Internal Structures

As with my build of U-505, I will open up the main flooding channel and build some rudimentary internal structures (inner pressure hull, saddletanks).
Fortunately, the inner components I had planned/made for U-505 will work in U-190.

Again... "Why Would I Build Internal Structures" ?

The short answer to this is: "Because."

I plan to put some real effort into this fantastic Type IXC/40 model - including opening up the flooding holes in the outer hull.

QUESTION: After opening all of flood holes in the hull, what would you see when you look through them?
ANSWER: Nothing at all!

It is now common practice in my U-boat models to open up the flooding holes & channels to add much more realism to the model. Having cut my teeth on VIIC models, the internal structures of an IXC/40 are much different though the construction methods should be similar. The saddletanks of the Type VIIC are easily seen as long bulged sections on the exterior of the hull, but the saddletanks of the Type IXC/40 are internal. After studying cutaway views of Type IXC and IXC/40 boats, I had enough information to start making a building plan for making internal structures.

Internal Structures — Overview

Luckily I had already spent a considerable amount of time creating detailed plans to construct an inner pressure hull & saddletank walls for U-505 (Type IXC) using sheet styrene and some pieces of acrylic piping. Fortunately, all the pressure hull pieces are usable in this Type IXC/40.

Here are some pictures that (hopefully) make things clearer about the internal structure of the Type IXC/40:

INNER PRESSURE HULL is the BLUE-SHADED round section in the middle of the bulkhead. The diameter of the pressure hull changes throughout the boat. In the kit, the diameters of the pressure hull are the following (at the indicated bulkheads):

• Bulkhead A:   ø50mm  (2")
• Bulkhead B:   ø57mm  (2-1/4")
• Bulkhead C:   ø57mm  (2-1/4")

A message to any "purist" or "rivet-counter" modellers out there who look to me for guidance:
Working within the confines of the kit plastic hull, the inner pressure hull structures that I built are VERY rudimentary and frankly there was a lot of guesswork as far as dimensions go.
So... DO NOT complain to me that the internal structures I made are not spot-on accurate.
I already know this! I simply did the best I could to achieve the desired effect.
'Nuff said.

Internal Structures — Plans

Luckily, the plans for the inner pressure hull for this Type IXC/40 boat are the same as those for the Type IXC (which I already created for U-505).
The only new parts will be the saddletank tops around the narrowed bow section. I will scratchbuild those as required.

These plans were created for Type IXC. The plans are in PDF format and are the full size of the kit (46" x 8.5").
Inner pressure hull: same for both Type IXC/40 and IXC
Saddletank tops: different between Type IXC/40 and IXC

• FULL PLANS (18-page PDF)

Resin Pressure Hull

I was fortunate enough to obtain a Type IXC resin upper pressure hull set from a crafter in Germany. This was originally destined for use in my U-505 build.

However, when the set arrived in my hands, I rethought using it.
Why? It is simply too nice to hide away from view, it is very thick & very heavy resin (½"~¾" thick, and likely 1-2lbs), and it is meant for full hull U-505 (Type IXC), not U-190 (Type IXC/40) with narrowed bow.
Installing it would require a lot of butchering to make it fit properly.

So instead of installing this resin pressure hull set, I decided to use it as a template to create & add my own plastic details which I will add as required to achieve the desired effects.

Centerline Baffle Plates

SRS (Small Rivets Studio) offers a PE set that contains internal & external flooding holes and internal baffle plates for the Type IXC and IXC/40 boats.

The internal baffle plates are behind the lower flood holes in the bow and stern. The vertical baffle plates are located along the hull centerline.