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.
11
May 9, 2024
With a submarine model, it is important that things look level and straight when looking along a model, so the whole thing doesn't look warped. I think this looks ok.
I forgot to say, the sail, or the "tower" isnt' glued on, and isn't entirely level with the rest of the model, will fix later. Hm, apparently the model, dry fitted onto the stand, isn't level on the stand, will fix later.
12
May 9, 2024
I do wonder if maybe the rudder is supposed to have a "sharper" edge, or maybe not. Should try check and find out. Two of the propeller blades were scraped thinner, more work to be done.
13
May 9, 2024
In addition to filling in gaps between the large hull part and the "upper" deck part, I eyeballed the silhuette and sanded off any excess plastic to try make a streamlined surface.
Photo also show how the dumb Dragon panel lines were filled in, but some putty still needed to hide it all, but not much to do luckily.
14
May 16, 2024
A little head scratching is required to figure out how to best get the missile hatches looking nice on the model. Each hatch is a tight fit into two square shaped holes, and hard to see as well painted black previously.

I used a metal file and sanding sticks to gently reshap the top surface shape that runs along the hull at the top and front and over to the base top structure that had to be glued onto the main hull, to try make for a more flush and natural looking shape with no seam. Will have to re-evaluate after adding some primer over that work.

I want to try add some Acrylic? oils, to discolor the hull after painting the gray/black and red color onto the hull.

Comments

23 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

John Ballman
Keep up the good works, looks like you still need to address the two extra BST bouys. I am in touch with a Guy that 3D prints Submarine propellers. I'll see if he makes them for the Ohio class. FYI, the D-5 Missile is 44'4" length, 83" diameter, if you want to check the length, I think it is close enough in that scale.
Respectfully,
JB

16 May, 22:54

Treehugger
No idea what a BST bouy is, might it be this thing?
msn.com/en-us/news/w..e-orders/ar-AA1jeLsL

Presumably any buoys would be hidden inside the hull and not dangling on the outside. I think I know what a towed arrays is, two at the back I think, but no idea where any other larger buoy might be stored.

Ah, maybe a buoy is hidden inside this structure I see on some photos at the front? It looks like a small tower somewhere in front of the sail, but it is a small thing though, perhaps too small for containing a buoy. If I had to guess, any buoy is hidden somewhere under a panel door found on the deck on top.

I'll just use the propeller I've prepared, but ofc I can see why one would replace it, never knowing how inaccurate the kit part might be.

17 May, 05:49

John Ballman
That's ok. Here is the explanation of the BST Bouy, they are not hidden, they have explosive bolts and they are basically a bouy that is released if the Sub is in distress or under attack. It had two settings, Sub Sank / Sub Attacked. They are the rectangular shaped engraved panels on the superstructure, Dragon engraved four, there should only be two, Forward Port, Starboard Aft.
Here is a link to show a simulated installation during testing.

alamy.com/a-simulate..-image503839760.html

The towed arrays and their handling gear are located inside the superstructure and would not be seen. We also had two OE-305, now called AN/BRR-6/6B communications bouys that was deployed from a retractable deck section aft of the missile tubes. I retired 25 years ago so all external changes that have done like the SSGN conversions I have no first hand knowledge.
Follow this links for the comms bouys

interestingengineeri..ealth-nuclear-strike

twz.com/this-buoy-he..uclear-strike-orders

Keep up the great work.
JB

17 May, 17:41

Treehugger
" (...) there should only be two, Forward Port, Starboard Aft."
Aha, I think I can see this now on the kit. I can fix this.

I think I just realized that the Dragon kit's propeller, have its blades rotating the wrong way, as if the sub was reversing. So I snipped off the plastic and will use the photo etch blades which are larger.

I think I had a similar issue with Hobby Boss 1:350 Guam heavy cruiser, kit failing to have counter rotating propellers for two of its four propellers. So I had to fix that.

Dragon kit has a recessed line on top from far front to back, and I think this is supposed to be a cable, and so I can probably glue on some metal wire, so the detail isn't a recessed detail. I guess this might be a degaussing cable or something. I remember on some other kit, I cut this detail off, thinking it was a molding line, heh.

18 May, 11:17

Project info

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

14 images

1:350

In progress

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