Submarine kits-2015

[tom dougherty]

The Revell German web site list two submarine kits for this coming year:

Scheduled near the end of 2015 (November) is a 1/72 Type IX U-boat variant Type IX C/40 (Kit 05133).
And, on the reissue list for March is the old 1/125 Type VII U-boat cutaway model with the interior fittings. (Kit 05060).

Hobby Boss is still listing the 1/350 PLAN Golf SSB submarine for release (when I don't know, it was supposed to be last year) (Kit 83514)

MicroMir is listing a long hull Sturgeon SSN kit (but I have had mixed experiences with MicroMir products- poor boxing and parts missing…).

More listings as they are posted….

[salmon]

Re: Submarine kits-2015

I should have read this posting first. Sorry for the duplicate announcement!

[tom dougherty]

Re: Submarine kits-2015

Tom,
I'm glad you also posted the Revell Type IX kit above, as that of course has potential for R/C.

[ober freak]

Re: Submarine kits-2015

I found a picture of the type IXc/40, looks like the last modification run from late '44 / early '45 with fast diving fore deck.

[gepard335]

Re: Submarine kits-2015

Mikro-Mir has some good 1/350 kits available now. They recently released a George Washington SSBN model, which I have on order. They also have a Foxtrot, Juliet SSG, and Uniform AGSSN out. Their Typhoon is the most accurate kit out there, but fitting the hull together is proving to be an immense challenge. The gaps are significant and will take a long time to fill and sand.

Also, the Ukrainian company Modelsvit is coming out with a 1/144 scale Permit, based on the Mikro-Mir kit. Should be pretty cool.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234970957-american-boat-uss-thresher-ssn-593-and-uss-permit-ssn-594-1144-modelsvit/

[tom dougherty]

Re: Submarine kits-2015

Thanks for posting! Do you know of a supplier in the US?

My last MicroMir kit of Skipjack arrived with missing photo etch fret and the parts are loose in the box (so some were banged up a bit during transit. They don't even bother to seal their boxes! So while they may make decent model kits, I am not all that impressed with their ability to actually deliver. And, as you noted, although they are decent with accuracy, some of the kit fit is downright poor.

[gepard335]

Re: Submarine kits-2015

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a US supplier. I just get mine off ebay or Ukrainian sites.

That's awful that they forgot to put a PE sheet in and that the parts were loose. I've been fortunate to avoid such problems. I've built their Nautilus, Skate, Skipjack, Permit and Sturgeon, and the first two were by far the easiest because of their hull shape. The boats with pre-body-of-revolution hulls have almost no hull fitting issues because of the way the hull is split and the top seam doesn't matter because you cover it with the PE deck. But the modern boats require a whole lot of putty to get them right. Took me about a month of on and off work to fully get rid of the seam on the Skipjack, Permit and Sturgeon. I guess the trade-off is price and accuracy. These kits are some of the most accurate in 1/350 I've seen, and they usually run about $20. Not too bad for a tiny company in Ukraine.