This is a great little kit.
My only gripes: it needs an interior, a sub bay and a Flying Sub...lol
For the interior and the sub bay there is only one game in town. ParaGrafix. Paul has done a nice P/E set that has an interior, sub bay, limberholes,
antennas and crew figures.
To fit the FS bay, you need to cut out the bay door. (it took about 5 minutes to score around the door with the back of an X-Acto knife)
.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09250008.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09250016.jpg
It fits very nicely if you take your time and carefully sand the door opening to fit.
The control room is a hoot. take your time with detail painting, (leave it flat untill you are done with all the detailing) it folds together and assembles into a pretty cool little jem.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09270004.jpg
The fit of the upper hull to the pressure hull is very nice. (I installed the upper hull to minimize any slight gaps)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09250011.jpg

Steve,
Looks great so far! How in the world do you paint the interior when it is so freakin' small?
Looks very cool!

MMM

Thanks!...Teensy weensie brushes....lol..and some colored decal paper..
I shot the PE with a thin coat of white primer. Then I masked off the areas to stay white, and painted the blue deck. I masked that off and then painted the collision doors silver. The wood grain is brown decal and some paint. the maps and screens are blue decal cut to fit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09270006.jpg
The P/Ehas nice detail molded in, you just have to be careful.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09280005.jpg
It's tiny, but the kit really needs an interior.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09280007.jpg

I really like what you have done with this kit. I think I am going to hold off for a bit- somebody has got to produce a little Flying Sub to go with this scale. The Interior bay I can scratch up OK- not too hung up on a nose interior right now but if there is ever a hatch or landing bay in a kit I want to open it up.

There is a dramatic difference in the Moebius and Aurora subs in that photo- like night and day....

.

Thanks, Richard. One of the differences is my skill level, I was just sticking stuff together when I built the PL Sub.
It was a fun build, but the moebius Seaview is a very elegant looking kit.

That's looking very sharp Steve! Fantastic painting in the observation lounge ... and the chart table is amazing.

I can't wait to see it complete!

Thanks! here a shot of the Stbd. side.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09270005.jpg
Painting little bitty guys and the stand today..

Did you use CA or solder to glue in the girders ?

I know at that magnification it looks like giant blobs of solder..lol
I used a thick CA(the finished kit needs to be able to travel)
If I was building it for my collection, white glue would have been enough...the girders fit nicely into the frame.
This stuff is tiny, but cool.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09290010.jpg
After a near fatal fall for my big Flying Sub, ALL my builds are getting weighted stands;http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09290009.jpg
Then I just cut out a base cover from sheet:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09290012.jpg

Steve

Ok, I got the primer on the main hull( needs a little more filler) clear parts are coated with Future. and I got some crew starting to show up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09300001.jpg
here's what I decided to do with the stand:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_09300003.jpg

The really is a fun kit to build!..please don't let 'em pile up dust in the closet.
You can have a great looking Seaview on your shelf in a few evenings.

And I guess I'm gonna be the guy to do the emergency surfacing dio...lol

Steve

Looking good, Steve! :)

I'm lovin' it!

Thank you guys so much! My heart/skills are on my sleeve when it comes to bases and things like that.

Thanks again, you two.

This kit is a hoot. it's easy to "Zoom" around the room...lol

Steve

Thanks for posting all the in progress pics, Steve - My LCS finally got one in for me, though it will be a bit before I can start it.

Very cool progress. Just wondering where the giant hand and penny came from? ;)

Thanks Guys! I'm having lots of fun with this one.I was washing the hull before painting, and I remembered washing the big Seaview...in the shower...this one's lots easier to work on...lol

More pics tonight

Steve

Thanks Guys! I'm having lots of fun with this one.I was washing the hull before painting, and I remembered washing the big Seaview...in the shower...this one's lots easier to work on...lol

More pics tonight

Steve
Taking a shower with a model- now that is serious love...

.

TMI man TMI...

I feel 'kinda bad for any guy that dosen't have a Big Seaview...

Steve

I feel 'kinda bad for any guy that dosen't have a Big Seaview...

Steve
That's OK- I have a girlfriend who is also fun in the shower...


.

That's OK- I have a girlfriend who is also fun in the shower...


.

ROFLMAO.... oh man, the innuendoes that come to mind like.... "Take her down, Lee", "Dive! Dive!" .... gives a whole new meaning to "blowing ballast" :thumbsup::wave:;)

"Fire one torpedo"?

Emergency Blow!!!

.

"Periscope up, sir -- WAY up!!" ;)

Kinda wandering off topic aren't we!?

Moving right along....

I'm working on the sail now, the top dosen't fit as well as the big seaview's I goofed when assembling due to not checking( I glued the port and starboard sides together and left the top for later). If I'd have checked fit,I would have been able to put a piece of sprue inside the sail to expand it just a touch.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10030002.jpg
it's not a big thing at all, just annoying that I missed it.

Steve

Do you think it was a unique problem with this particualr kit or just the way it was designed?
It would seem odd that you would need to distort a piece just to get it to assemble properly...

.

