U-5329, Type XXVIIB (Early) "Seehund"

[Pappy]

G'day all,

Here are some pics of my latest project off the bench, another in my sporadic series of midget subs.

The ICM 1/72 Type XXVIIB "Seehund" (seal) represents the early version. Designed during the spring of 1944, a total of 285 Type XXVII's were built.The Type XXVII saw active service from January, 1945 onwards and the subs of K-Flotilla carried out 142 sorties and sank 9 allied ships. Four of these diminutive subs continued to serve the French Navy after the war up until 1956.

From what I was able to gather, the later version had a taller observer's bubble as well as some sort of structure on the hull. The parts for the later version are included on the sprue and comprise five parts.

The kits comprises of approximately 40 parts and builds very quickly,indeed there are only six construction steps. I built most the structure and the tin fish whilst I was away on a work trip. The Christmas break is the first chance that I have had to catch up with some projects so the airbrush has been copping a flogging in the past few days.

The camouflage is unusual but this is the option featured on the boxtop and is one of the two schemes offered, the other in an overall grey scheme. My boat represents U-5329 of K-Flotilla 312, Ijmuiden Holland, February 1945. I wasn't able to find a reference picture of this particular sub, so I pretty much went with the kit's painting guide. The only additions that I have made are the three grab handles, one at the bow and stern and one on the conning tower. I also added some arming vanes to the torpedo noses to replace detail lost in sanding the seams.

The kit was very straight forward however my one minor gripe is that the observer's bubble is molded in solid plastic. It would have been nice to have the bubble in clear plastic. If I was ever to build another Type XXVII, this is something I would like to correct.

enjoy,

Pappy

Score 1 2 3 4 5 (5=Excellent)

[TonyT]

Score 1 2 3 4 5 (5=Excellent)

6 here

[chaoslord]

wow, this is awesome and really something that I don't see often. great build mate

[Pappy]

Thanks for the kind words.

I find that these little projects a re a good way to overcome AMS and kickstart the creative juices,

cheers,

Pappy

[Dave]

Lovely build Pappy.

[Martian]

This is mega! I have this kit to build and you have just sent it way up the to do pile.

Martin

[Pappy]

This is mega! I have this kit to build and you have just sent it way up the to do pile.

Martin

G'day Martin,

You are going to have a ball. The kit has no real vices and mine went together in a couple of evenings.

A few things I noticed was that the plastic has a slightly rough texture. This is great for mild steel but not for the smooth skinned torpedoes, so these will need a slight rub down with your favourite wet'n'dry.

The observation bubble is moulded solid, I would replace this If I had the chance to do the kit again.

The three handles are simply some fuse wire placed into pre-drilled holes.

The arming vanes on the torps are very delicate, I broke mine off. I would reccommend slicing these off carefully and putting them aside in a safe place (stuck to some Tamiya tape in a pill box perhaps) and adding these at the end once the torps are painted for example,

cheers and I hope to see your pics up here soon,

cheers,

Pappy

[Skii]

Amazing work, extremely authentic weathering !

[Pappy]

Amazing work, extremely authentic weathering !

G'day Skii!

Thanks very much.

I am not really a maritime builder, as I said, this was a quickie to get the motivation back after a (work induced) break and this was just intended to be painting exercise. I thought that I had perhaps overcooked it a little with respect to the rust, but the responses have been very positive. The rust areas were applied in a very intuitive sense (as opposed to referring to pics) so some of the effect is pure ar$e as opposed to skill,

cheers,

Pappy

[modlrfleck]

Nice job. I built the same model and vacformed a clear bubble over the rounded tip of a paintbrush. If you ever build another, give me a yell. 

[G.R.Morrison]

Nice work, thanks for posting these.  And nice 'save' with those delicate torpedo detonator pistols.

 

Lt.z.S. Ulrich Müller's U-5329 was densely-dappled in order to blend with ice fragments.  There's a pic in the (unpaginated) photo section of Lawrence Paterson's Weapons of Desperation - German Frogmen and Midget Submarines of World War II (Chatham Pub., ©2006).

 

U-5329 sortied from Ijmuiden on 5.Feb. 1945 together with seven others, but managed to return despite depth charge damage.

 

The ICM kit is available in two boxings, but each includes parts to make the later version, 'saddle' tanks and a different screw/rudders arrangement, without the tapered shroud housing of your earlier version.

 

GRM