HobbyBoss 1:350 USS Los Angeles Class Sub 3 in 1

[BillBenBob]

This is going to be my first sub build, and first SIG entry. I don't build floaty things, I've built 2 battleships but that was at least 10 years ago when I wasn't actually trying with models and was just gluing parts together. So this will be my first real attempt and making something sea going.

I chose a sub because I like them more than ships. Just from an engineering standpoint really, nothing so much modelling related. Nuclear subs specifically because of their streamlined appearance, hence the LA class. Also went with 1:350 to a get a good sized model with decent details without it being extremely large.

On to the kit itself. It has some decent details despite nuclear subs not having much in the way of extreme detail. I picked this kit because it is a 3 in 1 and I thought I could manage to actually squeeze 2 builds out of it. The way HobbyBoss has gone about making it a 3 in 1 kits gives you almost enough pieces to build 1.5 subs. As you can tell from the sprue pictures they have 1 lower hull and 2 upper hull sections. Along with that they have 2 different conning towers (or sail to be correct) for the variants. However there are some parts which they haven't doubled up on to be able to fully replicate 2 complete upper hulls. These including the exhaust stacks, periscopes, and antenna for the top of the conning tower and the rear rudders. They do include 2 top portions for each of the 2 conning towers, one to have exhaust, periscopes, and antenna up and one for them down. So, the lack of duplicates for these parts doesn't matter for my purposes. I will be building one full hull version with the exhaust, antenna, etc. down, then a waterline version with them up. My first plan was to make a mold of the one conning tower with them up, so assemble completely one version of it with them up make a mold then cast in resin. However, I wanted to build the full hull version with the other variant of the conning tower which has the retractable diving plains. So I think my plan will work for now, but it might change.







I'll post an update later once I'm home, with some more detail shots, and some of the reference shots I may use for the dio I have planned.

[AridTalons]

Been seeing a lot of Subs being made recently. Best of luck on your build.

[BillBenBob]

Did some more research on the LA class subs and their design changes.

From what I could find the LA class subs came in 3 variants.
The original (or Flight I) was started with the class's namesake of Los Angeles SSN-688. SSN-688 had its years of service from 1976-2010 when it was disposed of by submarine recycling (began in Feb 2011, completed March 2013). Submarine recycling is when vessel is decommissioned, nuclear fuel removed (or reactor defueling if you prefer), vessel's systems are shut down and other usable equipment is removed, the hull is cut into 3-4 sections then disposed of (how exactly they're disposed of I can't find a definite answer, seems it is actually too expensive for the Navy to sink some of the ship sections due to removal of certain hazardous material). The majority of the original Flight have been decommissioned, or are in the process of being decommissioned.

The second variant, or Flight II, had the inclusions of 12 Tomahawk cruise missile launch tubes positioned vertically near the bow. These are refereed to by VLS. Of these Flight II subs all seem to be in active service.

Third there is the 688i ("i" stands for improved). All but one of these are still in active service. These include the VLS system but have improved beyond that. They are quieter and have more advanced equipment. Also, they had the retractable dive plains relocated from the conning tower (or sail if you want to be accurate, I'm just used to calling it a conning tower) to the bow.
Another interesting aspect is the each (except for one) of the LA class subs are named (or were named) after US cities. This broke a long tradition in the US Navy of naming attack subs after sea creatures.
Also, it seems that the newer Virginia class subs are starting to replace the LA class.

The HobbyBoss kit allows you to build one of any variant (688, VLS, or 688i). For the 688 they give the reference for SSN-688 or the USS Los Angeles, the first of the class. For the VLS they give SSN-721, the USS Chicago. And for the 688i they give SSN-755, the USS Miami. The USS Miami is no longer in active service, and was decommissioned in March 2014 after a civilian contractor started a fire during a scheduled maintenance in Portsmouth Naval shipyard and the cost was determined too high to repair her. The USS Miami is also the only 688i to be decommissioned.

USS Los Angeles.


USS Miami.


USS Chicago.


An LA class sub in dry dock (the USS Greeneville). Here you can see that the bow in black, while the color callout says to have it 3/4 hull red. Not sure if only the Greeneville had a black bow or if all did. But I will probably follow the color call outs.


