Dear Joe,

I suppose it comes down to your definition of what "museum quality" is. I have a suspicion that tower maybe a tad out of scale. The platform on the tower needs to be capped with mesh-wire, so as to replicate the grading. The wire needs to be replaced. The side railing and the handles on the side of the tower are easy enough, but I am still brain-storming about the circular raiding for the tower. Though desinged for the USN, I intend to pick-up the 20mm gun from H-R fittings, as the only blatant difference between the German and American 20mm guns is that the American version has a large ammo box sitted on the top, but that can be cut off. The bottom-line is that, so long as my ever critical grandfather does not mistake my effort for a child's toy, that is good enough for me.
So, you recommend cutting out those vents , as opposed to just painting them black? Cutting those holes should not be too demanding. However, on the bottom of a u-boat, towards the ship's bow, there are series of fine, square-shaped holes. A good illustration of this is feature provided on the u-boat offered on fineartmodels.com. Still waiting for those articles to come in the snail-mail, I am assessing whether or not one ought to attempt to cut those wholes at by hand. THe danger of ruining the kit seems to be quite a threat. Yet, without this feature, I do not feel that I have a real member of Nazi Germany's fleet of silent wolves preying on the Atlantic.
Our purist complaints aside, I think the Revell kit is of at least tolerable quality. There are certainly worse products out there, like the academy kit, or the combat productions model.. On warship.simplenet, there is an article on an after-market kit for an American WWII sub kit for the tower and guns. That resin kit is more than the Revell model, which, when built just out-of-the box-, is supposed to be nothing more than a toy. I guess kits of modern subs also have even more egregious lapses in detail. Thus, I am thankful that the problems presented by this kit are realtively limited in scope. As a closing note, I will regret that you to have opted not confront the ever baffling issue of a realistic ensign.

Warm Regards,

Einsamer Wolf