MikroMir's Nautilus submarine in 1:350 scale
Btw, this is the world's first nuclear powered submarine. Currently a museum piece somewhere. This time I will make sure I keep the photo etch fixed with masking tape before using cyanoacrylate glue. I will make a new stand I suspect.
According to this photo, the top deck is basically flush with the rest, I will use sheet styren fore and aft, and add putty on the sides to try make it all look flush.
There wasn't enough space to add much putty, but hopefully this will look ok after adding primer. Might require more work to create a smooth hull. Sail not glued on.
Apparently, there are some kind of openings on the side. Unsure if unique to one sub, or holes that closes.
In this photo, showing number 571, no holes on the side. Oh, it is snowing outside right now. 🙂
I was lucky enough to get to use my smallest Trumpeter chisel tool, to clean up the "holes" on the side. Width matches nicely. 🙂 Tail section needs even more fixing.
I don't know if the shape on the left is supposed to run center with the sub. Too much work to correct, if supposed to run center of hull. So I am going with this.
I am fairly happy with the result. Relying on sprue goo, and scraping and sanding. Cleaning up the fuzzy bits with a coat of Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. 🙂
Parallel projects. 🙂 I think I will use custom photo etch for repositioning Nautilus windows and outer torpedo doors. I have since removed the protruding deck detailing on the Thresher sub.
I will glue on six pieces of PE for the outer torpedo doors. As the molded panel lines aren't all properly aligned. I can maybe try sand the PE a little thinner afterwards. First time making such custom PE pieces.
I realized I had a box of some 1:350 WW2 Kriegsmarine figures. I think I'll use one or two standing in the tower. The base must be removed from under the feet.
An annoying thing adding custom PE, is that the PE ideally can't be flat but curved. Afaik, the bow planes is supposed to be like this, also seen in a poster.
So, I am inclined to think, that the rudders aft looks like this for every version of this sub.
I was swearing profusely trying to get the PE attached. 😠 It helps filing down the PE after they are attached with superglue. The sail is yet to be glued onto the deck.
I filled in the panel lines on the two rudders and made moving parts.
Unfortunately, some glue seeped into the shaft area, and I had no hope of yanking the moving part loose from the dried glue. :|
I reached a new level of tediousness. More profound swearing, when experiencing I think three tweezer launches. All parts recovered. 🙂 Ofc, I inadvertently knocked two of these off again after I finished.
Having fun making some sense of the sail/tower. Work-in-progress. The build manual isn't very good and I have difficulty finding good references.
Tricky stuff. Certainly not something I am used to. 😠 I think it will look ok, but I have to add more glue to the handrails, currently fixed at just two points. Also will "open" the rail, to allow door to "open".
Well, I tried. The load of re-working I find is distracting and add to risk of mishaps. I'll queue this one up for adding primer paint. I wish the mold accuracy was better, but it is ok I think. Anchor, sailor and propellers to be added.
Sprue goo. Too thick and the plastic turns into strings between model and applicator. Best balanced with re-fills of bits of plastic and also more Tamiya Extra Thin Cement.
Looks really nice in glossy black I think. Somehow, I have to do the airbrush work in two sessions. The paint was too sticky to do it all in one session, maybe because I added a lot of flow enhancer (50 parts paint + 25 parts flow enhancer + 10 parts thinner).
I am very happy with the result after adding some bit of styrene sheet fore and aft, to get the photo etch deck to level all the way. I also had added some putty on the sides and sanded the edge a little rounded.
Some of the photos are larger than what is shown in the album photos, if you open the image in a new tab.
So, the submarine is to retain its black hull and black deck, but will get 'ocean gray' sides, using 'medium sea gray' because I don't have 'ocean gray' and they seem very similar in hue. I may or may not add some varnish to the deck itself, but I will have to see, like a more matte varnish with satin hull or something maybe. I tried to de-stripe the photo, but the GIMP de-striping tool doesn't seem to work at all with this one photo, for unknown reason.
A really bad result from the masking work prior to airbrushing on the black. I used wider strips of tape to cover a rounded edge, which probably ended up with the masking tape lifting up. 🙁 One step forwards, two steps back. I have gotten a lot better at airbrushing my models, but now I apparently suck at masking my models.
I was reading a book, and I guess I started thinking "This book is a little boring, what can I do that is more boring?" 🙂 I will go around the bits of masking tape, with a thin tipped cotton bud and make sure the masking tape doesn't lift anywhere. Next up. Airbrushing on gray paint to fix the nasty overspray issues.
