Type IX U-Boat

The Type IX was one of the two mainstays of the Kriegmarine's submarine fleet. It was longer range and heavier armed than the ubiquitous Type VII.

There are many Cruel Seas scenarios that might feature a U-Boat, notably where a damaged boat attempts to struggle boom in the surface, possibly escorted by German coastal forces. It would be a prime target for MTBs and MGBs.

I made this mini from an Academy hull/waterline kit. The idea is that one can add the bottom hull, or omit it to make a waterline model.

This is okay in theory but in this kit the two hull shapes were not joined by a straight line so the waterline version is banana shaped. But no problem, boiling water and filled coffee mugs as weights soon sorted the matter.

These are beautiful little kits with multiple small parts and photo-etched bits..... Most of which I threw away. It's pointless to add them to a wargaming model as tiny detailed bits will not survive rough handling.

The keen-eyed will notice that the Academy kit is the standard Japanese naval 1:350 scale, not 1:300 as used by wargaming minis. Actually it little matters. Indeed,  it is an advantage to use a non-linear correlation between ship size and mini scale. By the time one gets to a Destroyer-sized ship model, 1-400 is possibly a good plan.