by Jim Baumann
1/700 KuK Magnet (JB Models)
KuK Magnet 1896
Loa 233 ft ( 71 m)
Beam 27 ft( 8.2m)
Crew 85 officers and men
Magnet was laid down for the Austro Hungarian navy at the Elbing Yard, Schichau in 1895 and entered service on June 26 1896. She was the fastest vessel in the KuK navy for a number of years, her coal fired Thorneycroft-Schultz boilers driving her two shafts to give an impressive 26 knots top speed. She was made flagship of the Torpedo boat fleets in 1898. Refitted with new boilers in 1905/1906. She saw action in WW1 and was torpedoed by an enemy submarine in August 1916, blowing off the entire stern and killing 11 members of her crew. Nevertheless the ship survived this ordeal and was rebuilt in Pola with a ‘Yarrow’ type stern; thereafter she continued her career as an escort. At the end of WW1 she was ceded to Italy in 1920 and scrapped.
The model was built from a resin and brass PE kit manufactured by JB Models of Vienna, Austria. Despite its diminutive size in 1/700, the model is packed with much finely cast detail, augmented by some very finely rendered PE hatch covers and boat interiors. I will confess to being too ham-fisted to use all of the tiny PE parts on the fret…- so simplified some aspects and scratch-built the gun breech parts in styrene. I made some new torpedo tubes of brass and added the canvas dodgers to the railings using white glue.
This model was both a speedy and satisfying build; the fine detailing maintaining the challenge and interest!
