Kriegsfischkutter (armed fishing boat - short KFK ) were small auxiliary warships of the German navy during World War 2. They were used in coastal security service, in submarine hunting flotillas and of course before and after the war for fishing.

Crew: 18

Speed: 9.0 kts

Armed with one 3.7 cm flak, two 2 cm flak, and depth charges

During the 1920's, the politically controlled "standardization of the vehicles of the German fishing fleet" was started. The Reichsfischkutter was mostly built in wood and could be ordered affordably by private operators. In return, the vehicle had to returned to the navy during the war.

In 1942, the German Navy ordered many of these, and thus launched the largest shipbuilding series in German maritime history. The boats were built by 42 shipyards in seven European countries. Unknowingly, yards in neutral Sweden made war fishing boats for the German Navy. These orders were disguised as orders for "normal" trawlers and were awarded by the then Reich Ministry of Food. The cutters with the numbers KFK 93 to KFK 137, which were delivered completely with fishing gear, were converted into war configuration at German shipyards in the Baltic Sea region.

In 1942, Ernst Burmester Schiffswerft KG was founded for the KFK production in Swinemünde-East as a subsidiary of the yacht and boatyard Burmester from Bremen-Burg. They built about 411 cutters. but many ships remained unfinished in different stages of construction.

Also built were: 12 cutters in Greece, 27 cutters in Varna (Bulgaria), 3 cutters in Constanţa (Romania), 12 cutters in Kherson (Ukraine), 22 cutters spread across six shipyards in Belgium, 29 cutters distributed across 12 shipyards in the Netherlands, and 44 cutters distributed to 17 shipyards in Sweden. (Total: 143 pieces without post-war production)

Completed and put into service were 612 ships, of which 554 came to the front line, of which at least 135 sank. The cutters were assigned serial numbers KFK 1 to KFK 1072. These are not to be confused with the names of the ships or changing tactical or other markings, such as the unit numbers of the Navy, radio characters or later fishing license in addition to the name.

We are offering two versions of the KFK: the naval version reflects the ship in military service, and the civilian version shows it as it would appear in commercial fishing service.

This model is available two finish levels: FDM is lower cost, and is what most would recognize as traditional 3D printing. This type of model printed in layers, and is lightweight with reasonable detail but will have visible striation (or lines) that the hobbyist may want to clean up using putty, primer, or other hobby techniques. SLA is a laser cured photo-resin that has exceptional detail, and generally has a much smoother finish without significantly noticeable striation. This type of model is more expensive material, and is more delicate.