As many of you know I am in a process of building U-2536 from Revell's Type XXI.
Even though I consider the sail being done I'm still doing a lot o research and I came across some very interesting information.
If you take a look at the original U-2536 picture
(1) there is clearly some emblem right next to it. Even after I enlarged it in Photoshop I couldn't quite recognize what it was?
(2)Just recently I came across I good quality picture of U-2524 and noticed that this boat carried the same insignia
(3). After going through my archive of U-boat emblems I found out that this emblem (Frontreif) was (among others) on U-295, U-1003 and U-1103.
(4)
Here is what I found out about "Frontreif" on the net:
"Little is known about this badge. Its manufacture, finish, fittings etc are correct for the period as is the design, which is encountered in wartime photographs as being painted on the conning towers of U-Boats undergoing final trials before being declared ready for front line service (Frontreif). No photographic evidence of it being worn has been found, nor have any period documentary references yet been discovered,, so the badge remains somewhat of an enigma."
Knowing that Revell's Type VIIC/41 has U-295 decals on it I looked up the assembly instructions and found the decal in question.
(5)Unfortunately the manual is only black and white so that leaves me guessing what colors were used. Looking at the picture it seems that the badge is white and the V possibly either black or red. So placed on the boat it would look like either
(5a) or
(5b).
I'm personally leaning towards black so my updated mock-up would look like this:
Does anybody know for sure, or better, can somebody take a look at their 1/72 VIIC/41 decal sheet and let me know?
Thanks!
