PART 4 - THE CAPTURE OF U-505 (Type IXC -Revell #05114 1/72) 25th Jan update.

The image below is a classic and immediately recognisable as the capture of U-505 on the 4th June 1944, near Cape Verde - 10 volcanic Islands off the West coast of Northern Africa.

BACKGROUND
The action above came about when the 'Hunter-Killer' group, Task Group 22.3, led by the USS Guadalcanal (an Escort aircraft carrier) and 5 additional escort destroyers, made their way out from Norfolk in mid May 1944 to the area in question, looking for U-Boats [based on decrypted German messages] that were operating in the area. On the 4th June they made an extremely close sonar contact with U-505, near to one of the destroyers. Planes were launched from the carrier to intercept and act as spotters, while the target was engaged by the destroyer Chatelain. The sub sustained multiple damage and the captain ordered the sub to surface and crew to abandon ship.

The crew set charges and abandoned the sub but it did not sink immediately, as it was not scuttled with only a few valves opened and the engines left running. The sub continued along the surface in a slow circle with a damaged rudder and was quickly intercepted by US Navy crew from another destroyer in the group. They closed the valves, disarmed the charges and stopped the sub from completely sinking.

U-505
U-505 was an early war Type 9C(long range sub), built in 1941 during the early part of the war, when the 'slotted deck' configuration and early small tower were standard features. The U-boat was upgraded in 1943 to a Turm 2 conning tower while in port for repair and further upgrades. It was then upgraded again to a Turm 4 configuration(without leaving) in May - July, before going out on their next patrol. The deck gun was removed at this time and 2 x twin 20 mm guns added to the upper rear platform and 1x quad 20 mm to the lower. This configuration was upgraded again in late 1943 -early '44, when the quad 20 mm was replaced with a single 37 mm. A snorkel was still not installed and probably would have been after patrol 12, if the boat had returned.
(see excerpt from UBOAT .NET page below)

U-505 was on it's 12th patrol and had been an unlucky boat, with many technical failures returning them to port, mainly due to sabotage but some as major damage, as in a Hudson sub hunter aircraft in November 1942, while on its 4th patrol.
While on their tenth patrol the Captain committed suicide. All in all a bit of a cursed boat it seems.

THE DIORAMA/ MODEL

The main photo is just what a diorama maker is looking for in submarine modelling, with the drama and detail all there.
The real challenge for this one will be creating an ocean surface with semi transparent areas close to the hull and blending these with the deeper ocean with no depth, further out.
Of course the late, great diorama modeler, Lewis Pruneau' modeled this exact scene in 1/35 scale back in the day and it has always been a favourite classic dio for me. It was his diorama that inspired me to create my own Type 7C/41 dio in 1/72 scale (the Last Patrol), some 10 years ago now. So in a way, I suppose this will be a kind of tribute to him, from me, for the great models he created and inspired in others.
Please follow and enjoy the build from here' as I will be incorporating lessons learned in my earlier diorama' while incorporating some new ideas that I have formulated since then. There is also a 'ton' of PE and figures that are available now that did not exist 10 years ago.......as well as the kit itself.
I will be using the following :

• Pontos 9C upgrade set
• CMK US Navy figure sets
• Shapeways 3D printed USN surf boat
• Blue foam sheets (30cm x 60cm x 3cm, 30cm x 60cm x 5cm)
• Various new water products from AK.
• Correct tower and water line decal sets from AMP.

 

[centaur567]

Looks like a neat project with a great kit. Gary S.

 

[Iron Mike]

Great subject! I'm really looking forward to this.

 

[Brokeneagle]

THE PLAN
I set out from the beginning of creating this scene making sure I planned out the base properly, so I make the most of the effects that I want to achieve. The main challenge will be trying to achieve the water depth close to the hull. My previous diorama(The Last Patrol) using a Type 7C/41 was focused on getting a deep ocean effect around a moving sub on the surface but utilising a flat base effect for the deep ocean.
This next dio will be quite different, as it will need the deep ocean effect combined with a clear water depth effect (around the hull) with a stationary sub and a surf boat. This will need to be further enhanced with targeted white water effects around the Conning Tower and fore-deck, combined with water pouring from the side vents and branching arms of detailed 'spindle' foam running over the clear water parts.
To accomplish this I have planned to use dense, blue foam for the deep ocean surface and the support for the sub's sinking angle, cutting a 'V' shape in the foam where the sub will be positioned. I will open-up the 'valley' around the sub, widening further at the top as it becomes the deep ocean surface - the shallow part that will be modeled in a very similar way to my 'Last Patrol' effects.
See photo's below for my sketched out idea.

The foam color will be helpful being blue and I may be able to utilise this through the process. Essentially, the foam will be used as the deep water and the support for the whole base in general. This will need to be covered in an acrylic based medium to give it a protective barrier from the epoxy resin I will use for the deep, clear water, around the hull. I plan to use a combination of airbrushed shadowing and tinted resin to build the clear water near the hull, dropping into darkness at the base.
*Both of the photos below show the clear water near the hull and as I want to suspend the USN surf boat near the hull, it will be 'floating and showing the rudder detail under the water, as well as the line from the sub, disappearing into the dark depths.

I have started with marking the waterline with designer tape so I can work out the correct depth of the foam sheets. I have 2 different thicknesses; a set of 3cm and 5cm thick sheets. Both are the same length and width. It works out that the foam will need to be 13cm deep to cross the hull at the right angle if I don't trim off the lower rear hull.
I am still deciding on whether I will do this to reduce the base thickness. I always like it when the base is thin but the diorama looks to have depth, it's visually pleasing to me as I see it as part of the magic that is being created. I will consider this further as I don't want the 'valley' around the hull to be to shallow, as this may spoil the overall effect.
I will also be having a portion of the rear deck visible under the water.

