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Building the Beast - Part Two

building the beast - part two

Andrea Miniatures 1/32 Type VII-C U-boat

I couldn’t pry the hull apart as when I tried, it required more effort than I could muster, and the hull started to crack and I was nowhere close to having them far enough apart. To deal with the rear plates, I decided I would move them towards the bow until they fit and then trim them down. I would lose some of the “vent holes” or whatever they are called, on the plate, but it wasn’t that bad. Now that I had figured out a solution, I proceeded to make the needed cuts. Measuring twice (actually 3 times) and cutting once I was rewarded with all of the pieces falling into place just as I had hoped they would. The end result is that the point of the stern deck plate ends about ½” short of the actual hull, but I could fix this.

By this time the paint on the fake pressure hull had dried. Using 5 minute epoxy, I mixed up small batches for each plate I added. Starting at the bow, I glued the white metal cap in place. I have no idea what this thing is, but it looks like a light of some sort. Anyway, once it was solid, I started with the first PE deck plate. Spreading a thin layer of epoxy along the top of the hull, I laid the deck plate on, positioned it, and then let it dry. So far, so good. On to plate number two. I continued like this until all of the plates were installed. My only mistake came at the end. (Don’t they all?) I stayed on one side of the hull the entire time and didn’t notice that there was a small gap between the deck and the hull on the opposite side. It was maybe 1/64th of an inch, but it was noticeable. There must have been a small resin booger sticking up causing it to sit high. Great, more work. I also noticed that once all of the deck plates were on, not a whole lot, if any of the pressure hull, pipes etc could be seen. I’m glad I decided to keep it simple. Using a #11 Blade I pried the deck plate off and took a large bastard file to the offending area. A few minutes later, I test fit the plate and the fit was much better. Not perfect, but a lot closer. Using medium gap filling super glue I reattached the plate.

Some things to note at this point.; If anybody is thinking of getting one of these kits, be warned, IT WILL NOT JUST FALL TOGETHER BY ANY MEANS! It is not for the weak of heart. If I had it to do over again, there are several things I would do differently. Namely, I would spend more time dressing the hull halves to ensure a better fit. I would definitely find all the reference material I could that showed the conning tower and other areas as the instructions are horrible. They are nothing more than a photo copy, of a copy or close to that. It is extremely difficult to see what parts go where. I used the In Action book by Squadron and it really helped. Be prepared to scratch build A LOT of stuff as the kit parts don’t always cooperate. This is as far as I have gotten as of 11/23/05. I am hoping to have it complete by December 21 for our annual Christmas banquet. Let’s hope so.