I built her straight out of the box as USS Philadelphia. The Philly is a "Flight I" boat and they've successfully captured her lines. No, they didn't get the hatches and vents right, but then to be fair, who has? Even the resin boys struggle with the "complicated" modern attack subs.
The color scheme is fleet standard of gloss black with matt black for the non-skid areas. The boat comes with two masts but they are oversized and just putting one on, gets your point across. The rear fin on the stern planes is incorrect, but I left it on.
Next up is a Benjamin Franklin Class boomer from the 1/700th scale Dragon/DML "USS Benjamin Franklin versus Soviet Sierra" kit. This kit has been out of production the longest. For some reason, everyone wants either the Ohio Class or Los Angeles Class boats. Go figure.
I've built the boat as my former one, USS Casimir Pulaski. There is a marked difference between her and the old stalwart Skywave "Scramble" kit which included two Polaris Class boats. You get the option of having one of the missile hatches open and also two to three masts.
Amazingly, they have recreated the CSA countermeasures and BST rescue buoy openings on the sub which is something even the resin boys forget to do! She is painted Atlantic Fleet standard of gloss black with flat black for the anti-skid areas.
Finishing out our 1/700th scale submarines, we have USS Georgia from the Dragon/DML "USS Ohio versus Soviet Alfa" kit. I chose to convert her to waterline instead of full hull and she is carrying the SSGN conversion which is how she is now.
The SSGN update involved removing the Trident missiles and replacing them with seven round launchers for Tomahawk cruise missiles. Additionally, the smaller size of Tomahawk has free'd up the missile compartment for berthing for special forces (Navy SEALs), with up to sixty capable of being embarked.
The "bomb" type structure on the deck is actually a 72nd scale bomb configured to be the shelter/chamber that the SEALs use to enter/exit the sub and store all of their gear.
Moving up a few scales, we have a 1/350th scale Yankee Modelworks "USS Thresher" kit. This is a resin/white metal/photo etch kit and adheres to Yankee's standards. The kits are easily built in a weekend.
The kit portrays USS Thresher on her maiden voyage which would sadly, be her last. Parts are included to make any of her sister ships. A lot of white metal masts are included.
Additionally, the photo etch fret has both types of screws (propellors) for the entire class. USS Thresher as launched/lost had the five bladed screw installed.
The color scheme is for the boat as launched: flat black for non-skid areas, gloss black for the upper hull and dark sea grey for the lower hull. A lot of people have attributed the dark grey to "faded black" but a visit to the Submarine Force Museum Archives confirmed the grey color.
As she was on sea trials she was devoid of markings. The Yankee Modelworks kits require thorough cleaning to remove the release agent and then they build quite easily and quickly.
Cheers,
Don
Responses
« Back to index | View thread »
