Alkmaar, Netherlands. January 2021. New Year, same pandemic. The Build.
Why oh why do this again?
Even before Mischa's u-boat was made, I purchased what I considered to be a nice little kit. The Revell Type VII C in 1/350th scale. A nice, small (only 19cm long) model with less than 30 parts. This would give me a nice break from the beast that was Mischa's u-boat and allow me to improve on my diorama techniques. Also, at less than €8, if I messed up, I wasn't going to have wasted lots of money. It's suitable for ages 10 to adult. I think I fall into that range.
So here it is.
Thirty parts, how difficult could it be. The Revell code has it as Skill Level 3. But what do these levels mean? From the back of the box:
Level 1: Easy, snap-together kits not requiring any glue or paint.
Level 2: Simple kits with up to approximately 30 parts to glue and paint.
Level 3: More demanding models with up to 100 parts.
Level 4: Kits with up to 10050 parts for more experienced modellers.
Level 5: Difficult models with over 150 parts requiring a very high level of skill.
Aha, skill level 3, but it has less than 30 parts. Shouldn't be too much of a problem. I expected a fairly rapid build process, then on to the painting and finally the basing. Hopefully, get everything done in a week or two, instead of the year or 3 it took me for Mischa's u-boat.
So, on the first day of the new year, I began what I hoped would be a quick and fruitful adventure.
Hmmm, some of these parts are extremely small. Nevermind, I took my clippers and began to remove the first parts from the sprue, ready to glue them together following the instructions. Yes, I know. A kit that actually has instructions.
Not too demanding, glueing the two halves of the hull together and then putting the deck on top. The dive sails at the front were a bit fiddly, though.
Unfortunately, putting the hull together was the last of the simple tasks. These were the big pieces and so were easy to handle, that did not apply to the railings around the u-boat and conning tower, or the cable support struts at the stern, or the cable breaker at the bow. All of them, as fiddly as f*&#. But I managed it. I think that after working on the 28mm beast, anything smaller seems tiny by comparison. I mean, this sub can fit on the rear deck of Mischa's sub with plenty of room to spare.
The assembled article is simply tacked onto the base with blue-tac so that it's easier to handle. When it's ready for placing into the proper base, I will simply remove it from this one.
Hopefully, you can see how small and fragile some of the pieces are. And yes, part of the railing around the AA gun deck is broken. Did I not mention that as well as being very small, some parts are also very fragile? The rudder construction at the stern is completely missing. This is where you needed a 10-year-old, with a 10-year-old's thin fingers to hold the parts in place. Even using a set of tweezers was giving problems. After about 30 minutes of cursing and threatening to destroy the kit, I realised that this is a bit of the model that will not be seen once it's on the base. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
The next step is undercoating and painting.