cleaned up and corrected the kit’s cast white-metal
masts, I made a few additional masts from plastic stock, paint-
ed them red, and super-glued them into place. A few small
aerials atop the sail were made from brass wire, as was a
sheathed whip antenna. The kit’s five-bladed propeller was
cleaned up, sanded, and painted glossy bronze, then installed.
The side navigation lights, located over the hand rail toward
the front of the sail, are easily simulated by applying dabs of
paint, then brushing a rectangle of clear gloss over them. The
deadlights (windows) at the upper front face of the sail are sim-
ilarly fashioned by filling in the scribed rectangles with
brush-on clear gloss.
Display. At the start of the project, I made a dust cover from
1
⁄8" Plexiglas, cut a wood base to fit, and drilled and countersunk
holes for the mounting screws. I attached wood keel blocks and
gave the base a coat of walnut stain, 9.
Finally I could place the completed model on its stand and
contemplate that from a simple, spartan, poorly-cast kit, a scale
model replica of the JMSDF Uzushio SS 566 was rendered wor-
thy of proud display. FSM
The completed Uzushio was mounted on a walnut-stained wood base with keel blocks. A Plexiglas dust cover completes the display.
Uzushio-class submarines
The seven Uzushio-class submarines were the first
teardrop-hull submarines produced by Japan. These
boats had double hulls and bow sonar arrays. NS-63
high-tensile steel was used in the hull shell to permit
greater diving depth (200 meters) than previous sub-
marines.
The class was equipped with a separate emergency
blowing system that enabled the submarine to surface
rapidly. The three-dimensional automatic steering sys-
tem combined automatic depth maintenance with
automatic direction maintenance.
SS 566 was launched in 1970 and was completed in
January 1971. Crew complement was 80, including 10
officers. The sub was powered by twin Kawasaki
V8V24/30ATL diesels and two Fuji 7,200 hp DC elec-
tric motors. Top speed was 12 knots surfaced, 20 knots
submerged. The 71.1-meter-long Uzushio displaced
1,850 tons surfaced. Armament comprised six 533mm
torpedo tubes amidships, with Type 89 active/passing
homing torpedoes.
SS 566 remained in service until March 1987. The
later Yushio-class submarines, built during the 1980s,
superseded the Uzushio class, offering deeper diving
capability and improved electronics.
For the sake of comparison, the last diesel-electric
subs built by the United States were the late-1950s
Barbel class, which had a crew complement of 77, were
66.7 meters long, and displaced 2,146 tons surfaced.
–Jim Haught
November 2002 www.finescale.com 41
 A fantastic resource
for all modelers!

Call today
to subscribe No matter what you like to model, FineScale Modeler

800-533-6644 magazine will help sharpen your skills—from basic

Mon-Fri, 8:30am-5:00pm Central construction to airbrushing to weathering. Our expert
Time. Outside the U.S. and Canada, modelers will help you build realistic aircraft, armor, ships,
call 262-796-8776 x661.
cars, and more! Plus, in every issue you’ll get:

Or order online • Clear, well-illustrated how-to features written by

the experts
at
• Kit reviews of the hottest kits
finescale.com/
• Tips & techniques on assembling, painting,
promo finishing, and more
Enter code: • Inspiring reader galleries showcasing some of
I 58F the greatest models in the world
• And more!
A58F

05X1185