Dragon's Ohio Class SSGN (or SSBN) in 1:350 scale

1
January 13, 2021
I noticed that the sail on the HMS Vanguard in 1:350 scale, also has the sail at the same'ish position towards the front of the submarine.

I will look at it again, re. filling in the numerous bands around the hull. The difficulty is that the rings or bands goes over the top of the submarine where there are some details and a more rough anti skid surface moulded in the kit parts.
2
January 13, 2021
I added some detailing to make the insides a little more interesting. It looks nice if one is careful to make it look symmetric. I am fairly happy with the result, though this work was done a long time ago.
3
January 17, 2021
Luckily, masking tape isn't too expensive. Using Vallejo putty here. Will sand off with some coarse file. I added the putty from the 17ml bottle, and put down a few blobs which I smeared smooth over the tape using a used exacto blade. The added height from the raised tape should prevent any sink marks in the putty as the putty dries (and after sanding flush). The masking tape prevents excess use of putty, and avoid making a large mess of things.
4
January 17, 2021
I like the result. Although this is all very easy, it is somewhat tedious, I'll do it in a few sittings. The top deck has molded in non-slip pattern which I can simply sand off and replace with some matte varnish in the end. The forward part in front of the sail looks odd I think, wrong shape I suspect, an easy fix presumably.
5
February 23, 2021
After sanding off the vallejo putty, I noticed that the plastic seemed bumpy. I do not know if this was because I sanded too much on the plastic in between the filled in panel lines (I don't think so), or, if the molding was uneven there from the start. So after some additional sanding I added a layer of some random primer color to reevaluate.
6
February 23, 2021
I had rescribed or cleaned up the torpedo door panel lines, will have to revisit this and reevaluate. Looks ok'ish I think, but I should clean it up a little, and fill in some small bits of panel lines between the two doors.
7
February 23, 2021
The bollards, which afaik are extended and retracted back into the hull, I thought I'd drill out later, and replace with silver colored bollard pieces. Some scratches seen from the last rough handling with a sanding stick, will have to sand over again to make more smooth. Some traces of the non slip mould deck is seen here, maybe something that can be cleaned up further.
8
February 23, 2021
I tried here to show what the sides looks like, if it looks flush or not, but it was tricky to take photo of I thought. This kit looks a lot better with the panel lines filled in, on the big hull and the top part (not shown here).
9
February 25, 2021
I thought I had the rivet holes filled.. but then I took the photo and noticed some of the holes wasn't really filled with putty. I also filled in a tiny line sort of between the two torpedo doors. Fun thing with airbrushing, is that you can easily goof around a little, and it is still smooth, because of the thin layers of paint applied.
10
May 15, 2021
I had some difficulty making the hull smooth after adding putty to the panel lines all around the sub. Which explains why the primer is sanded off on most the model here in this photo.

Comments

15 13 January 2021, 13:31

Reaper_lead
Overall, how is the kit so far? I'm thinking about either an ohio class or virginia class in 1:350, but I've never built a submarine.

13 May 2021, 16:17

Treehugger
I think with some work it will look nice, but the numerous panel lines all along the hull afaik shouldn't be there so I filled them in with vallejo putty and then sanded flush. It will imo be a little difficult gluing on the big top deck, which is supposed to have two long open slits on the sides, because there aren't many struts and as you can imagine the forward part will require putty and sanding and maybe more to look flush. I glued on styrene parts to keep the top deck piece steady. I expected Dragon kits to be great, but it seems rather mediocre imo.

I damaged the bollards when sanding so the large bollards have to be re-created. I will fill in the cavities around the bollards, sand flush and paint over with white or silver, as the bollards are retracted mostly into the hull, top surface looking somewhat flush all over.

13 May 2021, 17:07

Reaper_lead
Good to know! I will definitely be watching

14 May 2021, 02:27

John Ballman
I am a Retired and Qualified US Navy Submariner. My last Submarine was USS MARYLAND SSBN 738. I appreciate what you are doing to fix that kit by Dragon. I have built a few in the past and was hoping a new tool would have come out by now. Yes, all those panel lines got to go. Also, Dragon engraved 4 BST bouy stations on the superstructure. Ohio boats only have two, forward port, aft starboard. Just fill with putty and sand smooth. If you don't know what I am talking about, they are the rectangular shaped engraved panels on the superstructure. The retractable cleats are so small that they are best represented by a decal cut to size or thin tape to represent it. The faring up on the bow is the WLR-9 torpedo detection device. It looks like a fin to a Killer Whale. Those items you are calling "Bollards" are not what you think they are. They are the ballast tank vents that are poorly rendered. I filled those in with super glue and sanded smooth, drilled out the holes for the ballast tank vents and put brass tubing for the outer and put brass rod in the hole to give it a vent valve look. Retractable cleats is what we call the devices that we use to tie up at the pier to the "bollards" on the pier.
All in all nice job, but the Dragon kit is really a piece of fiction in my book.
Respectfully
JB

26 January 2022, 20:17

Treehugger
Ah, thanks.
Ah I think I see what you mean by the four sets of bouy stations on the side of the superstructure on top of the sub.
I have the, what you called ballast tank vents filled in for now with putty. Sometimes I wonder a model would look better if some of the panel lines were filled in. Good thing I am done with the wierd panel lines around the hull, as one expect the hull to be smooth.

26 January 2022, 21:24

John Ballman
Subs have weld lines and they are raised lines, you should see a boat that has gone through overhaul. Lots of hull cuts made to remove major equipment from the ship so they can be overhauled as well. At that scale you wouldn't see those lines very well.

26 January 2022, 22:23

Project info

Dragon's Ohio Class SSGN (or SSBN) in 1:350 scale

10 images

1:350

In progress

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