Small Scale Military Headquarters

[+] > I just want to see if there are some interest in a possible 1:18 ~ U-Boat here.

~ > What I have in mind is a possible model produced by 21st.C , like an upper-hull deck section for example complete w/ conning tower including the 88mm. deck-gun w/ crew & Commander.

~ I know that there were at least 3-types used , so I really don't know which one it would be based (decided) on.

~ IXb Long-Range

~ VIIb Atlantic

~ VIIc work-horse & + most produced


* So lets see here anyway :


Mitch v MG

I could see have the conning tower and top part of the hull - it would be really cool.

How long would the smallest U-boat be in 1/18 scale?

the only way they could produce a full hull uboat is to ship it in seperate boxes....probably 3. A logistics nightmare to say the least, if one retailer gets a bunch of box 1 and 2 but very few box 3 for example.....then all are useless.

UNLESS they made a type IId or type XXIII, both of which were just a bit over 100 feet long. Those could be packaged in one box.

Failing that, i have been saying for 8 years now that a waterline type viic is very do-able in this scale. Very slender, the only bulky thing is the conning tower and the whole thing could be easily packaged in one, reasonable sized box. Complete with 2 crewman (more carded to enhance figure sales).

Back to the multi box idea: They could make enormous aircraft, like a b-52, the same way....package it in more than one box (eg fuselage sections in one box, wings/nacelles in another box) but the logistics problems are big.

the smallest uboat was the type xxiii which was 113 feet long. About 6 feet, 4 inches in 1/18.

Mini subs don't count.

[+] ~ It's just an idea I was tossing around.

~ You never know though , 21st.C just might give us what we want , what we'd like to see. * ... so this really ain't a bad start.


Mitch v MG

WOW, only 6 feet in 1/18 for the XXiii boat. What a deal

DML has produced a B-17 waist gunner in 1/6 that includes his firing position and part of the planes wall. It sells. So what is wrong with just a 1/18 U-Boat conning tower. In mid WW2, U-Boats did cruise with only the conning exposed when they were afraid if getting bombed by Allied Avengers, bombers, sea planes and blimps....... hint for 1/18 toys........bombers, seaplanes and blimps........blimp gondola only of course, we don't want to get silly here...

TTT

Threetoughtrucks wrote:WOW, only 6 feet in 1/18 for the XXiii boat. What a deal

DML has produced a B-17 waist gunner in 1/6 that includes his firing position and part of the planes wall. It sells. So what is wrong with just a 1/18 U-Boat conning tower. In mid WW2, U-Boats did cruise with only the conning exposed when they were afraid if getting bombed by Allied Avengers, bombers, sea planes and blimps....... hint for 1/18 toys........bombers, seaplanes and blimps........blimp gondola only of course, we don't want to get silly here...

TTT

TTT,
We NEVER get silly here...

21stC did the R/C tanks, why can't they do R/C blimps? - with droppable bombs and torpedoes

[+] ~ Here is a real one some eccentric in Holland has in their yard , as an ornament. *

[+] ~ I don't know what type it is though. *

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Mitch v MG

looks like a type IID....about 130 feet long or so. Meant for training, they were used a lot during the early part of the war in coastal areas and many of the famous aces became aces in this boat.

MG-42 wrote:[+] ~ Here is a real one some eccentric in Holland has in their yard , as an ornament. *

[+] ~ I don't know what type it is though. *

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<img src="http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd20 ... U-BOAT.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br>
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Mitch v MG

I can just see this Hollander tolling down to the local market in his suped up sub!
Think how loud the horn on that thing would be!

You guys in the mid-west are lucky, you can just drop by anytime and visit the U-505 in the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry.

Complete with 40mm and 20mm holes from our destroyers when we captured her.

An awesome visit. I've visited twice and that ain't an easy trip from the northern right coast. We only have the USS Ling, a WW2 fleet sub here in NJ. Of course, I'm not including the Intrepid and the battleships New Jersey and Massachusets.

Lets just not go there for 1/18. MMMMMMm, the New Jersey in 1/18 would be........ oh, never mind.. , my head hurts again... I gotta take a nap...

