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U212 Class A Submarine, Revell

Very nice job on the sub, looks great! Can I ask couple questions? How did you accomplsih the darker lines on the hull, pre-shading? The top darker non-skid surface is flat black? What color is the propeller? Sorry the newbie questions, as you can tell I am still figuring out what colors to use where...great job again, cheers! Jim

James, You are more than welcome to ask as many questions as you feel you need too. The U-Boot was painted using Tamiya colours. The colour that the modern German navy use to paint these boats is (in my opinion) a strange one, depending upon the light or angle the boat is viewed or photographed from it can look Brown, Grey/Brown, Grey or even Black. My friend Olaf in Hamburg told me they are finished in a Grey/Brown and a number of pictures seem to confirm what he says, plus I trust his word. The main hull was painted using a mix of Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown mixed with a little NATO Black (I think that what I used, will check later and correct my statement if required) . The anti slip walk way is the same colour but with more NATO black added so it also looks a different colour depending on light or angle. The panel lines were initially post shaded, applying very thinned down NATO Black over the base colour , looked great ,but when the varnish was applied the effect disappeared so I used pastel chalks and varnished over these, you can see the effect. The prop is finished using a Tamiya colour (Bronze) again with I think XF-64 Red Brown added. Hope this helps. PeteV

Peter, thank you very much for your detailed answers... I made notes of the colors used, will use the propeller red brown/bronze mixture in what i am building now.. thanks again, cheers, Jim

Peter, Great job! I'm curious if you know how accurate the dunce cap shape is. It doesn't look very hydrodynamic to me. v/r Cob

Rob, I hope I am correct when I take the "Dunce Cap" to mean the conning tower. When building the model I looked on Google and found one site with a mass of photos of what appears to be a submarine get together in Norway I think (Sorry but I can`t find it at this moment) and the kit shape looks very close if not spot on. If you search on google for U212 images you will find that this class of boat is well represented and the photos will allow you to make your own mind up regarding shape. These Class A boats are reportly among the most silent in service at this time so I think that if we assume Revell got the shape right then it must work. PeteV

Sorry Pete I should have been more specific, The dunce cap is the piece just aft of the screw (propeller). On most boats it is a streamlined cone shape hence "duncecap" The one on the 212 is about as far from streamlined as you can get. I've got to assume that if the model is correct then the 1:1 "duncecap" is purposely designed to some how reduce cavitation, noise, turbulence etc. Just never seen anything like it. I'll poke around and see what I come up with. Once again, very nice work ! v/r, Cob

Cob, Funny that , just after I wrote the last reply I began to wonder if that was the part you meant, (different parts of the world, different terms and all that ) . Again the photos of the boat prior to launch show this Prop "Dunce Cap", I also seem to remember some reference to a new propeller design so may be just may be the new prop and new cap does as you suggested and reduce cavitation, again reportly these boat are very quiet . PeteV

Very clean and neat build, Pete! I like the subtle colour changes, and also the "paneling" you have made... congrats! As for the Dunce Cap, and as far as I know, they change accordingly depending of the owner (Portuguese 209PN - which are modified 212 - will have a different arrangement) Once again, congrats Pete! Skipper