I'm going to try and make the waterline version I want to build an action shot of the sub moving on the surface. Like this.

But I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do it yet.

[BillBenBob]

Progress has been made, but somewhat slowly. Living in the desert it's hot this time of year, very hot. My 'shop' is just a cinder block building in the backyard which gets very hot. In fact its probably around 98*F in there at the moment, I do have a small window A/C but it is far too small for the space and won't keep the room below 85*F in the afternoon. So I've been working early when I can and in the house when I can.

The the 2 hull halves glued together and sanded while watching the live show Friday. The seem appears to be gone, so now I just have to rescribe and put some texture back into the hull. Since I don't have any Mr. Surfacer I think I'm going to use a very old and worn Ultimate 220 sanding sponge to rough up the surface.

Here is the difference in the hull variants, first flight and those with the VLS.


Was able to also get the sail for the full hull built and test fit.

There was a small gap. So I cut a piece of sprue to spread the sail and it then fit perfectly.

I did however run into an odd problem I've never had before. The plastic on this sail had delaminated from the layer below it. I assume that when the plastic was injected into the mold that one part cooled early and caused the separation. It started as just a bubble I could move around then I decided to peel and sand to make sure nothing would happen down the road.



Here are the parts that aren't duplicated.


This has caused some issues, as the parts that aren't duplicated are needed for both of my builds. So I've had to improvise. According to the instructions parts B1 go down the spine of the top hull.

From the references I've seen of some of the moving subs on the surface those portions are down, same goes with the front tie downs. Which interestingly the instructions have mislabeled, the part is B2, not B1.

Same goes with part B16. From the references I have some are up, some are down.
So for the waterline version I'm building I'm going everything down. This of course means filling the location aids in the top hull.

Along the top of the hull I used Vallejo putty and dabbed on a good amount to fill the hole. This of course leaves quite a bit proud of the hull. But, I wanted to avoid sanding to not disturb the anti-slip texture. So I waited until the Vallejo putty was about half dried and gummy. It was holding it's shape but I could still move it and it would bounce back. Then, with a sharp hobby blade I cut across the top level with the hull. This took away all the excess and left a good enough fill. I don't want this to disappear into the hull, I want them to remain visible somewhat after paint so it looks like there is a moveable panel there.

After the cut.


Next I had to fill the holes in the front.

Again, I wanted to replicate the sense that these parts were retracted and not missing. So I started by cutting strips of the correct thickness in plastic sheet (just happened to be black, none of my white stock was the correct thickness).

Of course me being me I didn't cut them exactly to the correct width so I had to sand them a bit narrower. I sanded them on a slight taper so they would slot in easier and would stop on their own when the gap was filled completely.

To try and make it convincing these parts were retracted and not missing I wanted to keep these pieces of sheet a bit proud of the surface. So I put down a double layer of tape (MT washi tape) to protect the textured surface, and give the desired height.

The remaining gaps were then filled with some more Vallejo putty and after the putty has sat for a few minutes I used a wet qtip and lightly went over the surface to create almost a recessed panel line. I thought about just filled them normally then scribing the lines, but figured this way would be faster and easier, and with must less risk of putting a large mistake down the hull with my scriber. It took 2 coats of the Vallejo putty to fill it in the desired amount and get rid of all the voids.

The only other part I needed to replicate was the rear top rudder. The kit only includes one, but I need one for both the builds. So I had to cut and shape a new one out of plastic sheet. The shape isn't the easiest to duplicate but it isn't all that hard. And since the waterline build is the one I'm putting the most effort into and is the one I will probably display I decided the kit part will go on that and the scratch built part will go on the full hull.
I didn't actually have any sheet stock the correct thickness so I glued to pieces together and then cut the shape. Since the piece is so small I used a spring clamp to hold it while I was sanding. While doing this I realized that sanding by hand was just going to take too long. And that cutting through that thickness of stock would take even longer. So I decided to get my rotary tool out and use a sanding wheel. To protect the piece from going to small, and to keep my edge straight I used a metal guide. I just used a razor blade as it was handy and it worked quite well.

