¹⁄350

Panther In The Snow

Panther in the Snow

I decided recently to take on a maritime model subject. I had not built a ship or submarine kit since my teenage years so I figured it was time to branch out. I recently saw a great photo-album on IMGUR that had fantastic photos of Russian submarines being worked on and refitted in dry-dock. The boats were heavily weathered and very grimy so I figured it would be fun to build one with a nice weather-beaten finish.

I chose the Hobbyboss 1/350th scale Bars Type 971 submarine to build. I have always loved the profile of these boats and I think they are very sleek but sinister looking. Assembly was very easy because the hull is top and bottom pieces. The fit was good and minimal sanding was required on the seam. I placed some lead ballast in the hull so it would sit evenly during construction.

The towed array sonar housing went together nicely and minimal sanding was required there too. I then primed the model with Model Master Enamel Primer. Once that was applied, I sprayed on the Hull Red on the lower half of the hull. I used Insignia Red which was mixed with Tamiya Hull Red. The top of the hull was painted with Model Master Aircraft Black. Post shading was then applied using Model Master Enamel RLM 66 and European I Dark Grey. I noted in the IMGUR photos that the bow sonar areas on these subs faded to almost a tan color on the Hull Red areas. There were also several panels on the sides that faded as well. I sprayed these areas with Tamiya Deck Tan. All the recessed panel lines were drawn with a Micron Ink Pen and a Burnt Umber wash was applied to the large recessed areas. I noted that on several of these submarines, the black part of the hull which was below the waterline also faded to almost a beige color. Once again, I airbrushed this on using Tamiya Deck Tan. Vertical water streaks were added to the hull using a pencil, a Micron Ink Pen, and washes of Testors CreateFX in various shades.

The boat was then given a gloss coat of Pledge Floor Wax and the decals were applied. Most of the boats in the photos did not have the white cheat line on the hull so I left that off. The other decals were applied and no issues were encountered. I wanted the sub to look cold and bleak like the boats in the IMGUR photos so I added snow next. Woodland Scenic Snow was applied over white glue. Once it dried I touched that up with some Vallejo German white paint. The boat was then given a flat coat and the sub-assemblies were added. Lastly, I added streaks of Pledge Floor Wax to the hull sided to depict moisture from the patches of snow. The boat was then placed on a section of dry dock which had been scratch built from Plastistruct pieces. I then placed the dry-dock section on a piece of balsa which was secured to the hard wood base. A plaque was added to the base along with a Russian Naval Ensign which was airbrushed on a piece of sheet stock. The boat depicted is the K-317 “Pantera” which had been refitted and overhauled several years ago. All and all, this was a fun build and I was very pleased with the Hobbyboss kit.

Best wishes,

Ian

Model Shipwrights would like to thank Ian for providing this build article of his 1/350 scale K-317 “Pantera”!