Introducing Project#2 - Blue Water Navy 1/350 U-35 WWI German U-Boat

OK... While we wait on the tow cables to finish our M1A1 repair (Project#1), I thought I would get started on Project#2. Back in 1997, I purchased the Blue Water Navy 1/350 WWI U35 German U-Boat kit. I got started on it but then had to pack everything away to move to AZ in 1998. Since then it's just been sitting waiting for me get back to it.

Here is what the kit consists of:

Resin hull and guns, brass tube and wire for periscope assemblies and propeller shafts.

A very nice photo-etch detail set for railings, rudder, dive planes, antennae, etc..

Adequate instructions with an obvious omission of a top-down view showing the orientation of some of the photo-etch detail pieces.

Finally since this is my first submarine model (and since I am certainly no expert on WWI German naval vessels) I purchased the following reference book in order to learn a little bit more about the U-35.

So now we're ready to begin... actually as you can see, I've already painted the hull above the waterline and the guns. I also started one of the propeller shafts. Aside from being my first submarine model, this will also be my first resin kit as well as my first experience using photo-etch details, so this is bound to be a very "educational" project for me.

Project#1 - Begin the Repairs

Well it's been awhile since my last post which one of the hazards of having a day job, but at least it pays the bills. So we've assesed the damage and now we want to begin the repairs. In this post, we will cover the following:

1. Correcting the overspray on the amunition boxes.
2. Re-attaching the side pods to the main turret.
3. Correcting the blemishing on the left side of the main hull.

The first step in correcting the overspray on the ammunition boxes was to very carefully detatch the remaining side pod from the main turret (note: the left side came off on its own). Since I didn't "over-glue" during construction, it came off with some carefull prying with a small jewellers screwdriver. **BTW, these little screwdriver sets are well worth the investment ($5-$10) if you don't have one.

With the sidepods now off, we can cut a small masking template from an index card and carefully mask off everything except the top of the ammunition box.

After airbrushing the basic green color, we go back over it with a light dusting of Tamiya "Buff"

**I'm really a fan of the The Tamiya flat acrylics. They are extremely forgiving and easy to work with - very easy to thin with matching thinner X-20A, cover great, don't clog and are water clean-up (except your airbrush of course - never use water to clean an airbush). The only drawback is that there arn't quite as many colors available as you have with Testors Model Master. Hopefully that will change...

So, after the paint is completely dry we are ready to re-attach the sidepods.

Now here is where I made a mistake. As you can see in the picture below, while re-attaching the left side pod, I put the glue (good ol' toxic testers tube cement) on the side pod. I then mis-aligned the sidepod while attaching it and had to slide it over into the correct position. By doing this I left an unsightly glue streak on the side of the turret.

Whenever possible, put the glue on the part you attaching to. This avoids situations like the one above.

Due to the relatively inconspicuous location, this problem was easily taken care of by airbrushing a little Tamiya Desert Yellow (which was the base color used on the model during construction).

Next we will address the heavy overspray of the unit markings on the left side of the main hull. What we did here is to lightly sand (using K&S 400 grit sanding film) the overspray off of the top of the decal. While we do this, our goal is to only sand the decal and try not to affect the surrounding finish. This will make the reapplication of the Tamiya "Buff" overspray that much easier. The "buff" overspray is what gives the model that dusty "slightly used" look rather than a factory fresh paintjob. It's a matter of personal choice and I've seen impresive models done both ways. Here is the before and after picture of the hull marking:

That's it for this entry... Now we must wait to receive our after-market tow cable assemblies so we can finish out this repair project.