Two weeks ago I started working on the new Italeri S-100 kit. I'm very pleased it has finally materialised after some two years of waiting, on the other hand there are some disappointments as well. Moulding quality leaves a lot to be desired , my kit at least has some nasty blemishes on the hull sides (near the pilothouse). This requires sanding but, unfortunately this is a spot that abounds with rivets. The hull construction has not been well-planned either. This involves the use of screws which have to be inserted from the side and are then hidden by plastic plates which should go on top. Unfortunately these plates never sit completely level with the surface of the hull sides, so again a lot of filling and sanding is required. Two of these plates of the bowsection are also surrounded by rivets... Unfortunately there are also some glaring errors. The first is the skylights of the engine compartments, these were not present in these late boats (due to production simplifications), this is the same mistake present in the Revell 1/72 model. The second mistake concerns the "door" in de 20mm guntub (on the foredeck) which should be located at the back and not at the side. Yet another is the omission of the panels located at the back of the Kalotte (near the rear of the torpedotubes). These are just some of the mistakes I have encountered sofar and I'm not even halfway building the thing. I must say that I cannot understand why Italeri didn't bother to do some proper research. Besides, quite a few articles have been written on the mistakes in the Revell kit so if they had taken the trouble to read some of these, the afore-mentioned mistakes could easily have been avoided. Needless to say I'm pleased with the kit but it might have been so much better if only they had tried a bit harder. By the way I would love to share info on the S-100 with other enthusiasts.

Regards,

Arjan

Hi Arjan,
Welcome to Model Shipwrights mate!

I too share your enthusiasm of the Italeri kit (although I don't have mine ...yet! ), and will be very interested in seeing your progress...you can have your own personal "BLOG" (Build Log) thread here at MSW if you wish, and let us all follow along as you record your progress with the build...they are a great learning tool for all, for sure!

Looking forward to seeing the build, and I'm sure you'll find more enthusiasts here as well!

Cheers,
~Gunny

Thanks for your kind reply Gunny. I should probably have introduced myself first, being a new member. I have been interested in WOII fast strike craft for over 40 years ( I built my first Vosper at the age of 8 and have been hooked ever since). I built all the usual plastic kits of the Airfix, Revell, Lindberg and Italeri range. I must confess though that the British Vosper and German S-boote are my favourites because they often operated off the Dutch coast. Going through the pics I know of the S-100 type, I noticed this week that most vessels of this type have two hatches on the foredeck instead of only one (as is the case with the ""lang" boat modelled bij Revell and Italeri ). I'm beginning to wonder now if this (one hatch only) is typical for the very late versions of the S-100. According to the captions underneath the photographs, the two hatch type is also referred to as the S-100 and not the S-38. Would any of you people know more about this? If this is the case I think that only a very small number of the single hatch type were made. For those unfamiliar with the best Schnellboot site:
http://www.prinzeugen.com/SBOATIND.htm

Regards,

Arjan

Sir,

If you go to www.ptboatworld.com, there is a build-up article on the Revell S-100 kit which addresses a few of the errors.

Garth

Thanks Garth. It's a very nice site ! Unfortunately the link to the S-100 model doesn't seem to work (whereas the others do). When I tackled the Revell kit some years ago I used this Baubericht (Buildlog) as a guide (helpful to know German though):
http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php?option=com_alphacontent§ion=11&category=188&Itemid=59
Returning to the mistakes in the Italeri kit, I should mention that the tub error can be easily corrected, simply remove the locating notch and turn the tub 45 degrees. The slats on the bottom will now run laterally instead of longitudinally but that is probably as it should be (I don't have any pictures of these slats but that's how they look in the Revell kit). The tub error may, therefore, be simply a mistake made during the production sequence of the kit (not so much a research error). The 3rd mistake I mentioned may be more tricky to rectify. It seems that there simply isn't enough room behind the torpedotubes (with the lid fully opened) to add the panels (struts?) to the rear of the Kalotte. The pic in the Squadron book page 41 top left may explain what I mean. In this picture one can also see two handwheels immediately in front of the struts. Can anyone explain what their function is ? In the Italeri model they are just wheels stuck to the side without any rods or mechanism whatsoever, I will try to post this photo as well but I have a feeling it won't work...


