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Review by Graham Thompson
The gallery and pdf…
To recap on the kit and what I thought of it when opening the box, please have a read through the review in ‘Here Now’ Maritime section.
In the beginning
For those who have witnessed my stumbling first steps into maritime modelling, you will have noticed my scale choice is 1:700, waterline and surface ships.
So why am I building a 1:144 full hull submarine? Well, that is a long story but the quick version is that I had just spent three weeks of intense modelling building a 1:700 Revell Bismarck with photo etch, brass barrels and quite tricky painting.
What I needed was a quick build just for fun kit to build straight from the box with no add-ons or scratch building.
While pondering my options, I began to think hard about doing a back to basics build and I decided to forget what I know and think like someone who had maybe built a few models some time ago, but fancied ‘having a go’ to get back into the hobby.
To that end, I decided on a fairly simple build that would end up with something well worth putting on the shelf. So I decided on a submarine, after all, they are just a tube with a sticky up bit in the middle. I also decided on something quite big, relatively speaking, which would ensure not too many small parts and again, have visual impact when finished.
So, thinking like a beginner, returner or someone who may want to try a maritime subject without the hassle of yards of railings, I chose a Revell type VII U Boat in 1:144, costing around £15 to £18.
I also decided to go along the beginner route and buy the paints for it as per the instructions and build it straight from the box. At around 19″ long, the Atlantic Version Type VII fitted the bill perfectly.
So, armed with the kit and the Revell Aqua paints, let’s build this lovely kit.
First Stage
You can build this kit in a good solid weekend if you are experienced, or take your time and do it over a couple of week. It doesn’t matter, but however you build it, take note of the instructions and build the stand first.
I am not a big fan of ship stands that come with the kit but trust me, you need this stand ready as you build the kit, as it fits very nicely and there is no way you can put the hull down once you have glued it together without the stand.
Take some time cleaning the stand components up, get rid of any mould lines and give the edges of the parts a light sanding as it does actually make a good display stand with the provided decals, so it is worth making it look good.
The Hull
I can safely say now that I have completed this kit that if a part does not fit well, it is because you have not cleaned up the sprue attachment points when you cut them off!
It really does go together really well, so take some time and ensure any flash or lumps are cleaned off, it pays in the long run.
First parts to check fit and glue up are the hull supporting rings. These two ‘bulkhead’ style supports fit very well and you can glue them up in one half of the hull with confidence it will go together.
If the fit of the supports does not feel good then re-position them, they should almost click into place.
The only part I could not get my head around was a weird hollow half a conical piece that fits in the rear of the hull.
It took me ages to realise that the part had to virtually butt up to the edge of the hull section with the concave facing down and outside the hull. I don’t know why, but I just could not see how this worked on the instructions.
Again, get the position right and you will see how it lines up and you can safely glue it to one side of the hull.
With these three pieces glued up, it is time to bring the hull halves together. This would be near impossible without the ‘bulkheads’ so don’t leave them out.
Get some tape ready; this is not the place for rubber bands as they will pull the top edges in too far. As you can see from the next picture, I also used a small clip on the rear keel as this just didn’t want to stay together. You can also see how the stand is needed already.
The Snorkel…