Hi guys,

Something very different for me. I wanted a change and a simple build so I hope this will be it.

The entent of my knowledge can be found here

http://www.freewebs.com/graham7760/thebieberminisub.htm

The have one of these at IWM London so I may try and get some additional pics.













I have no idea how accurate the Italeri kit is but apart from some plumbing in the conning tower I'm hoping for a straight forward OOB build



Al

Ah, another one turning to the dark side, good it is yes...

Wellcome aboard - theres a campaign running right now with this subject - how about joining ?

Cheers/Jan

Hi Jan,

What's the campaign?

A questions if anyone knows. Internal, silver or white or something else?

The pics show silver but was that the colour in the original boat?

Thanks

Al

Big Fish

Hi Dave,

thanks just found it and enlisted.

Cheers

Al

Great, so far we have 3 Bibers on the slip

Ahoy Alan,
This a photo of the Biber in Germany showing the controls and hull interior.

Looks like white .....and hopefully this is the original paint.



Cheers,
Joe

Hi Joe,

Many thanks.

Al

Disclaimer: I´m guessing

My guess from the way the germans generally painted their subs, that this would be painted on the inside like this:

Bottom part: Darkgray or for saving reasons "elfenbein" - which is off white - because of the fouling thats allways in the bottom of ship hulls.

Middelpart: elfenbein

Turret: Dark gray - so that the white wouldn´t be visible from the outside trough the ports and help the "driver" to keep his nightvision.

Again, i´m guessing. Since the war at this point is pretty much advanced, maybe they just gave it the same colour for ease, but that wouldn´t really be german - would it ? - especially when we look at the resources that went into making things "right" allmost to the end.

I´m going the use the above paintsceme on my Biber - which i hope to kick off tonight.

Cheers/Jan

Nice Pics Alan, presume that is the Biber in the IWM.

great reference stuff. I too am curous regarding interior colour, as I intend build one with the hatch open. This is "educated" guesswork, but something cheap & expendable, I would have thought the interior would be all one colour to speed up production,The off white I can buy, was that not used on both armoured vehicles & ships, the Silver colour on alan's pics looks a bit like the silver used in engine rooms usually on things that get hot, again guesswork, but I am not convinced that is authentic.

Could they have even been left just in primer??

just some thoughts

Si

found this on the net - http://www.flickr.com/photos/25063579@N08/3255629766

Looks pretty original to me, middelgray ?

Hi Simon and Jan,

Thanks for the troughts. I could go with the 50/50 which seems reasonable and sensible. The silver in the IWM one is I assume just for protection.

Another point are the torpedo's. There are two different ends for them. Can anyone tell me is if one is more correct than the other. Time period I'm thinking of would be Jun to Aug 44.

Thanks again.

Al

Hi Joe,

Would you by any chance had an interior picture pointing aft?

Thanks again.

Al

Hi Jan,

Just saw you're link Silver?

Al

Time for some pics

Step 1





Sticking to the plan I build the front of the torpedo's first

Al

I wish to present my model as a diarorama similar to a model of the Maila Italian minisub I built. I scratch built a wheeled trolly for it on rail tracks on a harbor setting. Just a small scene with a single figure to indicate the size of the sub. I would like to do something similar with the Biber but the base with the model looks unconvincing and more like a standard ship model base. Any suggestions on what a transport trolly, or similar, for this sub would have looked like? Or what it would have rested on prior to being lifted into the water? They must have been removed from the water at times for servicing.

I found this picture the other evening, sorry can't remember where. This one is sitting on a trolly type affaire.



Anyone any ideas for the red knobs shown above? I'll have to look around for somethign that might do.

Al

Without trying to add more stress, this is how I made mine, a few years ago (2002~2003), using the Verlinden Biber (that needed to be excavated to allow to make the scratch built interior):





Today it's simpler to make a good Biber - so go for it!!!

Cheers,
Rui

Hi Skipper,

Many thanks, every little helps, nice looking sub. On the pics from IWM there is an extrat external tube like fitting, is this just missing or were there different Mks? Also the openings on the aft end looks different, again different Mks or just missing detail?

The kit is very light on the bolts around the conning tower, not very well presented, but they also look smooth in the pics, rivets rather than bolts? . I shall have to try and get down to IWM again and get a few better shots.

Thanks again.

Al

Maybe, problem is, that I don´t recall that the german navy used silver for interior - silver is more a british thing in my mind.

Could it be gray reflecting a flash ?

- nice work Skipper!

- Alan, maybe the red knob can be found somewhere trainrelated ?

Cheers/Jan

I think it's very worn gray reflecting the flash.
My Biber kit arrived, so I'll probably be doing one also for this campaign.

Looking at the exterior shot I would agree, the exterior colour also appear to have a slight metalic sheen, so I would think light reflecting off the flash, could well be the same shade as the exterior. Would make sense, why not keep it as simple as possible on a cheap expendable craft like that.

Si

Hi Guys,

Well i made a small start, drilled the 3 holes on top and cut out the side portion!!







I'm down in South London on Friday so if I can get away from work at a reasonable time I'll try to get to IWM for a more detailed walkabout.

Al

Looks good so far Alan.

Just wondering---- does anyone one know how they reloaded these things?
Did they hoist them onto a pier, to relaod, or do it while still in the water?

Hi Dave

Bibers and all midget submarines (and manned torpedoes) were reloaded on pier.
Because of the method... not very safe, there were accidents, one of them killing the trained pilots and destroying several midget subs just prior one big sortie (i'll take a look at the book K-Verband and tell you the location and results of the biggest accident, since I read it when building my Biber, a few years ago and don't remember precisely the facts).

Rui