¹⁄72

German Submarine Unterseeboot 4, 1935

MSW crew-mate Pasi Kiiski (Pasigo) sends in his first submission, German submarine U-4 (1935), in this MSW "On Display" feature!



Unterseeboot 4 or U-4 was a submarine (or U-boat) of the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. She was one of the longest lasting German submarines of the period, primarily since half of her lifespan was spent on training duties in the Baltic Sea.

Commissioned on the August 17, 1935, she was a Type IIA boat and was one of the first batch to be constructed following the Anglo-German Naval Agreement that repealed of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War and stated that Germany was not permitted to possess submarines. Built at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel, she was a highly sought after command before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Once the war was begun however, she rapidly became obsolete. Before she was superseded however, she made four combat patrols, mainly in support of the Norwegian campaign.
from Wiki

Details...

This model was built from Special Navy’s Ty IIA kit, in 1/72 scale. It really is a nice kit, with lots of potential, but it still has some inaccuracies if you want to make a true type IIA. I have corrected some of these inaccuracies, mainly in the hull area. I have also made new railings in the gun deck, and added wooden benches, as well as a little bit of additional detail added to the conning tower.

The model is painted with Tamiya acrylics, and weathered with oil-wash, pigments and watercolors.

The model kit supplied markings for U1 and U3, but I wanted to build the U4, so the markings are hand painted. All additional items are made from scratch, because there wasn't any aftermarket parts available when I built this kit.

Here the U-4 is portrayed in 1935 scheme, with harbor fittings, and deck gun. It still has Kaiser’s navy flag, as this was last year the flag was in use.

Jan Klarbaeks review on Model Shipwrights was helpful, as there is not much reference available about these “dugout canoes” compared to bigger boats. There is, of course the closest “real thing”, the submarine Vesikko, here in Finland, but it still is the prototype for type II's, and little bit different.... The most valuable reference was a picture published in Luftfahrtverlag STARTs “U-boot in focus” edition No.3.

The model won 1st prize in IPMS Finland’s 2009 open in naval class.