by Mario Grima
1/72 KUK U5 Holland Type C (Wiener Modelbau)
This 1/72 scale model of an Austria Hungarian Holland submarine was built from a Wiener Modelbau kit. This is a very nice kit of a 1909 coastal patrol submarine, and if old submarines are your cup of tea, I recommend this one. This submarine is based on a Holland C boat. These early boats were much larger then the A & B boats that were made by John Hollands company. They had gasoline engines, single hull, and two torpedo tubes in the bow dome. What made these types very unique over their predessors were the twin propellars. The rights of the design were sold to many countries, including Austria Hungary. This U5 and the U6 were partially built in the USA, and were eventually completed in Whitehead, Fiume.
This holland kit is very detailed, resin, with lots of photoetch and resin parts, and a nicely illustrated instruction booklet. This kit includes four main hull parts, which builds into a hollow boat, and a nicely illustrated instruction booklet. I built this model to represent the boat in August 24, 1915 with its added deck gun and camo scheme. Special thanks to Peter Plattner who brought out this marvelous kit, and was a great help to me in making this version. On this model, the gun was scratch built. The rods, rudder, and stern planes were all made movable.
The crew is from Revells 1/72 soft plastic Uboat figures.
A final treat for the audience, some photos show the size comparison of this U5 (Holland C) to the Holland V1 (1/72 Iron Shipwright kit).
