by Jim Baumann
1/700 Smyrni, 1921 (JB Models eu)
SMS Ulan was a Yarrow type destroyer built at Trieste in 1906. The ship served in the KuK Austro-Hungarian Navy until the end of hostilities in 1918.
At 68.3 metres loa (224 ft) and displacing 420 tonnes fully laden, SMS Ulan was powered by 4 Yarrow w/t boilers producing 6000 IHP driving two shafts to produce an impressive top speed of 28.5 knots.
5 officers and 65 men shared this narrow gutted vessels living space.
An attractive ship with a slight whale-back sheer line, they became even more elegant in their later guise with the raised funnels (to protect the bridge occupants from hot cinders.)
The KuK Huszar class consisted of 14 ships:
Of the entire class SMS Ulan was the only vessel to see service after WW1. In 1920 she was ceded to Greece, renamed Smyrni and served until her scrapping in 1931.
I have always liked these greyhounds of the Adriatic Sea— when I realised that KuK SMS Ulan could be built in a different guise (and in a different colour scheme!) and the JB Models.eu kit of Smyrni was available I simply had to build a model of this vessel.
I was armed with good photos of vessels of the Huszar class from a number of books as well the 1/100 scale plans and detail plan booklet from Peter Kovac’s “Nostalgia Navy “ of Hungary...invaluable in identifying the purpose of some of the small lumps and bumps on the hull and deck casting!
There appears to precious little information or photographic material of this ship in her Greek Navy career.
Enquires with Greek modellers and even a postings on Greek forums elicited very little information.
For colour and markings I was to be reliant to a great extent on the instructions.
The hull was a waterline casting –but as I wanted to display the vessel working up speed I needed to show a bit of her 'underbelly' amidships.
To achieve this strip styrene was added around the outer perimeter of the hull and carefully sanded to be fair with the hull casting whilst retaining the slight tumblehome.
Some of the highpoints of this kit are the lovely PE deckhouses along with the exquisite fwd gun platform on the comprehensive PE fret supplied.
The railings with the asymmetric heights of rail disposition are from the WEM ‘ultrafine‘700 railing PE fret.
I used Humbrol paints mixed to my own preferred shade for the blue.
The water was deliberately coloured in the bright hue seen so as to give an impression of the Aegean Sea on a breezy day…
The water was made in my usual manner using artists watercolour paper described here and here.
All in all, despite its diminutive size; being only 3 3/4 inches long it was a satisfying model to build. Carrying the Greek markings and Ensign makes a colourful and unusual addition to my collection.
