Rather than try to clean up the kit's rather bland antennae. I decided to replace them with a couple of homemade ones. I used a length of thin brass wire, two sections of hypodermic tubing, and a small piece of plastic rod for the base.



Temporarily inserted into position.





I also painted and then installed the hatch, after reworking the latching mechanism. The kit supplied flag poles looked too slender so I made some new ones.



Some weathering was applied to the tower. After all, what's a U-boat without a little rust. Al

Al, the paint looks brand new ... while the rust treatment is vastly overdone, making it look like that of a boat that's been raised from the deep after 50 years submergence. The two just don't work together; you either need to weather the rest of the paint or drop way, way back on the rust. The rust pattern hasn't been feathered enough, either. It looks like someone filled the sail up with rusty sludge and it oozed out of the scuppers.

I assume you were looking for input or a critique on your post, so there it is. Look into using a dry brush and rust powder, not paint, next time ... and be sparing with it.

Comments are always welcome. The 'rust' appears heavier in the photos than it is in actuality. My camera tends to exaggerate the contrast between colors making them appear starker and more pronounced than they really are. Al

Another authentic paint touch that I've not seen on model subs is a large swath of fresh deck paint topside that looks like it was applied with paint rollers. Deck division would paint what they could from the weather deck as far down as the rollers would reach ... and the boundaries of the fresh paint were far from perfect. As it was holding up their liberty, it was applied only with an eye toward preventing rust ... and they didn't want the rollers to touch the sea water or it would screw up the paint in the bucket. Looks like hell, but very realistic. You mask off the jagged edge with stripped masking tape and just let it contrast with the old faded and weathered paint just above the waterline ... or where they stopped painting on the deck for the time being. A couple of freshly chipped areas with primer where painting will pick up tomorrow would work well too; remember, you don't paint the whole deck in one day because there has to be some path for the crew to walk on to board the boat.

Same goes for the sail: fresh paint from the deck on up nearly to the top ... and maybe some fresh paint on the very top. Make it look like they painted what they could while the boat was in port. Non-skid was on the walkways ... and it was simply paint mixed with sand ... I don't quite know how to simulate that. Perhaps very fine emory paper glued down on the walkway and painted over.

Just one more note on terminology: a conning tower is not visible on most submarines ... but it IS partly visible on the XXIII. The conning tower is the pressure-proof structure inside the sail. The area where the lookouts hang out is, of course, the bridge. Not sure what the Germans called the sail; perhaps "Turm" (tower)? Michael, can you help with that?

...as can refered in VOZM:
conning tower = Turm (tower)
sail = umbauter Turm (covered tower)


Michael

The Conning Tower is looking superb. Beautifully executed......Cheers mark

Really nice work on the antennae Al!

Got another note for you painters: those numerous tiny nodules running along the after part of the hull ... in the crevasses where the upper and lower hulls join and along the after casing seam ... are actually zincs ... corrosion sacrificial anodes ... that are welded to the hull. They're eaten away by electrolysis while the boat is underway; some will be heavily erroded and pitted and some will look brand new because they're replacement zincs. Older ones that are heavily erroded will also have a whitish powder coating on them. They literally get eaten away instead of the hull and get replaced when the boat is in drydock.

They are not painted. In fact, those on modern U.S. Subs are embossed with the words "Do Not Paint" ... for the grunts doing the painting who might not know that.

The zinc is a hunk of cast silvery zinc with two steel straps projecting out of each end. Those straps are bent 90 degrees inward to join them into the hull; they are what the welder uses to make them a part of the hull. The straps may be painted, but the zincs are not. There are a couple of shots in the book that show these unpainted zincs.

Don't paint over these tiny anodes. Masking will be a pain, I know ... but you need to make sure that these are a silvery color ... and some should have a dull white, powdery coating. Plain magnesium-or-aluminum-colored enamel will actually come closer to the color of new zincs than anything else. I think talcum powder might be brush-applied to the tacky silver paint on some of them to simulate the corrosion on the older ones.

One can hardly weather the paint and add rust highlights to this submarine model without showing some heavily-corroded and totally eaten-away zincs.

Alternately, you might consider brush-painting these.

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/912743

http://www.funqa.com/engineering/233-Engineering-2.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=TXO9y6lz8csC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=submarine+zincs&source=bl&ots=tO3NdJtRK0&sig=10YSWuehYggY2nj8PsA17VY6D10&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tDDqUevLM5Gj4APn1oHABQ&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=submarine%20zincs&f=false

They've just found a group of WWI U-Boats sunk off the coast of Massachusetts.

41 U-boats, as a matter of fact! Also, three british subs!

Wonder how many will be raised in the coming years?

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/07/21/explorers-find-dozens-wwi-u-boats-off-united-kingdom-coast/

Got another note for you painters: those numerous tiny nodules running along the after part of the hull ... in the crevasses where the upper and lower hulls join and along the after casing seam ... are actually zincs ... corrosion sacrificial anodes [Quoted]

but you need to make sure that these are a silvery color [Quoted]

William, I found a photo showing the stern section (middle photo) and those 'bumps'.



They appear to be painted the same shade as the hull. Could they be something else besides those anodes? Or, maybe they did paint them back then. Al

I did see those ... and I found only two photos with them unpainted. I can't seem to post photos here, though. Not a very user-friendly forum.

Two possibilities for your photos: they're fouled with algae or other marine growth as is the rest of the hull ... or they were painted anyway. Happened a lot in the days before they began embossing them with the "Do Not Paint" message in the U.S. Navy ... some sailors do pretty sloppy work with a brush.

I can tell you that in order to work, they must be in direct contact with the sea water ... and that they do work very well when they're kept scraped clean of the white powder and filth.

