1/35 Schnellboot S-38 & harbor scene

[Dmitriy1967]

5 hours ago, 2Step said:

 

I decided to include the squirrel decal, as the drawing has appeared on several boats in the Black Sea, why not this one

 

 

I wonder why a squirrel eats a green flag and not a red one?

[2Step]

10 hours ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

 

I wonder why a squirrel eats a green flag and not a red one?

Actually, I kind of assumed the green "thingy" is in the shape of some island/land/state (hence green) nearby the TO, but I never read any description that substantiates that claim. A quick check on Google Earth also showed nothing obvious in this shape....

My main source is:

http://www.s-boot.net/wappentiere-1sfltl.html

 

There was also a squirrel with a Union Jack. That might have been a flag...

 

Cheers

[2Step]

Added the antenna cables. I used some very thin wire thread I had lying around. Unfortunately it does look the part, but is very hard to tighten without the plastic parts it is attached to, bending too much. It looks kind of ok in real, not so great on the pic. I also decided on using insulators, partly because it "seems" right and partly because it helped to attach the cables ...

 

 

Finally the rubber dinghi is secured for sea ...

 

 

... and the handle for the emergency rudder handling also attached. It does seem like an odd spot and better should be stored below decks???

 

 

On a positive note: I am rather pleased with the securing of the Wabo (depth charges) which looks pretty much alike to the real thing.

It is probably also safe to say that the crew will not suffer from hunger or scurvy the next few days

 

Cheers

Edited January 31, 2024 by 2Step

[2Step]

And yet another question:

 

Does anybody have any idea where the top navigation light (white light to sides and front) is located? I have not found anything in the kit, port and starbord lanterns and aft light are included ... @Steve D do you have any idea????

 

Thanks everybody

[Steve D]

6 minutes ago, 2Step said:

where the top navigation light (white light to sides and front) is located

 

This illustration of S-80 shows it carrying the same sort of mast seen on the early pre-war boats, with running lamps etc.  But during the war, this mast was not carried in any picture I've seen, though the fixings exist on the back wall of the deck-house.  So, they could carry a mast, they just didn't

 

 

I've looked through all my images and I can't see any sign of a running lamp, the same is true for the r-boot.  Pre-war they carried a normal mast and yard etc with running lights and also lights when they had sweeping gear deployed, but once the war started, they stripped everything do to show the lowest profile possible. 

 

I believe the key tactic for s-boats was to remain hidden until they made their run.  They did carry a stern light, but it too was shielded

 

I'm no Kriegsmarine specialist so may be wrong, as ever, but in all the pictures I have, I can't find any wartime image with such a mast or light

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[2Step]

Thanks Steve,

 

more or less what I was thinking. They "lost" the top light when they were getting rid of the mast...

Although, considering they are Germans, is is highly unconventional not to follow the Rules of the Road. Not showing the lights in covered ops is one thing, but at least you have to have the lights!

 

Thanks again for always being so fast to respond!

 

Cheers

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, I'm no expert but I'd be very surprised if such a vessel in wartime would advertise her presence with lights. Regards, Jeff.

[2Step]

50 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday, I'm no expert but I'd be very surprised if such a vessel in wartime would advertise her presence with lights. Regards, Jeff.

No, they wouldn't show it when on a sortie. Lights are as much a part of EMCON as any other emission.

 

I was just wondering if the light was installed and where, as the other running lights were (and are included in the kit). Steve's explanation makes the most sense: the lights were installed on the mast and when that was taken off no one bothered to shift it to a different spot. Because, as you said Jeff, it wasn't used anyhow while hostilities lasted. However, they might have needed them for the victory parade after the Endsieg

 

Although it seems the stealthy approach of the E-boats was anyhow lost when the Allies made wider use of radar and could spot the E-boats loitering without them realizing they had been spotted ...

 

Cheers

[2Step]

I have to venbt again about Italeri. I just started the 40mm, and all piece parts are mislabeled to come from sprue "L". That is not even included in the kit. Then I thought maybe it's a sprue from the S-100. But after downloading those instructions, also the wrong label. That makes so many errors so far.... You really would think a experienced company as Italeri could do better.

