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U-Boat Type XXVIIB "Seehund"

"MSW crew-mate Julian Sallows (Gremlin56) shares his first submission with us, his build of ICM's German Midget Submarine U-Boat Type XXVIIB "Seehund", in this "On Display" Feature!"

The ICM Seehund is a relatively cheap model, (just under 9 Euros), that manages to pack a lot of detail for its size. The model consists of just less than 40 parts molded in grey plastic that has a grainy texture when filed. The fit of the parts is excellent and this is a genuine “weekend build”, building a 6 ½ inch long “Munch kin submarine”. Painting takes longer due to the oil paint I used which dries slowly. I built the Seehund in three major components before painting: the hull and two torpedoes.

I use a lot of different types and sorts of paint, (LIfecolor, Vallejo, Tamiya acrylic, Citadel, Humbrol enamels, Mig washes and pigments, Windsor & Newton and “Abteilung” oil paints and artists inks and pastels), so I won’t list the reference numbers of the paints used on this build. The route followed is always more interesting than the actual tints I find.

I started with a spray of Vallejo light grey followed by some Vallejo white blotches on the upper hull. The white blotches were toned down with a light overspray of Vallejo light grey until they were only just visible. I then accentuated the welds with Windsor & Newton’s Payne’s grey oil paint, putting down small dots of paint and dragging them down and blending them with a medium size moist brush.

After letting the oil dry thoroughly I did a first round of chipping using a slightly lighter shade of the Vallejo light grey and Vallejo burnt umber to depict the bare metal. This was followed by the first wash made of white spirit tinted with Windsor & Newton’s burnt sienna oil.

After the wash had dried I did a second round of chipping followed by a round of “dot oiling” using Payne’s grey and Abteilungs tri-tonal blending oil paint. A second heavier wash of burnt sienna followed the dot oiling.

After this had all dried the final rust streaks were added. After this was all dry I fitted the periscopes and painted them with Vallejo “liquid metal” white gold and weathered them with Citadel black ink.

The torpedoes were painted with Vallejo German grey. The stern sections were painted using Vallejo liquid metal bold gold. The stern sections were then weathered with Citadel black ink. The body and warhead of the torpedoes were weathered using Payne’s grey and white oil paints to give a broken up streaky effect.

After everything had dried thoroughly the torpedoes were fitted to the hull. The stern sections of the torpedoes and the Perspex hatch cover were painted with Humbrol acrylic gloss varnish to give a shiny wet look. As a final touch I did a final touch up of any blemishes.

Decals supplied are simple but excellent quality and in combination with Micro-sol and Micro-set give a painted on look.

The build is nearly OOB, the only extra add-ons being four grab handles, (bow and stern upper hull and on both sides of the tower). The submarine depicted is a Seehund used as a training vessel and operating out of Surendorf in May 1945.

I enjoyed building this ICM offering. I understand that Italeri is marketing a 1/35 scale “Bibber” this year and a 1/35 “Seehund” is also in the pipeline so maybe I’ll try these as well when they hit the shops.