Type IXB U-Boat

Subject:
U-108
German Type IXB U-Boat
Kit Used: Nichimo 1/200 Scale

Review, model & pictures by:

Stewart W. Bailey

History: While the submarine is a weapon that's origins date back to the American Revolution, it only became a truly useful weapon in the First World War. By the Second World War, it had evolved to be a highly effective machine for the destruction of an enemy's commerce on the high seas as well as a threat to the mightiest of capital warships. On the eve of the Second World War, no nation understood the capabilities of the submarine better than did Germany, as they embarked on a massive program of submarine construction. Faced with the fact that they could not compete with the British in numbers of battleships, carriers and cruisers, the Germans turned to the U-Boat as an equalizer. They embarked on a campaign of undersea warfare to choke off the lifeline of supplies to the British Isles that came by merchant ship, and nearly succeeded in bringing Britain to its knees.

Eventually the US entry into the war provided the industrial might needed to overcome the U-Boat. With more escort ships and aircraft, as well as advances in radar and sonar on the Allied side, the U-Boat was turned from the hunter into the hunted. Although they continued to sink a few merchant ships up to the end of the war, the losses among the German boats and crews were so high that they could not sustain an effective campaign against the Allies as the Third Reich collapsed.

During World War II, the Germans employed a number of different types of U-Boats, but by far the most numerous were the Type VII and Type IX boats. Both proved to be excellent weapons, although the Type IX at 1000 tons (vs. the Type VII's 626 tons) had more room for larger engines and more fuel capacity for almost double the range. The same larger size also proved to be a drawback as the Type IX was less maneuverable and the broad flat deck and casing which hid the saddle tanks (and visually distinguished them from the Type VII), trapped air and slowed their dives. This tendency earned them the nickname of "Sea Cows."

The Type IX, which was roughly equivalent to a US Gato-class fleet submarine, came in four sub-types, the A, B, C and D. The A & B were visually identical, with the only difference being that the B's had increased fuel capacity. The C's had greater external stowage, which cut their range, and also featured a second platform for extra anti-aircraft guns. The D's were a much enlarged version of the C, which was used for re-supply of other boats at sea, enabling the smaller boats to stay on patrol longer. The record for most tonnage sunk by a U-Boat belongs to a Type IXB.

The U-108: The U-108 was a Type IXB boat, commissioned on October 22nd, 1940 under the command of Kpt.Lt. Klaus Scholtz. During its career it made 11 war patrols and sank 25 merchant ships and one auxiliary warship for a total of 16,644 tons. U-108's service life ended on April 11, 1944 when it was sunk at its dock during a bombing raid on Stettin, Germany. It was raised, but found to be damaged beyond repair and removed from service in July 1944; finally being scuttled in April 1945.

The Kit: The model was built from the old Nichimo 1/200 scale kit, which I received from a fellow modeler in the Kalamazoo club. The conning tower had been started, which determined the boat that could be modeled, as the kit offers the option to do one either with or without a schnorkle housing. Also provided is the option of building it as a full-hull or waterline model. I built the model essentially out of the box, with just a few minor additions.

Despite its age the kit has a decent level of detail and the fit is pretty good, overall. It was originally designed to be motorized which causes some compromises, as the upper deck can be removed for access to the battery. This causes the only major fit problem. The rear joint is easy to hide, but the forward one, two-thirds of the way back from the bow is very prominent. It took a bit of putty and some re-scribing to effectively hide the joint. I also chose to model the torpedo storage hatches on the deck in the closed position, as the torpedoes supplied are very crude. In addition, I added a couple details on the 37mm deck gun with stretched sprue, and added the antenna wires using Stren Blue fishing line. The insulators on the antennas were made of drops of white glue painted brown to match photos of the boat. One thing that I didn't do, but should have, was to replace the propeller shafts with aluminum or brass rod, as the kit pieces have some warpage, which can detract from the finished model.

Finishing: The paint scheme for the U-108 was quite simple with all vertical surfaces being a light gray and the horizontal surfaces being a dark gray. I started by painting the hull with Tamiya's Hull Red, followed by a black waterline stripe and Testors Light Ghost Gray on the hull and conning tower. I left the conning tower, guns and side rails off until after painting was complete. This allowed me to mask the hull sides and paint the deck with Testors Gunship Gray. All the details on the conning tower were brush painted, then detailed with Pigma Micron pens. This included the wood slats that were fixed to the inside of the conning tower to keep the officers and deck watches from freezing to the wet metal during the winter. After final assembly, the model was sprayed with Future floor wax to give it a gloss for decaling and applying washes. The final touch was the addition of the flag, which was a decal applied to a piece of aluminum foil. This was rippled to simulate the flag flapping in the wind.

Weathering: For the weathering, I used the same techniques as I did on my Type XXI U-Boat model. I did a sludge wash, followed by accents with a soft lead pencil and a silver pencil. Rust stains were added by taking a brown Pigma Micron pen and spotting it at various places on the hull. A swipe with a damp cotton swab helped to make the rust streaks. Once all this was done, the model was shot with Testors Dullcote to seal the weathering and give the model a proper sheen. The brass colored props were brushed with Future to give them a shine.

References:
U-Boats in Action by Robert C. Stern; Squadron/Signal Publications, 1977
U-Boat at War by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim; Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, 1978
Pictorial History of the German Navy in World War II by Edward P. Von der Porten;
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976
Fine Scale Modeler, November, 2001
On the web: www.uboat.net