Once the overall size was sanded down to I started to work on the profile. Sadly I wasn't able to get pictures during the process, but it was quite simple. I used the kit part to trace the outline of the shape (its shaped almost like a plane's wing) on the edge of the piece I made. The part was then held down at the end of a wooden stick using blutack. The shape was then roughly sanded with a 100 grit stick, with very little cushion. Even though the part does have a slight curve and roundness I didn't want that yet. So I got very close to the final curve with the 100 grit then switched to a Ultimate 240 sander pushing quite hard to round the part and give it close to the right curve and thickness. I then did final shaping with the Ultimate 1200 sander and got it to fit in the slot on the hull. The fit wasn't perfect, the part was a little short so there was a gap at the front. Lucky for me when I glued the part in place the TET melted enough plastic that some got pushed into the gap. I'm still not quite happy with the back of the part and will refine the shape some more once it is set. I also need to attach 2 small bumps on the top like the kit part has.

I hope to get the full hull scribed tomorrow and completed so I can prime. The waterline hull will be easy as I only have to finish attaching the periscopes, antenna, and some pe. Hopefully I'll have both primed and ready for painting within a few days. Then I'll just have to worry about the base for the dio, but I'll leave that for another post soon.

[BillBenBob]

Got a lot of work done today. Since it's my day off I made sure I spent some time on modelling. Got both the full hull and the waterline subs completed.
Started by rescribing the full hull. Used some carving guide tape and my P-cutter. Quick and easy work considering the sub is just a few straight lines.
I also took this as a good time to deepen some of the panel lines, but not all of them.

The carving tape works wonders. Easy to do than stacking layers of masking tape, and provides a good hard edge. It's about the same thickness as dymo or label tape, but with much weaker adhesive so you don't have to worry about not getting it off etc. I would say the adhesive is strong than Tamiya masking tape by a good bit, it would probably pull paint off if you didn't take a good bit of the tack away. If you haven't used something like this yet it's worth getting. I used a small strip about 2 inches long and just moved it around, the adhesive held up and stayed tacky enough to hold it in place to do the 12 panel lines. So one roll should last quite a while.
Heres the waterline sail finished with the periscopes, etc. and the small bits of PE. Assembly was very straight forward with no issues.

And them both together



Just waiting on some more Hull Red paint to come in and then I'll get to painting.
I also found in my research that the bow on the USS Miami (the waterline version) is completely black, not part hull red like the instructions say.
Not sure on the USS Los Angeles. However, through more research Riich models have a version and the color call outs for that give a completely different scheme which is much more pleasing to me. Through more research about the colors the Riich call outs seems to have the colors more accurate. The HobbyBoss says to use flat black and hull red. The Riich call outs say the sub color is actually a dark grey above the hull red then black on the top. So I've got some time to figure it out before my paint arrives.

[BillBenBob]

For the dio base I wanted something large enough to have a good amount of water surrounding the sub. Since the sub is roughly a foot long I knew it was going to have to be at least 14" by 10" to get it where I wanted it to be. My plan is to hang this on the wall when its done(if I'm happy with it). Took a trip an hour away to a "local" craft store, closest thing to me. Found some cheap metal picture frames which came close to the size I was looking for. The closest frame size I could find was 12" by 16", which was a little shorter, and wider than I was really looking for. Then as I was looking at more stuff I remembered an article I read about someone using what is called a gesso board for a dio base. A gesso board is supposed to be used as a medium for painting. It's simply a composite board with a canvas like texture and a coat of acrylic gesso on top. They came in a wide variety of sizes and flat or cradled, the cradled ones has a small wooden frame on the back. These frames make the boards extremely rigid and what I think is the perfect size for dios. They of course do come in a wide size of cradle thicknesses as well.
But I settled for a 10"x18" board which fits the Sub exactly the way I wanted it to.
Since the waterline for the isn't at the half way mark I have to build up some material to get the water level closer to where it needs to be. My plan is to use celluclay as the media to form the waves, but I don't want to put it down in that thick of a layer. So, I figured out that foam board is the perfect thickness to take up the bulk of the height. However, I will have to raise the sub somewhat to get it exactly where I want to, just so happens that toothpicks are the perfect height for that. So I've put a layer of foam board cut into random shapes on the top of the gesso board. After a while I will mix up some celluclay and put that on top. I am leaving the sub off for now and am leaving a void on the base. Once the sub has been painted, etc. it will be set in place. But for the time being I'm just going to leave the void as it is then fix it in right up to the sub down the road.
I've also started to work on the sheets of water that are coming over the bow. I'm testing with silicone at the moment. Laying down some in a pile on a piece of glass then dragging it down with a silicone spatula. This is giving some decent results, but we'll see how this next batch turns out. I also had the idea to heat up some clear plastic sheet, or acetate and spread that over the sub, but I don't think that will look as convincing as the silicone.
Hopefully I'll have some pictures up sooner rather than later of all these steps, I just wanted to make sure I got everything written down while it was still fresh in my mind.

