HMS Upholder - Victoria Cross submarine of Malta

[maltadefender]

It feels like I'm under-performing in this GB. I've got a Mosquito on hold because the canopy needs a set of masks and a 'quick and dirty' P-40B that is proving to be anything but quick. So while I await the kabuki tape assistance needed to finish both of my (current) aeroplanes I've decided to build something without a canopy. Or any windows, in fact.

 

It's HMS Upholder.

 

Despite the human story of the siege and the excitement caused by her heroic aerial defence, Malta's key role in the war was always offensive. The Royal Navy was pre-eminent in Malta's strategic role and in HMS Upholder the Island had an utterly devastating weapon, the most successful British submarine of the war, captained throughout by Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn - who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his brilliant command.

 

The Upholder was laid down in October 1939 and commissioned a year later.  She left British waters for Malta in December 1940 and, in total, went on to complete 24 patrols, sinking 14 vessels totalling 93,031 tons of enemy shipping. Her victories included two other submarines, a destroyer, three troop ships and six cargo ships. On her 25th and final scheduled patrol before returning to Britain she was sighted and sunk with all hands, most probably by depth charges dropped from the Italian torpedo ship Pegaso which was patrolling north-east of Tripoli.

 

The kit is from the Russian (I think) brand Mirage, which produced a 1/400 scale U-class submarine boxed as HMS Undine. 

 

 

Undine and Upholder were all-but indistinguishable: two of the first seven U-class submarines, all of which were built with both four internal and two external torpedo tubes. After these first seven submarines were completed and put into service, the external tubes were deleted from the 42 U-class submarines that would follow because they created an unwanted bow wave and often broke the surface at periscope depth.

 

I've never built any kind of ship or boat before. It's a multimedia kit with plastic, resin and etch. It's all rather unfamiliar but it's all rather intriguing, and makes a change from aeroplanes for me. My stash of Malta bits remains fairly sprawling, so it's nice to pull something out of it that I would otherwise have struggled to get the courage up to attempt!

 

Here goes, then...

Edited December 6, 2016 by maltadefender

[maltadefender]

The etch is, naturally enough for 1/400, pretty tiny. I looked up ways to prime such small parts and saw a post on another forum which recommended using vinegar. Immerse the etch for up to an hour, rinse thoroughly in ice cold water and it will be sufficiently scored for paint to adhere.

 

I didn't have any malt in the house so had to go with what the EU prefers us to call 'non-brewed condiment' for putting on fish and chips. You know: real vinegar. I don't know if metal can tell the difference but regardless of how the paint likes the metal now it makes me feel hungry just to sniff it.

 

 

Meanwhile the hull went together and the rest of the plastic parts have so far fitted fine. I cut the resin bow section off its mount, trimmed it to fit the hull snugly, then shaped it to create an unbroken curve. I work with resin quite a lot for slot car bodies... this was much nicer!

 

 

It looks like the conning tower is going to take quite a bit of fiddling and shaving to sit flat on the deck. I'd like to get that done before I go to bed.

Edited December 6, 2016 by maltadefender

[rob85]

Another great subject!

 

such a great crew and some of the hits they made were truly remarkable! Such a sad ending to their story, but that's war I suppose, doesn't make it any better mind.

 

nice work so far.

 

 Rob 

[maltadefender]

Thanks, Rob!

 

Here's how she looks this morning with all plastic and resin on except the propeller shafts and canon:

 

 

I got a bit over-excited and put the masts on before the wood colour on top of the conning tower so it's all a bit splodgy at the moment!

 

I've shaved that awkward join on top of the resin down flush this morning. A little more sanding and she will be ready up front.

 

I'm going to put some of the etch on next and then get on with painting - which, being Malta, is a matter of guesswork!

 

It seems that Upholder was repainted from grey/black camouflage into blue and hull red when she arrived at the 10th Submarine Flotilla at Lazaretto. The blue is depicted in many ways. Here is the 1/72 model of her on display in the Malta War Museum:

 

 

And here is a colour profile:

 

Of the two pictures above it would seem that the brighter blue of the model is closer to being correct. The actual shade was Royal Navy PB10, which best matched to Vallejo 965 which equates to Humbrol 25 Matt Blue. That's pretty bright but then so is the Med, and the object was to conceal her from aerial reconnaissance.

 

I think I've got a pot of Humbrol 25 lying around. Will check later. First I need to put the railings on and finish the masts...

[PlaStix]

That's looking very impressive and it good to see a sub in this GB. The resin adds some nice detail.

Kind regards,

Stix

[tonyot]

Your sub is looking great,......I don`t know whether this will help or not but here is my take on another well known Malta sub from the 10th Submarine Flotilla at Manoel Island, using the same kit;

From my research for my book about Malta, the blue paint was found in the Malta Dockyard and was a pre war stock of Royal Navy Motor Transport (ie lorries etc) paint, which I believe was BS No.7 Dark Blue, a colour which was still being used well into the 1980`s! The RAF also noticed how well it disguised the subs, even underwater and also used the same colour on some of its Spitfires!

The colour that I used was US Navy Sea Blue Gloss,......matted down.

Good luck with your excellent looking model,

Cheers

           Tony

 

Edit,.....this blue colour proved so effective that it was later introduced into official Admiralty paint charts as PB10 (as you`ve stated) for use on all Med based subs,.....but using more effective maritime paint which was harder wearing.

Edited December 6, 2016 by tonyot

[maltadefender]

Thanks, Tony! Yes yours is exactly how I want my little Upholder to look. Here's hoping! It's going to be without the N99 on the tower because I've seen it modelled (and the original photographed) both with and without identification. Frankly, I wouldn't know where to start looking for those decals... and I can't print white!

 

Those blue trucks take me back. It was one of my Dad's favourite colours for modelling and he'd paint anything that colour if it stood still long enough. We had a Ford Prefect for a while that he rescued from the scrap yard and that got 'restored' with the very same paint. I've got some of his old builds around the house, and certainly this Matchbox Aston had a coat.

 

Happy days!

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2016 by maltadefender

[tonyot]

No worries mate and that Aston looks lovely in blue,........there is something about blue shiny things,.....which is probably why I enjoy building Malta and Fleet Air Arm subjects!! Good luck with your Upholder,.......every man aboard was a hero in my eyes,..... so sad the way they went to Valhalla.

 

Cheers

           Tony

[JOCKNEY]

Another piece of history I knew nothing about, good luck with the rest of the build.

 

Looking great so far !

 

cheers Pat

[maltadefender]

Thanks Pat - she's starting to look a bit businesslike now:

 

[PlaStix]

That is looking rather excellent! Very nicely done. 

Kind regards,

Stix