Sprue,
Keep looking! I am enjoying my model of the Thresher today, the 54th anniversary of her loss. May the crew rest in peace!
Bill
Thanks, Bill.
I will continue my search after completing the Revell and Micro Mir kits.
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Also, thanks for the reminder about the Thresher.
I was very young at the time but have vague recollections of news reports at the time of her sinking.
Indeed, may the crew rest in peace !
I was 7 at the time and I remember the incident very well. I also remember thinking that we would soon see a plastic model kit of her but one never materialized until the recent release by Micro-Mir. It is a shame that all the growth within our hobby comes from overseas.
Bill
When did the Micro Mir kits appear on the market?
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Traditionally, I have been aware of a kit release only when it appeared in the brick and mortar hobby shops.
I only started to buy kits on-line two years ago; coinciding with the closure of two of the largest and oldest shops in the Chicago metro area.
I honestly don’t know, so I emailed the company and asked them about their history. I will post an answer when they respond. I also asked them if they have any plans to manufacture a kit of the USS Ethan Allen (SSBN 608), my first boat.
Bill
It can’t hurt to ask if they may issue further kit releases though, if they are a Ukrainian company , I have heard news reports that the Ukrainian economy is hurting.
I just received my Micro Mir kit.
It appears to be a very nicely crafted kit and the photo etch items are a bonus.
The improvements in both information and technology certainly are evident when comparing the old 1950s Revell kit with the Micro Mir kit.
I can certainly see why so many of the Micro Mir kits are sold out and I expect to buy many more of the nuclear sub kits as they are re-stocked.[:D][Y]
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Thanks again for the advice and info.[:)]
It’s worth noting that (according to Dr. Graham’s history of Revell) that old Revell kit was released in 1953 - months before the real Nautilus was launched. The kit designers had no idea of what the real thing would look like; the plans were strictly classified. Three plastic kit companies, Revell, Aurora, and Lindberg, raced each other to get a model of her on the hobby shelves. According to Dr. Graham, Aurora guessed a little better than the other two, but none of them would qualify as a scale model today. But it’s an interesting museum piece in the history of plastic kits.
The Revell kit, however, was one of the company’s best sellers well into the 1960s.
The designers made it a little more sophisticated-looking than the competition by adding the Loon missile, launcher, and “hangar” tank - none of which the real Nautilus ever carried.
LOL I built it when I was 9-10 late '50s. Plastic with a LOT of glue all over it. Loved subs ever since!
I built that AURORA kit under the Sea Wolf variation during the 1960s…unfortunately, it did not survive my first move - a fate which befell most of my assembled kits.[:(]
I am surprised by the Loon on the Revell kit as my AURORA sub had an all in one , very crude multi stage missile and launcher
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FWIW…a photo of the AURORA Nautilus- dunno how long it will remain viewable
http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/kits/images/Boat/aurora-nautilus1.JPG
LOL…one of the side benefits of tube glue…the maker’s finger prints embedded in the model- forever providing proof of ownership…[H][Y]
Here’s an ad that will clear the sinuses of Olde Phogies like me: www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php .
If I remember right, the thing originally sold for a dollar - maybe less.
Dig that sharkmouth, man!
And here’s the Lindberg competition - with both a missile and a deck gun! What more could one ask for? http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=12008&searchtext=nautilus&erl=Lindberg-Nautilus-Atomic-Submarine-704
LOL…Now I am inspired ! If I get an old kit for cheap at a swap meet, I may add the shark mouth from an old Me-110 decal sheet.[:P]
That Lindberg kit is another one I’ve never seen…especially with the deck gun !
They were definitely adding more “play value” with that addition.[:O]
Lindberg even managed to get the hull number wrong. SS-181 was the Pampano, which was lost in the Pacific during World War II.
I recall watching, some years ago, a video on a Chicago PBS tv station about a US WWII submarine sunk by the Japanese. I have not yet been able to locate a reference on the internet , but seem to recall the subject of the video was the Pampano.
Would anyone happen to have seen such a video on tv ?
Sprue,
My pleasure!
Bill
This is my SS-571 1:350 from Pit Road. No plastic - resin and metal only (priced at 6000 Yen):
I got it second-handed from an American friend named Steve who came to Thailand several years ago, but I just had it built and shown earlier this month in this page:
Nice looking resin Nautilus !
Thanks for posting the link to the Model Maniac page- will enjoy looking through it.
FWIW…
I was sifting through my Fine Scale Modeler archives and re-discovered an old Classic Kits article Nr. 25 about the Revell and AURORA Nautilus kits. The article was in the March 1995 issue of FSM.
JUst a quick note to add to this thread . . . Since the last post, Micro-Mir has released the USS Lafayette (SSBN 616), the Soviet/Russian Beluga, and is soon releasing (or has released) the HMS Resolution class SSBN. Brandon informed me that the Reso should be available when he receives his next shipment. I cannot wait!
On another note, Micro-Mir is venturing in the realm of 1/144 scale submarines with the USS Thresher and USS Permit. These are appearing on EBay as “Modelles-Vit” brand kits; I am not sure if they are the same company. Once again, they released the Thresher near the anniversary of her loss (April 10).
What a time to be a submarine modeler!
Bill