Hi Jess,

Thanks for your reply. Needless to say, I am building the real U-96. I had seen your link; it was from there that I recalled the emblem as portrayed in the movie.
In relation to the exhaust vents, you wrote:

I believe that only some Type VIIB's had this air intake mounted on the attack scope housing. Definitely not U-96. U-96 had them on the sides of the tower.

If you have a source that definitively states this I would beinterested to know what it is. I will agree that I have only seen the very early configuration (that mounts the exhaust vents on the attack periscope base) on Type VII Bs--not VII Cs. The WEM instructions are vague however, stating that early towers have the center exhaust mount.
I agree that the photo etch railings are not improvement because of they are two-dimensional. I am considering building the wintergarten and railings by scratch, though that is excruciating work. Did you see this fellow's work:

[uboat.imodeller.cz]

Unfortunately, there is no contact information. I would very much like to know whose work this is, for mentoring purposes. I guess it means its possble. As for the handwheels provided in the kit, I actually think they are very close to scale. Looking at pictures in Prototype Zum Modell, one sees that width of these was quite robust, exceeding that on the railings.
Talk to you soon,

EW