Building NNT´s 1:700 SMS B.98 Torpedo boat
 
Arguably the first true German destroyers, the eight vessels of this class had a peculiar origin. Turbine propulsion plants had been built by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg for a new class of destroyers for Russia, larger vessels than currently in German  service. The outbreak of war in 1914 left two turbine plants and design material in German hands, and the yard proposed building destroyers around them, similar to the design developed for Russia. The first two vessels, B.98 and B.99, were completed in just half a year, and proved to be very capable vessels, so six more of the class were ordered and built by Blohm & Voss (B.109-112) and Vulcan (Stettin) (V.99/100). V.99 was lost to enemy action on 17 August, 1915. All the remaining vessels fought at Jutland and other engagements, and were later interned with the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow. When the scuttling order came on 21 June, 1919, B.109-112 were sunk, later raised and scrapped. B.98 was beached and had to be broken up, V.100 could not be scuttled and was ceded to France to be broken up in 1921, B.97 was ceded to Italy and served there until 1939. All in all, the type proved to be a successful design and led the way to more powerful destroyers. The main armament of 88 mm guns was found to be insufficient and replaced with 105 mm guns in 1916.
 
Technical data (Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921)
 
Displacement
1374 t design, 1843 t deep load
Dimensions
314 ft 11 length at WL, 321 ft 6 in length o.a. / 30 ft 10 in width / 11 ft 3 in draught (V.99, V.100 : 319 ft 11 in WL, 324 ft 9 in o.a / 30 ft 10 in / 11 ft 9 in)
Machinery
2-shaft navy (V 99, V100 AEG-Vulcan) turbines . 4 navy oil-fired boilers, 40,000 shp = 36.5 knots. Oil 527 t (V. 99, V.100: 519 t) Range 2,600 nm
Armament
4-8,8 cm (3.45 in) KL/45 ; 6-50 cm (19.7 in) TT (2x1, 2x2) / 24 mines. (all 8.8 cm replaced by 10.5 cm KL/45 in 1916)
Complement
114
 
This kit is very finely crafted, equally finely cast and very well packed. My specimen took very little cleanup, presented neither warping nor casting defects. The kit contains specific PE parts made by Eduard, basic yet sufficient instructions and finely printed flags. No railings are provided.
 
Building the model
 
I had bought this kit directly from NNT to have a reasonably simple project for this year´s Laupheim ship modelers´ meetings theme build, which was „High Seas Fleet 1918“. Given other serious commitments, I did not feel up to building a more complex model in the given time frame, and having virtually no serious references on this field, I was happy with a simple and hassle-free build. Originally I planned to paint the model in an all-black scheme, which made the project close to simplicity itself.
 
I tackled basic construction one early saturday morning and found it as simple as expected. After what little hull cleanup was needed, I started by drilling a hole into the hull´s underside, so I could attach a screw to hold and handle the model. At the same stage, I made the very simple base: I took a simple IKEA picture frame, disassembled it and varnished the wood in a rich shade. After drying, the wood was smoothened using steel wool and later on sprayed with gloss clear lacquer. The glass pane was painted with a generous layer of wall paint using a broad brush in a stippling motion, to make sure I ended up with a slightly irregular surface. After fully curing, the originally olive shade was corrected using various acrylic paints, always trying to achieve a shade I felt appropriate for the North Sea, between grey and green. The glass plate was then heavily sealed with clear gloss lacquer and glued to the wooden frame using CA glue.
 
In the meantime, the main parts fo the vessel were assembled, mostly out of the box apart from the lookouts and searchlight platform. Here, PE railings and white glue looked more convincing and to scale to me than the kit parts. The masts and yards were made from thin steel wire, tapered using a diamond disc in a motor tool. I do recommend BMK´s finely tapered brass masts for this task, which were not available to me at the time. Apart from the searchlight, guns and torpedo tubes, the vessel was assembled within the day. As always, I was not quite happy with the Eduard PE, as it is very soft and easily bent. WEM PE has this property only after annealing. For the railings I used Lion Roar 2-bar railing, the individual pieces had to be cut out around the bollards. Normally, I paint my models prior to attaching the railings, but with this monochrome scheme I felt it better and easier to assemble as much as possible prior to painting.
 
I started the paintjob with an enamel primer. This is not strictly necessary with modern acrylics, and I do not always do it, yet I feel it helps blend things in and makes checking for flaws easier. After that, the entire vessel was sprayed a dark grey. The scheme was varied by airbrushing lighter paint to simulate hull streaking. Weathering was added using pastel chalks, a watercolour wash and some oil paints. ( Info to Mike: Images 7427 and 7431 show this original dark scheme) Only now did I receive the news that in 1918, the all-black scheme had been replaced by a lighter scheme. This meant that all the paint and weathering work had been, er, a practice run. Resarching Imperial German paint schemes, I found that the required shade found a close match in Kure Grey, which I had as a JPS acrylic, and this was used in the final scheme. Again I made sure the scheme was not too uniform, and I applied a good deal of weathering to simulate the look of these hard-worked vessels. The deck areas were weathered, too, and the insides of the boats received enough reddish pastel chalk to look the part of not too clean wood. Some drybrushing and some oil washes followed, with a final uneven flat coat sealing the paint job.
 
Rigging, my most unpopular chore, was achieved using stretched sprue. But this was done only after the model had been fixed to the base using clear acrylic gel. The disturbed water around the ship was simulated using more clear acrylic gel, and some white oil paint. I just might add some crew figures if I felt like it ...
 
Conclusion
 
All in all a very nice and uncomplicated project, a good-looking vessel, and a very nicely done kit I would recommend for resin beginners having some experience working with PE parts.