U 47 was class VII B submarine manufactured in late 30's in Germany. 19th of August 1939, commanded by Gunther Prien, U 47 departed from port of Kiel for first of ten patrols. It was reported missing on 7th on March 1941, in the North Atlantic, west from Ireland, believed to be sunk by a depth charge dropped by HMS Wolverine. The biggest success of U 47 was sinking battleship HMS Royal Oak in British naval base in Scapa Flow on 14th October 1939. Model of this submarine comes from Revell in 1:125 scale.
The model is a re - release, for very affordable price 15 Pounds, bought at Hinckley Model Show this year. As for old(er) model it has over 120 parts, that includes interior and figures. It is great base for scratch building or superdetailing as despite number of parts interior looks rather spartan. Having no reference at all, I've decided for simple build out of the box. Started with assembly of interior sections and instrument panels (plenty decals for dials and gauges here). When all sections were fixed to the hull, I used Tamiya Light Grey Primer. It was left as major interior color after applying several thin layers. Floor panels were airbrushed with Tamiya XF64 Red Brown, walls & ribs left with primer. Torpedoes and engines were airbrushed with Tamiya XF 84 Dark Iron & Citadel Bolgun Metal applied by brush for torpedoes mid section, instrument panels were brush painted using Citadel Charadon Granite and Nuln Oil Wash.
When interior was finished, figures were painted, to be added up before hull was complete with cutout panel. It was first time I painted half inch figures, found that rather difficult. All were painted still in frame, as being very small I could easily loose them. Could not paint all the details as usual, but realized many of them are going to be barely visible or facing away from view. All figures were used, fixed in random locations apart from captain & a crew member, who were to occupy conning tower. Both sides of the hull were assembled with the deck, where several fitting issues occurred. Had to remove many pins and flash plastic from inside of teh hull for correct fitting, but still did not avoid gaps, filled with Green Stuff & Liquid Green Stuff.
Next step was assembling conning tower, which I left separate from the hull until final step of assembly. To keep interior intact had to mask off the cutout, what proved to be challenging and time consuming job. Painting started with the deck, Tamiya XF 63 German Grey was airbrushed on, then masked off, XF 66 Light Grey airbrushed for upper part of the hull with XF22 Rlm Grey for underwater part. When paint dried, all masking was removed and luckily enough there was no overspray, so time and effort paid off. Final stage of assembly was fitting conning tower and guns. Captain and last crewman were fitted in, capt'n looking through periscope. The main hatch was assembled closed, but all the other hatches could be shut or opened. Final weathering was done using oils, simply applied dots of paint and smudged them downwards using paintbrush soaked in white spirit. Finished model was fixed to the base using provided supports. Decals applied are for U47, the "Snorting Bull", nickname give to Gunther Prien after his Raid at Scapa Flow, later becoming insignia of U-Boats of 7th Flottille. More historical information as well as picture gallery I found
here.
U 47 was class VII B submarine manufactured in late 30's in Germany. 19th of August 1939, commanded by Gunther Prien, U 47 departed from port of Kiel for first of ten patrols. It was reported missing on 7th on March 1941, in the North Atlantic, west from Ireland, believed to be sunk by a depth charge dropped by HMS Wolverine. The biggest success of U 47 was sinking battleship HMS Royal Oak in British naval base in Scapa Flow on 14th October 1939. Model of this submarine comes from Revell in 1:125 scale.
The model is a re - release, for very affordable price 15 Pounds, bought at Hinckley Model Show this year. As for old(er) model it has over 120 parts, that includes interior and figures. It is great base for scratch building or superdetailing as despite number of parts interior looks rather spartan. Having no reference at all, I've decided for simple build out of the box. Started with assembly of interior sections and instrument panels (plenty decals for dials and gauges here). When all sections were fixed to the hull, I used Tamiya Light Grey Primer. It was left as major interior color after applying several thin layers. Floor panels were airbrushed with Tamiya XF64 Red Brown, walls & ribs left with primer. Torpedoes and engines were airbrushed with Tamiya XF 84 Dark Iron & Citadel Bolgun Metal applied by brush for torpedoes mid section, instrument panels were brush painted using Citadel Charadon Granite and Nuln Oil Wash. 
When interior was finished, figures were painted, to be added up before hull was complete with cutout panel. It was first time I painted half inch figures, found that rather difficult. All were painted still in frame, as being very small I could easily loose them. Could not paint all the details as usual, but realized many of them are going to be barely visible or facing away from view. All figures were used, fixed in random locations apart from captain & a crew member, who were to occupy conning tower. Both sides of the hull were assembled with the deck, where several fitting issues occurred. Had to remove many pins and flash plastic from inside of teh hull for correct fitting, but still did not avoid gaps, filled with Green Stuff & Liquid Green Stuff. 
Next step was assembling conning tower, which I left separate from the hull until final step of assembly. To keep interior intact had to mask off the cutout, what proved to be challenging and time consuming job. Painting started with the deck, Tamiya XF 63 German Grey was airbrushed on, then masked off, XF 66 Light Grey airbrushed for upper part of the hull with XF22 Rlm Grey for underwater part. When paint dried, all masking was removed and luckily enough there was no overspray, so time and effort paid off. Final stage of assembly was fitting conning tower and guns. Captain and last crewman were fitted in, capt'n looking through periscope. The main hatch was assembled closed, but all the other hatches could be shut or opened. Final weathering was done using oils, simply applied dots of paint and smudged them downwards using paintbrush soaked in white spirit. Finished model was fixed to the base using provided supports. Decals applied are for U47, the "Snorting Bull", nickname give to Gunther Prien after his Raid at Scapa Flow, later becoming insignia of U-Boats of 7th Flottille. More historical information as well as picture gallery I found here. 
Great job on the model! Love the paint scheme and weathering, nicely done. I am currently in the process of building this same model.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the U47 link.
Excelente!
ReplyDelete