# Italeri Biber done - mean little pig of a sub!



## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

One of the odder classes of weapons to have emerged to something akin to prominence during WWII is the Midget Submarine. Like assault gliders, they seem to have been something of a fad that came and went rather swiftly. However, during their heyday, they were deployed by most major powers in the conflict.

One of the less-than-greats in this category was the German Biber (beaver) one-man sub. This obnoxious and often mortally crude little tin-can is not a sub that gets a lot of love, and with good reason. It was poorly made and not that successful. However, it is a cool-looking boat, and when you consider that about half of its mass is made of the weapons it carries, you have to admit it’s at least academically interesting.

Thankfully, for those who want one, Italeri popped out a nice looking kit in the massive scale of 1/35! Thank goodness Bibers are small… at least this thing still fits on a shelf! 

I build this sub as a present to my dad, since my grandfather was apparently trained on these boats late in the war. It’s a surprisingly unforgiving little model, with what I would say is too hefty a price tag. Still, it was fun and it looks neat on display. 

Check it out, and as always, feedback is much appreciated!

*https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/italeri-135-biber-midget-sub/*


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

It is an interesting looking subject and you are right about the price, the one thing that has put me off building one myself.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Looks great. I like your fairly subdued paint job. I see a lot of these mini subs with what looks like 100 years of barnacles and sea weathering when, in reality, they were pretty much kamikaze type vessels that would have had a very short surface life.

One type of these mini sub (Biber or Neger?) was used to try to destroy the bridge at Remagen on the Rhine river.


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

djnick66:

Thank you for picking up on the fact that usually these things are too worn. That's exactly what I thought too. I mean, you're right: these things were usually one-use (heck, one-way!) vehicles, so having them super worn has always bothered me too. 

That's why I did it this way, with only a bit of aging.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

There is one of these on another armor site (I forget if its the exact same sub or Molch or whatever) and they guy has layers of patina, rust, algae and barnacles as if it has been tied to a dock for 60 years. I would think these little subs spent most of their time out of water on a trailer until they were readied for basically a one way mission. So, I think your model looks great.


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