The Type VIIB U-Boat was an improvement over the Type VIIA boats.  The Type VIIB had greater fuel storage capacity thanks to 33 additional tons in
external saddle tanks, which increased the range by 2,500 nautical miles at 10 knots.  The Type VIIB also had two rudders instead of one, which
improved agility, and the stern torpedo tube was no longer external. U-48 is considered the most successful U-Boat sinking 52 ships, including the
Royal Navy sloop HMS Dundee.  In total she is credited for sinking about 308,000 GRT. U-48 also damaged 3 ships for 20,480 GRT.  She was
eventually scuttled on May 3, 1945 off of Neustadt, Germany.

The Kit - Flyhawk Models is well known for its extensive line of photo-etch products, ranging from basic sets to complete ship specific multi-fret
super detail sets with turned brass barrels. Flyhawk is now expanding into 1/700 scale injection plastic kits bundled with photo-etch and this kit is a fine
example of that effort. To call this simply a kit doesn’t describe it properly. You get both a detailed model of a Type VIIB and an equally detailed dry
dock to place it in.

The plastic parts come in clear sealed bags which are further divided into separate sections. The hull is comprised of an upper and lower hull, which
would normally give you the option to build the model either full hull or waterline.  Since this is meant to be used in a dry dock diorama, full hull will be
the way to go.  Each hull part is very well detailed and fit well together. The lower hull has good limber hole detail, torpedo tube openings and the bulges
for the external saddle tanks. The deck detail on the upper hull is very well done with a finely defined grid pattern. This part also has the bulges for the
saddle tanks and the anchor recess. The conning towers/sail is late war version and it is also very well done.   The deck of the conning tower has no
detail because a photo-etch version will be fitted. There is a little bit of an injection molding point on the deck that needs to be sanded smooth to get a
flat surface for the photo-etch part. Seeing the detail in these parts, it is hard to believe that this model is 1/700 scale.   
The smaller parts for the submarine come on two sprues (Sprues C and D) and contain the running gear, dive planes and optional parts for the
conning tower/sail. The parts are very small and delicate and will required very careful removal from the sprue. Some of the parts have a molding plug
that needs to be clipped off and may require some clean-up at the joint. The propellers are molded into parts D1 and D5 and they look more like and
inverted letter “T” than a 3-bladed propeller. In light of the amount of detail in the other kit parts, this is disappointing. Perhaps the propellers should
have been done in photo-etch instead.  

The dry dock is comprised of three parts, a base, a wall and a back plate for the wall (the latter was not photographed inadvertently). The wall is very
well done with cobblestones on the horizontal surface and brick face on the vertical surface with steps leading down diagonally. The base also has
cobblestones and the wood timbers on which the keel rests on. A dry fit of the two parts show a very good fit. Sprue K has smaller parts for the dry
dock, with support timbers, a wooden scaffold with supports and a gangplank.  The parts are well molded but delicate and again some have a molding
plug that needs to be clipped off.

A small photo-etch fret in included which has the deck railings, the conning tower deck and railings, the base for the 88mm deck gun, the 20mm Flak
gun, deck hatches, anchor, net cutter, life rings and other detail parts.  The photo-etch, which is Flyhawk’s forte, is very well done with good relief
etching.  It also looks very delicate so you will need to handle some of the parts with care.
A small decal sheet is provided with conning tower tonnage markings for U-48 at three points in her career (157000t, 308000t and 401623Brt), the
black cat times 3 emblem and the Kriegsmarine ensign in a straight and a wind-blown style. The resolution of the decals, given the tiny size, are good
enough though the ensigns are a little off-register and are missing the iron cross and swastika. I would substitute these for the flags from either the
Gold Medal Models or Hawk Graphics decal sets.

The assembly instructions are printed on three pages. The first page is essentially a cover sheet with some background information, specifications,
and some general assembly tips in English and Chinese. At the bottom are images of the plastic parts and photo-etch. The actually assembly diagrams
are printed on the back side of this sheet. The illustrations are your typical blow-up diagrams showing the placement of the plastic and photo-etch
parts with some close-ups of certain sub-assemblies as insets. The illustrations are clear and well done. The last page has a full color painting and
decal placement guide with color references for Aqueous Hobby Color, Mr. Color and Tamiya paints as well as general color names in English and
Chinese. Color swatches are also provided, though I cannot vouch for their accuracy.   
This is really a diorama in a box and on its own rather complete. If you want to make it look more like a real dockyard scene, you can add some
aftermarket photo-etch figures and even some German vehicles. Whether you build straight from the box or add some extras, you will have a pretty
cool display. My thanks to Flyhawk for providing the sample.
Felix Bustelo
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