Dazzled's Baby Boomer

[Dazzled]

So, what does one do when one is absolutely pushed for time; has a shelf full of unfinished models; and no space to move around the Den?

One starts another model of course!

Actually, today is my birthday (21 again ) and my lovely daughter has bought me this. I was so pleased with it that it's jumped the (very, very long) queue and leapt straight onto the workbench




It's not all that large in 1:350th scale, hence the title of this thread, and has fairly few parts.



Just a couple of small sprues of light grey hard styrene with a little flash.

The etched detail is pretty nice though.




And it comes with a choice of 2 etched brass propellers and a set of decals that allow any boat in the class to be built in either early or late configurations.

Not a bad looking kit and one which I shall be starting very soon.

[jamesaw]

Nice to have family who understand your interests. My son is generally pretty good at dragging my wife around to the LMS on important occasions like Father's Day and Birthdays too. Happy Birthday btw!

[Dazzled]

Time to get this together.

There isn't a lot of assembly but the parts are a bit crude.

However...



I've joined the hull halves and filled/sanded the horizontal seam. The hump has been attached.

And it did give me the hump too.



The gap is meant to be there. It is meant to be straight though so a bit of delicate filing was called for. I've also got the sail construction well under way and this should find itself attached tomorrow.

Then it'll be time for a prime

[jamesaw]

No little Trident's? Of course you can't show them because they're classified.

[gnomemeansgnome]

Nice work, Daz. I had the big Revell cutaway kit of this beast. Wish I still had it.

[Dazzled]

Nice work, Daz. I had the big Revell cutaway kit of this beast. Wish I still had it.

One of those just sold for £10 on eBay.

[Marek]

Looks like you are tackling a very interesting model of one of four horsemen of Apocalypse . I have not build any MicroMir yet but judging by the plethora of possibilities there, time will come.

[Dazzled]

Looks like you are tackling a very interesting model of one of four horsemen of Apocalypse . I have not build any MicroMir yet but judging by the plethora of possibilities there, time will come.

I've read mixed things about Mikromir kits but their range of nuclear subs convinced me that it was worth a try. I have to say that, apart from a little flash and the obviously low-tech moulds, the kit isn't at all bad. In fact I'm quite encouraged to get a couple more.


Another thing that's quite encouraging is the progress that I've made.

After a few rounds of filling, sanding and priming I finally got the hull seam eliminated....



I seem to have kept the majority of the detail intact too

Even better, I'm no longer a student. I submitted my final assignment this afternoon.

A whole world of extra spare time has just opened up

[Marek]

Congrats! Now the active search for career change spots will probably take over half of this 'freed' time . If that is the case, I keep my fingers crossed for fast move. Your latest picture actually worked as a good persuasion tool for me to actively go on a hunt for 'bargain'.

[Dazzled]

With the masking/painting of the fiddlier bits of the Forrestal taking inordinately long periods of time, I'm rather glad I've got this little kit on the go to keep me sane and to show that I am still building models

The progress so far is....



...the lower hull is painted. Lots of masking tape and a failed attempt at mixed paint led to a rather pleasing result from a rattle can of red oxide primer .


At least it's progress and, as I have a few days off work and no more studies, I'm hoping to move this along quite significantly this weekend.

[Marek]

Maybe simple, but subs are highly rewarding from my perspective. Your 598 looks so naturally aerodynamically perfect.

[Dazzled]

Thanks Marek

And, keeping up the momentum, I've had another bout of sub-building today.

The diving planes are all painted and attached.



And a coat of Klear has been applied in readiness for decals.


While the Klear was drying I set about constructing the propeller.



This consists of an etched brass blade set and a hub. You get a choice of 2 different blades and I opted for the later 7-bladed version. The hub is styrene and mine had a huge sink mark in it . I used cyano glue and accelerator to fill it before sanding it back to shape and painting it with gold enamel. When the paint had dried, the parts were assembled with a bit more cyano glue.



I'll still need to put a twist in the blades but this can wait until it's attached. Otherwise, I've started painting the periscopes and got the stand fully assembled and ready for paint. Also, I now have the decals on. I'll pop some more pictures up tomorrow.

[Dazzled]

Well, I got my mojo working this weekend (my weekend started on Thursday) and made some pleasing progress.

With the decals having had overnight to dry, I applied a satin varnish coat this morning. Then I set about the last few pieces. The prop was attached and the blades twisted; the periscopes, that I've been painting for the last day or so, were attached; and the stand was painted in dark grey. I made up a plaque using my pC and printer.

And with it all together.....














....I'm calling this finished.

Can't wait to show my daughter the result

[Marek]

It is strange thing to say but it is beautiful

[philp]

Nice little build. She looks good.

I have been considering converting the 72nd Skipjack kit into the Washington. Just need an extention for the body and the built up missile section. How hard can it be?
Course, I have never tried anything like that and ships/subs are not my main forte but if I could get a decent set of plans for the differences I might try it one day.