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Seaview
Model with Flying Sub
The
Moebius Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series Seaview Submarine
model kit.
From
the paint can (to give a sense of scale), you can see this is
a large kit. 36 inches long.
The
kit includes the bay underneath, the Flying Submarine, and Diving
Bell. If you remember the series, one of these was always in trouble,
and being tossed around underwater by the monster of the week.
Irwin
Allen like to reuse the monster suits (to save money) so the
previous week, the same monster may have been seen on Lost in
Space.
The
kit is molded to perfection. Clean cut details.
Moebius
tossed in some extra stuff. You can tell these guys are diehard
modelers. Included is a booklet with pictures of the large studio
model (from when it was restored), detailing the model and it's
history in the movie and TV Series. Very valuable information.
There
is also a flyer on how to make your kit an RC model (this refers
to a website). A flyer from Amazing Modeler, Moebius' other model
kits, and of coure the directions.
Here
is some of the detail for the forward bridge area.
One
of the control panels. That's a lot of tiny detail painting.
Another
one of the side details for the bridge. What do all those flashing
lights do anyway? :-)
Moebius
has done a super job here. It's really hard to pass on this kit,
it just has way to much going for it. The biggest problem you
might run into is...where do you put it once you build it?
Make room for 3-feet of TV history !
Did
you know? The original
movie (made two years before the TV series) starred Barbara
Eden, from
I Dream of Jeannie fame.
_____________
Below
I've mocked up the main parts. You can see it's 36 inches long.
To
fit the kit in the box, the sub body is split into two sections,
forward and aft.
I started with gluing parts together that I knew
I would have to putty and sand.
The
tailfins were first. I accidently glued them together, being in
a hurry because I was pressed for time, and forgot to add the
wires and lights for them. This meant I had to use a Dremel tool
to open up the small trenches that Moebius already molded into
the parts.
Nothing a little putty and primer can't fix.
When
adding lighting to a kit, it's always prudent to keep checking
that the lights work as you go along. Always test them.
See
those two lines molded into the fins? They almost look like a
separation, where maybe they represent rudders. But they're not.
Those are seams that need to be filled. There are no rudders here.
Plenty
of putty and sanding. This is done several times, until the seam
can no longer be seen.
On
the first version of the kit, like this one, there's a choice
on the windows. Ones that are flush, and ones that have frames
around them. I chose the one with frames. Either way, you have
to fill the seam around them once the part is glued into place.
NOTE:
The newest version of the kit (2016) was revised, and has the
windows molded into the hull, so - no seams ! Horray!
At
the tail end, and on the nose, you have to fill a small seam where
the two halves join together, on the upper decks.
Moebius
models has done everything possibe to minimize any seams, and
believe me, they have saved hours of work you might have had to
do. Yes there is some sanding and putty needed, but far less than
there could have been.
They
are very clever at hiding seams where they can.
The
bay for the Flying Sub. I painted it with metallic paints. For
now it's only mocked up to test the way it fits. It will get some
lighting eventually.
The
interior deck gets it's first color. I chose a medium blue. I
didn't want it to be too dark since I'll be adding lights, and
I thought this would reflect the lightng better. There's a long
way to go for detail painting.
The
window section has been added, with the seam filled and primered.
There's still a little bit on the nose to deal
with, but the front is smooth now.
Here
I have the lights for the comming tower installed. I initially
glued it together, then relized I couldn't get my fingers inside
to mount the LEDs, so I popped off one side. Then used putty and
primer to smooth out the seam on the other side while installing
the lights.
Once
the CA glue is dry, I will glue on the seperate side and fill
the seam.
The
rear top fins get glued on. I used a clamp to hold it tight to
mnimize any seams, and mine seamed to have a slight bow to it,
so it needed the forceful hand to hold it while the glue dried.
I
also added the long wires to feed power to the end taillights.
Unfortunately, one of the LEDs does not work, but the model work
is to far along to fix it, so I'll have to live with it. I may
have sanded through the wires covering by accident? while using
putty and primer, so just one light will work now. C'est La Vie.
The
conning tower (sail?) is made up of 3 parts. Before gluing those
all together, I glued the top to one side, then drlled holes and
installed the LED bulbs (a green one on one side, red on the other).
I
then glued on the other side of the tower on, and used putty and
primer to take care of the seams.
On
top of the body of the submarine, I marked a spot with a black
Sharpie to open up. This will allows the wires from the tower
to feed through the top and inside the body. The sail will cover
up the hole once it's installed.
