Topic: Z37

[karlgalster]

Oliver,
Actually the actual building pace is somewhat slower than updates on this forum. I am not a very quick builder as I tend to fiddle around a lot. So far I have spent 580 hours and I reckon on another 100hours or so before it will be ready for a trial sail but before that a suitable method of transportation will need to be made. I generally make a totally enclosing box for each model but Z37 is a bit long for the rear of my hatchback so I may have to compromise on the "box". Next job on the Z37 is a coat of varnish. I have successfully used on other boats Ronseal ultra tough polyurethane satin varnish diluted with white spirit 2 varnish to 1 white spirit applied using an airbrush. The Humbrol varnish aerosol is Ok but can react with enamel paint and the appearance is more gloss than satin. All very tricky with much potential to spoil the model so trials on test pieces required.
Robin

[hotjava]

Hi Robin,

Yes, I noticed that in your photo of the HMS Kelly ( http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/robinlee/kelly7.html ) you have a crate for the ship.  It's very nice.  When you have time, maybe you can tell us a little about that and the Z37.

You are spending your hours wisely!
Oliver

[karlgalster]

Thanks for the colour of the life rafts colin - I will get onto that.
Robin
Can't make the open day as I am on holiday in the lakes but may be able to drop in on my way "up north" but alas without a boat. It will have to be next year.

[karlgalster]

Update on progress. Getting near to completion now. Remaining tasks are the railings, rigging the mast, ensign, general fitting of miscellaneous bits and pieces and painting and fitting numerous life rafts. In addition reassembling the drive train and of course ballast tests.

I stuck (literally) with the epoxy glazing of port holes - two photos of the result attached. Effect is quite good but of course Mark's suggestion would be better, even better if a metal surround was included but that will have to be left to next time. Also attached is the complete bridge assembly. Complete apart from mast rigging, railings around the vierling (quad 20mm AA), and the life rafts, and perhaps spare paravanes hung on the lower house side. The numbers 37 are BECC 8mm self adhesives. These numbers are only scale at sea. In harbour in occupied territory they were covered up to hide the identity of the ship.

[karlgalster]

dual 3.7 cm and Torpedo tubes. The barrels of the 3.7cm are from the kit, the mount is scratch built using photos from the web pointed out by a forum member and drawings from Kurt. The Torpedo tubes use the  kit tubes the rest scratch built.

[hotjava]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for sharing.  I especially appreciated the photos of the portholes.

Oliver

[Belgium Crazy Team]

The dual 3.7 look very good!
Nice work.
We (the entire Belgium crazy team) will be at the open days with some boats.

Kurt

[Mark]

Here are a couple of pictures showing the two types of porthole. The black boat is HMS Amazon and has been sailing for 12 years now (including one sinking for 3 days after ramming a submarine!) the portholes are the milled, painted and then glazed type. The Navy Grey ship is the Dreadnought with the wooden backed, drilled and Perspex rod glazing.

Mark

[hotjava]

Mark,

Thanks for the photos!  They're great!

Have a good one!
Oliver

[karlgalster]

I have another question about the Z37. On HMS Kelly I made three code flags for the ship's pennant number hoisted from the bridge deck. These were in the code as supplied in the kit info.
For Z37 I do not know if it was the practice of the Kriegsmarine to fly the ship's pennant number. The info in the kit has a 3 flag hoist for "Z","3" and "7". I am puzzled as the kit flags are not those of the web site I have looked at which shows a different set of flags. Can anybody confirm the pennant numbers were flown and is the set of flags shown in the web siet below authentic?
(http://www.kbismarck.com/flags.html)

Robin

[colin]

those defiantly look like the real (Authentic) pennants..

not forgetting that the Z37 was also under the British Flag...

i guess there would be a little difference according to the period that your building your modell, is it during its service in the German Navy or the British Navy.??

[karlgalster]

Hi Colin, I think you are confusing Z37 with Z38. Z37 was damaged beyond repair whilst on excercise January 1944.  A flottilla mate Z32 rammed Z37 due to steering failure!. Z37 subsequently spent the rest of the war in dry dock in Bordeaux and was scrapped by the French in 1949. Z38 was part of Britain's booty after the war and was commissioned as HMS Nonsuch and used in weapons trials with a pretty short career!  I think you are right about the web site's flags - just a query about Kriegsmarine flag flying practice.
Robin

[colin]

ooooppps, I'm getting me Z's mixed up.. sorry..

i knew one of them served in the British Navy for a while..

can you specify exactly what you would like to know and I'll get back to you with the correct answer.

10 Min's down the road, is an expert on the Z series..

[karlgalster]

Hi Colin, thanks for the offer of getting on your bike off down the road. What I want to know is did the Kriegsmarine actually fly the ship's number as was common on Royal Navy ships? For the Z37 would they fly "Z" "3" and "7" flags or maybe only the numbers? Before WWII started the German destroyers had white hull numbers which identified the division number and the destroyer's position in it. After breakout of war these numbers were removed but each destroyer had a number on the front and side of the bridge but no "Z". That is for Z37 there is "37" on the bridge. All very confusing. Hence my uncertainty of what identification if anything was flown using signal flags.
Thanks Colin
Robin

[colin]

we are not quite 100% sure but it will be found out by the weekend but;

during the War there were no Hull markings, just the numbers only some were on or around the Bridge.

the pennants that were shown, we are not to sure, on the Z6 the pennant "PI" and the numbers "109" were shown, now wether the 109 was the identification in the Division were not to sure