It's something about Mary

[TRM]

Hey fellas,

Tossing this one into the ring!!!

The USS Maryland SSBN-738



I got this one from my friend Brian (Tbadger) over on the SMA as part of the Secret Santa they had over the holiday season past. It is time to finally break into this. A fairly straight forward build I think with a couple of modification but nothing to far gone!!

The kit:



There is two boats in this kit; however, I will only tackle the Mary for starters and save the Windy City for a rainy day!



It doesn't seem like much yet but there was a little work to get the hull together. Everything lined up OK for the most part.



I decided to go with the "closed-up" look by having the bay doors all closed. There are a few of these to glue into place and then some minor filling on the hinge-side seam. I also began removing all of the bulkhead/weld lines that are molded on the kit. These are not quite what is seen on the actual boat. Once I get this situated I will add back in some light welds throughout and I should be good to go!!



This kit is not only special as it was a gift from a friend, but in part because Brian served aboard her. Brian also went above and beyond with the addition of many special goodies to accompany the kit....

A plaque



A nice set of coveralls, the same as used on the boat, with my name added...I am very honored:



Brian also added some memorabilia from the Chicago, Washington and Alaska. Truly wonderful gift all around! I only hope to do the build the justice it deserves by the time I am done. No rushing on this as there is always something on the desk, but it should move right along and be fun!


As always, Thanks for stopping by!!

[modelfreak72]

Oh Boy a Trident and a 88 Sweet! A quick paint note, no need for the hull red they left the graving docks all black.

[TRM]

Thanks Pete!! Glad to see you stop by! I kind of remember Brian mentioning the black hull...flat too I believe! Just looking forward to painting something again!!

[Deleted]

The 'Romper Suit' as Dicky called it....I didn't know they did them in our size....ie SaF....Short and Fat!!!

[TRM]

Thanks Dicky!! Been checking out some close ups and seeing actually a few sheens and shades of black...LOL!!! Paint when you can!! From what I understand she is in drydock or heading!! Trying to get me some closeups of NON-classified stuff!!

CB...LOL!!! SaF? 6-3 is a tough bid on these!!! Could make two for you from this!!

[DeafStuG]

So nice ! wow Submarine`s missiles launching - bay doors holes circle - super detail.

[modelfreak72]

Dicky beat me to it about the flat, satin thing. Not sure about those Brit boats but ours had red or purple tint to them. Come to think about it when I was working on the USS Augusta the upper half had a purple tint and the bottom had a red tint. UM...T those aren't weld seams, those are the joints for rubber squares that cover the boat, the acoustical shielding so to speak. Just a couple more thing I thought of HTH!

[bbd468]

Hey T., Sub looks awesome! Never seen one built in progress. Looking forward to it.....BOOKMARKED!

[wbill76]

Ought to be a fun little project T, looking forward to seeing you bring this one to life!

[TRM]

Jeremy - Thank you! I first wanted to display this with the doors open, but I am liking the doors closed on this one!

Thanks Pete! See where you are coming from on the Augusta. Been scouring reference pics and not seeing the tiles on this class. Most look really smooth until you get up close. The painting on the other hand I am working out. I might cross between the hodgepodge overlapping paint work on the working boats and going off what Brian was telling me on the upper, mid and lower sections. Still trying to see if he can snag me some pics of the in the graveyard now. I have a couple dry-dock pics and she is oxide on her belly but this might have changed...you know the Navy works!! Secret squirrel stuff!! LOL!!

Gary - Thanks!! Always a pleasure to have you along brotha'!! May not always be the best looking model but it's always a fun ride!!!

Bill - Thanks!! Thanks for hanging out!! Sand sand sand san.......


A couple of the many ref. pics I have at the moment.

for discussion purposes only


This first one is a close up of the Mary. There is some oil canning going on here and the welds transecting the interior bulkheads. I starting scraping some of the in between sections tonight. After sanding there will, I hope, a barely visible trace of the oil canning while still seeing the welds.

for discussion purposes only


This is the Michigan. She is sporting some lovely paint work.

for discussion purposes only


The Georgia with a newer paint job. Nice!! These things are beautifully ominous!!!

I hope to have a couple of progress shot tomorrow night. Still sanding and yeah, sanding!!

