ICM has released a dual midget submarine kit in 1/72^nd scale. The submarines are U-Boat Type XXVIIB Seehund (early) and Molch.

he K-Verband (in English "small battle unit", derived from Kleinkampfverbände der Kriegsmarine"small battle units") was a World War II German naval unit that operated a mixture of midget submarines and explosive speed boats. It was formed in April 1944 and operated until 26 April 1945.

In The Package

There are two (2) kits provided inside the box, U-Boat Type XXVIIB Seehund (early) and Molch. If bought individually, the MSRP is $31.99 each. Thus, there is great value in buying this dual kit.

There are two (2) bags of sprues packaged. One for each submarine. The Molch has two sets of sprues, gray and clear. While the Seehund only has one gray sprue. Also, each sub gets its own decal sheet and set of instructions. The instructions are well illustrated and assembly is straight forward based on the small number of steps.

Looking at Scalemates.com, the Seehund was originally molded in 2010, and the Molch in 2023.

Review Process

I started with cutting parts off the sprue for the Molch. This is a simple task and assembly took less than 3 hours. The interior is very basic and hardly visible once enclosed in the hull.

While the glue was drying, I started with the Seehund build. The Seehund is an older kit and the one thing that jumps out is there are no part numbers molded on sprue. Part numbers are located on a sprue layout within the instructions. Also, there are no locating pins for the parts. So, it has a “short run” kit feel during assembly. Due to the mold age and short run nature, there is some minor flash that will need to be cleaned up. There is no interior to assemble and with all parts located on one sprue, assembly took less than 3 hours.

The plastic for both kits is considered soft and comparable to the current Airfix kits. Therefore, it is a good exercise to wait a few days before filling any seams. This will allow the cement to cure fully and reduce any shrinkage.

One advantage of the dual kit is the access hatch. The Molch’s clear sprue comes with two (2) style of hatches. Only one is needed for the Molch. The leftover clear hatch can be used for the Seehund since its hatch comes from the gray sprue and instructions tell you to paint that silver. This makes a world of difference in the final look of the Seehund build.

After filling the seams and sanding, all parts were covered in Mr. Surfacer 1000 gray primer.

ICM also sent an acrylic box set to aid in the painting this kit, 3053 WWII German U-boats. The paints were thinned with Vallejo acrylic thinner and sprayed very well from my Iwata HP-CS airbrush. (Note, there is a write-up currently in the IPMSUSA reviews)

The “Molch” paint scheme was for Option 3, North Sea, 1945. The Seehund was for U-5329, K-Flottilla 312, Ijmuiden, February 1945.

Decals reacted well to Micro Sol and were protected with a coat of acrylic clear satin.

Once the clear coat had dried, I added weathering by way of ground up charcoal and applied with a soft brush. When the weathering look about right, I considered the submarines done.

Conclusions

This dual kit offering is FUN TO BUILD. The assemblies are simple and one can get both models done is about a week. A nice advantage is being able to use the Molch’s clear access hatches for both kits.

I want to thank ICM for providing this wonderful dual midget submarine kit and IPMS/USA for allowing me the opportunity to review.

Highly Recommend to EVERYONE!