Regards,

Arjan

Can this be made waterline or will you have to chop it? Of course this thing is huge at almost 40" long. (and me the 350 scale king)But I just don't have the room for it, and having dealt with the old Enterprise kit with the screw dstogether hull, I'm not particularly happy with that method of design

Hi Steve,
You will have to chop it I'm afraid. But in terms of size that will not do you much good. I wouldn't worry too much about the screws, it's a bit of tedious work (sanding and filling) but you will require a punch and die set anyway. The sides of the pilothouse (underneath the Kalotte) are devoid of rivets and there should be quite a few of them . I have no doubt that some rivets will have to be added in other areas as well but I haven't bothered to check that out so far.

Arjan

Arjan will be keeping an eye on this thread for more info just got the s-100 myself and was hopeing to get some research done in the holidays. Seam as though you have it sorted and is a good shortcut for me to follow Cheers.

Keith

Hi Keith,
On the Missing Lynx forum someone is also beavering away at the kit (in between the Jagdtiger work, so ignore the pics of the latter and you'll find a pic of the Schnellboot):
http://www.network54.com/Forum/110741/thread/1226586840/Jagdtiger+so+far...

Regards,

Arjan

Really, ... the link doesn't work? OK, thank you ... I'll inform my webmaster.

Possibility sir;

Those flywheels you mention?

Could those open and close the outer door on the tube?

Garth

Thanks Garth. No, the doors were opened by turning the large crank visible in many photos. This crank is connected to a rod that runs all the length of the tube to the front. As far as I know this mechanism has been correctly rendered by Italeri. On the Prinz Eugen Schnellboot site the photo I posted is slightly sharper and it seems that a rod is faintly visible leading forward from the handwheels. This afternoon I made an abortive attempt to solve the single hatch/two hatch matter. I was far too hasty with my conclusions so that's why I deleted the whole posting. From the squadron book I learned that only with S-138, the official designation changed from S-38b to S-100. To complicate matters further the S-100 type was produced by two shipyards, the majority by the Lürssen Werft in Bremen and a relatively small number by the Schlichting Werft in Travemünde. The series S701- S709 was produced by a third company, namely Danziger Wagonfabrik. Lürssen probably started with the single hatch type during the S167- S 169 series, whereas S 188 from the Schlichting series S 187 - S 194 was still of the two-hatch type. Deutsche Schnellboote 1939-1945 by Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette ( a great book) gives an overview of all the Schnellboot production series and the shipyards that made them.

Regards,

Arjan

OK.

Well, if I can be of any assistance to you, sir, I'd be more than happy to try and help you...

I would like to see photos of your model.

Garth

Hi Garth,
I promise to post some photos by sunday. Don't expect too much though, I'm the type of maniac who spends more time on finding answers than on the actual build .... I must confess I often only finish a model when there are no nagging doubts left. Sometimes this takes years...

Regards,

Arjan

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I see.

Well i,ve already started on mine as you can see i may have to extend my work bench just a little bit Have put the 1/72 arfix e-boat next to it to give you an idea of the scale of this thing

wooops forgot the photo

more info to gather

Hi Keith,
You beat me to it . I wonder if your kit also has these moulding blemishes on the hull sides (extending to the pilothouse, for lack of a better description..) or am I the only "lucky" one in that respect ?

Regards,

Arjan

Now that really shows the size difference. I suppose the good thing with the big brother is you should be able to find enough “extras” to really spice up any dio.

I don't have the room for that monster. Why don't they just do 1:72 kits? Just to make it easier for people with LIMITED shelf space.

Garth

Revell makes a regular version and a Flak 38 version in 1/72.

I've got the regular version Ion, great model, a few errors in the kit, but a good modeler can fix them. There's an article on the build-up my S-100 on my site, and oh guys - the links have been fixed ...

he same article appeared in the IPMS/USA Journal - I just love that model.

Garth

I,ve had a good look at the mouldings on mine and can,t see anything wrong with it will try to get a close up pic of that area and see what you think

Thanks Keith,
Don't bother, you don't need a close up to see what's wrong with mine. Must have been a monday morning production run...

Arjan