1/35 Schnellboot S-38 & harbor scene

[2Step]

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Just came bach from my traditional New Years walk through the village - not for the obvious physical benefits, but because it is my primary source for wooden sticks. It's the remains of the fire work rockets that litter the street and this way are free to a good home. For example: the wood on the pier in the pics above is made from those sticks ... I know, I am a cheapskate

[2Step]

However, some progress was made...

 

First an impression how the Schnellboat will compare to the pier .... long way to go ...

 

 

I will treat the kit as being made uf many little kits, just to break up the work.

 

First item (well actually second after the torps and Wabo) is the rubber dinghi. In most aftermarket sets or build models, I thought the wooden inside bottom soehow "off". I have only one original picture of this, and it seems that the wooden(?) bars were very close together, practically touching each other. I thought abouit using real wood for the kit, but that seemed to be to high and leaving practicall no space between the floor and the seats. so, I used thin plastic strips. On the pic the floor seemed to be painted (although that makes it normally slippery when wet) so I did the same with some wear and tear. The seats are real wood (coffee stirrers). I added a jerry can with potable water for emergencies. The picture I was talking about showed as provision one of those very big wine bottles in a wicker basket - also an idea

 

And some line, the paddles of course and that's about it. The discoloring on the bow looks a bit extreme on the pictures but way more natural in real life.

 

 

 

As always thanks for looking, any comments etc. welcome

Cheers

Edited January 1, 2024 by 2Step
typo

[ArnoldAmbrose]

36 minutes ago, 2Step said:

the wood on the pier in the pics above is made from those sticks ... I know, I am a cheapskate

Gidday, there's nothing wrong with utilizing expended materials in modeling. In fact I think it's commendable.

That boat looks quite big when alongside the pier. Regards, Jeff.

[2Step]

1 hour ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday, there's nothing wrong with utilizing expended materials in modeling. In fact I think it's commendable.

That boat looks quite big when alongside the pier. Regards, Jeff.

as I said Jeff, I wanted to be able to see the bow of the boat from both sides and not be covered by the pier. Considering all the ideas I have now for stuff on the pier (even if some of the things now on it will be later on the boat), it kind of became too small ... which might need to be changed one day, who knows what infrastructure projects the war demands.

Cheers

[2Step]

Hi there,

 

I started to put the hull together. Somewhat strange because it uses screws in addition to just glueing. But I think necessary, because just clamping it together while the glue dries probably would not have worked. There are horizontal bars that hold the two halfs together that will later on also have the deck parts screwed onto them. (pics will come later).

 

It is a monster to work on, nearly as long as my workbench (which is just a regular desk). Everytime I turn the hull to work on it, I have to be carefull not to tip over stuff on the desk .....

 

On a different subject, back to the crew. These are the figures from Tamiya's 8,8cm flak set (DAK). As mentioned earlier, they are actually quite a bit smaller (or diminutive, I am not sure how to describe it) as the older Tamiya observer group. But I hope it will not show as much when they are not standing directly besides each other. And of course: there are smaller and bigger people in real life too.

 

As the diorame is to depict a "peaceful" harbor scene, the crew will not be wearing their helmets (only the guard detail does). As 4 of the figures were meant to wear a helmet and because of that only half the head was modelled, I had to make up the rest of the head with putty. I am not alltogether convinced of the result yet. Also, in the pictures, the paint job is not really 1st class. Besides some scary eyes, some of the clothing has become shiny with all the touching, as well as the galoshes (?). When I assemble the second part of the crew (MiniArt DAK tank crew) I probably will go over these guys as well...

 

But for now, here is the supporting cast  (signal light and life vest scratch build):

 

 

ok I just realized that the singalling flags are broken ... another thing to fix

 

And already hard at work (and having a coffee break)

 

 

I am still discussing which part to tackle next. Maybe the 40mm ...

 

I also have to find a solution to the color question. Italeri has the parts in "schnellbootweiß" marked as "flat white". That would suit me, as I can use one of my trusted rattle cans. But I am afraid it is a bit too white - so maybe spray gun, which I am really not good at ... But before this is not decided, I can't build anything that needs to be painted in that color.