Ayway, see page 57 of the book for a fair view of the unpainted zincs ... and I have another showing a great view of the screw which also depicts these anodes without paint that I'd like to post here, if I can ever get that to work.

Okay, here it is: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/42/u2361rdditionwilhelmsha.jpg/

I think there's a u-shaped profile with the zinc-anodes pressed or screwed in between and therefore only the upper part is visible:



...looks like 4 screws per anode


Michael

Yeah, Michael ... in the photoetched set for the 1/72 kit, these are flat plates that you bend on a piece of wire to get that profile ... so you're right about the semi-tubular shape. That doubles the surface area for these zincs ... inside and outside ... and that's pretty ingenious, really. This close-up is really great ... it clarified how those are mounted. I'm assuming the bolts went into the anodes to connect them electrically to the hull. Thanks for sharing.

Where did you find that, please? Also, was there any explanation given?

Okay ... my plan for the zincs will be to use a small drill bit in a pin vise to drill a very small, shallow hole into each end of each zink. Then, after the hull is base coated, I will mask only the top edges of the zinks with automotive pin striping and then enamel only the upper 3/4 of each zink carefully with dull aluminum and weather most of them with talcum powder while the paint's tacky. The combination of aluminum paint and overcoat of white powder should come very close to corroded zincs.

Finally a thin strip of pre-painted plastruct with scale bolt heads glued on will run along the bottom of all the zincs. Scrape some paint off the bottoms of the zinks to allow the glue to stick to the plastruct.

I'm hoping the same strips were used on the upper casing zincs; can't be seen in the photos. I'm thinking they ran the rails throughout for uniformity.

I very much want a PE fitting for that amidship ballast vent on the stbd side; all Bronco gave us is an indentation! Same for the after ballast tank vent ... I don't want to have to buy that whole kit of park benches just to get that grille! I just spent $32 for that screw and heaven knows what Eduard's going to charge for their 1/35 PE when they finally get around to making it.

...it's the scanned pic from page 57 (VOZM) and a scaled up outcut.


Michael

More on the topside capstan at http://adjunct.diodon349.com/the_fleet_type_submarine/Images_Fleet_Sub/Windlass_&_capstan_gear.jpg

Some action shots of our modern capstans in use at http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/2008/07/capstan-operations-or-marching-which-do.html which are the same capstan systems as the WWII subs. You can clearly see the seaman manning the capstan control "T" handle and the extended capstan in use.

The capstan on this WWII fleet boat would be, I think, very similar to the U-Boat's capstan. Note that the capstan lowers into the casing and has a stud fitted to the center of the capstan that, when rotated, will raise or lower the capstan. This is linked to the anchor windlass, something the XXIII doesn't have, so our boat will be simpler.

Farther aft is the "T" wrench whick is fitted into a hydraulic valve controller for the capstan motor. It has the exact same type stud that's in the center of the capstan for cranking the capstan up out of the deck. One wrench does it all.

This after hydraulic controller stud situated low in a small access hole in the casing is what I need to locate on the XXIII. It's GOTTA be up forward near the retractable capstan SOMEWHERE ... and it will probably be square, maybe an inch or so on each side. Anybody got any leads on where that thing might be?

It might be recessed very low in the hole and out of sight, too ... just don't know.

My take on the UZO Binoculars and their mount. Previous German submarines carried out most attacks on the surface. The UZO was the mechanism used to sight the torpedoes and transmit the information below (like the TBT on US subs). The Type XXIII and its big brother the Type XXI were true submarines, designed for submerged attacks. So, they probably would have little or no use for a complete UZO. But I think the Type XXIII (and maybe the XXI) might have had a simpler set-up for possible surface attacks as a backup. Now, to the kit, it supplies the Binoculars normally mounted on an UZO and a thin rod to mount them on. There has been some discussion about the type of mount used on the XXIII. I believe that it would be the same, or similar to, as this one on U-2360.



My logic for coming to this conclusion is that the mount would be simple and removable, to facilitate access to and from the bridge area. The mount in the photo is similar to the upper portion of a traditional UZO that the Binoculars would have been attached to. With no concrete evidence to the contrary I decided to go with my best guess. Here's the result.





I may be proved wrong in my assumption, but I think it looks much better than that silly rod Bronco provides. Al

Hi Al,
looks much better! But I think that this new part wasn't bolted or screwed to UZO plate for easy mounting and demounting.

Just received from the UK:





...needs a little extension at the backside, but the metal prop is an improvement in comparisation to the Bronco part!


Michael

Oh, NAN! That looks so much better! Necking down the shaft hole on the boat won't be any problem at all, I think; you just turn a bit of brass down to the same diameter to back the new screw. Nice job he did.

Looking at Al's photo of the rear section of the XXIII above (in the zincs thread), you can see that the diameter of this brass screw's hub is much closer to the real one.

Mike, did it come registered mail in a big envelope from "GB" by any chance? I wasn't home to receive such an envelope today and I think that might be my screw, too.

comparisation? What a strange neologism!
comparison !! If someone needs this 3 needless letters a-t-i, take it!


Michael

Mike! My question: did it come from GB in a large registered envelope?

Yes! It was an air cushion envelope, not a parcel.


Michael

Okay ... couldn't figure out who "GB" is ... so I'll pick it up at the post office tomorrow and sign for it. Too bad they couldn't just put it in the mailbox.

Hi Al,
looks much better! But I think that this new part wasn't bolted or screwed to UZO plate for easy mounting and demounting.[Quoted]

Thanks Michael, I think it would have to be attached somehow, you wouldn't want it falling off in any kind of sea. They probably bolted it in when putting to sea, and dismounted it when returning to port. That is if it was ever mounted at all.
Al (P.S.) That brass screw looks real nice, a big improvement.