# Seaview limber holes.. that big a deal?



## gareee (Jan 1, 1970)

I'm looking at my kit, thinking about all that tedious work opening up the limber holes and cleaning them up, and and also looking at pics people have posted of both painted and opened up ones.

I really don't see much visual difference at all between the painted ones and the ones that have been opened up. That seems like a lot of extra work, for a very small visual improvement.

Thoughts?

Just trying to decide to open them of just paint em, and that's the first major step in hull assembly.


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## Admiral Nelson (Feb 28, 2002)

I just wanted to do it. No real reason.


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

gareee said:


> I'm looking at my kit, thinking about all that tedious work opening up the limber holes and cleaning them up, and and also looking at pics people have posted of both painted and opened up ones.
> 
> I really don't see much visual difference at all between the painted ones and the ones that have been opened up. That seems like a lot of extra work, for a very small visual improvement.
> 
> ...


 
I built Two 1/72 Scale U-Boats from Revel Germany. 

The First I took the Lazy way, and didn't open up the limber Holes.
The Second I opened up all the Holes.

Same as With Seaview, I Totaly Loved it better!
I gives it more of a Real 3D Look.

My advice, Open them up. Take your time..You will thank me later:thumbsup:


BP


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

It's an absolutely huge difference in the sense of scale afforded to the kit. As they stand now, they're several scale feet thick and look out of place. Also, during the series the miniatures had their limber holes cut in surface mounted panels, not flush to the strongback as the Moebius kit has them.

Cutting them is a pain - long and tedious, especially to get them thin and of uniform thickness - but IMHO well worth the effort.

*SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION:* Of course you can seriously cut down on that work by ordering up my photo-etched accessory set which will be arriving from the fab in a week or so. This includes a full set of accurized limber holes (surface mounted, of course) as well as a ton of other pieces to really bring this excellent model to life.

The kit can be ordered straight from me, or via CultTVman (and other retailers as they come online).

More information can be found at: http://www.modeling.paragrafix.com/products/seaview-enhancements.asp


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

Paulbo said:


> It's an absolutely huge difference in the sense of scale afforded to the kit. As they stand now, they're several scale feet thick and look out of place. Also, during the series the miniatures had their limber holes cut in surface mounted panels, not flush to the strongback as the Moebius kit has them.
> 
> Cutting them is a pain - long and tedious, especially to get them thin and of uniform thickness - but IMHO well worth the effort.
> 
> ...


 
..If I hadn't opened up My Limber Holes already, I would have jumped on your Kit Paulbo.


BP


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

beatlepaul said:


> ..If I hadn't opened up My Limber Holes already, I would have jumped on your Kit Paulbo.


BP - though the limber holes are the largest, most obvious parts of the fret, don't forget about the observation room furniture, handholds along the strongback, underside drain holes ... just tons of stuff


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

Paulbo said:


> BP - though the limber holes are the largest, most obvious parts of the fret, don't forget about the observation room furniture, handholds along the strongback, underside drain holes ... just tons of stuff


 
That stuff too:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## JohnGuard (Jan 13, 2008)

i did'nt bother doing it. yes, it sounds like a good idea but i dont have the patience to do it.
i like the look on other guys models but i wont miss it on mine.


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

JohnGuard said:


> i did'nt bother doing it. yes, it sounds like a good idea but i dont have the patience to do it.
> i like the look on other guys models but i wont miss it on mine.


 
And that is *THE BEST PART OF THIS Hobby!!!*


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## starseeker2 (Jun 13, 2008)

If you have a dremel type tool, you can open up all the limber ports from behind in about 40 minutes. The hull of the Seaview was a complete cylinder and that cylinder shows through the open limber holes quite plainly, as do the missile tubes and escape hatches that have to be dummied in. So that is much more work than just opening up the holes to let daylight shine through. But it looks just plain Right.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Yes it is a bit of a long process :freak: but the look it gives at the end is well worth it. So yes I'd say do it. :thumbsup: with some curved card behind them it really adds to the dimentions.  I did the ones on the side of mine that weren't on the display side so I could practice. A very sharp knife and a pinvice with a 1mm drill bit is the way to go. I over sized a couple by using an a dremil type of tool. Even at slow speed it was going to fast for me to accuratly control.

Just my thoughts. :wave:


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## starseeker2 (Jun 13, 2008)

Use the dremel from the back. Don't go near the front. Just thin the plastic till what remains in the limber holes is the thinnest plastic you ever saw. Use a bit shape like Dre 15 and grind the whole area around each set of the limber holes. Then punch through the super thin plastic from the front side. If you're careful from the back to keep the plastic reasonably evenly thinned everywhere, they'll look perfect from the front without any other touch up required.

