Today I begin a build of a Hobby Boss 1/700 U-boat, Type VII B to get my fingers working for a similar project I have in the making. I bought the kit off of eBay for like $6 shipped.
24 of this type were commissioned by the Kriegsmarine between 1936 and early 1941. An average of 46 sailors served on these boats, and they spent about 90% of their time on the surface. 66.5 meters in length, 753 tons, and capable of running submerged to 220m steaming at 8 knots. Their deadly payload of G7e torpedoes were tipped with a 280 Kg warhead that was designed to detonate by proximity under the keel of their prey.
This kit was released in 2007 from Hobby Boss out of China. It arrived packaged in a plastic bag, containing five smaller plastic bags, each with a single fret of plastic parts. One fret holding the conning towers was wrapped in protective foam (a nice touch).
The 4 inch long lower hull shows raised hull plate lines while the upper hull is devoid of any hull plates but does feature some incredibly sharp molding. I particularly like the railing. The conning towers are tiny little marvels. The kit provides two, so you can choose to build either a Type VII B and VII B2. The slide molding used is impressive, and there is only the smallest amount if flash visible on the railings. Considering they can fit on the head of a pencil eraser, it's not a real problem as far as I am concerned.
The guns, periscopes, etc. are all well done on fret "C". The screws and stern planes are impressive, as is the detail on the deck gun. It comes with a wee-little 3 piece stand with some nice markings on it. I may even use it!
I'll be painting this one to replicate a boat out of the Lorient pens in the winter of 1940. She'll be battle-weary, and showing her hard use--that is, if I can pull it off in such a small scale. Let's all find out together (NO POINTING AND LAUGHING)!
