by Bill Dunn
1/125 U-101 Type VIIb (Revell Germany)
I built this kit in 1991 and recently extracted it from long term storage only to discover it had been damaged during its long submergence. Issued by Revell in 1976 as U-99, this kit was well regarded at that time, but now shows its age. The initial build of this kit included adding general details to the conning tower, modified PE screen for the conning tower deck, enhancement of the 88mm deck gun, and addition of deck level breakwaters on both sides of the 88mm. I constructed a clear plexiglass wall mounted showcase with a stained wood frame and the kit was displayed this way in my home office for several years before going into storage during a relocation move. Recently retrieved from storage, the kit had somehow been damaged. Rather than discard it on the rubbish heap, I repaired and/or replaced the periscopes, 20mm, railing, rigging, added crew figures, and did a general touch up to the finish including a subtle black wash to bring out details and introduce a suggestion of grim and wear. Krylon clear flat was sprayed overall to seal everything and dull the finish. The flag was printed on thin paper with a office jet printer. Silk thread was used for the rigging and the insulators were made from small drops of white glue carefully formed into the appropriate shape. Crew figures were added last and came from a set of generic civilian figures modified to better represent the crew members as shown.
The kit is a fair representation of a Type VIIB boat and I decided to model U-101 using several clear photos as a general reference. The free flooding vent pattern is inaccurate or totally absent in the case of the lower hull and the deck pattern is somewhat simplified. There other problems with the kit as well, but the conning tower structure includes the air intake modification on the side which is a unique characteristic of many early Type VIIB boats, including U-101.
This was an easy build and while not state of the art any longer, the kit can be improved with a few simple enhancements.
