by Richard Wonderly
1/72 DKM U-214 Type VII D (Revell Germany/Special Hobby)
This is the Revell 1/72 scale Type VII C u-boat, modified with the Special Hobby aftermarket kit to convert it to a Type VII D minelayer. Of all the Type VII u-boats built, there were only 6 of the Type VII D minelayers which had an additional 36 foot section added behind the conning tower. This contained the 5 tubes with 3 mines each and additional fuel tanks were carried in the saddle section which gave these boats some improvement on range over the standard Type VII.
I chose the U-214 for the subject as this was the most successful out of the series of 6 boats (U-213 to U-218), sinking three cargo ships and one escort vessel before being lost with all hands in 1944. The Type VII D was an unlucky batch of boats with only U-218 surviving the war while the others were lost with all hands. From what I've read these boats were a little more sluggish in diving and maneuvering which may have accounted for their high loss rate.
As for the kits, again the Revell U-boat kit is great to work with and everything went together great, no major fit or finish problems. And the Special Hobby aftermarket kit is great as well. The injection molded hull pieces fit perfectly with the Revell hull and the resin sections for the top and bottom of the mine chutes were excellent with no warping, little overpour or flash and very few pinholes. The photoetch for screens and handrail supports were great and they included extras (since I lost three of the little buggers in my carpet). Even the additional deck pieces were great, although the one end was a little wide, but it was easily trimmed down to fit. The only thing lacking was an english translation for the instructions, but the drawings were clear, as were the measurements in millimeters that directed where to cut, so it wasn't any problem. I highly recommend this conversion kit to anyone that's interested.