Same question for the green upper deck. But those parts I might be able to paint with a brush, as it has too much of wear anyhow to be monochrome

 

For the lower hull, I decided to go with black. The change to a red antifouling paint was made after the first boats arrived in the Black Sea, and I am pretty confident that the boats would not have been repainted right away, if anytime at all.

In general I like colorful models, but that will be achieved by the red & white color recognition stripes on the focsle....

 

Cheers

[2Step]

ok, I am getting closer to have to paint parts in schnellbootweiß. The color is a bit off white with some gray, orange and others mixed in, for a color optimized for reduced visibility at night or twilight. Italeri uses flat white in their painting instructions. If I combine that with a black underwater hull (instead of the more gray Dunkelblaugrau - dark blue gray of the original), I am afraid the boat will look more like my Saturn rocket, than a warship (also depending on the amount of weathering of course).

 

As I will depart from reality by putting sea mines on the boat TOGETHER with torpedoes, which never happened in reality as far as I can tell, I am still tempted to put a non existent cammo scheme on the boat. Although, again to my knowledge, there were no cammoes in the Black Sea. Here is one idea:

 

 

Hull would be flat white, a dark grey and the green similar to the deck color of boats in the Black Sea (FS34258) (which I also have to come up with). It would, of course, still get the Italian style red and white (light gray) air recognition stripes on the focsle.

 

As seen here:

 

 

There were variations of that. There is a pic from a(n) (older) boat entering Bizerta in Tunesia were the stripes only go up to before the bow gun. And many drawings or builds that show only 4 or 5 stripes, where it seems that it should be at least 8 (red) stripes...

 

Any opinions (and pleeeeease be gentle )

 

Cheers

Edited January 3, 2024 by 2Step
typo

[Bertie McBoatface]

9 minutes ago, 2Step said:

Any opinions

Asking for opinions on paint in the Maritime section Will probably result in full pages of technical discussion  😂

 

However, since you have already decided to depart from reality with the mines and torpedoes, which I think is a very good idea, I suggest you paint it the way you think best. 
 

Model bravely!

 

[psdavidson]

56 minutes ago, 2Step said:

Any opinions

Since it's not reality, just go for it. That scheme looks great

 

/P

[2Step]

Well, as I already learned while studying: each model is wrong, some are helpful... They were not talking about plastic kits though

(btw, the scheme is leaning on some world of warships cammo)

 

But thanks for your support. I probably will make my decision depending on how the first paint job (white????) will come out.

 

Cheers

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

       Gidday @2Step, my first rule of modeling is to have fun. In this case it translates to "Do what makes you happy". I personally wouldn't have a clue about camo schemes in this particular situation so as far as I'm concerned, ANYTHING you do here is correct. 🙂 The model and diorama is going to look great.

       Regards, Jeff.

[2Step]

Now I ran into the first trouble with the Italeri instructions. The part number for the open hatch on the focsle is wrong. Fortunately in for the rest of the build it seems to be correct and there is the right number of parts, so probably just a multiple typo.

The cover for the bulleyes on the closed hatch, a PE part, however is way to big and there are no other similar parts. It seems funny anyhow that that hatch is smaller than the one beside it ... but I don't have a clear picture of this part, so no way to check. I wouldn't change it on the kit anyhow.

I think I will just leave of the PE part. If I find it in my heart, I might put holes for the 3 bulleyes in the hatch or make a cover part from styrene ... we will see.

 

 

For the inside of the hatch, which has a bit of detail I just added the two parts of the locking levers (?) that would actually arrest the hatch from scratch. I have absolutely no reference, but from experience I would say, the hatch doesn't need more detail.... Now if I only would have a source for the inside color of Kriegsmarine

 

Cheers

[2Step]

I seem not to be able to edit an earlier post ...

 

The b&w photo above is from "Die Schnellboot Seite" http://www.s-boot.net/sboote.html

 

ok now it seems to have accepted the edit, it gave me a warning before ...

