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The ABSD-1 is a non-self-propelled split floating dock of the U.S. Army that was manufactured during World War II, and consists of a total of ten sections, A to I and K. It was built in 1942-43 in Everett, Washington, and assigned to the Pacific warfield; it was retired in the Philippines in 1946.

This model kit from Takom includes photo-etched parts and decals for one version.

Specification

• Size: Approximately 77.8cm long when completed
• Weight: 1810g

Includes

• Photo-etched parts, decals for 1 version

The Type XVII U-boats were small coastal submarines which used Hellmuth Walter's high test peroxide propulsion system, which offered a combination of air-independent propulsion and high submerged speeds.

In the early 1930s Hellmuth Walter had designed a small, high-speed submarine with a streamlined form propelled by high test peroxide and in 1939 he was awarded a contract to build an experimental vessel, the 80 ton V-80, which achieved an underwater speed of 28.1 kn (52.0 km/h; 32.3 mph) during trials in 1940. In November 1940 Admirals Erich Raeder and Werner Fuchs (head of the Kriegsmarine 's Construction Office) witnessed a demonstration of the V-80; Raeder was impressed, but Fuchs was slow to approve further tests.

Following the success of the V-80's trials, Walter contacted Karl Dönitz in January 1942, who enthusiastically embraced the idea and requested that these submarines be developed as quickly as possible. An initial order was placed in summer 1942 for four Type XVIIA development submarines.

Of these, U-792 and U-793, designated Wa 201, were built by Blohm & Voss, commissioned in October 1943, and achieved 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h; 23.30 mph) submerged. The other pair of Type XVIIA submarines, U-794 and U-795, designated Wk 202, were constructed by Germaniawerft and commissioned in April 1944.

The U-793 achieved a submerged speed of 22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph) in March 1944 with Admiral Dönitz aboard. In June 1944 the U-792 achieved 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph) over a measured mile.

Construction of operational Type XVII submarines - the Type XVIIB - was begun at the Blohm & Voss yard in Hamburg. The Type XVIIB, unlike the XVIIA, had only a single turbine. The initial order was for 12 submarines, U-1405 through U-1416. However, Blohm & Voss were already struggling to cope with orders for Type XXI submarines and the Kriegsmarine reduced the order to six.

Three Type XVIIB boats were completed by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg between 1943 and 1944: U-1405, U-1406 and U-1407. U-1405 was completed in December 1944, U-1406 in February 1945, and U-1407 in March 1945.

A further three boats (U-1408 to U-1410) were under construction, but were not complete when the war ended. Another six Type XVIIB's (U-1411 to U-1416) were cancelled during the war in favour of the Type XXI.

All three completed Type XVIIB boats were scuttled by their crews at the end of the Second World War, U-1405 at Flensburg, and U-1406 and U-1407 at Cuxhaven, all in the British Zone of Occupation.

In July 1945 U-1406 was allocated to the US and U-1407 to Britain and both were soon salvaged. The uncompleted U-1408 and U-1410 were discovered by British forces at the Blohm & Voss yard in Hamburg.

The United States Navy did not repair and operate the U-1406 as it had with the two Type XXI submarines it had captured. She travelled to the US as deck cargo, having been stripped after being damaged by fire and twice flooded. Portsmouth Navy Yard estimated it would cost $1 million to put her into service, but plans to do so were rejected due to the perceived fire hazard and high cost of HTP and she was broken up in New York harbour sometime after 18 May 1948.

The Royal Navy repaired the U-1407 and recommissioned her on 25 September 1945 as HMS Meteorite. She served as the model for two further HTP boats, HMS Explorer and HMS Excalibur.

Length model, mm: 370 The complete set includes: 3 frames with details decal (sticker) photoetched scheme for painting model detailed instructions in English Glue and paint is not included

Special Navy CV 707 Vesikko ‘WWII Finnish U-Boot VII

CV 707 Vesikko ‘WWII Finnish U-Boat’

Built in Finland, Vesikko was in fact a prototype of the German Type II submarine class. Vesikko, also known by her manufacturing code CV707 was put to service with the Finnish Navy in 1936 and went on to serve until 1944. She took part in both the Winter and Continuation Wars and in 1959, she became a permanent exhibit in Suomenlinna fortress and is displayed there ever since.

• Accurate and detail-oozing model
• Photo etches, resin parts and metal periscopes included in the kit
• Various colour schemes illustrating the submarine’s long service career which spanned from 1936 till 1944

Gorch Fock was a German training sailing ship, launched in 1933. At the time of launching, the ship was 73.6 m long, 12 m wide, and her full displacement was 1,545 tons. Gorch Fock was unarmed. It was a three-masted barge, with an initial sails area of 1797 m2. It had an additional drive in the form of a diesel engine with a capacity of 360 HP.

The Gorch Fock was built at the Bohm und Voss shipyard in Hamburg. Immediately after entering service, it served as a training unit in the German Navy. He was self-sunk by the crew on May 1, 1945. However, after the war, it was lifted from the seabed by Russia, renovated and incorporated into the Soviet Navy under the name Towariszcz. After a long renovation, sails replacement and the addition of a more powerful auxiliary engine, it entered service in 1951 with the home port of Odessa. After the collapse of the USSR, it served for a very short time under the flag of Ukraine, until it was finally bought by the "Tall Ship Friends Deutschland" company and since 2003 it has been in the port of Stralsund as a museum ship under the name Gorch Fock.

Here's a 1/350-scale kit of the famous sailing vessel. Named after a poet, the Gorch Fock served as a training vessel for the Federal German Navy. Aoshima's kit includes a full hull section and display base, and can be built either as a full-hull or waterline model. Vacu-formed sails. Simplified detail, but can be built into a very nice replica. Decals, flags, and rigging line are included. Length 255mm, width 65mm, height 169mm.

This is an injection-plastic sailing ship model kit.

As the war progressed, and numbers increased, it became the British Army's primary machine gun, and served on all fronts during the conflict. When the Lewis Gun was adopted as a light machine gun and issued to infantry units, the Vickers guns were redefined as heavy machine guns, withdrawn from infantry units, and grouped in the hands of the new Machine Gun Corps (when heavier 0.5 in/12.7 mm calibre machine guns appeared, the tripod-mounted, rifle-calibre machine guns like the Vickers were re-classified as "medium machine guns").

Built at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal as the 12th ship of the Kagero-class destroyers, the Isokaze fought from the attack on Pearl Harbor until she was destroyed by gunfire in the Battle of Boso.

Aoshima's "Waterline" model-kit series has been renewed with more precision! This 1/700-scale kit of the Isokaze depicts her as she was in the latter half of the war, with the turret removed and anti-aircraft machine guns added. The parts configuration focuses on the essentials, making this kit simple and easy to assemble. Various equipment such as the main guns and machine guns are newly designed; slide molding is used to achieve precision and accuracy.

Newly molded parts include:

• 12.7cm twin gun Type C
• Type 92 61cm quadruple torpedo tube
• Type 96 twin 25mm machine gun
• Type 96 triple 25mm machine gun
• Type 94 depth charge projector
• Type 22 radar
• Type 13 radar
• Direction finder
• 90cm searchlight
• 7m cutter
• Quartrant davit
• Anchor