John Symmons Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Airfix Humbrol’s 1/72 “E” Boat. /media/tinymce_upload/4582f43844b94be06e367e5d2dc02591.jpg After all the "wingy" things I decided for a change of pace with an Airfix 1/72 scale E-Boat. I’ve always wanted to build one of these ever since they first came out in the early 1970’s, as they fitted in nicely with the 1/72 aircraft. When the “E” Boat came out my mind was made up, but at that time I had other things on my mind. Then in about 2005 I saw the Humbrol release in a local model shop and at R 400 thought it a bargain. My original idea was a sort of diorama with a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch Opel Blitz truck at some fictions jetty. This has now given way to a simple sea scape with he E Boat modelled as a water-line model. This kit is imprinted as 1975 and the instructions as a Humbrol Product 1989. The model is quite large being nearly 18 inches long and the kit having almost 300 parts. It is offered in both water-line mode and full hull with the usual Airfix stand. The sprues came bundled together in one large plastic bag with the clear parts in a separate bag with the rest. All the parts are numbered, but no numbering diagram is supplied. This is a huge problem as the numbering system seems to resemble a random numbering sequence; like parts number 46 & 47 are next to each other, but numbers 48 & 49 which are needed to complete the sub-assembly are on completely different sprues & the sprues are huge. If you try this kit you’re going to spent quite some time searching for parts, and on mine numerous parts had become detached from the sprues Which didn't help. The clear parts are very good being very clear and with quite thin surrounds, and if you wish to detail the bridge the surrounds being easily removed so the windows fit the window frames flush. When I opened the box I saw I’d already started it by gluing the two halves of the hull together together with the stern transom. the fit being far from perfect, the stern was OK but the bow was so far off that I’d left it un-glued. The bow was first glued up with plenty of heavy duty clamps and loads of forcing to make the bow fit as best I could, and left to really set solid. I usually don't like using clamp as it's all too easy to warp parts even more, but in this case I had no option. Next came the one piece deck and again the stern was OK but the bow was out about 2 or 3 mm. Loads of sanding, more clamps, and I some-how got it to fit, sort-of. But with some large gaps especially around the torpedo cut-outs. I’m not really one who likes using fillers especially for such large gaps, so I used stretched sprue and liquid cement to fill the gaps, being able to burnish the sprue pieces into the gaps to help save sanding later. The bow opened up again when the deck was finally filled so that gap was also filled with sprue and sanded to shape. All-in-all it came out looking quite good, but it didn’t bode well for the rest of the parts fitting as they should. When I was happy with the hull & deck I added a few of the deck fittings that needed painting the same colour as the deck such as the torpedo mounts and brackets and the break-water, all of which fitted with-out any problems, which sort-of gave me faith that the fit problems were confined to the hull. That’s it for now I’ll post more as the build progresses. Just a few shots of the repaired bow and some of the hull to show the size of this thing. /media/tinymce_upload/d51ce224e479badae50d972d65259795.jpg Starboard side repaired this side fitted the better of the two. /media/tinymce_upload/4e21caa02b0556d1e7818cb828f65cf0.jpg Port side. This side needed several goes at filling the gap as I'm sure yo can see. /media/tinymce_upload/ad6ead33f28e474edb6852524ada675f.jpg The bow with repaired port side gap. /media/tinymce_upload/3a4c479e88cf283b423d4510fa3cf60f.jpgThe hull with some fittings assembled. Those tall vent things on the stern are just pushed on; not glued. /media/tinymce_upload/e89d07182c5e09d372ae0e03364a46cd.jpgThis is to showthe size compared with Airfix's Ju 87 & Me 109E. /media/tinymce_upload/690b82cd4885b563fa34e1eb6238f839.jpgAgain another for size with the 600th scale KG V and the Graff Spee hulls. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 1975/76 would be correct for the tool, based on when it first appeared in the West of Scotland. I've never actually built one myself though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Definitely a mid-seventies first release, the Humbrol marks were added after humbrol's parent company, Borden, acquired the Airfix title and tooling from Palitoy in 1986. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 The kit was announced in 1975 but wasn't issued until 1976. Your Type 14 box first appeared in 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 Wow! Thanks guys: I reckon I brought the kit somewere about 2006/7, and seems I've got tjhe paragraphs seperated now.Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 To continue: One thing I realised after I’d glue the deck onto the hull was that I’d forgotten to glue the sky-lights to the underside of the forward deck. I thought about using crystal clear to glaze the sky-lights after painting, but decided to cut a hole under the hull and fix the sky-lights through the hole after painting. If I’d thought about it earlier I’d have done it this way anyway as it saved masking the sky-lights. I still had to mask the forward port holes as these were assembled when I glued the hull together. These will be masked using artist masking fluid by a local artistic medium manufacture. Started in on the main deck sub-assemblies, and the middle and rear ones virtually click very firmly into place, you could easily not glue these pieces onto the deck, they fit that firmly; possibly so modellers could motorise the model and or install radio control, as there’s certainly room for it. The model is basically a two tone grey colour scheme being a very light grey for the sides and deck structures and a very dark grey for all the upper or top surfaces. I’m using Vallejo Sky Grey No 154 for the sides and Dark Sea Green No 163 for the top works and deck. I was going to use Medium Sea Green but it looked a bit wishy-washy being too close to the Sky Grey for my liking. When assembling these three main sub-assemblies I left all the clear parts off to ease painting as they can easily be added later. The main bridge was assembled using the roof as a jig to ensure everything was at the correct angle. I wasn’t sure what colour the bridge interior should be so started with RLM 02, then I checked the Revell “S-Boat” and saw they recommended stone grey. One thing that struck me as odd is the bridge door opens into the wind, I’d have thought it would have been better for it to open from the other side: but what do I know: The bridge interior is a bit spartan and could easily be dicky-ed up. I didn’t try anything as I had no references to go by. All you get is the main steering and compass consol, and a helmsman. One thing that’s worthy of mention is the 5 supplied crew figures. These are possibly the best crew figures I’ve ever seen by Airfix, or for that matter by any model manufacturer, and when you think of the vintage of this kit they are really outstanding, just crying out for some extra care in painting. I’ll have to see if I’m up to the task as figure painting is not my forte. The deck structures were brush painted, but I’ll be airbrushing the hull and other sub-assemblies later. /media/tinymce_upload/97f7c3cb20ba9451e96c777bae959a9a.jpgHole cut to assemble deck sky-lights. /media/tinymce_upload/3e18077a8ee6a34b5f6eeeac15d18df0.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/c9a38950170b48995a681b4127ddc721.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/59c79c291a56aeb9de48feed30476d2d.jpgDeck sub-assemblies all hand painted by brush. That's it for now.Rememberwe do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 Continuing the build. Some other sub-assemblies were built up namely the mines or depth charges and their racks. The cannon’s band-stand was added to the aft structure and the 20 mm cannon assembled but not added to the band-stand to ease the painting. The torpedo tubes were next the front and rear being able to be assembled so they opened, the hinges are a bit fiddley but it ca be done; personally I feel this is 1970’s play value so mine will be glued closed; ( If it moves you can bet your bottom dollar that someone will move it, and then it’ll break.) now if there were a spare torpedoes for the tubes or even one torpedo then one tube could be assembled open showing the loaded torpedo. The torpedo bulkhead has to be slid over the tubes before the rear doors are added. I added the side panels to the bulkhead using the deck as a jig to aline everything and then the tubes glued to the bulkhead again using the deck as my jig, the tube sitting on the deck plates assembled earlier. One thing this kit did seem to suffer from is the mould release angle . This was especially noticeable with the depth charges that had a definite barrel shape, but nothing a few minutes with a flat sanding stick couldn’t cure only thing is there’s eight of them. This mould angle thing appeared several times giving flat pieces a bevelled edge, unfortunately it’s something that can’t be avoided, which is why round things are often moulded in two halves. The sub-assemblies were sprayed with Tamiya’s surface primer then there final colours. Luckily there’s a fine line on the hull for the boot topping and this was masked and brush painted black after the light grey for the hull sides. The paint crept under in a few places, but nothing that can’t easily be corrected with a brush. If you look on the photos you can see the black is a bit jagged in a few places. The depth charges were painted a slightly lighter grey than the deck and dry-brushed with rust and gun-metal to give some texture. I mentioned the figures before and decided to try my hand at doing then justice and started to brush paint those, unfortunately Airfix only gave black for the figures, and as I wanted to add a few more crew to the 5 supplied I dug out the Revell German Naval figure set. I’ve always reckoned Revell figures as being some of the best available but I’d say these Airfix figures are easily there equal if not better and they’re in had plastic. The Revell, ones being in that horrible soft slippery vinyl stuff, ( Why do they use it, it’s really terrible to handle and paint? The only good thing is it’s easy to cut. but almost impossible to scrap or sand to remove mould seems.) Revell do give quite a good painting scheme so this is what I used with some artistic licence with the blues and greys. That’s about it for now I’ll continue next time with the crew painting and maybe the start of the rigging. /media/tinymce_upload/22387acb5221de40f67496bc1a25d888.