Kit reference: 05100
Review by Graham Thompson (Mar 2012)
Price: £16.00 approx
A little bit of background
Starting mid-1943, 91 u-boots Type VII C/41 have been launched. By then, the conditions of the battle had totally changed.
The “wolfpack tactic” achieved then seldom positive results against better protected convoys, especially with the introduction of air umbrellas. With the aim of a better defence when surfaced, the Type VII C/41 u-boots were fitted with a modified, larger bridge called “large wintergarten (winter garden)”; armed with two 20 mm flakzwillings and one automatic 37 mm M42U flakkanone.
Also fitted were: a swivelling snorkel mast for fresh air and fume exhaust, and four pressure boxes with 5-man floats were additionally typical of these boats. The use of better steel sheets allowed the maximum depth to reach 250 metres.
Initial assessment
The usual Revell style end opening box contains a total of two sprues and two hull halves in grey plastic, an instruction booklet and a small decal sheet.
Accuracy
I cannot comment on the accuracy other than to compare it to pictures and to read other reviews, especially those on respected maritime modelling sites. I have read no negative comments to date and it certainly looks the part which I find vital.
Quality
The parts on the sprues are very sharply moulded with good surface detail in both recessed and raised lines and are virtually flash free. There are a large set of railings that go around the gun platform and other parts of the conning tower (actually called a ‘sail on modern subs but I am not sure if that applies to WWII boats).
These railings do look a bit over scale and have quite a few mould plugs on them. These will take quite some cleaning up to not break the railings. Even at this scale, there are quite a few very fine parts and again, care will be needed cutting them off the spurs and cleaning them up.
Instructions
A key for the colours used for painting the model referring to Revell’s own paints is included on half a page and there is half a page of sprue diagrams. Add to this two pages detailing the colour schemes and decal options for four boats.
This leaves six pages of exploded view building instructions over 34 nicely detailed stages.
Decals
The decal sheet is fairly basic with most decals for the stand to label the particular boat you have modelled. There are small symbols for each of the boat options and the usual Kriegsmarine red flag but as with Revell’s policy no swastikas are represented and will need to be added or replaced should you wish this to be historically accurate.
Conclusions
This is a very nice looking kit out of the box. Other than the slightly over scale railings, I can see no issues at this stage. The detail looks good and the parts are virtually flash free. At around 19″ long, this will assemble into an imposing model for around £15 to £18 straight from the box.
Graham T.
Highly recommended
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | *** |
| Instructions | **** |
| Decals | **** |
| Subject choice | ***** |
| Overall | **** |