Calling all Kriegsmarine U-boat Type IX fans

[Blue Devil]

I notice there isn't a thread for Type IX so I figured I'd start one, as I have a question!

Here's a fairly well known shot of U-505 getting ready to be towed by USS Guadalcanal:



I plan to use the Yankee Modelworks 1/350 kit to do this boat along with Guadalcanal and Jenks. Can anyone give me any idea what paint scheme the 505 is wearing? I know about the markings, but can't figure out the overall colors. Just as a reminder, she was a type IXc captured in June, 1944 off the west coast of Africa.

Thanks!

Michael

[Cliffy B]

I believe that's the overall dark gray scheme; Dunkelgrau #51 or 52?

Take a look at this PDF. It should answer all you EVER wanted to know about U-Boat camo.

http://www.artitec.nl/downloads/instruc ... olours.pdf

Hope that helps,
-Mike

[Blue Devil]

Holy mackerel! That'll do it all right, thanks for the link sir!

Michael

[krgf15]

We need a 1/144 Type IX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[krgf15]

I am seriously thinking about getting the Academy 1/150 Type IXB to go along with my American fleetboats and Type VII's and Type II. I had it before and trashed it, but now that im a little more experienced I think I can redo the hull. Anybody else tried this?

[krgf15]

Still need a 1/72 or 1/144 Type IX.....

[krgf15]

Well, I got the hobbyboss and Mirage 1/350 Type IX's, and I have to say the mirage one is not as detailed, but it is still very nice. It looks like it is just up scaled from the 1/400 molds.

[TI4438]

I love the Type IX.Here is a 1/200 Nichimo IXB U-108 I recently completed.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hello Type IX fans,

I've been wondering for some time what the ridges on the deck of the Type IX boats were, and I've come to believe these were in fact tracks, to use trollies for transporting the spare torpedoes from their storage compartments just below the deck (between the tracks) to the forward and rearward torpedo loading hatches.

Has anyone ever seen a photograph of the handling of these torpedoes at sea? It seems to me these tracks must have been utterly necessary, I can hardly imagine sailors shoveling torpedoes around a small submarine deck in midst ocean without having the help of those tracks!

But curiously I've never seen a description of this process nor seen any photographs of it. Can anybody shed some light on this? Seems a nice subject for a diorama btw...

[Red Devil Squadron]

Hello Maarten,


There are some photos here of U-505:

http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-505Photographs.htm

In particular, see photos #500 - 504 for the details you are seeking.

Cheers,

Bill

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hello Bill,

Thanks! Those pictures clearly reveal the torpedo containers below the deck, and that there were some sort of cradles (I would have called them trollies) with small wheels to move them along the 'tracks'. These cradles/trollies must have been on-board equipment, since they seem to fit the tracks perfectly.

However, the scene is not precisely the 'normal' operation of moving spare torpedoes from their containers to the torpedo rooms inside the pressure hull. But nevertheless interesting, this jettisoning of a damaged torpedo after the ship's capture by the USN, apparently because it had become a hazard to ship and crew.

Maarten

[davinort]

All: are there aftermarket decals available for Aurora's U-505? I'm looking for something resembling the authentic 1944 markings, not the ones Aurora provides in the kit. Thanks.

[krgf15]

Well I am doing it.. I am building the 1/150 academy type IXB. It is going to take ALOT of work to make it look good sitting by the 1/144 type VII's...... I wish there was some type of aftermarket sets for this model, or if Revell would just do it in 1/144. That would probably be asking too much. It would be greak if Tehnoart would release their Type IX in 1/72 and 1/144 in plastic. Just pipe dreams I guess.....

[krgf15]

I am giving up on the 1/72 type IX it looks like Tehnoart isnt going to do any more kits, and they were 500 bucks. To get the pre built one is about 1400 bucks. I guess I will just focus on 1/350 scale submarines.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hey, nobody's fancying a 1:72 scratch-built Typ IX?

The drawings are available from ''Vom Original zum Modell", one needs only converting them to the right size, given that they have many true measurements that shouldn't be a problem either.

The Deutsches U-Boot Museum in Cuxhaven had commisioned an interesting build in scla 1:40 of a Typ IXD-2 with 'Schnelltauchback'. Might be inspiring!
http://www.dubm.de/vorwort.html

Maarten

[krgf15]

If I had the skills I would do it and then make copies of it and sale it lol. If I had resin skills, I would make a conversion kit for the academy 1/150 one also

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hmmm. Let's see.

I know I can do it, but it's an awful lot of work on that large scale: I prefer 1:350 myself.

And building a model from scratch is one thing, and making it reproduceable in kit form is an entirely different thing: I have done that too. So the first question is then: how large is the audience willing to pay for a kit of this subject that will easily cost around 400-500 Euros?

Making it much cheaper is pointless, as you will have to make it VERY basic then, and then it would only attract the people that have the confidence to do all the detailing themselves. That group is even much smaller.

So I hardly see any opportunity to make a kit in 1:72 of a Typ IX, although I very well see the attraction of such a model, side-by-side with a Type VII and a Typ II. Let's wait until one of the manufacturers sees a possibility. Revell, ICM, are you listening?

[krgf15]

agreed REVELL ICM!!!!!! Tehnoarts is sooo beautiful though..

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi guys,

One of my recent projects: converting a 1:350 Hobby Boss Type IXB into a late war IXC/40, with Schnorkel and Schnelltauchback.
First I corrected what I consider the greatest error of the kit: the stem is too raked, almost like that of a Type VII, so it should run much more vertical. This is very easy to correct.

Then I built the Schnelltauchback, rearranging the deck features, including the tracks that are used for moving torpedoes around. Also I made a well for the Schnorkel mast.

Further I modified the bridge/conning tower.

So this looks quite different now, some small details and railing to be added and then on to painting. I thought you would like to see it in this state, without paint, then it is much clearer what I have done.

[krgf15]

Drooling.......that is beautiful