Beginning the U-570

 As is my usual practice I have started another model while I am working one that is progressed along to the point that I am waiting for material, stuff to dry or am building sub-assemblies that must dry or set. I have chosen this 1/125 Scale Type VII C U-boat made by Revell advertised as the U-99. I believe this is a model that has been on the market for some time as it has minimal detail compared to more recent offerings. It is the same scale as the destroyer I am working on so it is an interesting comparison in size. I would place them both on the same diorama except it seems that almost every Fletcher class destroyer went immediately to the Pacific fleets. After some research I have found two that spent very short times in the Atlantic but I cannot find any records of them attacking and forcing a U-boat top the surface.  

The hulls limber holes have been drilled out, it took far less time than I had expected and I did it while talking with my wife and watching our favorite television series. How is that for multitasking! I am going to make this the U-570 it was captured rather early in the war and the British repaired it and commissioned it as the HMS Graph. I have not decided whether I will display it as the U-570 or as the HMS Graph yet, but that does not affect the detailing and work I am doing now. It will be displayed in the water as I am going to do with the Fletcher class destroyer.

Moving forward on the Fletcher class destroyer

 I cannot help myself. I was not going to try and fix every inaccuracy on this model but....I must fix the glaring issues. Here is masters being cover in latex molding compound. On the left are three fair leads, center is the 5" gun mount base see photo below showing where this will fit on each of the mounts. and the right side item is the anchor. The Fletcher's had an anchor on each side of the bow. The kit comes with a single anchor. I have also decided to purchase the Tom's Model Works PE set for this kit. This will be far easier than trying to scratch build the 40 mm and 20 mm guns and will be better for the mast and gun director details.

 Here the mooring bollards have been cut off and new plastic rod glued in place. They are tall and will be cut down to the correct height. And the upper cap will be done by pushing a heated steel rod to mushroom out the top (hopefully! as this will be an experiment). I have also drilled a new chain locker hole and anchor chain hole in the deck (holes with light color around them). The fair leads with the open tops are what will be replaced with the newly molded fair leads.

Here we see the offending 5" gun mount base, the new molded mount base will be glued around this base.

Scamp Complete

Today's trivia question

 125# Air Hoses run from shipyard air (The Red Lines)

 What was the purpose of this hose connection (Black hose with yellow and magenta tape, running from the side of the hull up to a 55 gallon drum)? If you know the answer tell me what I was trained to do.

At the end of today efforts

Ships banners added to service brows, most of the scaffolding built and attached.

Scamp scaffolding construction

 Scaffolding set in place temporarily to check fit.

ASW cooling water discharge, today this water must be collected and processed rather than being allowed to just fall into the dry dock basin. Seems crazy to me.

Masts and Antennas

 Scratch building details on the Gun Director, Main Mast and upper portions of the stacks.

I primered the main portion of the hull and superstructure to check that all scratches and modifications are blended.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/0566917.jpg

Follow the link to a group of color photos of the USS Cotten on the Navsource history web site, this is the paint scheme and the seas that I will depict the model on when it is completed. I will copy the image to my blog once I have permission of the owners of the web site.