Conning Tower — Exterior Details

"It's all in the details" is very true in the case of the U-190 tower... and there are LOTS of details.

 

Tower Side Railings

I scratchbuilt the tower side railings using brass wire and plastic eyelets, since the molded kit railings are oversized.

  • 0.020" brass wire
  • plastic eyelets
  • PE baseplates (from spare PE set)
  1. Glued PE baseplates over railing holes on tower.
  2. Bent brass wire into the shape of the kit railing.
  3. Pre-installed plastic eyelets onto brass wire.
  4. Positioned railing, inserted eyelets into holes.
  5. Spaced out rod from tower using 0.040" shim; glued eyelets in place.

Railing baseplates Shaping the railing Railing stanchions - eyelets Railings installed

 

Miscellaneous Tower Details

Numerous details were added to the tower, using a variety of methods – PE detail parts as well as scratchbuilt items using styrene, brass, epoxy putty, etc.:

Ladders Ladders
Climbing rungs Climbing rungs
Rivet strips Rivets
Covers Compass housing
Hatches Tower hatch
Vents Mid-tower vent
Spare barrel containers 37mm Spare Barrel Container 20mm Spare Barrel Containers
Antenna conduit Antenna conduit
Cardan (U-joint) system Cardan (U-joint) system
Flagpole & guard
Antenna housing hole