Calling all Kriegsmarine U-boat Type IX fans

[Channell]

There is a very short blip on an episode of "Victory at Sea" of type IX boats under construction that at least gives me somewhere to start with the pressure hull:







Any further help would be much appreciated!

[rshoker]

U Boat Research help: Can anyone identify the hull opening labled �C� in this photo (pic 1)? I think that openings �A� and �B� were made by the US navy. This is not on the revell kit and I have not seen anyone add it in on some of the amazing builds done since the kits release. Hull opening �C� is still on the boat today, although holes �A� and �B� are now gone. Pic 2. The photo in pic three (I believe from the 1950s) shows the issue close up on the port side.
What was this? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Randy

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Docking Plan type IXC reduce.tif (138.35 KiB) Viewed 8641 times

Hi Randy,

I found an official docking plan ('Dockvorschrift') for the Type IX, showing this long opening C. There is a written text over it, saying 'Fl. Schl. echappement(?)' The last word is hard to read as it is handwritten and over the center fold wrinkles of the drawing. The entire drawing is 9.5 MB, if you want it please send me your email address.

Fl. Schl. stands for 'Flutschlitze' or flooding slit, as it says in the glossary on the same drawing.

Curiously I didn't find this slit on any other drawing of the Type IX, maybe it was not applied on all boats. Further, as this slit is below the normal waterline when the boat is at the surface, it can only be seen when the boat is in drydock, or occasionaly when there is a wave trench revealing it. So you very rarely see it on pictures of these boats. However, on the U534 which has been salvaged and partially restored in Great Britain these slits are also visible.

cheers, Maarten

[rshoker]

Thanks Maarten,

I sent you my email address. I wonder why the US navy cut in the two larger openings on both sides?

Randy

[krgf15]

I have decided that I am building my 1/72 type IX straight out of the box this weekend. It is a nice kit, and I am already in the process of detailing a 1/72 type VII and Gato, and really just want to produce something. keep your fingers crossed for me!

[rshoker]

Good luck with your build, I think it is a beautiful kit "out of the box". Sometimes I wonder why I have to mod everything.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi Guys Submariners,

Have you noticed Revell fielded their second version of the Type IX in 1/72 scale? In this case a Type IX C/40, with 'Schnelltauchback' and 'Schnorkel'. To translate this: 'Quick diving foc'sle' and 'Snort'.

Makes the Type IX all the sleeker! Convince yourself: http://www.revell.de/en/products/model- ... 05133.html

[Timmy C]

Ooo it comes with markings for end-of-war capture by the RCN!

[krgf15]

I need that new type IX, however, I already have 5 1/72 Boats in work; Gato (USS Hammerhead), Type IX, Type VIIC, Type VIIC/41, and Type IIA. I have been working on 2 of them for several years now, here and there, so Im not sure if my heart can take another one lol.

[brad]

It is intriguing that a model of U-862, a type IXD, has not been produced in 1/350, given her unique history.

She was the most travelled U-boat of WWII having gone from Europe to the Pacific, circumnavigating Australia, laying mines and sinking ships along the way before handing over to the IJN following Germany's surrender such that it then served in the IJN until the end of the war.

cheers,

bj

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi Brad,

Fully agree. Point is only that the Type IXD2 is entirely different from the previous Type IX series, and considerably larger. Only the general appearance is the same. So a simple conversion of an other kit is out of the question.

Maarten

[BB61]

I haven't read all all five pages, and perhaps I should, but I just recently discovered the 1:72 Revell Type IXC/40, and was wondering why the front of the deck was narrowed like that. On U-Boat.net, a few images show up with the narrowed deck, but no explanation is given as to what purpose that has, at least not as far as I can determine.

Any ideas?

[merriman]

I haven't read all all five pages, and perhaps I should, but I just recently discovered the 1:72 Revell Type IXC/40, and was wondering why the front of the deck was narrowed like that. On U-Boat.net, a few images show up with the narrowed deck, but no explanation is given as to what purpose that has, at least not as far as I can determine.

Any ideas?

Reduce air-entrapment during the dive. Dive time was critical to a boat that did not enjoy air-superiority.

David

[Timmy C]

Called Schnelltauchback, it's to decrease the time needed to dive - a problem that the IX had due to their larger volume compared to the smaller Type VIICs.

[BB61]

Thanks very much, fellas. I'll be ordering one of these kits in the (hopefully) near future.

[BB61]

OK, after reading up a wee bit on the U-156, I'm confused. All of the illustrations I've seen of a standard IXC, have a second platform behind the tower, lower than the first, with weaponry located on it, but all of the photos I can find of U-156, do not show this second platform. What gives?

More importantly, did it or did it not have this second platform when it attacked the RMS Laconia?

[Timmy C]

The second platform is for more AA weapons, apparently added for the first time in November 1942: http://uboat.net/technical/flak.htm

U-156 would not have had it in September 1942 when she sank Laconia.

[BB61]

Excellent. Thanks, Tim. Since most type IXC kits seem to have the additional weapons platform (from what I've seen anyway), I'll have to just modify the kit as needed.

[Phillip1]

Greetings Fellow Modelers,

Attached are three photos of a built up Revell 1/72 Type IXC U-505 U-boat model. I did not build this, and do not know who built it or when. I found these on the Internet while looking for information on U-505�s paint colors at the time of her capture in 1944. I think the colors used by the builder look awesome, but I do not know if they are accurate. They appear to be medium blue/gray below the waterline, very light gray above the waterline, very dark gray on the deck and very dark blue on the conning tower. I have read U-boat expert Dougie Martindale�s article on the U-505�s colors. Even if you accept that U-505 and U-858 (photo attached) had the same paint scheme, it appears there are still some color choice unknowns that require guessing (much like the argument over which color green to use for John F. Kennedy�s PT-109).

Any modeler who has knowledge about this subject, please post and let me know if you think the colors used in the attached model photos are accurate. Thanks in advance for the help.

Phillip1

[krgf15]

So has there been any talk of early type IX fairwaters? (turrets, conning towers, whatevah....) yet?