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Submarine UB 1 Mikro Mir 1:144 The Type UB I was a class of small coastal submarines (U-boats) built in Germany at the beginning of the First World War. 20 boats were constructed, most of which went into service with the German Imperial Navy. Boats of this design were also operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine) and the Bulgarian Navy. The group is sometimes known as the UB-1 class after SM UB-1, the class leader. In the Austro-Hungarian Navy, it was called the U-10 class. Built to meet the need for small manoeuvrable submarines able to operate in the narrow, shallow seas off Flanders, the vessels were intended to be quickly constructed, then shipped by rail and assembled at their port of operation. The design effort began in mid-August 1914 and by mid-October the first 15 boats were ordered from two German shipyards. The German Imperial Navy subsequently ordered an additional pair of boats to replace two sold to Austria-Hungary, who ordered a further three boats in April 1915. A total of 20 UB Is were built. Construction of the first boats for Germany began in early November 1914; all 20 were completed by October 1915. Several of the first boats underwent trials in German home waters, but the rest were assembled and tested at either Antwerp or Pola. The German boats operated primarily in the Flanders, Baltic, and Constantinople Flotillas. The boats were about 28 metres (92 ft) long and displaced 127 tonnes (125 long tons) when surfaced and 142 tonnes (140 long tons) while submerged. All had two bow torpedo tubes and two torpedoes, and were equipped with a deck-mounted machine gun. In 1918 four of the surviving German boats were converted into coastal minelayers. Of the seventeen boats in German service, two were sold to Austria-Hungary, one was sold to Bulgaria, and nine were lost during the war. One of the five Austro-Hungarian boats was sunk and another mined and not repaired. The five surviving German boats, the four surviving Austro-Hungarian boats, and the Bulgarian boat were all turned over to the Allies after the end of the war and were broken up. The Model The kit consists of two hull halves and a single sprue of light grey styrene a small etched brass sheet, and small decal sheet. The kit is contained in the standard, colourful Mikr Mir box. As with most submarine kits, there aren’t a lot of parts and shouldn’t take too long to build, even in this scale though it is still a small submarine model. The instruction sheet just shows one complete operation with all the parts arrowed to their positions, broken up with only a few magnified areas where required. The bow torpedo tube bulkhead is fitted with two brass rings before being fitted into position, although, you'd have to open up the tube openings to see this.. The hull halves can be closed up and the deck section attached. The two, two part bow doors can be positioned open or closed, and the two bow planes attached. At the stern, the propeller, rudders and stern plans are attached, and the PE control rods glued to their respective control surfaces. Topside, the main gun mounting is made up from two halves and fitted with the two piece gun, the assembly is then glued into position just forward of the tower. Talking of which, the tower is also made up form two halves and fitted with the tower top, two periscopes, and hatch, which is fitted with ta PE hand wheel. PE parts make up the handrails and the ladder uprights. The completed assembly is then glued into position. The kit comes with a simple stand of two cradles and two longitudinal tubes. Decals There are two decal options, the decals are quite nicely printed with good opacity and in register. The options are:- UB-5 Zeebrugge, August 1915 in overall grey camouflage U-10, Pola, August 1915, in overall grey with dark blue waves of the top of the hull. Conclusion MikroMir really have a knack of producing interesting and unusual subjects. It’s great that they have chosen to release this in 1:144 scale as it makes this small submarine that little bit bigger once built to show off. Review sample courtesy of