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Adalbert Schnee's U-2511 (April, 1945)

intro. . .

My name is Ion and I started modeling about a year or so ago. This model is currently my 6th model built so far and it is still very much a ‘learner’ model.

I purchased two old Revell (#5081) XXI full hull kits in 1/144 scale and since I paid less than $20 for each of them, I figured it would be a cheap learning experience. The kit itself is meant to depict mainly U-2540 (with optional U-2518, U-3504 and U-2536 decals), but even as U-2540, I find it quite inaccurate.

It is obvious to me that Revell made this model based on the reconstructed Wilhelm Bauer submarine (ex-U-2540) which was not restored correctly to its 1945 shape. The most obvious problem is the shape of the upper side of the conning tower, around the front turret. Due to other modifications I’ve made and the way the kit was designed, I was unable to correct this problem, however, I have corrected other issues, bringing this kit closer to the look of the famous U-2511 in April of 1945 (Bergen, Norway).

the boat, and the build. . .

U-2511’s keel was laid down 7 July 1944 by Blohm + Voss, of Hamburg. She was commissioned 29 September 1944 with Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schnee in command. Schnee commanded her until May 1945 when he was ordered to surrender. According to some rumours, Schnee approached within 500 meters of the British cruiser HMS Norfolk without being detected, but he had to leave the scene without attacking and headed back to base to surrender.

This fact may or may not be true, however, what interested me the most about this boat was its unique color scheme (I wanted to do something different from the typical two tone grey scheme). According to other rumours, Schnee looked at his boat from an aircraft and decided to repaint the conning tower (no mention of the upper side of the hull) in white.

intro. . .

Based on one of the reference pictures I found of this boat, it appears that the upper side of the hull was also repainted, most likely white. The reason I say that is because the hull color does not match the color of the deck and the color of the boats around it. For this reason I chose to paint the boat in the following colors (by White Ensign Models):

WEMCC C 02 – Black (pre-shading)
WEMCC KM02 – Dunkelgrau 51 (upper deck)
WEMCC KM05 – Schiffsbdenfarbe III Grau (lower side of the hull)
WEMCC KM10 – Schnellbootweiss (Conning tower and upper side of the hull)



The reference picture above has provided me the most clues about the appeareance of this boat. I still had a lot of missing information about its flood hole pattern and I’ve started researching more until I found out about U-2518 (later Rolland Morillot in the French navy). I was able to find some pictures of this boat in drydock (see below), so the boat configuration of the lower side of the hull (including exhausts) is mostly based on the U-2518.