 

Edited January 3, 2024 by 2Step

[2Step]

Still working on the focsle ... so many open questions:

inside of hatch: detail and color

outside of hatch: color (although I have two very bad pics, one that shows that hatches in some dark color (gray?) and one with a light color (Schnellbootweiß?). So it seems I can pick whatever I want

anchor: what the heck is the purpose of the maybe 30ft line attached to the anchor that the instructions call for (other end nowhere attached to) or some completed builds show???? That is barely enough length to get the anchor wet, but surely won't hold the boat. Which is anyhow not achieved by the anchor but the weight of the anchor chain. Which is not mentioned anywhere. I kind of assume the anchor is latched to the deck without anything (for storage) and, in the rare case the boat wants to anchor, the chain is attached, coming from a below deck storage? Everything else seems not to make any sense. None of the pics clearly show an anchor ....

Italian stripes: my bosun will get demoted. He was instructed to paint those stripes in accordance with Regia Marina instructions. When I checked on him, he had his detail paint at least two red stripes too many.... Yeah I sc****d that up. I didnt' really do the math, wanted to make it simple by using the widest masking tape I have. Now I will end up with probably 9 - 10 stripes insted of the required 8 (note: most builds have only 5 or so). Ah well, if I deflect from reality otherwise, I might as well keep going with the smaller stripes rather that repainting everything... (I used a gray covered with flat white not totally opaque. I think I can get away with calling that Schnellbootweiß and probablyx will use the same method for the rest of the boat.

 

pics to follow

 

Cheers

 

P.S. The Black Sea Boats were attached to the 1. Schnellboot Flottilla

There was also the 11th German Schnellboot Flottilla in the black Sea which used Italian MAS boats  There might be another project lurking in the future: German MAS alongside S38 - hmmmmmm

[2Step]

All right, back to the drawing board .... The flat white came out allright. Beside the fact that there were too many red stripes (bosun is now seaman last class), the red paint also leaked significantly and covering it over with some white paint with a brush failed due to a totally different shade of white. Last resort was some weathering - which came out too strong. After all this is a well kept boat, and that doesn't get too dirty. I tried the effect of some salt residue (before the former bosun could hose it down with fresh water). But, as I said, it came out too strong after drying.

 

So, I will repaint the whole thing, probably needs some amount of sanding.

 

It was all made worse, by my decision to attach the railing and the frame for the 20mm (to avoid hitting parts of your own boat) BEFORE painting. I don't know why I thought that was such a grand idea, but I did it. You can imagine how much more easy it made applying the tape for the stripes (irony and self loathing off  ).

 

I probably need a cooling off period for the bow. Maybe I start the A400 Tempo truck or the 40mm (now that I know I can get away with the flat white ...

 

Cheers

[Chewbacca]

That jetty scene is so realistic and very reminiscent of so many jetties that I have secured to over the years.  I especially liked the figure that was bending over to pick up the box.

 

On 02/01/2024 at 10:00, 2Step said:

On a different subject, back to the crew. These are the figures from Tamiya's 8,8cm flak set (DAK). As mentioned earlier, they are actually quite a bit smaller (or diminutive, I am not sure how to describe it) as the older Tamiya observer group. But I hope it will not show as much when they are not standing directly besides each other. And of course: there are smaller and bigger people in real life too.

I really wouldn't worry about that.  When I joined Naval College, the shortest Midshipman in our entry was, IIRC, just 5 ft 3 inches tall whereas the tallest was 6 ft 6 inches (and almost as wide at the shoulders!).  In 1/35 scale that's 10.8 mm,  It makes it look more natural.

 

 

[Chewbacca]

That jetty scene is so realistic and very reminiscent of so many jetties that I have secured to over the years.  I especially liked the figure that was bending over to pick up the box.

 

On 02/01/2024 at 10:00, 2Step said:

On a different subject, back to the crew. These are the figures from Tamiya's 8,8cm flak set (DAK). As mentioned earlier, they are actually quite a bit smaller (or diminutive, I am not sure how to describe it) as the older Tamiya observer group. But I hope it will not show as much when they are not standing directly besides each other. And of course: there are smaller and bigger people in real life too.

I really wouldn't worry about that.  When I joined Naval College, the shortest Midshipman in our entry was, IIRC, just 5 ft 3 inches tall whereas the tallest was 6 ft 6 inches (and almost as wide at the shoulders!).  In 1/35 scale that's 10.8 mm,  It makes it look more natural.