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/60147cda817a952da9e5ad45fb7ad155.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/dc3726410dfd3306f3a03aefbdb29ea8.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/534988a4ebb4568e198d053b677d0495.jpgThese last two show the sub-assemblies just placed on the hull. I seem to hve forgotten to paint the machine gun pedistal, easily rectified with a brush She's beginning to look the part. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I guess this, ah, ship has sailed but in 1/72 scale a torpedo head is just a cylinder with a domed end and sprue or wire for the contact pistol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_kerfoot Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I built one of these maybe twenty five years ago and for it's age I still think it's a great kit. I built the later version of the E Boat, or S Boat as it is properly named by all accounts, about ten years ago and that's a very different affair. I'd recommend building both, it's a nice comparison showing the development through WW2 while based on a similar sized hull. It just shows that some of the old Airfix models, this one forty years old, are worth producing, and building, especially since I don't think this type of E Boat has been produced by anyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I guess this means it's time for the "both are correct" post! 😉 E-Boat is an Allied designation, short for "Enemy War Motorboat".S-Boot is the German designation, short for "schnellboot", which translates as "fast boat". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 Hi PawsI'd purposely stayed off that point about wherther it's called an E or S boat just sticking with the Airfix title for the Kit. But yes you're correct, but there is some confusion as to where the "E" title came from, but you're probably correct with the E for enmeny bit.I'll post the next bit as soon as I've sorted the photos and finished writing it up.Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Hi PawsI'd purposely stayed off that point about wherther it's called an E or S boat just sticking with the Airfix title for the Kit. But yes you're correct, but there is some confusion as to where the "E" title came from, but you're probably correct with the E for enmeny bit.I'll post the next bit as soon as I've sorted the photos and finished writing it up.Remember we do this for fun John the PomYeah, I was avoiding that point until it became necessary too. I'd be "sarky" about using the "wrong title" if it was a binary rather than a true duality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 More on the Airfix "E" or "S" Boat. Previously I mentioned the crew figures so I’ll start were I left off. Using a mixture of Tamiya’s Royal Blue, Vallejo Prussian Blues, various Vallejo Grey’s and Tans / Browns and Buffs, the figures were painted up. I’ve added a second officer making the Revell one the captain complete with beard, the other officer could be a trainee as these boats were often used to give operational training for new crews in the early war years before these older boats were sent to training establishments in 1940 and 41. All the deck crew are moulded with typical navy roll-top sweaters while the engineers have T-shirt type tops. The Revell figures were first coated with the Tamiya surface primmer as it’s the only thing that I’ve found that sort-of adheres to the soft plastic. And all painted up using various combinations of the colours mentioned even mixing Tamiya with Vallejo to get the blue grey I wanted. The only kit figure not shown below is the helmsman as he’s already at his post. All in all I think they came out looking quite good. All I had to finally do was to cut the bases off the extra figures. /media/tinymce_upload/ab4cfafbfb89648a3bd4606a9c819ac1.jpgThe top row are the Airfix kit figures minus the helmsman, even managed to paint the binocular’s lenses gunmetal blue. The bottom row being from the Revell K.M. Navy set, (1st three figures.) and the Airfix and Revell Luftwaffe sets. The kneeling figure was originally holding a bomb, he’ll now double as a mechanic. The other sub-assemblies completed and painted without any problems, except for the depth charges. They kept rolling out of the racks when I was trying to glue them into place. Luckily they’re a bit too big for the carpet monster but still managed to roll into the most inaccessible places. The colours for the life rafts or dinghies were the Airfix recommended ones, but for