Kit Advice for a Newbie

[concreteturtle]

Hi Everyone,

Apologies to anyone who's been through this post elsewhere.

I've been a long time lurker in these forums, and finally decided to take the plunge (sorry for the bad pun) and buy a sub kit to start out with.

Definitely a newbie to subs but years ago I did quite a bit of 1:35, 1:48 and 1:72 aircraft / armour modelling. So I know my way around plastic, glue and dremels well enough to be dangerous.

I'm looking for a static diver with nice detail and scale. So far I've narrowed the choices down a few kits, and wondered what you experienced guys thought of them.


- Sheerline Akula
I've read some great reviews and build logs of this kit on the net. Looks nicely scale and Chris is definitely a nice bloke to talk to.

- Arkmodels Type 212 (U31)
Very impressive looking submarine, price seems to be very reasonable as well. My only concern is the difficulty as a first kit and tales of woe I've read regarding the delivery time and instruction set provided.

- Scale ships 1:96 Akula II
Fantastic looking model, it's the very top of my wish list. My only concern is choosing what WTC and internal equipment would go well with it? Would building this as an R/C be difficult as a first time out boat?

Anyway, I welcome any experiences with the kits, and maybe kits I haven't thought of.

Thanks,

ConcreteTurtle

[darksheer]

not sure on avaliability but

not sure on avaliability but the ROBBE U47 is a really decent kit for a first time builder
I am building one for the first time and i have never worked with vacuFormed Plastic before and its pretty easy

the cost is also very reasonable i had mine shipped into canada from germany and the total cost including the sub was 625 Canadian

there is a tonne of info on the sub and tons of mods to make a unique boat and as a added bonus its a pretty robust model when complete


My 2 Cents

[bcliffe]

You should probably be thinking

You should probably be thinking about where you are going to run your sub. How responsive does it need to be ... will it be used in a pool, so a smaller sub, or in choppy water, so a larger sub.

You may also want to look at Small World Models.

[salvador moron]

companion, I have a TPO

companion, I have a TPO of VIIc Robbe and also one of Sherlinne Akula. Robbe VIIC of the submarine is a dynamic and complicated to construct Sheerline of the Akula submarine is a very simple static construction. The Akula is a model of Sheerline fantastic, it's perfect and easy to build. I think it's the best price-quality RC submarine. you send a video to see your navigation.
I also have the submarine model Scaleshiphs, WTC Sheerline of the Akula is perfect for this model.

PD. pardon my English so horrible.

Greetings

Salvador

http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p18/ ... kulaII.flv

[brady_d]

Concrete Turtle, I've found myself

Concrete Turtle, I've found myself in the exact same position as you. I am a longtime aircraft modeler and I've always wanted a detailed, scale Akula. So if you don't mind, I'd like to humbly offer two words of advice.

The first is that you can buy from Vladimir (Scaleships) with the utmost confidence; he is a true professional and his models are nothing short of superb in virtually every aspect. The second thing, and this is what caught me off guard, is that working with these materials is in some ways very different from plastics. Gaps and ill-fitting parts that would normally be considered absurdly bad in the plastic world are often just part of the business with fiberglass r/c kits. Not saying that's what you'll always encounter by any means, but I know that I've still got a lot to learn about working with epoxies and fiberglass.

I know that the community here is made up of some outstanding individuals who will go to great lengths to help you out if you need it, and will point you in the best direction for advice every time. That being said, give the Scaleships Akula a whack. You will not regret it.

-Brady

[Rogue Sub]

Brady....

Never mind I am gonna

Brady....

Never mind I am gonna hold my tongue with you.

He is right about these things but they are all part of the learning curve and natural progression of model boat building skills. Eventually you might find yourself cringing at the thought of a plastic model

Unless your brady ofcourse

[brady_d]

Brady....

Never mind I am gonna

Brady....

Never mind I am gonna hold my tongue with you.

He is right about these things but they are all part of the learning curve and natural progression of model boat building skills. Eventually you might find yourself cringing at the thought of a plastic model

Unless your brady ofcourse

I claim no glory, and pretend to be no kind of hero. You guys here are the real supermen, I'm just lucky enough to hang around and watch. Believe me, all pictures of "my" boat will come with a nice little disclaimer at the bottom saying just where it came from.

[Rogue Sub]

LMAO

LMAO

[greenman407]

Concreteturtle, I would highly recommend

Concreteturtle, I would highly recommend the Scaleships Oscar as it will readily run with the Caswell 3.5" Subdriver and it is going together well. You can see it if you click on the forum "builders threads" and go to Scale ships Oscar. The only drawback to it that I can see is its size, 63". If its to big to your liking the scaleships Akula might just be the ticket. All the best to you and yours.

[greenman407]

just found this picture. In

just found this picture. In it you can see the relative size difference between the scaleship Akula and their Oscar