[BillBenBob]

As normal my plans have changed for the dio base. I had laid down some small pieces of foam board to take up some of the bulk of the water. Since I was putting down a layer of celluclay I didn't want it to be too thick. In doing that I liked the way the foam board looked, reminded me of small icebergs. So I decided to ditch my original idea of having the sub moving through the water and just have it sitting in the water surrounded by icebergs. One of the other reasons I picked this was the colors I was planning on using for the water didn't really contrast enough with the sub, the water would be very dark and the sub would be black and nato black so the white would be a nice addition.
So I got the base, laid out where I wanted the sub then laid down some celluclay.
After the culluclay was cured I spread out a thin layer of Woodland Scenics Lightweight Hydrocal which was mixed very thick. This is what I put some small wave variation etc. I didn't want it to be too rough of seas for everything just sitting still. Once that was dry I took a piece of aluminum foil and wrinkled it up then glued it to the top using spray adhesive. After that was dry I primed with a rattlecan black primer made for metal. After that I mixed up some liquitex black/blue/and white. Mixed a dark black/blue and did a very heavy dry brush. After that I made a slightly lighter blue and did another drybrushing, but not as heavy. After than I did a final drybrush with the liquitex, again going lighter.
Result of that...


After that I laid down the icebergs. These are made from the same Woodland scenics hydrocal. I have a silicone place mat that has a lip around the edges. The hydrocal was mixed and poured into the place mat, trying to keep the layer of plaster very thin, but not as thin as the lip of the place mat. After that dried I took it and just broke it into random size and shape pieces. These were glued down using normal PVA. Some of the larger pieces wouldn't conform to the wave shapes, these were then broken along those lines and made to sit flat. This made them look like one large berg which was braking up. I think they look good. Didn't want to put too many on.

They didn't look quite right to me. Didn't look like they were part of the dio yet. Real bergs have a nice ring of light water around them from the portion of them that is directly under the surface of the water.

Not the best picture, but you can sort of see the rings at the bases of the bergs.
So I decided to try and replicate that. I used my H&S Infinity and sprayed Mr. Paint 024 A II G Light Blue. This color had a nice greenish tinge to it. This was sprayed in a small ring around each berg. I think the end result added a lot of depth to the bergs and makes them seem part of the water and not just stuck on top.

[AridTalons]

Ah! An arctic dio. Never seen one before. Cool idea.

[BillBenBob]

Ah! An arctic dio. Never seen one before. Cool idea.

Thanks. Yeah, I saw the foam board and just thought it would be cool.

[BillBenBob]

Here is the first video I've done for this build. Pretty much just the same as my last update.
Thanks guys!

[BillBenBob]

Ran into a slight problem with the dio base. As I mentioned in the video my plan is to sand down the icebergs to get them down to a better scale thickness. Well the gloss gel has made that rather difficult. When I first went to apply the gel my intention was to avoid going on top and right around the icebergs, but that didn't quite work well so I went up and on them for the sake of speed. That was a mistake. The gloss gel doesn't sand very well as you might expect. It takes a little more work to get it off the top of the bergs, which is fine. However, the issue I'm running into is that the gel around the edges of the icebergs isn't sanding at all, just flexing out of the way. In some areas it is even peeling up, take the base back to primer in those areas. My plan is now to take a hobby knife and cut along the edges of the icebergs to remove the gel there, then sand the top. Then once they're down to the scale thickness I want I'll go back around the edges of them carefully to get the gel back.

As far as the actual sub goes it is still in primer. Trying to figure out how I want to go about painting it to add some depth to the paint work since from the waterline it is really only dark grey and black.