Thanks for hanging out for a bit!!!

[eastrock]

That's a lot of weld marks, Buddy

[TRM]

Hey Buddy! It will be but these are a bit easier at this scale. Squadron or Tamiya White works wonders!!

[deafpanzer]

Freaking cool set of stuff you got there! Count me in of course... one thing I like about you. Impossible to predict what you will be building next. LOL

[Leon]

Agree with Andy T,that is some very cool stuff you have there .Have you ever been to the Groton sub base in Conn?Was there in my early teens,what an experience that was.

[fightnjoe]

cool project. i have seen a couple of subs built but i am looking forward to what you do.



joe

[TRM]

Andy - Thanks for jumping on board!! LOL...might be impossible to predict cause I have no idea either!!

Leon - Thanks brotha'! You would think I would have since it is only a hop skip and a jump South of me!! Pretty sure Modelfreak72 worked down there for a bit as he eluded to working on one or two!!

Joe - Thanks Buddy! Always a pleasure to have you along too!

Nice sunny day here...so far! A bit warm, but no complaints! Thinking it might be nice to blow off cutting the grass for some sanding of the hull!! Sooner I get that done, the soon I can get to them welds!!!

[TRM]

No real "shock and Awe" here but an update just the same. I have been sanding down a lot of the surface details on this one only in preparation for adding others. You will need to excuse the bench top pics just going with the flow at the minute.



As you can see I sanded as far as my hands would take it, leaving a small filling session...well small may not be the correct word for this.



After covering everything on the main hull I went after popping the bay doors on all the silos...I decided to add a couple of styrene strips to the interior to keep these lined up.



Even with lining these up properly there is a small gap at the bottom hinge side. I will take care of this with some filler and tackle the recessed molded weld lines too.



I am in for a nice sanding session a bit later but should all come together quickly!!

Thanks for swinging in!

[AndyArgent.]

Excellent ref pics and nice start on an unusual subject.

[TRM]

Thanks Andy!!

[Deleted]

Nice progress on what could be a really simple build... Not on MSC in your hands though eh MrT? 

Like Nemo, I'm surprised not to see the tiles on her hull, it's something we Brits have done for a while on our boats.

[Paul P.]

lovely work there T, watching this with interest


Paul

[TRM]

WOW...that is sweet Dicky!! Those two have a Vernian feel to them, no? Ugly and beautiful at the same time!! Like the first girl I dated way back! "The Four Horsemen of Trident"!!

Not sure why there is no tiling on the Ohio Class. Been staring at tons of pics and best guess would be no retro fitting needed on these? Not attack but still in the water though. Magic Paint?

I punched out some sanding a little while ago! Looking OK I think! Have some more filling to do but should have a pic or two up later. I want to shoot a primer down to see any defects, but it might be a bit dank!

Got a couple of nice reference shots!!











EDIT....that will teach me! Almost missed both of you, Steve and Paul! Thanks! Hope to not disappoint! Still at a loss on the tiles...will see what I can dig up on that one!

[wbill76]

Lots of putty and sanding work there T but will all be worth it in the end. Just swap out your hands for a spare pair and you'll be fine!

[eastrock]

Agree with Bill, but nothing impossible with Tiberius hands

[TRM]

Thanks Bill & ER, Still plugging away over here! Managed to get it all sanded...with the two original hands there Bill!! Will save the spares for later!! LOL!!





Everything seems to have sanded out OK...for the moment. Still want to lay down a prime coat to check things out but this will have to wait dryer weather comes back. I will clean things up and start marking out welds!

Thanks for tuning in!!

[TRM]

Thanks Mark! Glad to have you along for the ride!! Great gift indeed and a cool model(s) to boot!

[Tojo72]

Good work so far,a lot of effort for this one !!

[TRM]

Thanks Tojo!! Glad to have you along!!

Thanks Dicky!! I am sure I have a way to get them there. Will show some progress once I start going on it!! Need to leave work first!! LOL!!!

[bullardino]

I met some of those monsters at sea, I'm curious of what will be the degree of stunningfulness of this one

[`Boots`]

Sorry i`m late mate............i did bring a note and a good excuse

Terrific to see this on the go bro and a mint job so far