Pavla 1/72 Molch Submarine
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History
The German Molch (Salamander) midget submarine was designed by Heinrich
Drager, with the first one delivered from AG Wesser in Bremen in June
1944. A one-man midget submarine, the Molch was powered by electric motors,
giving it a range of roughly 50 nautical miles and a speed of almost three
knots. Its electric powerplant kept its speed and range down, and the
massive batteries required resulted in the Molch having a positive buoyancy.
This made it difficult, if not impossible, to dive, which made the submarine
easy to spot. As a result the Molch saw limited service, and its losses
were far greater than its successes. Only 393 were built before war’s
end.
The Kit
 Following
Pavla’s earlier release of the British X-Craft submarine, their
newest addition to their 1/72 submarine line is the Molch midget vessel.
Cast in the usual tan resin found in other Pavla resin, this kit has less
than thirty pieces, including the two torpedoes. Although a resin kit,
the assembly is simple and as such, this would make a great first foray
into full resin kits.
The instructions start with the operator’s cupola. This will need
clear windows cut from transparent stock and glued in place. This will
likely be the most challenging step in assembly, as these need to curve
with the cupola. The clear dome atop the hatch is provided (in fact, two
are included, in case you scratch or otherwise mess up the first one).
Going further into the hull, the operator’s station has a seat and
control wheel, while the sidewalls have detail molded in place. Even with
the hatch open, not much can be seen here, but what is there will look
quite good once painted up.
 The
main assembly is very easy once the operator’s station is finished.
The hull is split into right and left halves, with separate fins, rudder,
elevator, and propeller shaft. The one-piece torpedoes are nicely cast
and fit onto mounting rails cast into the hull halves. A bit of bracing
and some other small hull details complete the assembly, and in no time
at all it’s ready for paint.
For painting, the instructions indicate that the submarine is overall
light gray. That wording covers a wide range of color, though, so those
wanting something more exact will have to do some additional research.
The torpedoes have a front section in a different color, and the instructions
offer black, silver, and yellow as possible options for those.
Conclusion
This is an interesting subject done quite well, and although a full
resin kit, should present no problems to any modeler with a few kits under
their belt. If you are a big submarine fan, or simply want an easy weekend
project, this would be a good kit to get. My thanks to Pavla
for the review sample. |
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