by Martin Kohring
1/700 D182 Schleswig-Holstein (Admiralty Model Works)
The Type 101 Hamburg class was the only class of destroyers built in post-war Germany. They were specifically designed to operate in the Baltic Sea where armament and speed were seen to be more important than seaworthiness.
The contract to design and build the class was awared to the German shipyard Stuelcken, Hamburg.
Armed originally with guns, they were upgraded with guided missiles to increase their effectiveness.
Schleswig-Holstein D182 was the second unit of the Hamburg class, completed in October 1964.
Schleswig-Holstein and her three sisterships; Hamburg, Hessen and Bayern comprised the 2nd Destroyer squadron and were used during the Cold War period for training of naval personel. They were also frequently used in NATO manoeuvres, and in 1984 Schlewig-Holstein was the flagship of the German Naval forces of the NATO Atlantic patrol.
The refits upgraded the ships; Charlie Turret was replaced by MM-38 Exocet missile launchers. The refitted class was designated 101A. 1978 onwards the class received a closed Bridge.
The class started decommissioning in March 1990, with Schleswig-Holstein remaining in service until December 1994
Unfortunately no member of the class survives as a museum ship.
The model was built virtually out-of-the-box, merely the rails ( Saeman ) were added .
The model was painetd using Revell Aquacolour 57 grey, that had been lightened 20% with white using an airbrush. The deck was then brushpainted with AquaColour 74. The AA gun barrels, funnel caps and other small details were also painted using a brush.
The boot-top and upper masts were airbrushed using the finer pigmeneted black from the Vallejo Model-Air range.
The model received some washes using oil paints thinned with turpentine, followed with some light and selective drybrushing. Lastly, the model was rigged using stretched sprue.
Admirality Modelworks must be congratulated on the production of a beautiful kit, that with minimal effort results in a gem of a model. I look forward to future releases from Admiralty Model Works!
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