1:700 Destroyer Z 28 Germany 1943

The destroyer Z 28 and the fighting in northern waters

Z 28 belonged to Type 1936A, the ships for which the name of Narvik came into use because of their service off the Norwegian coast. Compared with the older German destroyers, these units carried heavier 150 mm guns and were built for long voyages in rough weather. It was precisely the large caliber of the main armament that made them vessels on the border between a destroyer and a small cruiser.

From 1941 Z 28 served in Norway, where she mainly saw to convoy escort and the laying of minefields. In 1943 she went through a refit and returned to northern waters, only to be transferred at once to the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland. There, in the autumn of 1944, Soviet aircraft damaged her. The final end came in the spring of 1945 during a raid by the Royal Air Force. The model thus represents the vessel at the moment when the refit was behind her and the heaviest fighting still ahead.

What will help the build

On a destroyer the result is decided above all by the exact fitting of the masts and by cleanly broken-out small parts. It pays to work with a sharp scalpel and to sand the cut marks only once the paint has dried. Guard rails and antennas made of fine thread or photo-etched parts will move the result up a class, even though they have to be obtained separately. The finished model comes off well paired with a larger unit of the kind such a vessel escorted during the war. Anyone who wants the ship under way can suggest a wake astern with clear gel and ripple it with a stick until it sets. Northern vessels suit a light salt crust in light pigment around the bow, though it is important to stay at the level of a hint.