 

Also irratating, as I just finished the tropedo load, is that the pics in the instructions show the torpedo fins in an upright cross when the torp is loaded onto the boat. However there is an extra picture that shows them as a lying cross! (upright should be correct by pictures of real live boats)

 

But now, with the S-100 instructions at hand, I want to see if I can convert the extra 20mm in the S38 kit with other kit parts (only required for the s-!00) into a harbor AA gun ...

 

Cheers

 

Edited February 3, 2024 by 2Step

[Chewbacca]

Some really great modelling going on here.  To quote from Airfix back in the 60s, "Just like the real thing" though in this case it really is

On 31/01/2024 at 15:09, 2Step said:

Added the antenna cables. I used some very thin wire thread I had lying around. Unfortunately it does look the part, but is very hard to tighten without the plastic parts it is attached to, bending too much. It looks kind of ok in real, not so great on the pic. I also decided on using insulators, partly because it "seems" right and partly because it helped to attach the cables

 

I see what you mean about the antenna wires.  Had you considered Uschi van der Rosten line?  It would certainly be easier to get taught though I do concede it may be too fine in 1/35 scale.

 

[2Step]

20 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Some really great modelling going on here.  To quote from Airfix back in the 60s, "Just like the real thing" though in this case it really is

 

I see what you mean about the antenna wires.  Had you considered Uschi van der Rosten line?  It would certainly be easier to get taught though I do concede it may be too fine in 1/35 scale.

 

 

Thanks for the praise. I have a few items from Uschi, I especially like their powders for metallic finishes. However, after trying to order the 1/48 scale magnetic compensation kit and never getting a response, including some follow up emails, I was not considering buying from them again. Is that line any good?

 

I normally use thin stretched plastic for my wires at 1/48. Here I thought the metal thread looked good ... As it also bend the railing it is attached to (when tightening), I might have to reconsider ...

 

Cheers

[2Step]

Little progress, the Nebelkanne (I decided due to the mine rails to only install one) and the Bofors. The gun seems to be pretty simple, butr I don't find any more details I could add by goinf through my pictures. Everything that more "stuff" was a more modern version of the gun.

 

I also went a little bit overboard with the weathering. I thought the gun will not get as often painted as the hull or deck houses. It does contrast with the rest of the weathering a bit, but for now I' stick with it.

 

 

 

(Note the partial Nebelkanne in the foreground)

 

Cheers

Edited February 5, 2024 by 2Step
exchanged a picture for a different view

[2Step]

Meanwhile, the crew is back from the beach and getting their boat ready for action:

 

Kmd & I WO (CO & 1st watch officer) discussing the upvoming sortie - while enjoying coffee and cake

(windows on the bridge stille missing, as I am having troubles with the PE parts)

 

 

Mechanic on the focsle dealing with the MG ammunition

(I know, he looks a bit scary, I have no clue what happened ashore...)

 

 

Petty officer loading supplies into the forward petty officer quarters

 

 

Signalgast (signals corporal) having one last commes exercise with another boat, while the Funkmaat (wireless petty officer) is trying to fix the lagging antenna cable

 

 

II WO (2nd watch officer) making his rounds

 

 

2 Torpedo Mixer (torpedo mechanics) making a last minute fix

 

 

2 Waffenmaate (weapon mechanics) getting the 40mm and the small arms, including flare gun, ready

 

 

The Smut (cook) waiting for someone to help stow all the supplies

 

 

I apologize for the quality of the pictures, focussing on the figures from that close ist not my forte, obviously ..

 

At least it is focussed enough to let me know I have to work on my painting skills, especially the eyes.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Cheers

 

@Steve D I hope this satisfies your desires for a cluttered deck

 

 

 

[Dmitriy1967]

The cook is wonderful! 😀

[ArnoldAmbrose]

4 hours ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

The cook is wonderful! 

Yeah, I don't think any-one is going to complain about his cooking!

 

Well done @2Step, everybody is looking suitably busy. Regards, Jeff.