A lot better. My faith in my own masking skills is restored. Some clean up is required, but I will fix that with a small brush. To my surprise, no paint was torn off the photo etch deck, ofc, there was a layer of both paint and gloss coat.
I think I should be able to finish this at last.
Todo:
- Add two photo etch propellers
- Add photo etch anchor
- Add two gray patches on the hull (DONE)
- Add two figures and probably make the windows dark
- Add basic weathering/wash for the openings along the sides of the submarine, or something.
I like having more stuff to fiddle with and I have been struggling to clean up the other two sub kits there, hopefully I can get them finished too and try get back to the Tomcat group build. 🙂
Todo:
- Add two photo etch propellers
- Add photo etch anchor
- Add two gray patches on the hull (DONE)
- Add two figures and probably make the windows dark
- Add basic weathering/wash for the openings along the sides of the submarine, or something.
I like having more stuff to fiddle with and I have been struggling to clean up the other two sub kits there, hopefully I can get them finished too and try get back to the Tomcat group build. 🙂
So not much left: Propellers + two figures to be painted + anchor to be painted + hull openings to be given dark wash + some kind of varnish on the whole hull which now has decals and a gloss coat. Actually the prop thingy can be no more than 5 mm long, but that is an absolute maximum.
It is tricky to get the parts 100% level on the ends, but good enough. When gluing this, I can probably make some fine adjustment to it all, and eventually it will be covered with primer paint.
I really wanted to gently sand the edges of the prob blades to make the edges thinner, but the grip is not good enough, and I don't want to risk the fragile PE joint break. :| Note, there is a risk of making a dent in the PE when using the pliers directly. I didn't, but probably a good idea to add some soft material on the tweezer tips to try avoid hard dents from forming.
I am very happy with this result. Now, I did not use super glue, I just gambled that the thin layer of PE, would be melded into the two plastic bits, so I just used Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. I should let this dry for some time before I fiddle with it. I sort of blame the uneven styrene rod diameter, by the styrene product which has shown itself to be flawed many times, basically, the two ends of a styrene rod doesn't have the same diameter. 🙁
I am fairly happy with the result, but it isn't accurate. I imagined the prop blades to be variable, but by looking at the prop photos I have, the blades sort of look "stuck", and with the tips being angled differently. But, ok for me. Hopefully I will get to build the Nautilus sub in 1:144 scale later if anybody produces a new mold kit of this in plastic.
Right click image in new tab, to see the somewhat larger photos. I am calling this finished. I learned a few things along the way. 🙂 There is one outstanding issue, but I don't know how I want to deal with it, so I am calling it finished. I think the photo etch outer torpedo doors worked the best. I tried to add some contrast to the two figures by adding face color, and a wash, but the figures, even if maybe the best at this scale, doesn't have crisp details.
So I learned that I can twist the otherwise flat photo etch propeller blads and making it look nice. A little tricky for me to airbrush such small things, but at least I got some practice doing that from it. In hindsight, I could probably have sharpened the prop blades before I started bending them, and they would have looked nicer I think.
It is a miracle that the two masts are still on, and even more mysterious how the two tiny photo etch parts are still glued on. 🙂 Let's not think too much about the multiple windows. I used custom cut photo etch which was tedious to make them look same sized, and it was very difficult to apply them onto the curved structure, and somehow the edge detailing was lost under the frustration of gluing these window openings on and trying to file the outer surface to shape.
I am very happy with the torpedo doors, and the addition of the photo etch anchor.
Maybe some time later I can find the courage to add some weathering onto my models.
Until today, I never really had much of an issue with dust settling on the model as I work, but when airbrushing a mix of satin & matte varnish over the gloss coat, to my annoyance, I see some bits of skin flake and/or dust here and there. I tried to blow it off, and even used a brush but it wouldn't come off, and I couldn't be assed to airbrush black all over again. :|
Comments
12 21 March 2020, 09:12
TreehuggerHeh, somehow I find the covid-19 stuff fascinating, I have several models prepared for airbrushing on primer paint. 🙂 Hopefully I will get my ass going on this, and start priming this next.
This kit is ok, but isn't entirely clean, so although I could just glue things together, I want to try clean up the detailing. Mostly ok, but need a little bit of work imo. For example, the starboard plane by the props, isn't symmetrical with the left side one, easy fix.
