Photos CV 707 Vesikko 1/72 (Special Navy kit)

[HorniePonie]

I started a Finnish navy CV 707 Vesikko (a Special Navy Kit in 1/72) as a some sort of therapy project.

The first impressions of the model were rather good - no bad flashes and the parts are quite straight. On the negative side there are no studs for alignment and there are a ton of 0.4-1.2mm holes to drill. Definitely not a beginner model and I am by no means an excellent modeller, but we'll see...

 

[HorniePonie]

A lot of small holes everywhere now...

 

[HorniePonie]

For those not familiar with Vesikko, it was designed by a Dutch company IvS and built by Crichton Vulcan as a prototype submarine for the later German Type II boats. It was purchased by Finland and after serving in the war is currently a museum piece in the Suomenlinna fortress. The photo is of me seeing it for the first time in the 80s. I was very impressed. Back then it was in the gray/red paint of 1933-1939. Nowadays it is in 1943 black/white/red colors, which I am building.

 

[HorniePonie]

Inside the engine room - this time looking a little more excited.

 

[HorniePonie]

Masking... Of course I masked over one stripe and only realized it after removing the mask.

 

[HorniePonie]

Size comparison with Type VII C/41 Atlantic version (1/72 Revell kit)

 

[HorniePonie]

The current building stage - the big parts are mostly there. Needs some weathering, rigging, railings and such.

 

[HorniePonie]

Oh, how I hate making the railings. 1mm thick plastic posts and tensioning 0,2mm metal wire through 0,3mm holes. I used yarn in my previous sub. Both materials seem to have their pros and cons.

I took the time to drill small holes in the deck for the posts as the ones that were in the kit seemed a little too small and shallow.

 

[HorniePonie]

Slow progress... I raised the flag for our independence day. I think it needs some very light weathering. My first flag experiment was okayish, but the flag is such an eye magnet, that I wanted to redo the pole and the flag. Looks better now.

I got the decals from www.rcsubs.cz and I also bought decals and photo etched parts with better quality propellers for the earlier version of Vesikko in case I want to build it as some point. I got good service from there and the products are of good quality - recommendations.

I also made a base from oak with 3D printed place holder poles. They will be turned from brass at some point.

 

[HorniePonie]

Since I only have hand tools for wood, I made drawings and asked a carpenter I know to make a frame for the casing. I will finish it with a router and coat it the same way as the base. Quite beautiful already.

 

[Nansouty]

Very original model, nicely rendered too. The naval side of the Soviet-Finnish war is not that known, thanks for bringing attention.

 

[HorniePonie]

Very original model, nicely rendered too. The naval side of the Soviet-Finnish war is not that known, thanks for bringing attention.

Thanks. There are indeed many interesting stories and details from that part of the war.

 

[HorniePonie]

A rather good video of Vesikko (English subs) with aerial footage of angles and deck details that are harder to come by in other reference photos.

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A video with some wartime footage

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[HorniePonie]

I think I'm going to call it more or less finished. The radio cables were a pain in the butt to say the least. I spent five hours with them and almost threw the whole model into the fireplace. I used 0,2mm copper wire coated in black, which worked quite ok (not great, not terrible) once I got some kind of a routine for it. The primer wasn't that good with sticking to resin parts, so they needed quite a lot of touch ups after manhandling the copper wire in and around them.

Now it needs a CV-707 Vesikko brass sign, but that will have to wait a little.