Hi all,

I've finally finished my 1/350 scale USS Barb. It is supposed to represent the boat during her 11th war patrol in the winter of '44 - '45. This represents my first completed model in about 3 years after a long break.

The kit is straight out of the box painted with MM Acryl paints, and weathering, such as it is, is Academy oil paints. This was effectively my first small ship model (built a Revell Titanic years ago) and so was therefore my first try at all that small PE. Wow. I have a lot more respect for all you guys now.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my thread on weathering subs. I tried the dot filter technique but came to the conclusion that it isn't well suited for very small scales, or I did a poor job of it (or both). The pictures I took with the better camera make it look "frosty," while the iPhone pics show the coloring correctly...go figure. I find weathering difficult at this scale...the dot filter technique worked great on my Tiger II tank but here I ended up settling for whatever came out since I didn't want to keep tinkering with it and end up with something bad.

The base is exactly what it looks like: $1.89 brass rod from Lowe's and a piece of waste trim wood beveled on a table saw. Mounting the boat on the base was very difficult since I drilled the holes slightly off and ended up breaking off the conning tower, radio lines (?), and part of the rear propellor guards in the process of finessing it on. I'll be getting a brass nameplate at some point.

Not too happy with it, but at least I've got a Gato class sub now. Back when I was a kid I wanted to build the 1/72 Revell Gato really badly but never did. It didn't turn out quite like I had hoped (looks kinda "messy" IMO), but it was a good learning experience. Now at least I know better what to expect when I build my DML AEGIS cruiser...

Any comments or criticism is welcomed.

EDIT: Forgot to mention...as you all know, these boats were actually only two colors, black and grey. However I painted the hull below the waterline a lighter color hoping it would simulate weathering. If you can't tell, much of the inspiration for this kit came from Jan Klarbæk's impressive build of Revell's monster.


Pics:

I must have scared everyone away!

Wanted to post though and say that I didn't use any if the decals associated with this kit. If anyone needs them, let me know in the next couple days and I'll ship them out free. This network has been a big help over my modeling "career."

Great looking sub, Samuel. Makes me want to dig my Revell 'monster' out, someday. Al

Samuel,

You sub looks fine. Nice clean build.

You may want to do a subtle wash and a slight dry brushing
to pick out the highlights.

Don't forget in this scale less is more.

Still looks very good to me.

Cheers,
Joe

Nice sinky-thing Sam!

Also nice to see someone else who doesn't mind their model not looking like it has been at sea for 10 years..

Well done mate!
Warren

Hehe...thanks Warren. Since these things got a complete overhaul after every war patrol, I didn't want it to be too beat up.


Thanks for the comments. Joe, I might try that, but I'll probably just leave it be. Tinkering has been the death of too many of my projects. But I'll be sure to consider that for my AEGIS cruiser of about the same size.

Nice presentation Samuel! The PE is definitely a major challenge in 1/350(as is rigging), and 1/700 will just about drive you insane. I still need to get back to my subs, and have just realized that most of them are 1/700. Looks like I need to grab a couple more 1/350 for a sanity check, just to be on the safe side

What's your next project going to be?

Thank you Jeremy. The PE was indeed a big challenge, particularly since I have very little experience with it. But it really adds to the scale appearance, especially at this scale.

Next projects...hmmm. Too many irons in the fire right now.

- Fujimi Ferrari F40LM (I started a build log on the network somewhere)
- Piper Cub conversion to clipped wing aerobatic plane
- Airfix dh88 Comet kit (supposed to review a resin cockpit set from HighPlanes)
- Revell 1/72 Space Shuttle

So between all those and an unfinished armor diorama (pics in my gallery), I might get something done...we'll see.

Erm... ah, no. Early war, yes. 1944, not so much. It's a nice build regardless, IMO.

That is a very nice looking build Samuel.

Nice and clean build. Congratulations Samuel !!

Regards Daniel