Posted by Matty
on March 18, 2009, 0:10:17
Message modified by board administrator March 18, 2009, 17:38:44
Make no mistake, when it was released in the late '50s, the Revell Nautilus kit was state-of-the-art; rendered in a futuristic medium and depicting a revolutionary new vessel:
Click on Image to Enlarge
The missile shown - a USN "Loon" - was in actuality already 15-year-old technology copied from the Nazi V-1 "Buzz Bomb" of WWII, and never carried by Nautilus in any case; she was never fitted to launch missiles (other than through her torpedo tubes).
Nor did the actual Nautilus, SSN 571 even look like the above box art - and as the mold within - depicted her:
Click on Image to Enlarge
So, where did the Revell Nautilus hull plan come from? One might guess that, lacking access to info on this highly classified sub, Revell simply defaulted to using plans of an existing, "Guppy"-type fleet sub. And indeed, the sail does look roughly like that of a Guppy (II or -III), however beyond that, even less of a match can be found in the Guppy hull - or in that of any USN fleet sub, before Nautilus or since. I am about ready to conclude that the Navy deliberately provided Revell with false plans/drawings of the new Nautilus - just as the Air Force would later provide Testors with false plans for the F-117; the latter's kit looking nothing like the actual, revolutionary-technology aircraft, as it made its debut in the '80s.
In any case, the Revell Nautilus hull is not a clear match with any USN sub, ever. Nevertheless, the USN hulls it most closely resembles are - ironically - not among the most advanced but the least advanced, primitive early "pig boats":
Click on Image to Enlarge
At right, it can be seen that the resemblance at the other end is more problematic. This type of early stern - with very thin top casing and hull below flattening into a "whale flukes" horizontal stabilizer, enclosing twin prop shafts (very cool!) - was so standard on the early USN designs that the stern of the R1 class (top-left), looked essentially unchanged since the L1 class (top-right) - indeed, even since (before) the F class (plans; middle). The Revell Nautilus hull, of course, doesn't have any vertical flattening, anywhere, however its beam happens to narrow at the bow along lines resembling these sterns, as demostrated (bottom) alongside the F-class plans. Thus the Revell bow, with large wedges chopped out, and horizontal spreaders inserted, could likewise be bashed to approximate this "whale tail" stern fairly well.
Meanwhile, note the bows - proceeding from the F-class through several earlier classes (and again negelcting the top casings) - were increasingly conical in shape:
Click on Image to Enlarge
From a historical interest viewpoint, however, the best of all the above options, IMHO, would be conversion to the L1 class, which formed the pre-emminent WWI contingent of USN subs deployed to Bantry Bay, Ireland - where they saw combat action as well. At far right are pics of these boats, and a profile-view drawing for the class. Besides the L1-boats, some K-class and other, earlier boats were also despatched to Ireland and/or the Azores during WWI, but saw little or no action of any note, AFAIK.
Regarding early types to see action during WWII, the R- and S-class boats compare with the Revell hull as follows:
Click on Image to Enlarge
At right, a drawing of the S1 class (top) confirms the flattened whale-tail stern persisting in this class - however with the next class, S4 (middle), this changed to an upswept stern, with prop shafts and stabilizers dropping down externally; as would become standard on later USN diesel subs; shown also at bottom-right, for the S48 class. The aft ends of the S-serues classes were also becoming increasingly elongated, as exhibited by several S4-boats, at bottom-left. Likewise, continued elongation of the bow casing is apparent on the S42-class boat at bottom-center. Again, the widened gun deck forward is now standard, and rather compatible with the Revell mold.
Thus, with more work and quite a bit more plasticard, an R- or S-boat could reasonably be made from the Revell Nautilus hull - with the work jumping to a significantly higher level for the S4-class and later boats.
Note the above only comparisons the Revell hull against USN submarines; the mold could and may well better resemble some other boat(s), from the navy of some other country. If anyone(s) has any more ideas/evidence, please do pipe up and share 'em!
Cheers,
-Matty
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