Rust effects around the port saddle tank lids.

Port amidships draught marks located on the saddle tank.

Another view of the port bow in b/w.

lovely work Phil, spot on with the rust effects.

Mark

Looks stunning Phil, detail is very impressive....

Regards

Alan

Thank you Alan! Glad you like the updates, painting accidents and all.

Regards,
Phil W.

Thank you very much Kev! As I've mentioned before, a couple of set backs painting wise, but I'm now happy with the way the boat is looking.

Regards,
Phil W.

Good evening from 'The Dockyard'.

This weeks update of my U230 U-boat build log sees the start of the planking on the upper casing.

The wood I chose is mahogany, the same used on the actual U-boats, bought from Cornwall Model Boats. Supplied in veneer strips; 1 metre long, 2.0mm wide and 0.5mm thick.

From a width perspective they are slightly oversize at 2.0mm, ideally 1.5mm wide [3 inches actual] would of been better.

I tried to cut some lengths down to this width with mixed success, removing 0.5mm with a craft knife. Generally the cut would start off okay only for the grain of the wood to take over giving a ragged edge.

In situations like this, practicality overrides authenticity and I decided to leave them as they were. In all honesty, it's not really noticeable and still maintains a 'fine scale feel', which is an underlying theme I intend to continue.

The other difference between the planking on U-boats compared with ship decks is a small gap between each plank. This is to allow the oggin [the sea], to drain away; especially important in cold, icy conditions to prevent the crew from slipping overboard.

The gap I used between the planks is 0.5mm [1 inch actual], which is true to scale. Several small pieces of 0.5mm thick plastic sheet were used as gap gauges.

The attached photo shows the second plank in position with spacers in place.

Another photo showing the spacers in position for the second plank.