USS Nautilus - SSN-571

[Pappy]

G'day people,

I just finished this little sub a few minutes ago. The kit depicts the USS Nautilus, the world's first operational nuclear sub. The sub broke many records due to her revolutionary nuclear propulsion, allowing her to remain submerged for far greater periods than contemporary diesel powered subs. She is perhaps best known for her submerged transit to the North Pole in August 1958.

The kit is a pretty straightforward affair, as are the instructions which take the form of a double sided sheet of paper with exploded assembly diagrams on one side and a painting guide on the other. The kit is comprised of 24 injected styrene parts and supplememted with a small brass PE fret in addition to a PE section for the non-slip deck.

Construction is conventional with two vertically split hull halves and a separate sail that is comprised of two halves and a cap piece. The builder is given a choice of the full range of periscopes and sensors, however I chose to only deploy the two periscopes and a radar mast

The location of some of the smaller PE parts is a bit vague and the it would have been nice if Micro-Mir had provided a better indication of where to locate these items. I am not sure I got this 100% correct.

The kit provides a small but ample decal sheet and these performed flawlessly. I applied these directly onto the paint surface (Gunze acrylics) and they settled without any help and showed no evidence of silvering.

I completed the kit almost completely OOB, the only addition being the three crewmembers to provide a sense of scale and the scrathbuild display stand.

The kit provides a display stand which consists of a small, slightly domes base ans a single vertical post.

[Ken Stenzenko]

Really nice work and I like the weathering also. Well done and I wish I had one in 1/200 scale!

[Alpha Delta 210]

I built three modern RN subs recently, and have to say that you have achieved realism in your Nautilus that was missing in my models! Great work on the weathering and the miniscule figures!

[justin1980]

Cracking build,

read the book Nautilus 90 north, quite a good read, all about the North Pole trip.

[Flankerman]

Excellent build pappy

Great finish and weathering - very realistic.

What did you use for your crew figures?? - I used those from a Fujimi Japanese Navy set - but yours look better....

Ken

[Pappy]

Excellent build pappy

Great finish and weathering - very realistic.

What did you use for your crew figures?? - I used those from a Fujimi Japanese Navy set - but yours look better....

G'day Ken,

Thanks. Unfortunately, I can't actually remember who makes the figures. I can tell you they come in a block of about 100 and they are resin. They come in a clear blister packaging. I bought them at a swap meet last year. I wish i knew who made them as I would like to buy some more myself!

Here is a picture of my fleet BTW

Not as extensive as yours but it is growing!

Cracking build,

read the book Nautilus 90 north, quite a good read, all about the North Pole trip.

G'day Justin, sounds like I may have to find a copy!

I built three modern RN subs recently, and have to say that you have achieved realism in your Nautilus that was missing in my models! Great work on the weathering and the miniscule figures!

Thanks AD, but painting figures in this scale just really requires small blobs of paint

Really nice work and I like the weathering also. Well done and I wish I had one in 1/200 scale!

G'day Ken, I think it would be popular subject in 1/200 and not too big either,

cheers,

Pappy

Edited March 8, 2014 by Pappy

[Rickpadwick1801]

Very nice.

I like the look of this.

Rick

[Mick Drover]

Great job Pappy and the fleet looks great too. Sounds like the figures might be from North Star.

http://northstarmodels.com/product-category/figures/1-350/

Cheers,

Mick

[Nobby57]

Very nice Nautilus Pappy and a lovely collection too. I often forget the 'Silent Service' so well done, they all look nice.

[Pappy]

Great job Pappy and the fleet looks great too. Sounds like the figures might be from North Star.

http://northstarmodels.com/product-category/figures/1-350/

Cheers,

Mick

Thanks for all the positive comments. Mick, I think that you are right about the figures, and nit looks like I need to buy some more sets!

[paul178]

I really like this. You have done a great job on it!

[F-32]

Very nice work

[billn53]

Great work on a subject dear to my heart.

I was an officer on Nautilus during the last three years of her service. I have the MM kit and plan to build it to represent Nautilus in the time frame I was aboard. This will require a number of mods: remove the under-ice sonar on the forward deck, install 'pontoons' on either side of the aft superstructure (used to hold the 'MACS' antenna for acoustic research in the late 1970s), fill in the limber holes, and replace the sail (a.k.a. fin) -- the original was destroyed in a collision with USS Essex in 1966). See photo here: http://navsource.org/archives/08/571/0857132.jpg

I've just joined this forum and am getting back into modeling after a long dry spell. My current build, Zvezda's HMS Dreadnought, has been on the work shelf for over two years and is calling out to me for completion. I see there's a lot of expertise here and I look forward to sharing with you all.