Ahoy Shipmates,

Working on weathering and adding a crew to the ORP Wicher is proving to be a bit time consuming with the limited time available during the busy time at the salt mines for me. Since I wanted to do something a little different even though I was close to being done with the larger project, I picked out something that wouldn't take a great deal of time to deal with, sort of take a break from all the other stuff.

I had purchased Hobby Boss's little 1/700 U Boat VIIC kit when Squadron had it on sale for under $5, not really expecting too awful much. After all, the VIIC was only about 2/3s the size of a Gato Class Sub. Surprisingly, the little sub as issued by Hobby Boss is actually a pretty happening kit in this small scale. It comes with two different types of conning tower, nicely molded and offers a pretty decent look when completed. They even include a rather nice prefinished base for you to display the completed kit on. Although you do have to paint the uprights for the base flat black to match the rest of the 3 piece base assembly.

Careful removal of the parts is necessary and keeping an eagle eye on the tiny bits as you remove and ready them for assembly on the two piece hull is needed. I actually managed to do it without feeding the carpet monster. While not as detailed as the large scale efforts, what you do get does add up to something that looks pretty fair.





I will admit that I did add a set of photo etched rails and propeller guards from an old Tom's Model Works set for Axis Subs that I had laying about. The rails that come on the kit are a bit on the thick side, about like the Wintergarten on the sail, removing them before adding any other parts to the hull made it a simple addition. Gators' Glue made for a trouble free attachment and allowed me to adjust the fit to the circumstances. The addition of some stretched sprue for the antennas and lines with a touch of Gator Glue for insulators was easy enough once all the other items were added and painted. The Propeller Guards were also attached by dipping the ends into a puddle of Gator Glue dropped onto a soda bottle cap to get the fit correct.





For a size comparison, I dusted off the old Gato Class kit from Sky Wave that I built a long time ago. It compares well with the detailing of the much newer Hobby Boss kit even though it is from about the late 70's.



And to give you an idea of just how big the completed kit is, and no, I don't own a giant sized penny.



If you are looking for something to while away a weekend on or a couple days worth of hooky from the salt mines, Hobby Boss's little U Boat kit is ideal. I also noticed in this months' sales circular from Squadron they are offering the U VIIB kit for the same under $5 price tag, I may just have to invest in that one.

Hi Jay!

My opinion is the same with the HobbyBoss 1/700 subs! It's an interesting bunch, that you can make it full hull, or go a little further and make a nice small dio!
The Tom's Modelworks PE Set is a must if you want to make the U-Boats and Gato's subs level in quality with the other items on your (mine too) 1/700 model collection
You just need to touch up the waterline


Rui

Arg ... my eyes .... to small ... arg...

But nice work on that little sub - might have to try one at some point, just have to be careful not confuse it with a 1:72 torpedo

Cheers/Jan

Nice work on a small subject Jay.

Kenny

Hey Jay, what a neat little build! Even the base it's on seems to dwarf it.

Ahoy Shipmates,

Well, I did make a stab at correcting the demarcation lines on the hull Rui, next time I think I will prepaint the lower hull first before gluing the halves together. The lower half will make for a much cleaner cutoff line that way leaving the upper bulge of the side blisters the only thing to have to deal with.

Hmm, Jan, here is a view of one of the 1/72 torpedoes from the S 100 Schnellboot kit for reference purposes.



I do have to agree with Rui, these little Hobby Boss kits do offer a good deal for those who like the divine scale for subject matter. Tiny though they are, they do have quite a bit of detail stuffed on there. Next time I may make a stab at improving the wintergarten with some spare railing parts, it was enough of a trip to trim and marry up the two sections of railing on the sides of the hull. Gator Glue is the bomb as far as adding things to this tiny craft, I will admit, it gives you enough time to fiddle the parts into the right location before drying hard and if you don't quite get it right the first time, clean up of anything on the model is much easier than if you had blobbed on some CA.

Even more impressive, thanks for the pic Jay!

And you even did the rigging - amazing !

Cheers/Jan

Thanks Jan,

Rigging courtesy of my extensive collection of saved sprue.

Actually, it hard to resist adding to such a nice little model. In the Modelart #29 I recently recieved is an article on additions with stretched sprue, while it is written in Japanese characters, the illustrations pretty well explain what they are doing and it is truly amazing just what one can do with a material that kit makers include that is supposed to be disposed of once a kit is completed. One of the pictures included shows a set of stacks from a ship model in 1/700 that are detailed up with all the railings, ladderways, and rigging that one could hope to add. I am in awe of such efforts which just serve to inspire.

Yes, I have seen it and that's pure... insanity!!!!
I'll stay with PE (and they call me insane )

Thanks for hearing me on the waterline issue


Rui

Yeah, I hear you Rui. Biker Yu's Jintsu model is pretty intense all right. When I first saw it I thought it was a 1/350 or even larger scale. Makes all other 1/700 scale stuff look pale in comparison. I am in awe of such watchlike precision in some of the modelers that you can catch here and there, it also serves to inspire one to greater efforts.

As to the waterline issue, a little friendly criticism is always welcome. It also helps to make one think up better ways to do things. That is one of the great things that I like about the forums here.

Hmmm, imagine, get a bunch and do a Sub-bunker diorama - might be an idea ...

Ahoy Shipmates,

Gee, that would be interesting, a submarine fleet and pen that one could house in a shoe box.. What would really be way cool would be a fleet of your scale sized U Boats, of course, you would probably have to use another house to put it all into.

Having enjoyed building this little VII sort of got me in the mood to try a few more of these Hobby Boss mini submarines. While wandering about the ship section of the local hobby shop, I ran across a IX C and a Gato for $4.99 a piece, naturally they both followed me home so I will be tinkering at them when the next opportunity arises.