[2Step]

12 hours ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

The cook is wonderful! 😀

Thanks, yeah I like that character. Though I need to touch up the spots of light skin tone around the tattoo. He is one of 5 out of the Miniart German Panzer Crew Afrikakorps. Three of them come with the tropical helmet. The heads that go along with that are just the bald head as you see with the cook. When I saw that it was right away clear to me to leave from at least one of the heads the helmet off. While painting them (e.g. before the pupils were painted) they looked more like zombies

 

 

[2Step]

7 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Yeah, I don't think any-one is going to complain about his cooking!

 

Well done @2Step, everybody is looking suitably busy. Regards, Jeff.

Thanks, I rearranged them quite a few times to match their postures with a potential job onboard, as I didn't want too much reshaping of the molding.

 

The cook actually serves a dual function. He is standing in the open aft hatch (on a piece of sprue glued to the inside bottom of the boat) and thereby hopefully obscuring the missing interior a bit ....

[Steve D]

17 hours ago, 2Step said:

I hope this satisfies your desires for a cluttered deck

I’ll let you have this one, great to use models to tell a story. Good job 👏 👏👏 what’s next?

 

 Cheers

 

Steve

[2Step]

44 minutes ago, Steve D said:

I’ll let you have this one, great to use models to tell a story. Good job 👏 👏👏 what’s next?

 

 Cheers

 

Steve

Well this one is not done yet. And I still have to add the Tempo 3 wheeler (civil version commandeered by the Navy) as supply truck on the jetty. Also, I recently came up with the thgought to add an 1/35 or 1/32 aircraft buzzing over the Schnellboot ....

But I probably will leave ship modelling after that ... Bigger projects are a Millenium Falcom Perfect Grade and an A400M in 1/72 (as I was a bit involved in that project). I still got a bunch of 1/48 aircraft, a space shuttle, Chinese space craft and Ariane rocket to go with my space collection (I am currently waiting for the reissue of the 1/72 Vostok 1 to complete my 1st man in space series), a couple of smaller Star Wars kits - and my big stack of shame: I got about 20 1/20 & 1/24 F1 and other racing kits waiting for completeion. I had really bad luck (or skills) after having already completey about 20 of them, I s****ed up like 4 or 5 in a row. They are now all sitting uncompleted in a closet reminding me of my unworthiness (including a Ferrari F1 with a super detail kit where alone the brake discs contain about 15 parts - but I really messed up the easiest part, painting the plastic body pieces, maybe I need to rebuy the actual kit, before my eyesight really gets too bad for the detail work). And, and, and  .....

 

(I read in another forum a good byline that a stack of kits is like the Hydra: when you build one, two more raise their ugly heads. So true...)

 

So, I am not running out of things to do for the foreseeable future

 

Cheers

 

 

[mick]

excellent work

[2Step]

New Question:

Does anybody have any idea what the spare/unused parts in the S-28 kit are for. I mean specifically the gun parts. I downloaded the instructions for the S-26 & S-100 kits and couldn't match the parts to the guns used there. They look to me as they might belong to a 20mm Oerlikon. But why are they on those sprues when not used in other kits of that series.

 

Am I going nuts or missing somethinge here

[bissyboat]

Nice work on the vessel and the crew. Can´t help it but the chap next to the provisions, is a spitting image of the notorious Charles Bronson. ⚓😎👍

[2Step]

1 hour ago, bissyboat said:

Nice work on the vessel and the crew. Can´t help it but the chap next to the provisions, is a spitting image of the notorious Charles Bronson. ⚓😎👍

 

Thanks ... now that you said it I can see it too....

[Chewbacca]

On 04/02/2024 at 16:15, 2Step said:

 

Is that line any good?

 

Uschi line is excellent albeit I find it difficult to work with (others on here have reported no problems so I know it is my own ineptitude!).  The one criticism I would level at it is that it can be too fine and depending upon the background, it can be difficult to see.

[2Step]

Mistery solved: all parts considered, it is indeed an Oerlikon ...

 

 

However, I still haven't found out why it is included in the kit and for which boat it is meant.

 

Bigger problem: now I have to redo my jetty to put that thing somewhere it makes at least a bit of sense (e.g. not dierctly beside the house or the crane).

 

Didn't someone mentioned it to be odd to have the jetty completed before the boat ?