Well I fancied a bit of a break from gluing bits of wood together on the bridge of the Ben Ain so I went out and got myself a kit that I have fancied ever since it came out and that is the Revel 1/72nd U-Boat. I also fancied a bit of plastic modelling, which I have not done now for a long time.
A superb kit in its own right but my imagination was fired up with the March 2005 issue of Model Boats magazine where they motorised one as a surface running model. I was actually involved at one point with buying that very model but the guy backed out at the last minute which was the final push I neded to get my own. Since then they have also run an article showing a dynamic diving version but, for this to work, the model has to be ballasted to the deck level so no-one ever gets to see so much of the boat when it is in the water. I wanted a surface running boat at its normal de-ballasted water line.
I also wanted to improve the basic kit as much as possible so I purchased a lazer cut wooden deck set for it and a brass PE set from White Ensign models. Both these items arrived the very next day so off I trot to buy the model from my local model shop.
The wooden deck is superb but to get the best out of it the steel deck ends should be cut from the original plastic deck. This requires a bit of care and attention but the effect is well worthwhile. I have also arranged the RC components to ensure that the minimum amount of deck requires removal which means the shafts are a lot longer than the arrangement in the magazine but my model will require only the centre section to be removable and the aft steel section. This is a big improvement on the magazine kit which had two additional hatches cut in the deck.
I will post a few pictures of the construction later so that members can see how I have converted this kit to a working RC model.
A superb kit in its own right but my imagination was fired up with the March 2005 issue of Model Boats magazine where they motorised one as a surface running model. I was actually involved at one point with buying that very model but the guy backed out at the last minute which was the final push I neded to get my own. Since then they have also run an article showing a dynamic diving version but, for this to work, the model has to be ballasted to the deck level so no-one ever gets to see so much of the boat when it is in the water. I wanted a surface running boat at its normal de-ballasted water line.
I also wanted to improve the basic kit as much as possible so I purchased a lazer cut wooden deck set for it and a brass PE set from White Ensign models. Both these items arrived the very next day so off I trot to buy the model from my local model shop.
The wooden deck is superb but to get the best out of it the steel deck ends should be cut from the original plastic deck. This requires a bit of care and attention but the effect is well worthwhile. I have also arranged the RC components to ensure that the minimum amount of deck requires removal which means the shafts are a lot longer than the arrangement in the magazine but my model will require only the centre section to be removable and the aft steel section. This is a big improvement on the magazine kit which had two additional hatches cut in the deck.
I will post a few pictures of the construction later so that members can see how I have converted this kit to a working RC model.
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