Hi y’all. After my last couple of builds I was looking for something interesting and different to add to my fleet. My buddy Fred (BLKFT1) and I both like unusual subjects. We discussed the Russian monitor Popov, a Siebel Ferrry, and several odd working boats. I looked up the Siebel Ferry, and in my research came across a boat class, the Kriegsfischkutter. This was a class of fishing boats that were converted and built from the keel up as patrol boats for the Kreigsmarin in WWII. This hull had good seakeeping qualities, and many of the boats that survived were sold back to be used as fishing boats. I think some survive to this day. Apparently this was a fairly common practice, the Royal Navy used a trawler hull known as the Admiralty Trawler which was used for minesweeping and ASW duties. The US tended to use specially built warships, but early in WWII we used tuna boats as picket, patrol and errand boats, the venerable Tuna Fleet.
I was about to convert a Graupner Krabbe Ton kit, but the Elke came up for sale on RCGroups, and since it’s the same hull the Germans used for the Fischkutter, I bought it and prepared to get started.
Before I go on, let me add that this is an OLD kit, looking at the radio install plans dates it from the late 60s to the early 70s. I know I’m modifying a bona file unbuilt kit, but in my defense the kit wasn’t perfect, so my conscience is somewhat clear😀
Anyway, the first thing I had to do was trim the hull, and then I had to cut a slot at the stern where the stuffing box and aft support keels slid into.I tacked everything in place, then I made up my motor mount/bulkhead and once everything lined up to my expectations I epoxied everything down solid. I then turned my attention to the rudder. I was going to use a Robbe non scale rudder for ease of building, but the Robbe unit has some of the leading edge of the rudder ahead of the rudder shaft, while the stock rudder rotates right at the leading edge. Since the prop is captured between the keel pieces top and bottom, I would have had to really carve up the Robbe unit to make it work. I decided to use the kit rudder.
The rudder is assembled from 2 abs halves, trimmed, sanded and glued together. The rudder shaft and tiller arm were missing from the kit, so I had to do it my way. I filled the insides of both rudder halves with sheet balsa. Once sanded to a good fit I made up a 3 mm shaft with a 45ish degree bend at one end. I then cut a slot to fit the shaft into the rudder halves. The bend will guarantee that, if for some reason my glue joints fail, the rudder will not just rotate about the shaft. Once done I jigged up and bonded the rudder tube in place, and added the tiller.
The motor I’m using is an old AYK 480 mated to a planetary 3/1 gearbox, which on 2 lipos or a 6 cell nimh should give adequate power and a good run time.
I’m building the deck now, it sits nicely in a molded in slot in the hull which alleviates the need for a separate bulwarks. However, I need to cut the bulwark down just aft of the cabin down flush with the deck so I can have a place to mount the depth charges. I am also trying to decide whether to purchase the guns or make my own.
That’s where I’m at now. Some of the kit superstructure will be used, but I have to scratch build the gun decks, depth charges and such. This is going to be fun!!
Cash

Got the deck on today, trimmed the aft bulwarks to clear depth charges, set up the hatches and got the superstructure built. The superstructure is unique in that the main walls are ply, then a second facia is added to simulate the reinforcement boards that’s common to this boat. I have to say that the due cutting in this old kit is great, many of the parts just fell out of the sheets and needed very little cleanup.
I’m at the point where I start diverging from the stock kit and start scratch building gun mounts and the like.

Hi y’all. I had a little time today to start some of the mods to transform Elke into a Kriegsfischkutter. I started with the aft gun emplacement. This was pretty simple. I cut the lower base from 3mm styrene, then sheeted it with some printed wood left over from a prior build. Once I had it sanded I painted the wood and let it dry, then masked the wood. I then proceeded to build a sideboard out of 1mm sheet styrene. Once that was done, I gules the assembly to after portion of the cabin and added lower supports.I then painted the unit the same shade of gray as the cabin, then removed the masking tape. I need to add railing, guns and finish fitting out the superstructure then that unit is complete. I also painted the deck, then masked it off and painted the bulwarks and upper hull above the waterline. Lots more to come!!
Cash

Hi y’all. I took off this week, got some time to build, so I did😁 the hull and deck is painted, both gun decks are painted, installed and have rails fitted. The Tamiya guns (quad 20mm Flak and single 37mm flak) are built, had to modify both for “naval” use. The forward gun deck sits on a bunker/shed that I built up from 3mm styrene, support beams will be added later. The aft gun deck stanchions were a little short, I lengthened them with sort bits of brass tubing. The forward stanchions are for twin rails, so the height was okay as is. The paint is mostly done now also.
Bear in mind this boat is not an exact scale model, it’s representative of the type. From what research I’ve done the weaponry could vary a bit, and if you look at the pics on the net you’ll see that the configuration of the two gun decks is pretty standard, but after that I’ve seen boats that look like barely gunned fishing boats to something that would look at home at Jutland if that battle had been fought in a science fantasy setting. Think Warhammer 40,000.🤣
Anyway, I’m at the point where I need to do some deck details, finish the superstructure and add depth charges and equipment..oh, she needs radio equipment too!!
Cash

Just a quick look at the bits and pieces I’m building up for the KFK. A Tamiya 37 mm Flak with a longer barrel and a “marine” mount, a Tamiya 20mm Flakvierling, some scratch built depth charges and mounts, ans a couple of boxes for the deck, scratch built and repurposed legos. I have much more to do!!

Hi y’all. Got a few more details done on the KFK. Built up some depth charge racks that are all almost the same🤣, added some Tamiya sandbags, a couple of deck boxes, ladders, etc. A few more details then it’s radio install time.

Got more done this afternoon. Added a mast, flag, barrels and ships boat. Will do radio install tomorrow AM

Hi y’all. I was off today as it’s Memorial Day and we’re off that day. My wife stayed up late watching movies and enjoying a little wine, so at 730 am I went down to the shop while the girls slept in.
I had to remove and re-brush the motor as I apparently dripped either CA or epoxy onto one of the brushes, essentially locking it up. I removed the gearbox, made sure it was okay, cleaned the motor, new brushes, springs and a running in and alls well. This boat is simple, no lights, special functions, etc, just rudder and throttle, though I might add running lights later. I need to add the hatch locks and float test it, and I might add a detail or two this week, but for all intents and purposes she’s done. The original manual states a max weight of 70 ounces with everything on board, I’m running 2 6 cell nimh in parallel, that, the boat itself and other gear brings her to 64 ounces AUW. If she’s stable and at or very close to the waterline I’ll maiden her at that weight.
Cash

Hi y’all. I have a few pics of the KFK on the water. She needed 8 ounces of ballast forward, puts her at 69 ounces all up weight. The first run was…eventful😂. I used a FlySky 3 channel receiver that had given me problems before. I found the antenna loose and soldered it back in place…however, I never range checked it. Sooo….when I launched her the first time she lost all signal 5 feet out, and made the prettiest curving run from the bank, to the middle of the lake and back about 100 feet away, I recovered her, found the receiver bad, swapped with a FrSky unit from my Micro Magic, and all was well. I have several of those FlySky 3 channel recievers, no problems except this one, which I got in a trade lot.the pics aren’t great, they are from video captures, but I’ll post them here and a few better shots next time we’re out in a couple of weeks.

A few more pics of the KFK on the water, taken by Steve Davidson. He has an actual camera vs my cell phone, his pics are outstanding.
Cash