So this is what my plans currently are for the dio base...
1, cut along the outside of the icebergs to free the gel.
2, sand the icebergs down to scale.
3, fill any voids and do a top coat of drywall spackling.
4, sand the icebergs again.
5, continue with the gel coats to build up the shine and depth of the water.
6, reapply the gloss gel around the edges of the icebergs, filling any voids between the bottom on the bergs and the base.
7, attach the Sub to the base.
8, fill around the sun where needed.
9, gloss gel around the sub to tie it in.
10, matt coat the iceberbs.
11, pigments.

[DBMiller]

Very nice! I love the ice pack diorama!

[BillBenBob]

Work has slowed some. My plan to cut around the icebergs to free the gloss gel isn't working. When I cut it just breaks apart the icebergs, the hydrocal I used for the icebergs sands very fast, but is brittle. So I've just had to sand what I can and will deal with the surplus gloss gel later.
As of now I need to put a layer of spackle on each berg and sand it smooth.
Subs still need painted.
Hopefully I'll have a video update for it soon.

[MichaelHoffman]

Love it. It is looking good. I served several years on these boats, and have a few in my arsenal...this one is 70 inch R/C. Can't wait to see what you do with this build.

ssn.JPG

[BillBenBob]

So...
I had to redo all the painting on the base. My plans failed terribly.
The drywall spackle worked well, only I had to go around each berg to feather it in more to the base. Which meant I had to repaint some areas. So I just primed over in black and started fresh. Should have a video of it up soon. I've managed to get most of the bergs painted again. Once I'm done spraying everything the sub will be attached. Then the gaps filled/painted, then comes the gloss gel and then she'll be done.
Both subs have been base coated, the full hull version now needs cleared, decalled, and slightly weathered. The one for the dio will be weathered in place.
Hopefully I'll be able to get the sub attached before Wednesday when I go out of town for 2 weeks.

[BillBenBob]

They're both done!
In a mad dash to the finish I managed to get them both done. The full hull version was painted hull red, and nato black. With both colors given the black basing method. The top black portion was then faded with white oil paint.



The artic dio was redone. Dry wall spackle was used to flare out the ice bergs. Mr. Paint light blue was used again to give the impression of bergs under the surface. The sub was then installed, filling any gaps with more drywall spackle. Those areas were then painted like the rest of the base, then the gloss heavy gel was applied (3 coats). Then the sub was detailed painted and faded with white oil paint. A slight oil fading was done to parts of the base to blend everything in and give the illusion of disturbed water.
Unfortunately the gloss coat yellowed in a few places do to sun exposure. I tried to repair those areas with a heavy wash of Vallejo model color white.

[BillBenBob]

The stand was sprayed in Tamiya Sky Blue, then sponge chipped with a sea sponge and Tamiya Med. Blue. The name plate was then masked off and buffed with Ushi metal polishing powder chrome.

[BillBenBob]

Some final thoughts on the dio base.

The icebergs aren't hard to make, but they need to be made from a different material than what I used. The plaster I used doesn't have enough strength on its own to make scale thickness bergs. Thick styrene may work, or resin would be good. You'd have to be able to get jagged edges for the bergs, so filling, grinding, cuttings, sanding etc. would be needed for that. Though if you can pour the resin thin enough it may break random and jagged enough for them.
Also the water should be more flat (this is more personal opinion). And I would avoid doing like I did with the spackle and feathering in the edges of the bergs, something I had to do to address the thickness of them. The gloss gel I used (liquidtex) isn't suitable for the application I used, it yellowed from sun exposure (very little sun exposure). I think it would be better suited to mix with the paint to give it some gloss and depth. Then use a different gloss medium for the top layers.
Darker is better! The first time around the main water color I had was quite dark and the bergs and the blue halo around them popped nicely. When I redid the base the colors were a bit brighter and they didn't pop as much.
Smoother is better! The water in my dio is too rough IMO. Needs to be a bit smoother. Water doesn't get too choppy in that heavy a field of bergs, so it looks a tad bit out of scale. It also make the water a bit less glossy.
More bergs! While it may seem like the dio is full of icebergs I'm not happy with them. More variety in size would've been best. Need a few big, medium, but most important (and what I missed) small ice bergs. Very small between some of the others would really help to tie everything in to my eye.