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Ulf Lundberg
73 articles

S-Boot in 1:350

May 10, 2015 · in Ships · · 11 · 2.1K

The S-Boote were developed by the german navy in the twenties and were built by the Lürssenwerft. Their long hulls with rounded bottoms gave them sea keeping abilities superior to allied boats, their diesel engines were rugged and reliable and the diesel fuel was much less of a fire hazard in action than the gasoline used by the allied boats.
They were successfully deployed in the North Sea, the English Channel, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and in the Baltic.
The S 100 series was the last development of the with an armoured bridge and a top speed in excess of 42 knots.

's S-Boot is a little gem.
The mouldings are very fine and the fit is excellent. Apart from rigging thread, the kit contains all you need. The only extra things I did was to replace the barrels of the 20 mm guns with 0,2 mm guitar string and adding some rigging threads.

I started started the build with the usual reinforcement of the hull to provide staple attachment points for the display posts. The waterline joint caused only minor problems, mostly on account of the small size of the hull.

Painting was pretty straightforward too. Note that I didn't paint the torpedo reloads with metal paint. I don't think it works in this small scale. Instead I painted their body grey for steel and the warhead reddish brown for copper. Then I sprayed them with gloss clear and polished them.

Although the waterline joint caused neglible problems this time, I still maintain that they should be prohibited.

Reader reactions:
4  Awesome

12 additional images. Click to enlarge.


11 responses

  1. A lot of detail here, and in such a small scale. My choice for the display plinth would be something less chunky, but that's just a personal choice. I saw a couple of these in large scale (Italeri?) recently at Milton Keynes and they make superb subjects in any scale. Very nice.

  2. I didn't realise how small that was till I saw it next to the match box! Very impressive!

  3. The same as Richard, Ulf, looks great.

  4. You must have the eyes of an eagle, the hands of a surgeon and the patience of Job...you certainly have all the attributes. Amazing craftsmanship, sir.

  5. That is small wow, I still amazed how well you can build such a tiny vessel in this scale and still pull off a larger feel to the model. I am impressed with your skill and patience. A blessing and gift from the Lord. Well done Ulf. I enjoy and look forward to every one of your ship postings. Again another well done ship of any class. Next I'm sure you will do the Titanic or similar vessel in this class. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Sweet build as always.

    Actually, it was an American that invented the "E" boat. A naval architect named Walter J. McInnis here in the States was the inspiration for the boat's development. During Prohibition in the 1920's-1930's Mr. McInnis designed Coast Guard boats and rumrunners at the same time. The "rummies" boats were slender hulls, all engine, 3 propeller 40 knots boats with little or no deck house. After Prohibition ended, he was visited by some gentlemen from the Italian government. They wished to purchase the blueprints for a particular rum boat but Mr. McInnis always gave the plans to the boat's owner at time of delivery. The Italian visitors were directed to pay a call to the current owner of the boat in a nearby port. They hired a local man to take measurements of that particular craft and then they returned to Italy. After WWII the USN contracted with Mr. McInnis for a boat design. During the Officers' visit to the designer's company they related to him one of his designs caused the US Navy a lot of headaches in Europe. It seems the Germans saw the Italian Navy's prototype for a new speed launch (based on the American design) and were impressed with it's speed and handling. So impressed the German's incorporated it's features into a new type of torpedo craft, The "E" boat of WWII!
  7. Interesting stories and history, and yet another very impressive build, thank you, Ulf.

  8. Ulf,
    Excellent job on this little beauty. I found all of the written work to be very interesting and informative.

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