I have the Revell beast and I have a problem- I found a pic of the U-69 with the addition to the conning tower AND the net cutter - now I can't find the pic again - without the research I am left with a mid war u-boat that has the conning tower addition and a net cutter and no documentation - does anybody know of a boat that fit this config, Im willing to change boats as long as I dont have to cut off the conning tower thing as it would be a big job - I also like the look of the net cutter but I want to be accurate - I'm not drilling out most of the limber holes as this will be a mantle model and it will not get a close look I am planning on mounting it as if it were sitting on drydock blocks! any help will be appreciated!

I don't know of any. I would take off the upper net cutter, but leave the bottom one on. It's probable that when boats had their net cutter taken off, it was just the upper one.

It's tough to find a pic of a VIIC with a net cutter. I would be very interested in seeing one with both net cutter and telescopic antenna.

Take Care,

Jess

Hi John & Jess,

For the most part, by the time the wind deflector flange was fitted to the top of VIICs towers, the net cutter and breakwaters (Revell parts 115 & 116) were removed. But I think there might have been an exception with U 69. U 69 has puzzled me in this respect for a while.

When U 69 was launched on 19/09/40 she had a net cutter, breakwaters and no wind deflector flange, as we would expect.

However, a photo in Metzler's autobiography shows U 69 on her commissioning ceremony on 02/11/40 with breakwaters and a wind deflector. The bow is out of shot so you can't see if the net cutter is fitted. But as net cutters were reputedly removed beginning in March 1941 then U 69 probably had it on 02/11/40. So it is likely that U 69 did have the unusual combination of wind deflector flange, net cutter and breakwaters on 02/11/40.

Perhaps U 69 was the first to be fitted with the wind deflector, and the suitabilty of this new part was being tested upon U 69?

I haven't seen a photo of a boat with both a net cutter and a telescopic rod aerial housing but U 201 (which had the telescopic rod aerial housing) is reputed to have had a net cutter very early in her career.

Cheers,

Dougie