Trumpeter Type XXIII - More bridge than sub!

[Faust]

I don’t know about you, but when I think of submarines, even WWII submarines, I think of relatively large ships designed to prowl the ocean depths like sharks stalking their prey. I don’t really think of costal patrol submarines; small boats with short range and limited armament. However, that’s exactly what the German Type XXIII was; a ‘brown water’ sub designed for shorter duration patrols in coastal waters.

 

I was quite pleased to find a kit of this interesting craft a few years ago on a trip to a local shop. Since then, it seems like there’s been more interest in the Type XXIII, as now I see that Revell has repopped the ICM offering! However, the one I have is the Trumpeter 1/144. This is a neat kit because it has three different bridge options, compared to the ICM’s one. Of course, this led to a confusing search for information, but it was quite enlightening as well.

 

My problem is colouration. The box shows all grey, but most photos show black on bottom and grey on top. Unfortunately, they’re all black and white pictures, so I can’t tell if the sub’s “underwater” part should be black or anti-fouling red.

 

Any ideas, or proof, of why one or the other?

 

Check out this fairly recent offering “out of the box” here:

 

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/trumpeter-1144-type-xxiii-submarine-oob/

 

[SSNJim]

Most of the pictures and official painting instructions I've seen of WWII submarines in general have antifouling black or dark grey on the bottom side. I don't think red showed up until the 50s for submarines. It is difficult to get reliable color information for German WWII submarines in particular. There can be a lot of variation in color due to things like weather fading, availability of paints, and care taken in application. Sometimes it's best to get it to the nearest close enough and move on.  Revell has 4 colors listed in their instructions for two different paint schemes, all grays.

I used Panzer Dunkelgrau Model Master 4795 for the bottom of my Revell XXIII from the waterline down.

[Agent G]

http://amp.rokket.biz/docs/u-boat_colours_with_photos_5.pdf

G