Hi all,

Im new in military ship-building (even if I have done a LCM) and have some questions for you !

I'm thinking of doing a diorama with Italeris schnellboot and I want to get started before they release it. My idea was to show the boat in dry-dock either getting its hull cleaned (I don't know the term in english) or getting inspected by american captors (I'm doing a research on the possibility that such a boat could have been captured in Cherbourg after D-day)

My questions are :

Would the boat be stripped of all it's weapons ? I can imagine that all torpedoes, ammo etc. would be removed, but what about AA guns etc?

Do you have pictures of such light boats in dry-dock (PT boats, schnellboote...) ?

If you have info about the boats in Cherbourg, I'm also interested !

Thanks in advance for your answers and ideas !

Philippe

Welcome aboard Philippe. I don't have answers for you, but if you haven't already you might check out this page http://www.prinzeugen.com/USNSchnell.htm

As to the term for getting the hull cleaned, that term is fine. In some book I've read, can't remember which, a British sailors wife says "we're going in to get our bottom scraped," which raised some eyebrows.

Ahoy, Phillipe!

Rodger gave you a great starting point, thetre are some decent drydock photo's on the site, as well as some great info...we do have a resident PT boat specialist on site, Mr. Al Ross, and if he doesn't pick up on this thread, I'll try to get his attention, as he is a true wealth of knowledge...
Cheers,
~Gunny

philseidelin,
welcome! Another fellow S-boote builder. The prinzeugen site is about the best one out there for info on the S-boote and many good pictures. When you have questions just drop us a line and we'll help you out.

I would tend to think that the weapons would still be in place. The torpedoes and ammunition would more than likely be gone as that kind of thing is usually only loaded before a departure

Thanks a lot for all those quik answers and the link to the pics. I first thought to build a dry-dock but it seems the boats were also cleaned on what seems to bee some improvised installations (correct me if I'm wrong).
Il keep searching and I'll submit you my ideas when they have taken shape.

Thanks again !

Philippe,
Welcome!
For some inspiration try this site.
http://www.dynamicdioramas.org/modelindex.html
There are some great dios on here. Of particular interest to you would be 'Sea Hunters Lair'
All the Best
Tom

Thanks Tom,
Thats an inspirering dio ! my ideas are getting clearer as the days progress and those pictures will help a lot !

Philippe