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Old 12-17-17, 09:21 PM   #1
ET2SN
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Default The Bronco Models SSN-21 Seawolf in 1/350th..

..scale. Has anyone built it? I first heard about this kit at about the same time it went out of production or stopped being sold in the US (several years ago).

I'm starting to see it being available for shipment to the US on Ebay, but would it be worth the hassle to get one? Basically, are we talking about something as good (or almost as good) as the Hobby Boss 1/350th scale kits?

Speaking of "un-obtainable", what do the other builders on the forum use for red under-hull (anti-foul) paint? I know White Ensign used to make an under-hull red but not any more. The Hull Red paints by Tamiya and Valejo don't look too promising. I actually have some Tamiya Hull Red and it's more like "dark rust brown" and much too dark for a modern ship (to be fair, I'm pretty sure Tamiya's paint is matched for the WWII IJN ships). In the past I've used a mix of Testor's Insignia Red, flat Roof Brown, and a bit of Flat White but it never really looked "right". BTW, I've posted about it before but Testor's Insignia Red is a really close match to the paint that was used on real US subs in the late 80's and early 90's. Think of this as the only good reason to get shipyard duty.

Last up is Tamiya's Black Panel Line Accent Color (aka YouTube Hype Paint). If you build models and watch YouTube, you've heard about it and seen it in action. ITS AMAZING! ITS A GAME CHANGER! ITS OUT OF STOCK! ..permanently, it seems. After several weeks of waiting for a bottle to get delivered from Japan, I can report..

.. its very thin flat black enamel with a nifty brush built into the cap.
There's no real magic going on here. It flows the same as if you thinned-down any flat black enamel to a mix of 5 parts thinner to one part of paint. Try mixing up some as a "home brew" and pour it into an empty Tamiya Extra Thin Cement bottle, now you don't have to wait for that "backorder" status to change.
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Old 12-18-17, 04:49 PM   #2
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I haven't seen it myself, but here is a quick review by a guy who built one. It looks pretty good to me, if a bit basic, but unless you want an interior how much is there to any modern sub kit?
http://www.jeffhead.com/modelbuilds/ssn21.htm
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Old 12-18-17, 07:16 PM   #3
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I think Trumpeter does a modern Seawolf in 1/144th scale? I've heard about folks converting the kit to R/C so its going to take up some space in the house.

Way back in the day, I bought a couple of 1/192nd scale resin kits from a guy named David Meriman that were outstanding. His 688 kinda set the standard for a modern sub kit. It didn't hurt that I was on the Bremerton and we were in the shipyard at Pearl when I built it. I was able to match all the paint the easy way, I would just take color samples to work with me when we would have to do a dry-dock walk-around. The only down side to those kits were the numbers and draft markers. They were printed as dry transfers and just didn't work.
The model still turned out pretty good even if it was a little large for a barracks room (this thing would dominate the top of a dresser) and I heard from folks doing inspections that they were tempted to "impound" it due to security reasons. (Nice try, COB..)

I settled on 1/350th scale as a kind of compromise. They're a little more tricky to build and paint but a finished kit is usually less than a foot long.
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Old 12-20-17, 07:35 PM   #4
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Meanwhile, I'm running out of options on a "modern" hull red.

The only thing I've found that might look close is a color called dull red (TS-33) from Tamiya. The problem is that its only available as a spray lacquer and Tamiya spray cans tend to be a little on the thick side for this scale.

I'll probably mix some paint once the Mikro-Mir 1/350th scale 637 stretch arrives from Ukraine. I'm guessing a mix of Testor's Insignia Red and a buff/tan enamel should be close. Or, the red and a slight touch of dark brown?

Anyway, I'll post mix ratios once I figure them out.

Oh, BTW. I noticed some Hobby Boss kits are back in stock at Hobby Link.
The Virginia class SSN and Xia SSBN in 1/350th scale are back.
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Old 12-30-17, 02:19 AM   #5
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Well, to start off, I'm wondering if I should keep the 1/350th scale model stuff in one thread or do "one off" topics as things come up?

I'm holding off on buying a Bronco SSN-21 kit for now. I'm hoping they put it back into production, though.

I did order some paint to mix up some variations of "hull red" as well as some top coats for the Akula and figured I may as well grab the Xia kit while I was at it. With 1/350th scale kits, its better to "grab" than "wait". Sometimes these kits go out of production for a long, long time.

So, the Xia showed up today. Its like the PLAN mashed together a Han SSN and a Delta I SSBN. Kind of quirky, which is how I like sub models.
This model is one of H-B's early kits. If you built their original 688 3-in-1 kit, there aren't many surprises. The stern, bow planes and rudders are "pinned" which means you could build them to operate by adding some small brass tubing.
The reason I mentioned that this is one of H-B's early kits is because of the two hull halfs. They fit fairly well but you'll need to do some dry fitting and massaging before you glue them together. Its nothing to complain about, just be aware that you'll need to do some minor filing and sanding before you reach for the glue. While I'm tempted to start hacking away at this thing, I need to park it on a shelf until the Akula is finished. To be fair, I also have another H-B sub sitting on the shelf- the 1/350th scale Oscar II which you'd think would be easy until you start to plan how to mask the red and black "break" lines on the hull. The Oscar has been fighting me since I bought the original kit. Not the H-B Oscar, but the un-buildable Zvezda kit.
Now, Zvezda does top-notch armor kits but back then it was another story. But, it was packaged (at least) to survive WWIII so its a nice souvenir to the cold war even though I'll never build it.
One thing that is odd, though. Both the Zvezda and H-B Oscar's have the reverse pitch screws. Imagine ordering All Back Full to go forward and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I'm still waiting for the Miko-Mir 637 to show up. All I know is that its somewhere between Kiev and Iowa. It probably didn't help that the "item desription" on the shipping label is truncated to "US NUCLEAR".

Meanwhile, back to The Hunt For Hull Red.
For those of you in Europe and Asia, this isn't half the problem it is here in North America.
You have access to the full range of Mr. Hobby, Mr.Color, AK, and Vallejo paints. We have Testor's.. and a small selection of specialty paints that are usually out-of-stock or have been back-ordered since Reagan was the president.

What I'm planning to mix are three flat enamels: Insignia Red (FS31136), Radome Tan (FS33613) and one more called Italian Dark Brown (I think this was a WWII-era armor or aircraft paint) in several combinations until "it looks about right". More on this later after I mix the shades and they cure.
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