hi there
I am new to this forum, coming across from armorama where I have been residing as I build my 1/16 King Tiger. That monster project is coming to an end and I am considering what next could make me spend too much money and take up too much time...

And lo and behold some fo the U-boats I have seen on here have opened my eyes to what might be possible.

I do have a couple of quick questions for you experts. i will probably go for the Revell 1/72 but are there any other makes I should consider?

Secondly there seems to be a huge range of colours that people have chosen for their boats... please see the following links:

One with a red-primer style lower hull...

http://hsfeatures.com/features04/typeviicuboatsl_1.htm

One with light grey on top and dark grey lower hull...

http://www.rokket.biz/models/modelsweb/rokket/u557/index.shtml

Even lighter greys...

http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/misc/ships/montesuboat.htm

and many more besides. One of the things I learnt with armour is that there is no such thing as a right answer regarding colours. Either the info is really not there or the effects of water, sun, wear and tear, dilution of paint etc mean that in reality the colours can and did vary massivley. i am guessing that subs are much the same but would like to know whether the red-hull in particulat is potentially prototypical?

Finally, guns! I do love a bit of anti aircraft etc so are there any decent prototypical u-boats whose upper decks bristled with assorted flak and antio-ship guns and are there any aftermarket suppliers you could recommend?

I look forward to learning more about this fascinating world.

thanks
Noel

It really depends on what rocks your boat, some fancy the VII c types - so in 1:72 they stick to Revells offerings - Revell allso do a gatoclass thats even bigger.

Lindberg does some japanes boats in 1:72 that have recieved very bad critique - I really cant reccomend these unless you really like scratching alot

Special Navy does a II A and a XXIII (both german) and Alanger allso does a XXIII - aside from that, theres a plentora of midgets in 1:72 and 1:35 and you can even find a VII in 1:32 ....

If you really needs to spend time and money, then Revells VII C with corrections of mistakes and adding af full CMK interiour and crew will surely make your day (or year )

Colors depends on time and nationality - german wartime subs never were redhulled.

Welcome and have fun

Cheers/Jan

...here's a nice link with a huge chapter concerning german U-Boat-paints and their equivalent in FS or model paints:
http://www.rokket.biz/models/modelsweb/rokket/u557/paint.shtml
And there's a german/english book series - recomendable! Some days ago No. 6 was published.
http://www.hyperscale.com/2007/reviews/books/ubootimfocusreviewgp_1.htm

Michael

PS: NEVER paint a german sub with a red hull!

Thanks for the tips so far.

It looks then that the Revell is the best bet in terms of build quality. All of the builds I have read both here and on Britmodeller seem to praise the way it fits together and the general detailing.

Pity about the red hull! the osprey book shows them with red hulls... so much bad info out there!

It looks to me like I should go for the VIIC/41 because that one has the "wintergarden" (the Germans did have great ways of describing their gear!) bristling with anti aircraft guns... just look fantastic. Only downside is I do not believe any of the "smiling swordfish" subs were of this genre and were of the earlier one.

Maybe I am just going to have to build two subs! One early with the rather gnarly looking wire cutters on the front and a smiley swordfish, and one late 41 with all the gear!

I like subs!

Ahoy vonMarshall,
Yes, your best bet on building a sub and especially is you like flak guns is
the Revell VIIC/41 or the Gato which can be set up with quite a compelment
of AA.
Also they just have some minor corrections and the sites you've been to pretty
well explain them all. They make great builds out of the box for those who do not want to go the stretch.

The large sized Japanese subs released by Lindberg....well they have major
shape issues and their detail is

As mentioned by others:
NO RED HULLS ! yes the red looks interesting visually but no wartime uboats
were ever red hulled.

Also note that a far as the net cutter goes....these were actually removed
very early in the war on the VIICs. so if you are doing say U96 with the
laughing swordfish.....no net cutter.

Have fun building they are excellent kits!

Cheers,
Joe

Wartime subs displayed huge variaty, so do a bit of research and pick the boat you want to build and do whatever corrections you find relevant.

If you start a build blog, you will get plenty of input along the way, have fun!

You may also consider the Revell 1/144 scale VII/C. It is a beautiful rendition of the larger offering. I have built both scales and are superv models. You have a greater selection of am parts in 1/72 but at least for me, its a bit too large. I'm kind of retricted on display space. Griffon makes a Super Detail set in 1/144 scale for it, complete with railings, metal barrels, periscopes and a ton of other details all for about $40. Revell recently released a VIIC/41 Atlantic Version in 1/444 and hopefully Griffon will come out with a Super Detail set for this one as well.

Joe

It depends what time period you model your boat. U96 had the net cutter removed in June of 1941, about patrol #7. I believe the 96 was one of the last boats with the cutter and I think it retained the smaller cutter just in front of the tubes.