Reviewed September 2014
by Timothy Dike
| The exploits of fighter pilots during
WWII are flashy and well documented. By comparison, the efforts of U-Boat
crews during the war are little talked about. This set honors four of the
war's most effective U-Boat commanders. Together, Schnee, Topp, Merten
and Emmermann sank well more than 500,000 tons of Allied shipping. Their
skill, luck and the qualities of their boats were so great that all four
also survived the war. Limited edition kit combo features two types of
submarine with decals for the vessels of the four U-Boat "Aces".
This Limited Edition kit from Hasegawa is based on the original release dating back to the origins of the famous Waterline Series. Even by today's standards this sete of Type IIVC and Type IXC subs are pretty good, add photo etch and special decals and it gets better. |
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| SPRUE A (x2) | |||||||||
| The first sprue includes all the U-boat parts. The hulls are actually packed loose. There are two of each type, and while the Type 7 is a bit on the wide side, the surface detail is very good. You can even make out the limber holes. The Type 9 is closer in size and shape to the prototype. Deck detail is nice on both subs. The conning towers have pretty good detailing. Each kit includes a waterline base. | Click to
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| SPRUE B (x2) | |||||||||
| There are two sprues with sinking ships included to make a diorama. Just the bow and stern is provided simulating a ship broken in two and going down. These are meant to represent generic freighters. |  |
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| PHOTOETCH | |||||||||
| A single brass fret includes new railings, cable cutter, antenna and machine guns. These are pretty nice and appear to be matched to the kit. A nice touch to have included. |  |
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| DECALS | |||||||||
| A new decal sheet is included with markings for the Type VIIC sub U-201 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Adalbert Schnee and U-552 Oberleutnant Erich Topp 7.U-Flotille. The Type IXC features U-68 commanded by Korvettenkapitän Karl-Friedrich Merten and U-172 Kapitänleutnant Carl Emmermann. Flags and other markings are all sharply registered on this sheet. |  |
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||
Two pages front and back show the assembly process with
PE options as well as painting and decal locations.
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| CONCLUSION | |||||||||
This is a nice upgrade to an old favorite. The new decals and PE help make it a good value. With four kits to a box, you can start your own Wolfpack in 700 scale. This is listed as #HSGS0034 with a list price of less than $25.00. Thanks to Great Planes Model Distributors for the review sample. They are your US distributors for Hasegawa. |
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