TTT

Threetoughtrucks wrote:You guys in the mid-west are lucky, you can just drop by anytime and visit the U-505 in the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry.

Complete with 40mm and 20mm holes from our destroyers when we captured her.

An awesome visit. I've visited twice and that ain't an easy trip from the northern right coast. We only have the USS Ling, a WW2 fleet sub here in NJ. Of course, I'm not including the Intrepid and the battleships New Jersey and Massachusets.

Lets just not go there for 1/18. MMMMMMm, the New Jersey in 1/18 would be........ oh, never mind.. , my head hurts again... I gotta take a nap...

TTT

You guys on the east cost have:
-Several battleships
-a brand new USS Monitor full-mockup in Newport News, VA
-CSS Hunley in Charleston
-Vietnam Base camp recreation and River patrol boat

I can't complain - near me there is a really small but great Warbird museum and of course Wright-Patterson Airforce Museum in Dayton, OH

Threetoughtrucks wrote: Lets just not go there for 1/18. MMMMMMm, the New Jersey in 1/18 would be........ oh, never mind.. , my head hurts again... I gotta take a nap...

TTT

Just so you'll have something to dream about while you nap....... the USS New Jersey in 1/18 scale would be 49' 3 1/2" long.

Completely doable......

-Rob

it's also over 6 feet wide though.....that's the killer.

Here is Michigan we also have the USS Silversides a WWII Gato series sub. Its tied up at the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum in Muskegan.

You can tour the ship, but better still, groups can spend the night on board. When my son was in Cub Scouts we did just that. As Cub master I spent the night in the captains cabin. The boys were sleeping up front in the forward torpedo room. It was a great night. The adults were in the Officers mess watching Operation Petticoat on their small TV.

Check it out!

http://hnsa.org/ships/silversides.htm

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I believe Revell Germany makes a 1/72 scale U-Boat, a VIIC I think. The also produce a Gato-class sub in the same scale. I saw one of the latter in a local hobby shop and the box is HUGE. After market companies produce great photo etched brass detail sets for these models. I know they aren't 1/18 yet they would make good candidates for that "forced perspective" discussion that was held here on the board some weeks back
If anyone is interested in seeing the above kits actually put together with some degree of skill there are several on modelwarships.com, just go to the gallery and look under submarines.

I have seen: The USS COD Submarine Memorial is a National Historic Landmark and is docked in Cleveland, Ohio
http://www.usscod.org/
If click on the link above an scroll down to the bottom, there is a really neat list of all the subs that can be toured by the public.


blurx7,
Really cool that you got to spend the night on the sub. Were you able to sleep? Any ghosts seen by you or the boys?

The conning tower would be cool but also with the deck gun as well. Kind of like its own diarama.

there's also a 1/72 Japanese sub coming out later this year. It is about 5 feet long when completed and comes with float plane (that was carried in hanger on sub's deck). Lindberg makes it and it will retail for around $90 i think.

on the topic of making ships: the problem with them is not only their size, but their complexity. Aside from the basic superstructure, guns etc there are all kinds of hatches, vents, stairs, portholes, deck rails, deck planks, lifeboats, deck cranes and on and on and on.

It would literally take years to make a 1/18 model of a large sized warship. The fella that built the 1/20 scale Graf Spee spent 2 years on it and had at least another year to go. It's very impressive but still rather simplified looking....so it gives you an idea of just what is involved.

http://www.kbismarck.com/models/model13.html

..and just ask Teamski about how complex ships are; his 1/200 Hood took quite a while to complete.

I say give me the whole U-boat (U-96) type VIIC.
At over 12 feet long I will find a place to put her.

Razor17019 wrote:

blurx7,
Really cool that you got to spend the night on the sub. Were you able to sleep? Any ghosts seen by you or the boys?

No ghosts, but it was chilly. First week of January.... some ice around the hull. Great night though!

You could mount it "moose style". Half in and half out of the wall.

Mark

KAMIKAZE wrote:You could mount it "moose style". Half in and half out of the wall.

Mark

That is exactly what I was thinking would be the only way to do it

. Guys, I love U-boats but the closest we will ever get is "Das Boot" in surround sound...