the torpedoes I used those from the Revell S-boat kit as the Airfix colours looked kind-of bland. The steel colour was made using Vallejo natural steel plus some grey and gunmetal blue, ( Gunmetal blue is very useful to just change the hue a touch, but you only need the smallest amount as the blue dye is very powerful and can easily overpower any colour it’s mixed with, very useful at giving gun barrels that blue-ish tinge.) The torpedoes could be improved by cutting off the rear fins and thinning them down, as they do seem a bit on the thick side, as can be seen in the photos I didn’t bother. The torpedo tubes, torpedo racks and depth charges and racks were added to the hull together with all the various ventilation and search lights and the railing stanchions and dodgers added. When I was adding the vents I discovered I’d lost a part the rear-most vent engine vent just forward of the rear cannon’s bandstand, the tube thing that seems to be wearing a tin hat, so had to scratch build one from old sprue and bits. Not sure if the size is correct, but it looks the part. The bow railings were rigged using some metal wrapped silver thread I brought a few months previous just for this model as my normal rigging thread was way too thin, I thought the silver would add the right tough, maybe a bit to bright but at least it can be seen and it shows up in the photos. The same thread was used to rig the mast with all the required rigging then added to the bridge sub-assembly. Airfix have supplied little ring cleats that the rigging can be tied to which negates having to drill any holes. The only railings not completed were the rear ones as they would impede the tying of the long rigging wires from the mast to the stern. Bridge and other sub-assemblies added and rigging completed, crew added and that about completed the model just a few paint touch-ups and a touch of weathering mainly dirty-ing the hull a touch and the dodgers. As these boats were made of wood and not steel there wouldn’t be any rust streak on the hull maybe a few around the bridge and deck fittings but in service these were usually kept pretty clean with regular paint touch-ups. /media/tinymce_upload/57ac8c2fc0c6e25abb9f17fd458b1379.jpgSub assemblies painted. /media/tinymce_upload/dc503c5c57ff8dc6bb84af57909bc72a.jpgHelmsman at the wheel. /media/tinymce_upload/c2c9c4dce2aac28913fba2dd9e74136b.jpgBridge and Mast with rigging. /media/tinymce_upload/11246fc9c2109e988d92c170561da750.jpgStern cannon platform bandstand with flag mast. Flag and rigging to be added. /media/tinymce_upload/de9b51573a98f663c64270ca02969999.jpgBow view with rigged stanchions. /media/tinymce_upload/a784bce3c50f363e9d203131bc5672b4.jpgMid-ships. /media/tinymce_upload/97cb2d3231bad9993c2e966a4ac9efbf.jpgStern with unfinshed railings. /media/tinymce_upload/656d0a790ffa13be5fb080921d0abb52.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/247ac30e7da290d5d2c9babd298bc889.jpgStern views with unfinshed railings and with finished railings and crew. /media/tinymce_upload/ebcff4d66bddbd143d725c302a45030c.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/bd8eab95eef4f01c46c36b726c9dba1c.jpgPort and Starboard side views. Decals and some weathering still to be finalised. /media/tinymce_upload/485cc52e186ed8f4e4e3424390dcccbc.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/c4b7f7e9915275d4f3312c7d0c840ceb.jpgPort and Starboard 3/4 views with crew in finalised places. /media/tinymce_upload/5e1e96ad59876a7e6de79bc5748bbdd4.jpgFrom bow to stren. That’s about it I’ll post the final photos when the base is completed. Hope you enjoy the photos, and all comments welcome.Remember we do this for fun John the Pom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Hi John, the pictures would be better placed adjacent to the text that describes what's going on 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Thanks Ratch I'll try better next time. I did think of that but desided to try it this way.Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Generalised comment on "mixed gunmetal" for firearms. Part of the reason for discolouration from an "as built" state will be how hot the barrel has been. As such different tones for different guns or gun positions could be appropriate since different guns might be fired different numbers of times. For example, on the Vosper series 3, you could use different tones for each of the 4 Browning and Vickers points, and for the Oerlikon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 Hi Paws.I was just malking a general comment as to how useful I've found the Vallejo gun metal blue and thought I'd pass it on to other modellers. I've used that colour in several places on the model not only on the guns but the torpedos even on the gold / bronze colour of the fins, and the depth charges to help give some texture and depth to an otherwise rust streaked flat grey surface. in my post on the Ju 52 I used the colour together with natural steel and black/grey for the fire arms to help give that little bit of hue, same with the Me 109 diorama, maybe it doesn't show to well in the photos, but seeing it in real-life you can see something is