Aug. 15, 2025
Background info. on WW2 naval recognition sets
Naval recognition sets similar to this one, were created and used during WWII by the US Navy to help train sailors and aviators at distinguishing friendly naval units from enemies. They came in (at least) two scales, 1/1200 and 1/500 and were cast in a lead/zinc alloy. The larger 1/500 sale models also incorporated wood for the hulls, with the lead alloy used for everything else.
Genesis of an idea
I’ve been unreasonably interested in these models since I first learned of their existence some 20 plus years ago, especially the 1/500 sale sets. Thanks a lot eBay.
Speaking of eBay, it plays a part in the next step towards creating this set. Browsing its recognition ship listings, I came across a dirt cheap but trashed, Framburg 1/500 HMS Renown and had a brilliant idea: I bet I can rescue this spent puppy with 3D printed parts!
OK, maybe more obvious than brilliant.
I already had a decent example of this model and planned to use it as a template for recreating what was needed for the restoration. The first picture below, is of the eBay salvage, I dismantled, cleaned and repaired what was left of it. Designed and printed the needed replacement parts, then assembled and painted.
I know she’s not a German ship… and kind’a breaks up the vibe… but that’s the way it went down, reality is messy.
Being vary happy with the results, I was again inspired to go to the next level, why not recreate an entire ship? I’d wanted a set of the German naval recognition ships made by Comet in 1/500 scale for years but had only managed to pick up the Tirpitz and Priz Eugen. However the cost of a complete set in good shape was more than I could justify spending.
I was Just coming off of my year plus Charles Martel build and thought a quick, small project to recreate the Comet Prinz Eugen would be the perfect break. I decided to use my Ender 3 Pro to recreate the large low detail ‘wooden’ hull sections of the Comet model and my Elegoo Saturn for everything else.
And Repeat
Again, I liked the results.
I then recreated my Tirpitz model, reusing a few assets from Eugen to help speed up the Blender work.
Acquiring an actual and complete German recognition set started to look unnecessary to obtain my desired collection, I’d build my own!
Ebay listings were a good source of photos for the unites I needed but were most helpful as guidelines, they showed the level of detail the actual WW2 models had. For proportional information, nothing beets a good diagram or blueprint to trace. The eBay photo’s were also helpful in showing the actual model’s inaccuracies! It was always grating to stick with the Comet model’s version of a feature, while looking at the actual design lines in my blender background. Sometimes I didn’t…
A few of my ships had no Comet examples in 1/500 scale: Graf Zeppelin, Schleswig Holstein, Kormoran and the uBoats, and while mine ended up with a bit more detail then any WW2 recognition model likely would have, I had fun designing them and like how they turned out. However, these extra touches now left the rest of my fleet looking a tad naked. So I decided to add some bells and whistles to the models based on Comet counterparts. These extras consisted of: utility craft/launches and aircraft, I figured they’re optional and if I ever do sell these things, any purists with objections would just leave them off.
So anyway, here we are, well over a year latter and my simple, small, project (that grew) is complete!
For more images and information on each of the items in the set, click the links below to visit their individual build posts.
– CV Graf Zeppelin
– BB Tirpitz
– BB Scharnhorst
– CA Prinz Eugen
– CA Admiral Scheer
– CL Nuremberg
– CL Köln
– Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran
– CL Emden
– DD Maass
– Pre-Dreadnaught Schleswig Holstein
– Torpedo Boat Jaguar
– Type IX U-Boat
– Type VII U-Boat
One last thing… I still need to create a case for this collection, so the project lives on. I’ll be sure to update this page when/if that’s completed.