Tamiya |
1/700 German Z Class Z37-39 |
Kit Number: 31908 |
First Look by Luke R. Bucci, PhD, IPMS# 33549 |
MSRP: $11.30
See the full build article in the on the IPMS Review website Thanks to Larry Chen at Tamiya America for supplying the review kit. Bottom Line: Tamiya re-issued their re-issue of Skywave's German Z class destroyer kit with a few improvements, and added an extra sprue with additional AA guns and platforms to accurately portray the late-war "Barbara" refit for first-line German destroyers. Deutsch Kriegsmarine (DKM) Z Class Z37-39 Destroyers The German Navy in World War 2 was caught off guard by Hitler - they had barely embarked on an ambitious building program to have a sizeable surface fleet ready for war in 1944. In the case of destroyers, the German Navy realized they could never come near France and Great Britain's overwhelming numerical superiority in destroyers (over 10:1), and so set about trying to make each destroyer individually superior to British counterparts. The result was a large and not entirely successful design that with minor modifications culminated in the Type 1936A (Mob) Z31-34, Z37-39. The Kriegsmarine numbered destroyers, starting with Z1 (Z stood for Zerstorer, the German name for Destroyer). Earlier units had names in addition to Z numbers, but by the time war-built destroyers appeared, they were known only by their Z numbers, a practice carried over from World War One. To achieve individual ship superiority (on paper at least), war production German destroyers mounted 5.9 inch main guns for their main battery instead of the usual 4, 4.7 or 5 inch guns used in other navies. The forward main guns were supposed to be in a twin turret, but some units completed with only a single mounting since the development of twin turrets was delayed. The large twin 6 inch turret forward hampered sea-keeping ability, and combined with unreliable power plants and a relatively short range; German destroyers underperformed and frequently missed important battles after being sent back to port. Early in the war (April 1940), Germany lost half of its destroyers in the Norwegian campaign, with only ten operational (compared to over a hundred British destroyers). When the non-decision to invade England was being made, a huge factor was the lack of escorts for any seaborne transit of the English Channel. After 1940, German destroyers were used defensively and never reached numbers considered adequate for screening or aggressive actions. Like other navies during WW2, German destroyers were fitted with ever increasing numbers and calibers of AA guns. The Barbara project was the final rendition of AA augmentation. New 37mm twins with increased rate of fire were added (4 mounts), replacing one 5.9 inch gun. Additional 20mm quad mounts (named Vierling or Whirlwind) and additional twin 20mm mounts were added to supplement the usual two twin 37mm, two 20mm singles and 1-2 quad 20mm mounts typically carried. Final AA armament for Barbara Z class destroyers was supposed to be 6 37mm twins, two quad 20mm mounts, two twin 20mm and two single 20mm mounts. (Figures 2,3) However, variations of AA gun fits were the norm. The Barbara refit put shields on AA guns for the first time (well after other navies had done so), and no torpedo tubes were removed, unlike most American, British, French and Italian destroyers. Compare the Z class Barbara AA outfit of 12 37mm and 14 20mm barrels to a typical late-war Fletcher class AA fit of 10 40mm and 7 20mm barrels. However, the main armament of US destroyers was an excellent AA weapon, whereas the 6 inch main armament of German destroyers was low angle only. Typical British destroyers had 4 40mm (2 pdr), and 4-8 20mm barrels, plus some had an extra 3 or 4 inch AA gun replacing a set of torpedo tubes, and zero or limited ability of main battery AA fire. Late-war Japanese destroyer AA fits had 20-28 25mm barrels along with main armament capable of AA fire. Thus, the Barbara AA refit gave German destroyers a large but uncontrolled light AA armament with more barrels per ship than other navies. For the ships listed as subjects in the Tamiya kit, Z37 did not receive the full Barbara refit since she was stranded in France after D-Day, and in August 1944, was scuttled in Bordeaux while undergoing repairs after a collision with Z32 in January 1944. Z38 had a very active career that ended up in the Baltic and received the Barbara refit. She survived the war and became HMS Nonsuch. Z39 stayed in the Baltic and was given the Barbara refit in 1944. She survived the war and was taken over by the Americans, who gave her to France to use for spares for France's Z class destroyer prizes in service after the war. First-Look Box Review: Tamiya took over Skywave's previous molds of later Z class destroyers and continued with two ships per box. The box art shows Z37 in a Norwegian splinter camouflage scheme in June 1943 without the Barbara AA refit, same as their previous Z37-39 kit (31905). The Tamiya kit is virtually identical to the Skywave molds (Figures 5-11), but has two improvements: 1) the AA platform around the aft funnel is accurate; and 2) part A44, the platform for the forward Vierling (Figure 7) mount is added. Both Skywave and Tamiya kits are far superior to the earlier Matchbox "Narvik" class of German destroyers in 1/700 scale. The Tamiya (and Skywave) kits scale out to 415.7 feet, very close to the actual 416 feet in length, and the beam is accurate at 39 feet. This particular kit is an update of Tamiya's earlier 31905 kit of Z37-39. The new feature of this kit (31908) is two new sprues with additional AA guns and platforms in order to convert the ships into the "Barbara" late-war, enhanced AA fit. (Figure 6) Kit Characteristics:
Summary: Tamiya has reissued their (and Skywave's) Z class kit with upgrades for the late-war AA refit. The model is accurate in dimensions, well detailed, easy to build and inexpensive. Although the flag decals are not accurate, they will not detract from the appearance. The painting guide recommends Tamiya paints (naturally), but there are Kriegsmarine-specific paints available from White Ensign Models and ModelMasters. Thus, a modeler has the means to make accurate models of late-war German destroyers. Highly recommended. References:
Online references for German destroyers are harder to find than for US Navy warships, but my favorites are:
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