 

 

[2Step]

I did't want to have that disaster looming over me for too long, so I did the repaint today. It's way better than the first and I wont dare to change it again. I am debating myself on how much weathering (s. above) and if the white/red paint should be wearing off. Dry fit with most of the rest of the stuff that is going on the focsle. Still some little paint jobs and corrections - but it comes close to what I was imagining:

 

 

ok those who can and do count will realize that I ended up with 7 stripes rather than the required 8. What can I say, even as seaman that former bosun cannot count....

 

@Chewbacca Thanks for the moral support. I know what you are saying and of course you are right - it still does look a bit funny.

I joined our naval academy relatively short before the start of training. Therefore I was put into one of the higher numbered platoons. Normally the higher the number the shorter the midshipmen - I was the tallest and sticking out

When did you serve? Maybe our ships met sometime, somewhere (of course my time was in the 80's and nineties' of the last century

 

Cheers

 

[Chewbacca]

We may well have met.  I served 1980- 2013 though my sea time had completed by 1999.  I did a number of STANAVFORLANT deployments (1988, 1991, 1993, 1994) and we always had a German frigate or destroyer in the group then.

[2Step]

Well, besides national cruises, I did 88 & 89 a JMC; 89, 93 & 97 a BOST, STANAVFORLANT 90, 92, 94 and a few Maritime Monitor/Sharp Guards. 99 was also the last of my sea time. Altogether I served from 1981 to 2023.

 

1994 STANAVFORLANT I participated with FGS Karlsruhe from Aug to Dec ! I honestly don't remember which British ship was with us that time.

 

Cool thing

[2Step]

Propellers and rudders are added. I decided on the (earlier war) black hull. The overspray (2nd pic) is intended and supposed do be a form of preshading for the Schnellbootweiß part of the hull. (we will see how that turns out ...)

 

 

Also the front parts of the torpedoe tubes are added. Starboard will be closed, port open. I intend to cut one of the torpedoes into two parts. The aft 3/4 part will be seen in the process of being loaded into the starboard tube, the front piece will be peeking out of the open front of the porttube.

 

I realize that this is not very realistic. But I want to show all possibilites the boat has, hence the idea with the torpedoes, one cradle will remain empty and on the stern one set of depth charges (port) and the rails with the mines (starboard - IF the tracks come out as I wish).

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited January 10, 2024 by 2Step
typo

[ArnoldAmbrose]

1 hour ago, 2Step said:

I realize that this is not very realistic. But I want to show all possibilites the boat has, hence the idea with the torpedoes, one cradle will remain empty and on the stern one set of depth charges (port) and the rails with the mines (starboard - IF the tracks come out as I wish).

I like that idea. Regards, Jeff.

[2Step]

I started on the wheelhouse, but have a hard time finding references, especially about the wall (color) wood or painted metal??? I need to keep looking, but most likely I will improvise.

 

Until then, a short impression how I imagine the loading of supplies might look (inspired by a real picture)

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited January 13, 2024 by 2Step

[2Step]

Also tackled the scratch build of the mine rails for the starboard side. Actually, for a first attempt, I am not unhappy

 

 

Cheers

[2Step]

After all the research not showing anything tangible for the wheelhouse, I just finished it the way I thought it SHOULD look (based on own experiences). Not sur if it is anything like a 1944 Schnellboot wheelhouse, but here it is (and you won#t see much of it anyhow once it is finished...

 

 

I haven't "put in" the clock on the back wall, as the provided decal seems wrong to me. I thought I had printed out a regular maritime clocks face, but cannot find it right now. But again, I doubt you can even see it when all the walls are up, so it might not even matter ....

 

Cheers

 

Edited January 15, 2024 by 2Step

[2Step]

I am a big friend of open doors in a model, wether it was intended by the model maker or just requires a sharp knife. So, when opening the deckhouse behind the open bridge, I was wondering what was actually in there (although I am pretty sure that nothing will be really seen when everything is put together.

 

On the inside graphs I could find (mostly S-100 class though) it loks that there is a companionway down to the lower deck with fuel cells. But I am not sure why that would require a seperation in that room with a door:

 

 

And what is that little "seat" on the seperating wall??

 

Right now I am tempted to just put a (closed 🙃) hatch in the floor where the ladder down to the fuel cell room would be.

 

Does anybody of you have a better clue?

 

Please and thank you!

 

Cheers