Edit: I just realized that what I did won't work if you haven't separated the deck from the hull. You'd have to use a different bit shape, like a Dre 100 or 114, to get into that space, and work more carefully with a very steady hand with the round bit to ensure an even thickness. But still, don't use a dremel tool from the front. However you do it, you want to thin the plastic from the back side.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

starseeker2 said:


> If you have a dremel type tool, you can open up all the limber ports from behind in about 40 minutes. The hull of the Seaview was a complete cylinder and that cylinder shows through the open limber holes quite plainly, as do the missile tubes and escape hatches that have to be dummied in. So that is much more work than just opening up the holes to let daylight shine through. But it looks just plain Right.



Exactly what I did.
Just be ready for LOTS of grinding dust.


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## gareee (Jan 1, 1970)

Hmmm.. I do have a top of the line dremel, and grinding from the back doesn't sound like too much work... I'll look at it closer today, and make a decision.. after seeing more wip pics, I'm itching to get mine going, and I better start before the pod and chariot arrive...


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

I'm waiting for the photo-etched kit; you can gouge out the area around the holes quickly, put the plates over that and get a fantastic effect. I would have never taken the time to grind out the plastic vents on the model but I'm totally happy to have those brass plates to fix the problem.


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## solex227 (Apr 23, 2008)

I agree that the PE will make the job way easy! and you can avoid the noise and the heart stopping moment when the dremmel slips and mistake is made.:freak:


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

gareee said:


> Hmmm.. I do have a top of the line dremel, and grinding from the back doesn't sound like too much work... I'll look at it closer today, and make a decision.. after seeing more wip pics, I'm itching to get mine going, and I better start before the pod and chariot arrive...


Grinding out from behind will open up the holes, but you'll still be left with a totally out of scale thickness. (Unless you grind out the material nearly all the way to the surface, but then you run into problems of uniform thickness and the dreaded "oops" factor.)

Not that I'm trying to push my photo-etch set, mind you


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## JeffG (May 10, 2004)

Definitely a beautiful kit, but...am I just going crazy or does it look like the outer / upper edges of the front viewports are angling upwards (rear edge) a bit? If anyone else has commented on this, I missed it, but just an observation-maybe. It's actually got me scratching my head much more than the Falcon / mandible toe in concern.


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## starseeker2 (Jun 13, 2008)

Photoetch would be easier. Just dremel right through. And it would be closer to scale thickness. On the other hand, steady hand, keep dremeling from behind till you've just barely cut through the plastic to open the holes or have left just the thinnest rectangle of plastic and then a very little sanding if needed. Not for the faint of heart, tho. But I don't mind this scale thickness at all. 
I think the windows have that definite upwards slanted look because they're a little too high and the nose is slightly pointed, not the sphere it's supposed to be. The whole nose was based on concentric circles. This fix makes opening the limber holes look like the easiest thing in the world. See http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=2458686&postcount=12


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

the photo etch seems like the safer way to go especially with me permanately having only 1 good hand/arm to build with, I can no longer do the amount of detailing I used to do, thanks for making something like that !


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## Aurorafan (Jun 16, 2001)

Am I to understand that if this were a real ship, the area inside the deck containing the limber holes is merely a shell? there are no ballast tanks in there? The missle tubes theoretically could be seen if you peered into one of the holes? 
I'm planing a cut-away model with complete interior, so I'm curious to know what to do up there


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Aurorafan said:


> Am I to understand that if this were a real ship, the area inside the deck containing the limber holes is merely a shell? there are no ballast tanks in there? The missle tubes theoretically could be seen if you peered into one of the holes?


[IMG-LEFT]http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/5060/image2/a3.jpg[/IMG-LEFT]




Short answer: Yes.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Oooo, good diagram!


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## Aurorafan (Jun 16, 2001)

A picture's worth a thousand words. Well done, scotpens


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## starseeker2 (Jun 13, 2008)

Two poor quality pictures - sorry about that. One is I think the only shot I have of the 17' Seaview with its deck off. It's harder to make out in this scan but you can see that the elements have weathered the hull a lighter color than where it was protected under the deck. The sunlight through the limber holes has weathered lighter spots as well. The hull was a cylinder. Shots of the 17' on other sites show just the round hull through the front limber holes but the 17' often didn't have back limber holes, and the practical missile tube was located on the port side and I've never seen pictures of that side of the 17' close up. So who knows what would show through.
The second is a shot of a Trident sub from an old magazine. Unlike the Seaview, the missile tubes ended underneath the deck. The deck is still a hollow shell with the cylindrical hull beneath. I like the huge hinges for the missile hatches and the fact that inner door surfaces (like the Seaview) are still white. No limber holes on a Trident, tho, but a long groove at the base of the deck that water seems to run out of? 
I bet a modeling group like the SubCommittee would be a good place to start researching.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Aurorafan said:


> A picture's worth a thousand words. Well done, scotpens


Google is your friend! :wave:


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