 

[Rhino]

Another interesting project! Lots of documentation to work from! Ausgezeichnet!

 

[Iron Mike]

Looks like a good plan, nice start!

 

[moon puppy]

Wow, what a project. BTW I'm using the same foam board for, of all things, insulation! Who would have thought we could use modeling materials for real world applications?

 

[Brokeneagle]

Wow, what a project. BTW I'm using the same foam board for, of all things, insulation! Who would have thought we could use modeling materials for real world applications?

Yeah, I have always used the soft foam with a layer of modelling clay in the past but now this seems to be the go to product and it certainly seems better than the soft crumbly stuff and better than anything heavy.

 

[Brokeneagle]

Latest update
The next stage was to get the Hull halves together and attach the deck.

I jumped the gun and proceeded to drill out the holes for the railings on the side of the hull. In my haste I did not read the instructions properly and started drilling out all the holes but should only have drilled out the holes numbered 1.

So I then had to go back and put plastic rods into the number 3 holes and cut them flush, as these holes are for the earlier Mk 9C which was still in the works when this model was released.

The image below shows the extra deck detail provided by the Pontos update set, modelled in PE.

The deck is in 3 pieces and the hull is in 2. Revell have been smart and made the join lines at places where the actual sub had panel/section lines.
The only difficult part on the hull being the upper rear join where A little filler is needed. I have taped off the join ready for sanding.

As a final shot I have put it along side the Das Werk WW1, U9 I have also started, so you can see a comparison in sizes the U9 being 80cm in length and the Type 9C U505 being 106.9cm.

 

[Iron Mike]

Wow, that's a major size difference. Nice save on the hole drilling episode. Looking forward to following along.

 

[jknaus]

That is so very cool. Really looking forward to watching this build. A lot of PE and extras there. It seems a shame to have the aft end sunk, its too bad you couldn't cut the aft end off and use it in another vignette just sticking up out of the waves as it takes its last dive type thing. Unfortunately you keep doing models that make me want to do them also. I'll have to try and resist looking for this kit though.
James

 

[helios]

Another cool project. Must not squirrel further.....

 

[Tim A.]

Looking forward to this build
I've been on this boat at the Science & Industry Museum

 

[Tojo72]

Wow,this is going to be good.

 

[Brokeneagle]

These Revell 1/72 subs are great kits and well worth building. The're not perfect but they are good OOTB and a very good base for further detailing. 1/72 scale is the perfect size for impressive sub models, sitting squarely in the 'goldielocks zone'. The Type 9C late version is the model that Pontos chose for their upgrade set which really 'ramps-up' the details, especially for the anti aircraft waepons and Conning Tower details.
One aspect though is that if you wish to apply the wood texture deck you need to remove certain deck details before laying it down. I found out the hard way that you should check if you can actually remove the gaps in the wooden pattern first before committing .
I could not cut out all the slots and really, the wooden deck should only be used if you don't want to paint the stained wood color, as the color of the deck pieces is raw wood which is incorrect, as the U-Baot decks were stained with a blackwood finish. Some of the late war Type 9C/40 decks show a close to raw wood appearance(with weathering) when captured at the end of the war. This could be a result of late war decks not getting the complete treatment the earlier models did.
The PE can still be applied with a slight reduction in the thickness of the plastic details they are replacing.
My effort...................
I have marked the details that need to be removed in black marker. The detail that is on the deck of this kit is actually very good and only needs to be replaced if you want to go just a little further in detail.

Here is the PE that needs to be placed over the deck detail.
The 2 large pieces are the metal plated areas at the front and rear of the deck. I will only be using the forward deck piece and saver the other for another build as the rear deck will be under the water.

Instruction photo examples

My forward deck after the raised detail has been removed.

Centre forward deck before the detail has been removed.

AFTER..............

Part of the removal process also involves the molded hatch arm details, which will be replaced with PE arms ans hinges.
Once the deck was ready I gave the whole thing a coat of flat clear, ready to attach the wooden deck(which has adhesive on one side). I had planned to attach the deck then seal it again with flat clear so that I could stain and weather it during the painting process.
That was the plan......but I could not remove the slots in the wooden deck, so that was the end of that.
I would rather use paint anyway.
If anyone has done this before or knows a 'trick' to getting it done, I would love to know it.
I used a ruler and a new scalpel blade but the sections would not remove. When they did come away it was with breaking -up and making the job 10 times harder. Look at how many slots there are in that deck!
At this point I would like to add that the deck detail in the kit is really very good.
Next up - torpedo tubes.

 

[Brokeneagle]

TORPEDO TUBES
The kit tubes are very respectable but the Pontos update gives you some nice brass doors that build up in 3 stages.
I started by filling the join lines were the tube assembly meets the hull - there are quite a few gaps. The excellent detail on the hull is easy to see here in these photos.....Revell have really done a nice job.

The Pontos brass pieces...

U505 had some of the sensors blanked off near the hydroplanes on each side - Pontos gives you brass panels for these. I had to chisel down the detail to just leave a slight rounded mound that I could then bend the plates to. The Pontos set also gives you apdated sensor detail but I wont bother as these will be under water - the plates are enough.
There are also PE panels for the vents around the tubes. As these are above the water line I will attach these next session.

 

[Jeeves]

This is amazing Ian! Enjoying following this one!

 

[centaur567]

Looking great!! Do you have a MK VIIC for size comparison? Gary S.

 

[moon puppy]

Are the inner/tube doors there? I've always been under the impression that the outer doors had to be opened before the tube doors because the tube doors would overlap the outer. Based on nothing but many U-boat torpedo runs in movies I've seen.

 

[Iron Mike]

That deck has more slots than Vegas. The PE really adds to the build, very impressive so far.