The walls of the sail are thin,and as I tried to sand the little bit of filler I was using, they would flex and I couldn't sand the excess away.Just now I stuck a piece of sprue in there to give the sides some rigidity. It might just be my copy, but the sail top was an RCH bigger on one side than the sail itself. remember the top of the big Seaview sail and how well it fit?..(I used a little white glue to seal the tiny gap it had).I think it might just be the thinness of the sail sides. The sprue seems to have done the trick, as soon as it dries and I dress the seam I'll shoot another pic(notice also there are two tiny shallow sink marks in the sail) I'm sure they were almost unavoidable due to the way the top of the sail is molded.

Its not uncommon for parts to not fit perfectly (oddly). On the kit instructions you can see it doesnt fit too well

I agree. it's up to us the builder to fix any little troubles and to use our skills to make as nice a model as we can.

I don't want this to get all blown out of proportion either. This is a wonderful little kit. The majority of seams look like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10030003.jpg
I'm just picky, I like the finished model to be the best I can make it. Most builders won't even mess with fixing the sail.

Just about all dialed in:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10030004.jpg

It might just be my copy, but the sail top was an RCH bigger on one side than the sail itself.

Wow. Deja vu. Just yesterday I returned from an extended trip up to the mountains, where I was working on the family summer cabin. It was as a young lad, apprenticing to the carpenter we hired to do the interior finish work, that I learned the importance of adding or subtracting an RCH from a measurement in order to get the perfect fit.

In all the years since then I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone else use that term.

I used to do interior finish work ...lots of RCHs..lol

The kit has lots of detail,it just needs a little love to bring it out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10040005.jpg
Oh, make sure you remove the part #s from inside the prop nacelles,(yes they do show)
Today was spent annealing the brass and installing it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10040002.jpg
I heated the brass with a torch untill it changed color, it was cool watching it, like a storm front moving in..
The PE lays down nicely after annealing and rolling out with a section of bar stock.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10040003.jpg

Steve

I get the CH, but what does the R stand for?

It may be a regional variant I'm not aware of

Red. I'm guessing they're even thinner than blonde or brunnette.

Steve - That's looking great!

I wasn't sure how I felt about the PE limber holes, but after getting them on and painted, they look great! the holes are nice and crisp.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10050001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10050002.jpg

Did you notice tiny bumps along the hull top edge next to the missile doors? I thought they were the little hand holds as molded on the large kit, but they were very faint and sort of disappeared on the right side compared to the left... so I sanded them off. Was odd...

No, Now that's wierd...Unless I sanded 'em off when I sealed the deck...

This kit is a hoot, Paul's PE set helps guys like me to get great results with minimal skills.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10080001.jpg I need to adjust some of the crew's posture...lol
I found the best way to trim the little stubs, from the PE is to use cuticle scissors:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10080003.jpg

Using the PE hatches meant I didn't need to worry about saving the kit's hatches when I was fixing the sail.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10080002.jpg

Are you painting the limber holes the different shade of grey?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/1.jpgSorry, PE is short for photo etch. Paragrafix's web address is:
http://www.paragrafix.biz/

It's thin highly detailed brass that modelers use to add complex or fine added detail to their models.

Steve

Antimattter; why did you change your question? (what is"PE" and do they have a website?)
...anyway the inside of the limber holes will be black..a little wash will take care of that.

This kit is a hoot, Paul's PE set helps guys like me to get great results with minimal skills.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10080001.jpg I need to adjust some of the crew's posture...lol


Yes, it appears that crew has been drinking on duty! :)

Or, as Steve Martin used to say ... They got small ;)

It was an easy fix...I bent 'dey 'lil feet.

Steve

See? All bedder now...I took a little future and applied it to the deck to hide the "fogging" that superglue can do.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10090002.jpg
Again, I didn't need much filler to blend the engine nacelles to the main hull. I apply the putty, then take a cotton swab dipped in alcohol and wipe the excess away.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10090003.jpg
I did need to re do the horizontal fin seams. I sanded a bit too rigorously and broke both seams open..DOH!

I do think sanding and blending the pods and fins really helps. Good to see you back on board with your kit!

I used to do interior finish work ...lots of RCHs..lol

The kit has lots of detail,it just needs a little love to bring it out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10040005.jpg
Oh, make sure you remove the part #s from inside the prop nacelles,(yes they do show)
Today was spent annealing the brass and installing it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10040002.jpg
I heated the brass with a torch untill it changed color, it was cool watching it, like a storm front moving in..
The PE lays down nicely after annealing and rolling out with a section of bar stock.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/stev123/2009_10040003.jpg

Steve

Why did you heat the PE?

Antimattter; why did you change your question? (what is"PE" and do they have a website?)
...anyway the inside of the limber holes will be black..a little wash will take care of that.

I changed it about 2 minutes after I posted. I figured out what PE was and I ordered it yesterday for the 1/350. Do you plan on painting the limber hole sheet a darker shade of grey?

I heated the large limber hole panels (it's called annealing) to soften the brass. that allows you to get a very nice fit to the sub's hull. You only need to do this to pieces that are not laying down or conforming to the kit. I'll use a black wash to accent the holes.
When you heat the brass, you will notice the metal change color slightly...not carbon build up but a subtle rainbow effect.
Paul, you need to make PE to fit the various F-100 Super Saber kits, Finally a way to get that burnt metal look!