there.Any way it's just i tip I like using, give it a try but as i said be very weary as the blue dye is very powerful and can easily over-power the other colours.As were now in the middle of summer in Cape Town I'm having difficulties with the paints drying too fast that I'm ending up with palettes full of dried wasted paint before I've finished what I'm painting. Now iI doubt you guys back int UK have this problem, anyway I've invested in some Artist's acrylic retarder, made by a local arts and craft company and it works very well, even mixes with Tamiya although you only need a touch ( they recommend 10 to 15% on the bottle) but now my paint can last 5 to ten minutes in the palette and on the brush and not the usual 60 to 90 seconds as before. Just thought I'd pass this along especially if people live in a hot climate.Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_kerfoot Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Hi PawsI'd purposely stayed off that point about wherther it's called an E or S boat just sticking with the Airfix title for the Kit. But yes you're correct, but there is some confusion as to where the "E" title came from, but you're probably correct with the E for enmeny bit.I'll post the next bit as soon as I've sorted the photos and finished writing it up.Remember we do this for fun John the PomYeah, I was avoiding that point until it became necessary too. I'd be "sarky" about using the "wrong title" if it was a binary rather than a true duality.The main reason I mentioned the dual designation was due to the Revell kit being marketed as an S Boat rather than E Boat. Not sure you'd find much from Revell under E Boat, especially since they're a German company. On the subject of this thread, that's a nice build, different from mine since I opted for the full hull. Okay, back to my monster 1/350 builds. Five ships built, another eight building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 It's finally done, normally I'd mount the sea-scape on a wooden base and make a glass case to cover the model but as it's going to a LMS I decided to for-go those steps.At our local IPMS meeting the model did garner quite a lot of interest and I was questioned as-to where I'd found the water. As you may know from the news we're almost out of water in Cape Town, we're limited to about 50 litres a day and the taps are expected to run dry in April, but I did say the water was 1/72 scale and that seemed to appease them.First photo with the Decals all six of themThen various views Sorry about the garden back-ground but I was in a bit of a hurry. The final on I managed white back-drop so added a back-ground of some rocky mountain face and a sky behind that. but the rocky background I see looks like added sea with a shore-line. Take your pick. /media/tinymce_upload/e00f447f58140947270aa146d78d0ff8.jpgDecals on with no trouble. /media/tinymce_upload/c729d25863361e7192a9bcf93432ab79.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/212751cb1e8ba49877882dcba7ca8b52.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/09bd0de2a52fd22f9be3c164bbf857bf.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/2aef24b442012a7c8d94d0917bd2664b.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/89b53940f117969c36535bdeb5a74fa8.jpg And finally with a back-ground and extended sea, not my best effort. /media/tinymce_upload/41e41f9994684e153612104a4628732e.jpg Well that's it, I tried to show her as she might have appeared in the mid 1939 on a training cruise just before the war. I've noticed that in all the wartime photos I've seen the mast seems to have been removed from the E//S-boats, maybe a method of making the boats a bit more invisable when they're sneeking about at sea. I must say I really enjoyed this model, even the poorly fitting hull and deck. Gave me something to think about, and try some new techniques. the model was finally a joy to build and really does make up into quite an impressive and unusual subject. Pity it's no longer available as I wouldn't mind making a second one. Again the figures really have to be seen as they're quite exceptional especially for Airfix. So come-on Airfix just redo the hull and re-issue the kit.Remember we do this for fun John the Pom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Nice finish John 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailorman Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Very nice build indeed. You've made a great job of it.The last picture came out really well. "Just like the real thing!"Incidentally, the "shoreline" in the last picture could have been a shot of part of Malta's coastline!/media/tinymce_upload/e08b5a3bbefebcf5b58ef8cd9671b3e8.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Thanks PatrickActually it's made up of two photos the sky then the coastline bit is actually a rock face at Coetzenburg which is a nature reserve in Stellenbosch, but the phote's been stretched which is why it now looks like it does, and of course the boat that I've extended the foreground sea with a clone tool..Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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