26 March 2020, 20:06
TreehuggerI listened to a documentary on youtube about this particular submarine (went to the north pole) while finishing the work on the tail this evening.
6 April 2020, 18:19
TreehuggerI wish there had been a kit of this sub in 1:144 scale. I have really come to like the looks of it. 🙂
16 April 2020, 08:16
TreehuggerWhat 21 sub did you have in mind? I know there is the German Type XXI sub, but is that the one you meant?
17 April 2020, 12:20
David TaylorYes.A lot of design cues were taken off the type 21 by both western and warsaw pact designers.
17 April 2020, 14:44
TreehuggerI am very happy how the modified deck worked out. I added styrene front and aft, to make the photo etch deck look more flat. I should be able to take some good photos later on.
11 June 2020, 03:31
TreehuggerHrm, I will have to work on my photos. Anyway, the last three photos of the black sub, shows the glossy black with Vallejo Air Black airbrushed over it all. I will now let this dry and seal it all before I create any blemish on the nice paintwork, and then airbrush on the gray.
11 June 2020, 08:10
TreehuggerRe. photo 25, showing Vallejo Air Black over the black primer, I think I do not dare putting masking tape on the large photo etch deck, in case the tape rips off paint from it. I think I will mask the black area on the sail and then airbrush the gray on sides AND over the deck, then mask the sides and airbrush the deck black again.
11 June 2020, 20:49
TreehuggerMiserable painting result. The masking tape lifted here and there and overspray is everywhere. Crap! I should have used much thinner strips of masking tape.
14 June 2020, 16:11
TreehuggerI already have a layer of paint + gloss coat + more paint on top of that large piece of photo etch deck so hopefully I can add some masking tape here and just airbrush on gray to fix this. 🙂
21 June 2020, 12:04
Slavo HazuchaReally like the propellers & the idea of just welding the plastic parts over the PE blades! 👍 Much better solution than filling & sanding the gaps - hope the paint will not reveal any evil surprises. In bare material, the result looks very good!
@overspray - I did 3 extensive passes for removing imperfections of all kinds on my current project - tedious, but had to be done... Maybe you can use the repair-passes for some experimentation with +1 white/black tone into the paint to create interesting light fading effects around the masked line... unless you want to keep it absolutely clean & pristine of course.
11 July 2020, 17:53
TreehuggerI haven't shown the result of my clean up, except for this somewhat blurry photo in photo 29, but I managed to clean it up nicely, the masking for that clean up is seen in photo 27. I also airbrushed on two patches of gray on the bow, very nicely.
I worry that the spinner for the propeller thingy will fall off, but I think I will just try be super careful and not think too much about it, once the props go onto the model, the diving planes or whatever sort of protects the prop spinners from bumbing into anything. I didn't manage to re-create the prop blades, but a this point I am not going for museum type of accuracy. Nice training though.
I bent the PE blades straight on, but it is proably a very good idea to add some pads or something to the tweezer tips, to make the bending action more gentle to avoid making hard dents in the PE.
11 July 2020, 19:34
TreehuggerI will have a new and better digital camera in a few days. 🙂 My photos should be better then.
13 July 2020, 11:53
TreehuggerFun things I learned:
1) I can use two tweezers and very gently bend photo etch prop blad to make it look curved. I can also probably sand the edges sharper with some later project to get more detailing onto the propellers.
2) I have to be very careful when airbrushing smaller parts, and especially when airbrushing on metal color. Not good once things starts to become runny. :|
3) Again, it was fun adding detailing to the sail (tower).
4) I have to be more careful when cluing on large pieces of photo etch, like handrails. Tricky stuff.
5) Adding photo etch onto a curved surface is tricky, when it isn't easy for me to bend small photo etch parts properly.
6) Using chisel tools is really nice. You can both carve/slice but also turn it around and use it as a scrape. 🙂
15 September 2020, 19:59
Marc SchnitzlerLooking really nice!
You can remove the flakes with the appropriate thinner of the clearcoat, but be careful not to remove the paint underneath.
15 September 2020, 20:06
Ingmar StöhrGreat result with this very special submarine. I build the same kit in January and know what you went through.
16 September 2020, 01:44
Jim JWonderful work. I really appreciate your attention to detail on the deck, sail and props. Well done. As a former submariner, I'm a big fan of the Nautilus and you've certainly done it justice. Congrats. 👍
17 September 2020, 16:51