It's
starting to come together.
The
Flying Sub interior, with a red LED added.
The
interior bridge of the Seaview has been painted and assembled.
While the parts are tiny, I didn't ave any problems putting it
all togeher, all the parts fit well.
The
inside of the lower nose piece. I added LED for the bottom flood
lights
Note
that the Flying Sub bay will fit in place either way, so make
sure you align it correctly before gluing it down. Note the
pins on the bay, and the holes in
the floor of the Seaview's bridge interior.
I painted the surface flat
black since I was using LEDs. It might help with any light leakage
(?).
Testing
the placement of the upper lights. I added a piece of clear plastic,
which I used sandpaper to make it hazy and hopefully disperse
the
LED light better. One bulb front and one rear seemed to work ok.
There
is also a bulb on either side. I used transparent lighting gel
material (one red, the other green) after drilling holes in the
consoles for the light to shine through.
It's
difficult to get the camera to focus correctly. But it looks like
I onlyneed two LED bulbs on top to light it all up.
If
not for the LED lights, you won't see any of this once the model
is
finished and sealed up.
I
use masking tape to hold the bulbs in place while I see how they
all work out.
One
9V battery seems to power them all up so far.
Once all the wiring was done, I mocked up the
front of the sub
The
interior installs from underneath. I just used masking tape to
hold it here. I wanted to make sure it all fit, that the lights
worked, and
see what it looked like.
I
still have to install the front windows.
And
then I think I can installed the sail .
Below
I've started on the seams, the middle one, and the underside of
the nose.
I
was surprised how easy the bottom, with the interior, lights and
wires, as well as the Flying Sub bay, fit snug with only a very
slim seam to fill.
Moebius
did some good engineering here.
As
always, I test my lighting along the way. Once the model is sealed
up, that's it. You can't get to the wiring anymore.
I
can't help it. It's just cool with the lighting on. :-)
The
seams are filled. What a bear of a job. My fingers still ache
from all the sanding.
I
fed the wires down through the two pedestals. The rear one uses
the wires from the upper sail, the front one has the wires from
the nose.The
rear wires feed out the rear pedestal and through the front one.
So
all the wires end up in front of the nose.
I
measured and centered the pedestals, and then traced around them
with a silver sharpie. The model is set back some to the rear
because
I wanted room for a bit of a diorama scene in the front.
I
wanted a rocky portion, mainly to hide the pedestals, but also
to create a scene with the Flying Sub and a small submarine base.
I
used expanding foam, that's sprayed out of a can.
Just
spray it on and use your imaginaton. If you don't want it to look
to "round" or with big bulbs / bubbles, you can squash
them down with a knife or screwdriver. Once I covered the area
I wanted, I used a chisel / putty knife to uncover where the pedestals
go, and
to make cracks to run the wires.
THIS
STUFF IS EXTREMELY STICKY !!
Don't
get it on your hands or anything you care about.
Always
remember it EXPANDS, so allow room for that to happen.
--
The
masking tape below protects the black base board I used.
(a
prepainted shelf from Lowes).
I
painted the model outside in the sun. Some will disagree about
the color for sure. The bottom is a light grey. The upper part
of the model is painted a sort of
medium naval blue. I didn't want to paint it grey, or grey blue.
That
to me makes the model look like it just has just primer on it.
Due
to TV lighting, it's a different color in nearly every episode,
so I painted it a color I liked . I was thinking of the way animals
are colored,
like sharks, mantas, whales, etc.
Note
the wiring has been fed through the "rocks".
Here the trenches have been filled and painted.
The wiring has been covered.
It's
tricky to add foam and paint underneath the model, but with patience,
it can be done.
Now it's pretty much done. The Flying Sub has
been painted, and
added to the base.
It's a long model, and hard to get in one image.
My
original plan was to use some kind of deep sea lab on the base.
So I made one out of bits and parts.
My
intent was to hide the 9V battery in it, but it just didn't work
very well, so I glued it to the base, and ran the wires out the
side from under the foam rocks.
I
plan on adding the diving bell to the top of the sealab.
There
are some other minor odds and ends I might do before it's 100%
done.
Overall,
the model is great. I had no issues with assembly.
But
I really hate putty and sanding, so that was a drawback to me,
b ut not a fault of Moebius.
The
model includes a tiny 2-man sub, but since there are no divers
for it, I didn't use it.
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Here is the
model on display at a local model show.
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