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German Fast Attack Craft S-100 (05162) 1:72 Revell The S Boat is called as the S stands for Schell in German which means fast. The boats were 35m long and 5.1m in beam designed for operations in the North Sea they were very capable vessels with a good performance in rough seas. Their top speed sustained was 43 knots , and they could push this as high as 49 for short bursts. They were powered by three Daimler Benz Diesel Engines which gave better range and performance than any western vessel until the later MTB's arrived. Just to confuse matter the Royal Navy referred to S Boats as E Boats with the E standing for Enemy. They were armed with 2 forward facing torpedo tubes with 2 reloads making a total of 4. Various other close in weapons were mounted such as machine guns, 20mm cannons and even heavier 37mm cannons. The S Boats were very capable attack boats and gave a good account of themselves. The Kit This boxing is a re-release of the kit which originally came out in 2001, and is now on its forth release. The kit arrives as two large hull halves and three additional large sprues. There is some flash evident on these latest ones. There is also a reel of rigging thread in the box. Construction starts with the bridge which unlike those on British vessels has a degree of armour to it to protect the crew. The box which makes the actual bridge is made up and then the external armour is placed over it. Next up the rear ends of the torpedo tubes are made up as these and the bridge structure then get fitted to the ,main deck. The main deck can then be fitted into the hull and this is then closed up. The fore-deck is then fitted with the support structure for the fore-deck gun going in under the deck before its fitted. Various deck fittings are also added at this stage. Moving back to the bridge a large pair of fixed binoculars for the torpedo sighting system are fitted. Also many bridge and bridge casement fittings are added including life-rings and lookout positions. Ventilators are added and the acetate for the screens is fixed in. Access ladders from the main deck are then added. Now moving onto the main-deck various deck housings and fittings are added along with the main side rails, these are rope at the back so are added from the spool supplied in the kit. The weapons including the reload torpedoes are made up at this time. A large what looks to be single barrelled 20mm for the front with a 37mm aft, and a twin 20mm for the midships position. What look to be mine laying rails are added to the stern though no mines are supplied in the kit. Finally the aerial wires are added from the kit supplied spool. If not building a water line diorama or scene then a stand is included for displaying the finished model. Markings There are markings for 2 boats with no details given. The modeller will have to supply their own Swastika for the Ensign. Decals are by Cartograf as can be seen from the small "c" at the end of the code, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It is good to see this kit being re-released Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Well I didn't see this coming Italeri Will be launching the S 38 early Schnellboot in December http://italeri.com/news_scheda.asp?idNews=738 Kev