Don't know if there's a thread already about this, I searched but it seems that "Today" I cannot find anything.

http://www.meng-model.com/new.php?id=438

There if no one mentioned it.

ps: no glue apparently

Marc/ubi

I was thinking, "Oh, goodie, a generic 1920's - 30's passenger/freighter!" But then I saw the scale - 1/150! Why 1/150?? Not compatible with anything!

I'll take it in that scale if the detail is worth the price.

--Karl

The video clip features shots of the model, but it's hard to tell if it's the actual model or CAD. The description mentions pre-colored parts and no need for glue (snap together?). Hmmm....

I do not know, so I'll ask the question: Is there anything wrong with 1/150? I would have thought that means it's a big boat? No?

Nothing really wrong with 1/150. It's fairly close to 1/144. I'd rather see one in 1/350 to be compatible with other ship kits in that scale. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of doing some simple modifications to the kit to make it more like a generic passenger/frieghter, with neutrality flag painted on the hull side, being stopped and boarded by a 1/144 Revell U-Boat. Although as a stand alone model, OOB, it would still be a nice model.

So what you are saying, I think lol, is that for me, who doesn't have one single-boat in the house, it would make a nice model to put on a desk in the living-room?

Marc/ubi

Not sure if I understand your question, and I don't know how many ship models you have, but, yes, it probably would look nice in a glass/acrylic case on your desk - especially since it looks like it might be about 2 ft long.

Thank you, you answered my question perfectly. I do not have one boat in the house. So This one, as you described, under a glass/acrylic case, would be perfect. 1/150 or not, if it's alone, it'll look as big as a Carrier lol (i am exaggerating just a little) on my desk.

There's no release date yet.At least yesterday.

Marc/ubi

It would look nice over the fireplace, too! If reviews are favourable I might be tempted.

Hello Marc,
Yes that will be a big ship....would look really nice as a display either on pedestals or in "water" if you choose.

There are many 1:144 or 1:160 scale modelrailraod figures
that could be used to populate the decks, which would give
the ship some extra life.

PS
U boat crews never boarded any ship to check cargo manifests
before determining whether they would be spared or blasted
out of the water.


Cheers,
Joe

I must have watched 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' too many times!

I must disagree with this, Joe. Under the Prize Rules of the London Submarine Agreement of 1930, and accepted by Germany in 1936, merchant ships could only be sunk after VISIT and SEARCH, and after adequate provision was made for the safety of the crew. Only transports which were definitely troopships, or traveling at night without lights were fair game. Of course, this was theoretical andprobably didn't last long after hostilities opened. Squadron Warships #1 - U-Boats in Action, bottom pg. 13, caption for photo has Gunther Prien's U-47 recieving cargo manifest of a Portuguese freighter. Admittedly, the U-Boat crew has not boarded the freighter, but has stopped the freighter and receiving the ship's papers from it's captain in a lifeboat. And pg. 41 has photo of U-156 festooned with rubber tires which was booty from a cargo ship in the Caribbean. Thought you might already have this book, or information!

This was exactly my point.

Standard procedure was that manifests were taken to the
u boat commanders and it was at their discretion whether
the ship stayed afloat or not.

There was no "visit and search" during the war. So whatever
may have been "agreed" to prior, did not happen during the
war.

Cheers,

I guess the captain of U-156 just asked politely for all the rubber tires the freighter had.

Many thanks for this posting, Marc. I've been in contact with Meng asking for more information about this kit so we can post it here. I'm hoping because of all the profiling that's been done for their products on Armorama that they'll give us some more specifics on the kit for us here.

The ship Taiping and it's fate is apparently a significant event in Chinese-Taiwanese history.

The images on their website of it look very nice.

"TACTICS
Before considering the actual U-boat campaigns, a brief ex
amination of the
tactics employed may be useful to understanding the operati
ons.
At the onset of war, Hitler had insisted that U-boats, and i
ndeed surface ships
also, should operate within the terms of the Prize Ordinance
. The German rules,
or to give them their correct title, 'Article 74 of the Germa
n Prize Ordinance',
was based on an agreement which became effective in 1936, th
e
Procès Verbal
to the Rules of Submarine Warfare
set forth in Part IV of the Treaty of London
of 22 April 1930. This stated:
Except in the case of persistent refusal to stop on being duly
summoned, or of
active resistance to visit or search, a warship, whether su
rface vessel or submarine,
may not sink or render incapable of navigation a merchant v
essel without
having first placed passengers, crew and ship's papers in a
place of safety."
I don't know why you keep denying or contradicting this. This passage explicitly states Hitler enforced the 'stop and search' orders, at least at the beginning of the war. It is even documented that K.K. Rollmann, of U-34, took a prize ship in Sept. 1939

Just to gice a little orientation for people joining recently to this thread, the ship in question on this thread, the Taiping, did not get torpedoed by a U-Boat. It was carrying (at double her rated capacity) people looking to escape China during it's communist revolution and was headed to Taiwan in 1949 when collided with a cargo ship and sank en route.

Yeah, I know that. The business with U-boats, etc. is just a highjack!

Hmmmm, as I sudpected.