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Photos of Lew's Completed Schnellboot
Schnellboot dingy     Here is the completed dingy.  It is mounted upside-down on top of the superstructure, but the handles on the sides and the transom are quite visible and if you look up into the inside you can see the orange deck.  This is one more item that the builder can modify to look more like the original Zobel Class boats.
     I added "WIESEL P6093" in small lettering on both sides of the bow (after this photo was taken)..









The "Pilot House" is complete.

     The pilot house was built entirely from scratch.  The only item used from the Graupner kit is the horn (one horn, not two per the kit's instructions).
      Both the interior of the pilot house and the flying bridge are detailed.  The rotating windscreen on the three center windshields are actually parts, not decals.  The windscreen on the flying bridge was made based on photographs of the real boats.
     The reason that I built this structure from scratch was that the vacuum formed part in the kit was both incorrect and all of the corners were rounded, especially on the five hatches and the hinges on the front of the structure.
     Notice the correct location of the side marker lights and boards (red and green).  Also note the three NBC washers were added.





    
     In these views you can see the layout of the correct windscreen on the flying bridge.  There are five figures on the flying bridge as well as two in the pilot house.
     I opted to have one of the two hatches leading to the pilot house open so the viewer can see inside.  (One of the inside figures can be seen between the four outside figures on the left.)  All of the figures can be easily removed if necessary.
     Also note the ladder (steps) leading up to the flying bridge have an open mesh.


 The "Engine House" is complete.
                     
     This is a sub-assembly on its own and removable from the deck  Note the forward end (close-up at right between the two figures) has been completely modified.  The actual looks of the spotting device in the pit (between the two figures) is not known, it is covered with "canvas."
     Notice the ships name board is painted blue (like the actual boats) and not black per Graupner's decals.
     The radar and communications mast (also complete) has stub legs that fit into the holes in the flanges.  This allows the mast to be removed from the Engine House for maintenance or repairs.

    



    

Engine House     The aft end (photo at right) was extended about 7/8-inch to allow for the two fire hose reels.  (In reality the boats had four reels but there was not enough room to extend that part of the structure a total of about 1-3/4-inches to be correct.

     The scratch built exhaust stack (upper left in photo) has an expanded-wire cage guard as well.

     There is marking on the life raft canister as well as an "auto-release" (orange) mechanism (for looks).






     More photos will appear on this page upon completion of the Wiesel.

      To view my video on how this Wiesel kit is put together go to: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5831762184219625898 (Google website).
This site page was updated on Sept. 26, 2008
Copyright 2008 Lew's Model Boats - All rights reserved.